Merry Christmas!

Best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful holiday! I hope your day is filled with much happiness!

Merry Christmas!!!

Snowflakes and Seckel Pears

I love the soft, quiet light of winter, and snowy Sundays are the best. 

Stay warm!

Study in Blue

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On our recent trip, I found a stash of these vintage canning jars at a shop in Pagosa Springs. I think they will be great to practice painting glass. The light filters through them so prettily, and I love all of the little dents, scratches and imperfections.

I hope you're having a great weekend! Happy painting!

Abiquiu Light: Silver Cup with Mountain Cedar

My husband and I just returned from spending the most wonderful week in New Mexico. We rented a lovely casita on Lake Abiquiu. I painted in the mornings, and we spent the relaxing afternoons exploring. It was the perfect retreat for us. I will be posting more paintings and photos from our trip soon.

I hope you're having a great weekend! Happy painting!

Silver Cup with Pomegranate

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Still Life with Pomegranates

If I had to pick one fruit to paint for the rest of my life, I think it would be pomegranates. So fun!

I hope your week is off to a great beginning!

An Italian Pairing

For a still life painter, fall has to be the best time of year. As I wandered into the produce section, it was all I could do to keep from shouting out loud. Yippee, yippee! Inspiration is easily found among the bountiful array of fruits and veggies. My eye was drawn to the purple of these plums, and I had so much fun painting them.

Recently, I found a great video clip by Brenda Semanick. She discusses drawing ellipses, and a short demo on painting soft grays. If you're interested, you can view it here.

I hope you're having a great week! Happy painting!

Pomegranates

Detail of the pomegranate:

My Sunday afternoon was spent painting pomegranates and watching  listening to the Dallas Cowboys play. And win! I'm a happy girl.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Still Life with Sterling Pitcher and Cantaloupe

After too many days away, my fingers feel rusty.

I hope you're enjoying the last day of summer. Happy Monday!

Day Eleven

Private Collection

The background on this painting is more of a cool brown than black. I hope it looks correct on your monitor, but if not, I wanted to mention the difference. Daily Paintworks has an alternate image feature now, and I think it will be great for adding detail shots.

We have a very special wedding to attend this weekend, so this may be my last post for a few days. I hope you have a great weekend, and I will see you next week.

Happy painting!

Day 10: Woodland View

I've always loved the poem "September Midnight" by Sara Teasdale. She very eloquently describes the sounds of Indian Summer evenings. For some reason, painting this pear brought the poem to mind. The late afternoon light is so pretty this time of year. Impossible for me to truly capture, but so pleasant to try.

Have a great evening!

Day Nine

It is really windy here today, so this is not the best photograph. I will try to replace it with a better one later this week. My sweet friend, MaryJane, gave me this vintage dachshund figurine, and I thought it would make a fun study. Dachsies, even porcelain ones, make my heart smile.

Have a great evening!

Day Eight

Well, the first week of the 30-in-30 challenge flew by. This is going to be a busy week for me, but I will try to post as much as possible. With a little luck, hopefully, I will end up with 7 more paintings. Thank you for your very sweet comments and for your patience with all of these extra posts. I appreciate it.

I hope your week is off to a wonderful beginning! Happy Monday!

Day Seven

We've been enjoying a cool, rainy weekend. It feels like time to make green chile stew and watch a little football. I love this time of year!

Happy Sunday!

Day Six: Apricot Tea

Painting on a quiet, rainy Saturday morning. Perfect.

Day Five

I'm still having fun with the Italian plums. If fruit can have personality, they are packed with it.

Happy Friday!

Day Four

I loved painting these little Italian plums, and the footed bowl was a fun challenge, too.

Happy Thursday!

Day Three

This is my entry for day three of the 30-in-30 challenge. Leslie suggested we pick a theme for our 30 paintings. When I sit down to paint, my main focus is always portraying the play of light. The objects and composition never matter much to me. The light is my inspiration. In the past year or so, I've been drawn to the quietness of it. This little pear has that twilight feel for me.

I hope you're having a wonderful day! Happy painting!

Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Painting Challenge

Day One:

Day Two:

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These are my entries for Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I did not have internet access yesterday, so I'm posting them both today. Check out all of the wonderful entries/artists here. It is such a fun challenge!

I hope your September is off to a great beginning!

Still Life with Temple Bottle and Cherries

I received the beautiful temple bottle from Jury Smith this week, and I couldn't wait to paint it. Her  "Bottle and Bowl" online store is an invaluable resource for still life painters. She is incredibly talented and so sweet. If you haven't visited her store yet, please do. 

For a little daily painting trivia, I think this is my first self-portrait. Usually, I paint myself out of the reflection, but for some reason, it seemed to work with this bottle. It sort of made me look skinny. Who can resist that? Lots of fun!

Have a great weekend!

Wild Plum Jam

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Some of our favorite summer pleasures are wild plum jelly, butter and jam. A couple of years ago, my precious father-in-law shared his recipe with the McDowell girls and taught us the fine art of making jelly. We spent a week learning from him. So many good memories! Now, we are trying to carry on the tradition. My sweet and very talented niece does the lion's share of the work, but I am happy to help as her jelly-making assistant and dishwasher. Lots of fun!

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Summertime

Today was my first day in my new studio (aka our spare bedroom.) It has a larger window, and I loved the extra sunlight. It is still a work-in-progress, but at least, I have a desk in there now. And I can paint!

I hope your week is off to a nice beginning!

Painting in the Woods

My husband and I spent this past weekend in a tiny cabin in Oklahoma's Ouachita National Forest. The scenery was so pretty, and the cabin was very comfortable. It was fun to rest, relax and of course...paint! This little oil can is one of my cabin paintings. I'm attaching a few pics from the weekend for you.

The windows were perfect for painting. I loved having so much northern exposure.

Friendly cardinals kept us company. I hope to paint him some day. If you would like to, please feel free to use this photo as reference.

Campfire breakfasts prepared by my sweet husband each day. And I loved drinking coffee on this little screened porch. It looks like it would be perfect for plein air painting with no bugs!

It was hard to leave the cool, mountain air and return to the Texas heat. I'm glad to be home, though! I hope you're all having a great week! Happy painting!

Grapes and Figs

It has been cool and rainy here today. As I started this painting, the light was so soft and gray. I really tried to focus on capturing the quietness of the light and the mood. Rainy days are my most favorite.

I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Wild Plums

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The wild plums are almost ready for making jelly. It was fun to pick a few today and try to paint their lovely pinkish-orange hue. Their values were so subtle, but I hope this painting reads okay. And it breaks all of the composition rules. The wild plums must bring out my rebellious streak.

I hope you're enjoying a wonderful week!

Still Life with Spoon and Blackberry

Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend!

PB&J

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I'm not a peanut butter fan. (Ick!) It was really interesting to paint, though. This is my entry for the Daily Paintworks Challenge hosted by Abbey Ryan. I'm always inspired by Abbey's work, and there have been so many fun paintings submitted. I couldn't resist trying it myself. If you're interested, please click here to view the PB&J Challenge.

Have a great evening!

Turquoise Teacup with Rainier Cherries

Another vintage teacup found on a fun day out "antiquing" with my friend Kim. We always find a few treasures, and I couldn't leave this little teacup behind.

I hope your week is off to a great beginning!

Still Life with Red Grapes

I did this study for a larger painting. I hope to be able to share it with you soon.

In other news, I've been having issues with my photos looking very washed out in Blogger. After much troubleshooting, I found that the problem was with my Google+ settings. If you are having the same issue, go to your profile settings page, scroll down to photos and uncheck the auto enhance feature and check the box for uploading your images at full size. This prevents it from altering or compressing your image, and the original photo quality is preserved. I only started noticing this a few weeks ago, so I thought others may be experiencing it, too.

I hope you're having a great weekend!

And the winner is...

It's time for the drawing! As you can see, everyone's name is in the hat! And since this is Texas, well, it it's gotta be a cowboy hat, right? And the lucky painter is...

Congratulations, Renee Brennan! Renee has been daily painting and blogging since February of 2010. To see her beautiful artwork, please click here.

Thank you again to everyone for the sweet comments and emails. Y'all are the BEST!

Have a great weekend! And happy painting!

Ode to Vasari and a Giveway!

It's time to confess. I have fallen completely in love with Vasari's alizarin crimson. You know how alizarin can be rather grainy? Well, this isn't. It is the best that I've ever used. Since I learn so much from you, I would like to share a tube of this awesome paint! If you would like to try it, just send me an email (or post it in comments) and on Friday, I'll put all of your names in a hat and draw a lucky winner.

Thank you for your daily inspiration! I appreciate it!

Pear at Dusk

While grocery shopping this week, I was so tickled to find a leaf still attached to this little pear. I wanted to do a happy dance right there in the produce section. I think I'm spending too much time with fruit.

Have a great evening!

White Peaches in the Late Afternoon Light

More fun with painting peaches. My husband has been eyeing these for a cobbler, so I'm painting them as fast as I can!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Tea Bowl with White Peach

I'm settling in to my summer routine groove, and I'm loving the late afternoon light for painting. And of course -- the A/C. It is already heating up in Texas! So, it's a treat to stay indoors and paint.

I hope you're having a great week!

Tenmoku Monk Bottle with Strawberries

This pretty little bottle was so fun to paint. It is another handmade piece from the Jury Smith collection available at Bottle and Bowl.

I hope your week is off to a great beginning! Happy painting!

Prairie Style

My lavender is blooming now, and I love the soft fragrance. It smells just like summertime! 

I hope you have a great evening!

Rain Delay

It's that time of year. I love listening to the Texas Rangers on the radio.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Lesson

This is my other painting from Abbey's wonderful workshop. I already miss everyone and beautiful Sedona. Praying that the Slide fire is soon extinguished. My heart goes out to all those affected by it.

Abbey Ryan Workshop

My friend, Kim, and I just returned home from spending nine, fun-filled days traveling and painting together. We attended Abbey Ryan's workshop in Sedona and met the most wonderful group of painters! Of course, painting with Abbey was the highlight of our trip. She is so incredibly talented, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to study with her again this year.

As always, she has left me feeling inspired. I'm looking forward to spending this week painting in my little studio here at home, so I had better get busy. I hope your week is off to a great beginning!

Happy painting!

Fruit of the Vine

I'm preparing to paint my studio in a few weeks, so I'm experimenting with possible color choices. This color -- used as the background --  is Sand Dollar by Sherwin-Williams. I would like to simplify my still life set up and stop using fabrics for my backgrounds. So, painting the walls a neutral shade seems the best option. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

Girl's Night

Private Collection - Ohio

Happy Mother's Day! Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Antique Sterling Creamer with Strawberry

Our weather has been stormy today, and I think it gave this little painting a moody feel. Painting during thunderstorms may be my favorite.

I hope you're doing well and enjoying a wonderful week.