Old Vine painting, more progress

These just show more progress on the Old Vine painting. My sweet friend Kim dropped by this morning, (needing to kill an hour in town) and shooed me off to my studio while she played with Jolie, so I've had a very productive morning! Can't beat friends like that :)

Old Vine painting, a work in progress

These are the beginning photos of a commission piece I've been working on. I did several sketches before I started this because I am not working directly from a photo or actual location. It's basically just an idea born from looking at several Napa landscapes and head pruned vine illustrations. In the first photo (from the bottom up) you can see that I laid down a wash of yellow, brown and splotches of french grey and green. The reason for the splotches is because I also laid down a very heavy textured gesso first, but unfortunately it froze in my studio as it was drying so it created several deep cracks. At first I thought I would start over, but the cracks are kindof cool. So I pushed some paint into them and will seal the painting several times over when it's finished to prevent further cracking.

Two posts in one night! Get down K-ren. So, this is just a little experimental piece. I was working on this one the same time as the white flowers I listed below, and was trying to make them companions but they went their own way.

Finally I'm getting around to an update on the Wine Lover. I've put a few layers of greens into her dress and added some of the same tones as warming layers to her skin and hair. Next up will be to put the finishing touches on the dress and then move on to the background, unless I get courageous and dive right into working on the skin...

White Flowers

Another White Orchid Painting! What is it with the white orchids? Perhaps I paint them because I can't seem to keep them alive :) I've been on a roll with these lately and thought I'd post one on Etsy. Lately I'm not sure sure about the Etsy... I think it might be geared toward... well I'm not even sure who it's geared toward... but whoever they are they aren't springin' for the paintings, so I 'm thinking I might need to offer smaller, less expensive items and see if they will catch on. It's such a mystery to me. Wish me luck fellow bloggers cause this mama needs to bring home some bacon!

Lucky 13 Card "The Tornado Wrangler"

This is another lucky 13 card I just finished. The theme is "Embracing Chaos". It took me forever to think of what I wanted to do with this one. Whenever I think of the word chaos a tornado comes to mind, so I couldn't get away from that idea. Also when I think of chaos I think of my house and how it sometimes gets away from me clutter-wise, especially now we have the kiddo. So I imagined a woman embracing the tornado that is swallowing her house. The only problem is she came out looking like she wanted to grab the tornado and chuck it into the hills... hmmm should I sell the house and go live in the woods and never wipe down the counter or mow the lawn again? Believe me I think about it and may even do it someday! So, psycho-analyzing my domestic nature or lack thereof aside, I named it "The Tornado Wrangler" and called it good.

I must admit as each lucky 13 envelope comes to my door I've been more and more amazed at how creative the cards are. Even the envelopes are gorgeously painted and decorated. I never even thought to do that. These folks are talented. I think I'll scan the next bunch in and share them with you. Stay tuned for another wine lover update, I'm working on her tonight.