Gapstow Bridge

6x8 oil on panel, 2 hours

Goodbye Quinacridone

Today I had my rat Quinacridone euthanized.  She would have been 2 years old on April 6th.

Quin was the Extremely Stupid Miracle Rat. Of all the pet rats I have had...probably close to 30, she cost more than all of them combined.  And she also had more medical issues than all of my other rats. And she was hands down the dumbest rat I ever had.  But she did have a very sweet personality.

In October Quin started picking fights with Umber.  He bit her eye and we ended up at the emergency vet at 12:30am- of course over the weekend. I thought I would put her down then, but she just got some meds and a referral to the local exotics vet.  We went there the next morning.  I couldnt get an appointment without major cost- she seemed fine so I waited.  She continued to be fine despite a horrific looking scab over her eye, which I was sure was gone.  A week later the scab fell off and she was fine!  The eye was fine- though blind- but she was perfectly normal otherwise.

In November she developed a really bizarre skin condition- little scabs everywhere, blood, she looked horrible.  Back to the vet...she got meds which did not work.  I couldnt put any more money into her since at that time my cat was being treated for diabetes.  Quin looked horrendous until about mid-January, and the skin problem disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared.  She was fine.

This week she developed an issue with her tooth- it was knocked off alignment and wasn't being filed down properly- it started growing into her upper lip.  This is pretty common and easily treated by clipping the tooth- but I think it dislocated because of her habit of clinging onto the cage bars at dinnertime (and not realizing she has to let go to get the food).  I made the decision to say goodbye today.  She had a long and happy life.

Quin's favorite food was chocolate, or anything sweet.  I made sure the last thing she ate was her "candy".

Quin was very pretty- she was a blue point siamese rat. Her looks and sweet disposition made up for her lack of intelligence.

Florida Plein Air

I was in Florida all last week, went with a friend and took the kids to Disney.  We had a great time.  It was very warm, which meant swimming pools......of course I brought my paint box.

I am changing up my plein air colors- cobalts are my new thing.  I have cobalt blue and cobalt turquoise (and cobalt green), but always used French Ultramarine as my main blue.  I think that might be changing to cobalt...kind of a shame, since cobalt is both expensive and toxic.  But it's so pretty!

This first painting is the pool fountain at night.  I like the colors ok but the brushwork is not so great.  I literally could not see what I was doing- my reading lamp was useless. A good light for my paint box is now a necessity. Looking at the painting in the light the next morning was a bit of a surprise, as I really had no idea what it looked like.

6x8 oil on panel

This second painting was also by the pool.  By far, this was the most comfortable and relaxing painting spot I have been in!

6x8 oil on panel

Palettes for both were quinacridone red (PR209!! not PV19) Cadmium yellow light, cobalt blue, cobalt turquoise, cobalt violet, titanium white

It was worth a try......

webuyanycat.com has valued my cat at £2.74.

Snowcamp!

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to go to Snowcamp, a winter painting workshop with Stapleton Kearns.  I had a good time and learned a lot. The days were 13 hours long.

Here is the group:

I learned some really important things, such as:

MOXIE IS DISGUSTING.


The scenery was gorgeous.

Stape did demos.....pictured is the SMALL brush he used.....

.....and took us through paint handling exercises.  Here is my Magritte tribute:

We painted.

And it was pretty cold.

The cold was fine with me though, because I had this in my room:

Stape talked a lot about OBSERVATION AND INSTALLATION.

I have now observed that a jacuzzi is an absolute necessity, so I would like someone to come over and install one in my apartment immediately.  It would really help me to maintain my UNITY OF EFFECT.  I pay the landlord on time every month; it's absolutely baffling to me as to why this has not happened already.

 Here is the inn we stayed at, from the back.

I stayed an extra night because of travel arrangements. I knew one person was checking in that evening, but what a surprise when I went downstairs at 7:30pm to find that all the staff had gone home and I was literally the ONLY PERSON IN THE INN!  They do not serve dinner on Monday nights so no one was there.

It was a little creepy and I almost died from culture shock.  The front desk was wide open, the computer was left unlocked, and the front door was also, of course, unlocked.  All the keys to all the rooms were just out in the open.  This would never ever ever in a gazillion years happen in NYC.

I called my friend in NYC and talked to my daughter for a while.  Then a family who was also staying there came back!  Special thanks go to My Lovely and Fabulous Oily Girlfriend Sandra who kept me company via texting all the way from Australia!  Special thanks also to My Other Lovely and Fabulous Oily Girlfriend Carey who kept me company during my travels.  Big hugs and zebra kisses to both of you.

*********************
While I was adding layers my cat was getting hers taken off:

Good news!  Kitty is officially no longer diabetic and is off insulin!  She remains on Prozac and her appetite pill.

Between the cat and Snowcamp...I am really, really broke.  It was worth it though.

Pavonia (after Leighton)

I started this painting last spring sometime and finished today...it was the only unfinished painting left in my queue.  This is as far as I am taking it. Working with old master paintings is always such an enriching experience.

14x18 oil on canvas.  click for larger view.

2012!

Happy New Year!

As always, it's time to set new intentions.  Here are mine for this year:

1. Drink a lot of tea. (already off to a good start!)
2. Paint portraits.

That's it!

Here is a pretty color chart of my new Rublev paints.  I love them muchly.

George The Pencil Pirate

This year I participated again in the annual portrait swap over at wetcanvas.

When George sent me his picture, my first thought was "he has stubble!"
My second thought was "He is wearing glasses, too!"

I spent a few minutes feeling sorry for myself. Not because George doesn't have a nice face, he does for sure, but stubble AND glasses...I thought I was in trouble.

Then George did that knockout portrait of me in ONE weekend. I didn't think I was in trouble anymore, I knew I was toast. There was just no possible way I could follow that act.

So I had to come up with something that could have a redeeming quality if it ended up being frisbee status. In one of the reference pictures George sent me (not the one I painted), well, I thought he looked kind of like a pirate. It got me thinking. Also, George likes colored pencils a lot. I thought maybe if I did something clever it would conceal my faulty portrait skillz, and I wouldn't mind so much if everyone laughed at my painting.

Here is George the Pencil Pirate.

11x14 Oil on Panel (click image for a larger view)

Detail

Roopa

Tonight I challenged myself to paint a portrait in exactly 1 hour.

Maimeri Natural Earth Pigments
8x10 oil on panel

2011 Swap Paintings

This year I participated in another painting swap.  I did a series and used some really cool metallic and interference paints paints to enhance the colors ad add a little zing.

All are 5x7 on panel

 

And here is the very fun paint:

Becca's Magic Garden

I started this painting last December, and it took almost a year to evolve.  This is my dear friend Becca, who is an expert gardener and also an excellent painter.  The reference is an image she took of herself in her beautiful garden.  The plants in the background are based on plants from a medieval herbal.  I also got to use my gold paint.

When it is dry enough, I will send this to Becca.

12x16 oil on panel

Self Portrait

I decided to do a self portrait this year.  This has been on the easel since July.
18x24 oil on canvas

Ratfest Portraits 2011

For those of you interested in Ratfest portraits this year, please email me with your questions (my email is in my Blogger profile).  While I greatly appreciate your comments on my blog, sometimes there is no way to email you back directly if you do not have an email listed in your profile.

Please bring printouts of your photos.  Work space is very small, very sorry but I cannot work from your computer monitor.

Portraits are 9x12 on archival vellum.

Special Prices Only for Ratfest!
$10 for color
$7 for black and white

*Prices are for 1 rat only.  Additional rats in the same photo are $2 extra each.

Portraits from previous years can be viewed here.

Thanks for your interest!

First Grade!

 First day of first grade!

How PRT Really Works

The whole east coast should have joined me in PRT instead of August,.  Then, hurricane Irene would have just drifted out to sea.

I was in Charlotte since last Wednesday.  My stepmom and I were laughing at the hurricane hype on Wednesday.  On Thursday, we thought it might be a good idea to seek alternate flights, just in case.   My Sunday nite flight was cancelled.  We got it moved to Saturday night.  Then, just in case, we changed it again to Saturday morning.  Everything got cancelled, with re-bookings stretching through September 8th.  Both my parents were going out of town for work, so staying there was not an option since I don't drive and getting anywhere would be a problem.

I was so  bummed about leaving early...but then the Saturday morning flight got cancelled, which was a problem.  We did finally manage to get a flight out first thing this morning at 6am. The return flight cost $15 less than my round trip ticket.

I ended up missing the storm completely, got to spend extra time with my family, and Jet Blue refunded my entire flight both ways, and I made $15 in the whole deal.   Not too shabby.  Everyone should join me in PRT, it does provide a great buffer for Bad August Things.

Gamblin Paint PRT

I like Gamblin paint very much.  I also like the company.  They are environmentally conscious, make high quality products right here in the USA, are committed to conservation, make the best varnish ever, and they have a great website with lots of info. 

Truly, I want to love all things Gamblin.  But sadly, that has not been the case.  Back in 2006 I had terrible problems with their titanium white yellowing.  Noticeably, within a week.  It was awful.  Side by side tests with WN really showcased the yellowing.  I contacted Gamblin, they sent me another tube which also yellowed in a week. Since then, I have remained a huge fan of their colors but have avoided their white like the plague.

A few months ago I picked up a can of their oil primer.  A canvas I primed yellowed after a few weeks, which was very noticeable after I put on the second coat.  So I called Gamblin and told them the situation.  They said they had reformulated their whites and I should try them.  They even sent me two huge tubes of their radiant white and the titanium zinc, plus a new can of oil primer.   That was pretty nice, I only expected and asked for small sample tubes. I told them I would try them, test them out, and if they are ok I will switch over to Gamblin for all my whites except lead, because they do not make lead white.

(I LOVE lead. )

The jury is still out on the primer...the second coat so far seems ok but I need to give it more time before I am comfortable.


Gamblin's customer service, however, is excellent...yet another reason to love them.  I hope their whites are up to standard, because I really would like to give them my business.  And I do go through a lot of white paint.  :)

What they sent:

And here is a pretty pic I took for the website I am building: (click to enlarge)

Color Chart PRT

Here is a little color chart...they are very relaxing to do.  :)  Click for a larger image.

Left to right top:
Vasari caput mortuum
Vasari red umber
Maimeri terra rosa
Rembrandt raw sienna
Vasari capucine red light
Gamblin venetian red
Vasari burnt sienna
Gamblin brown pink ----> I LOVE this color it is fiery!!
Vasari transp red oxide
Gamblin Transp red earth

Bottom left to right
Maimeri verona green earth
Maimeri antique green earth
OH green umber
OH Green earth (natural pigment only)
WN terre verte
Lukas 1862 Bohemian green earth
Gamblin terre verte

#52, The Pool, Central Park PRT

I had a little time yesterday to paint.  This time I used a slightly different approach and worked on a white oil primed panel, instead of a reddish toned panel over gesso.  (I primed with Gamblin's oil primer over gesso)

Over the white oil primed surface, I made a very detailed underpainting.  This approach worked well and forced me to handle all my problems at the start.  Next time though, I will use burnt sienna instead of red umber.  The oil primed surface was nice for this, as it can be wiped back to white unlike gesso, which stains.
I also used real turps and put copal resin in the underpainting so it would tack up quickly and not interfere as much in the color layers.

Palette was the Vasari proprietary greys from Scott Christiansen...I didn't want to deal with color as much as drawing and composition.  Time was limited and I worked large, so this enabled me to not have to mix colors so much.

!4x18 oil on panel

PRT 2011

It's almost Pigeon Risk Time again.  *sigh*  Since it's gone from awful to non-eventful, I am inclined to hope things can swing towards positive?

Plein Air #51

At the beach again...it was really misty and beautiful early in the day, but it cleared up and got sunny later on.  I was looking forward to painting the mist, guess I'll have to do it in my studio.

Here is my little sunny painting, 8x10 on panel

Prozac Kitty

I actually made an appointment last month to put my cat down, and I couldn't go through with it.  She's been pretty good lately, although that could be because she does not have access to the laundry anymore.

A few weeks ago she peed on a bag of onions.  Last night she peed on a bag of apples.

That's BEYOND NASTY.

So I called the vet again, and we are putting her on Prozac, and it's only going to cost me $6 a month! I hope it works to calm whatever crazy anxiety she has.

The Ocean (#49 and #50)

FINALLY I have made it to 50 plein air paintings.  After 120 I won't consider myself a total newbie anymore, I'll be a beginner.  :)

We went to the beach today, it was so wonderful and relaxing.  I can't wait to do more ocean paintings.  This was my fiorst time painting at the beach, and my first time painting the ocean.

Both are 6x8 oil on panel
49

50

Stapleton Kearns

Today I met Stapleton Kearns!  He posted that he was painting in Central Park today, so I took a slightly long lunch and went to say hello.

Stape is a very friendly person, and he talked to me for a long time.  He has a pink camera and I tried on his eyeglasses.  Perhaps now I can say I have seen through the eyes of a master painter?

I deeply appreciate people who are true masters of their craft yet remain not only friendly, but truly strive to share their knowledge.  If I ever become so proficient, I want to be like that too.  Admittedly, it isn't every day one gets to meet such an accomplished painter- next to Stape I really feel like I know nothing, but not meaning that in a negative way.  It doesn't make me feel bad, it makes me want to take one of his workshops.

46 & 47

Last Friday and Tuesday I attended two painting workshops in Central Park with Danielle Hatherley, who is an excellent teacher.  Both days were very productive and educational.  I got to work a little larger than normal with my new paint box.

From Friday May 7th, Shakespeare Garden:
11x14 oil on panel

Tuesday May 10, Conservatory Water
11x14 oil on panel