Day Four Tools

Day Four - Tools

So what's your idea of a tool?

There are lots of types of tools, and I seem to love them all.

Are you looking for a hammer, a screwdriver, or maybe even a drill

Well, I have some of those and you may see some later in the challenge, 

but today

are some of my other tools.

 These are some of my oldest tools

and they have done a lot of work.

I started sewing when I was eight
and I've had some of these tools since then.
I know I've had the pincushion the longest.  It's probably 50 years old.
The wooden spool has been in my collection for probably 30 years.
The thimble is from my best friends mother.
The scissors and tape measure are relatively new,
probably 5-10 years old.

My sewing machine is a 40 year old Kenmore, but it is in an antique
White sewing machine case.
That's the back ground.
The case has a treadle wheel and my boys used to love to make it go
round and round and up and down.

Sewed a lot of clothes with a child on my lap.

Tools
is an unframed 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel.

$50 + $6 shipping.

Day Three - Drinking the Kool Aid

Drinking the Kool Aid

What were you expecting?  hehe

Did you ever drink anything cold out of these metal glasses?

We had these when I was a kid and they are cold, 

sweating cold,

hurt your hands cold.

They came in beautiful vibrant colors, which I love,

and we got them from the milk man who delivered door to door in the 50's and 60's.

In our part of the world cottage cheese came in them.

They had a paper pull top like the milk bottle did.

Open up that gray cooler box on the front porch

and receive milk, butter, cheese and

cottage cheese in these wonderful cups.

I read a blog post from Carol Marin on Daily Paintworks

about doing four different 10 minute studies of the same subject.

I thought I'd like to try that but let me tell you,

this did not take 10 minutes.

I did the top left, and the two on the bottom the day before the 30 in 30 challenge began

to get back into the flow of painting.

I hadn't painted in several weeks so I was, shall we say "rusty".

The top right quadrant I did on day three.

But I wanted to share the full effect of the studies.

These were so fun!

Just trying to improve and this was one way to do it.

NFS

Pink and Chocolate

Pink and Chocolate

These are a few of my favorite things,

(she sings).

All sorts of shades of pink here 

surrounding another fav,

Buckeyes.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

Homemade.

Gift.

Need I explain more.

Of course you probably know the fate of these delicacies.

Gone, before I got the painting posted.

Pink and Chocolate unframed 6" x 6" acrylic on panel 

$50 + $6 shipping

Painting Is Challenging Enough

Ready For Her Closeup

2014 began today with another 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.

This is how it began.

I take lots of photos and I use them in my art.
You can see lots of photos in the background of many farm animals.
You'll probably see more paintings from those photos during this challenge.

On my laptop screen is an enlargement of a Hereford heifer I took at the
2013 Kentucky State Fair.
On the right I did a sketch of her.

It's interesting how it helps work out a lot of problems just from doing a sketch.

Ready For My Close Up
is an unframed 6" x 6" acrylic on a panel.
$50 +$6 shipping.

She could be one of the cows I raised as a kid in Ohio in 4-H.
I started out with one heifer and when I graduated from high school
I had a herd of 17 head.

I took them to the Warren County Fair in Lebanon, OH
each July to show.

My first cow, Dixie was weak through the shoulders,
but she threw beautiful calves,
and I took her and her newest calf every year
and they usually placed in the top three.

The fair holds some of my best memories as a child and teenager
and my husband, Jim and I go back every year to see the animals and the kids showing them.

Knickerbocker Snowman

One of My Favorite Toys

I had one of my 5 grandsons for a week before Christmas

and he is a creative sort,

soooo,

We created.

I gave him a pretty cool art set for his birthday in November

and he brought it and we used it.

We painted on paper using acrylic paints and foam brushes.

I've never painted anything but a wall using foam brushes, but I thought it might go better.

We had my snowman in a little setup, but the only thing we got on the paper was the snowman.

I received this little snowman on my first Christmas

and have always loved it.

I've sort of worn it out and he's no longer white, but he is still one of my favs.

After we finished the snowman, then we painted trees.

He wanted to paint an apple tree and I painted fir trees.

This was all him.  I didn't help him one little bit, except to tell him to add more apples.

This is Aidan holding my snowman.

I spent several years holding him just like this.

Here's the creative one all dolled up and ready for his close up.

This doesn't get any better!

We had a great time painting and creating.

To Paint or Not to Paint

What Say You?

January brings cold, snow, sleet, hail, rain

and 30 paintings in 30 days.

I'm still exhausted from the September Challenge.

My question to you all is,

Would you do it if you were me?

When I first heard about the challenge,

my eyes crossed with the daunting challenge.

But now that I've had a few days to consider it,

I'm beginning to think,

I may not make it all the way through, like I have with the other 2 challenges,

but there are things I want to paint and things I want to learn to paint.

Here's what I did during the first challenge.

Several are missing because the template didn't have room for 30 anythings.

I stretched my daring to paint a chicken which I was very pleased with,

and a whole series of beach paintings.

I painted my first still life with the tennis shoes and sea shells.

So that was all good.

These are from the September 2013 challenge.

I really made an effort to make things easier on myself 

by being more organized. 

I'm trying to survive Christmas right now with a sinus infection and a kidney problem.

So I don't know how much of that organization will happen this time.

But on this past challenge I learned an awful lot.

My painting really improved and that is an important part of the challenge.

I sold several of these really quickly and I had a great time,

even though I drove to Oklahoma for a private lesson with Jerry Yarnell,

Jim and I went to Myrtle Beach,

I still completed the challenge.

SO,

Please give me your opinion and advice.

Shall I paint or not

and do you want to see it as it happens?

 

Mudlark Gallery Closing

A Local Gallery Closing

It's really hard to run a small business,

but it's really hard if that business is an art gallery.

Mudlark Pottery and Fine Art Gallery

in Warsaw, KY. is now closed and I went to collect my art today.

These are some of my favorite paintings so I thought I'd give you a look.

Aspen Glow 

framed 16" x 20" acrylic

$200 + $20 shipping

 Another View

is a framed 10" x 8" acrylic on a panel.

The frame, though not shown, is a wide wood gold frame with black speckles.

$150 + $20 shipping

Anyone Home

is another 10" x 8" acrylic on a panel

beautifully framed in a wide wood gold frame with black speckles.

 $150 + $20 shipping