Today I worked on the DSDF challenge while the boys put together the new basketball hoop! I definitely got the better end of the deal!! :) Tomorrow I am starting on a new glass painting and on Wednesday I will deliver paintings to Columbus just in time for this months gallery hop!! Woohoo!! Wish me luck!

This week has flown by.... I'm not sure where it went but I'm glad we get to sleep in tomorrow!! This painting took up quite a bit of my week. These are all bottles from the ravine. The one in front is a "Hinds honey and almond cream" bottle... In reality they are only a few inches tall, but this painting is 48" x 48". It was a lot of fun and while I wasn't painting this week, I foraged. I uncovered a few local milk bottles that I may paint next... the good old Ashland Sanitary Dairy.. Actually, I have uncovered enough bottles to keep me painting several lifetimes :) Have a fabulous weekend!

This is the piece I've been working on this week.. the same old dial phone along with my dad's old binoculars... This painting is fairly large- 36" x 60". I titled it "See no, Hear no, Speak no"... I will let it dry and then see if I need to come back with a little bit of finish work... but this is basically what it will look like!

This painting has been sitting on our mantle to dry this week... (there is no room in the studio due to the abundance of treasures!) and it has been bothering me since I put it up there so today I took it down and added the cord off the right side of the painting.. I think it grounds the phone a bit.

This old phone is another treasure from my studio... Once upon a time we actually had it as a working phone... and the kids, being much younger and not realizing it was connected, dialed 911 on it... We had to have a little chit chat about it after the police called to see what our emergency was.. so now I have to keep it around... sentimental attachment :)

I believe this is a rebellion painting against all the detail of the last painting... nice and simple!! Titled "Call Me" 36" x 48"

This week I was still excited to be painting glass and started a painting of three jars that we have excavated from the ravine. Not too far into the painting I realized that I really didn't like the composition but decided that I needed to finish it.... (I have issues with finishing things sometimes :/ ) ...just to get more experience with painting the glass.. and because I was already painting over a painting and I didn't think the canvas could hold another one...

So my lesson learned this week would be to really think about my composition before committing to it!

24" x 36"

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days... my computer had a nasty virus so I had to send it out to have it removed... GRRR!

I painted this last week but needed my photoshop program to be able to post it. This is a very cool old bottle.. this one is not from the ravine out back.. but I did find some old mason jars there this weekend that I am going to paint this week! I am amazed at how many old bottles have survived intact through 30-50 years of weather! It is always so much fun to dig out there... I never know what I will find!

36"x 48"

I also painted a small piece for the Different Strokes challenge ... it seemed appropriate since that's what we had for dinner Saturday night! I love Sushi! 8"x 10"

I have been working all week on painting this Coke bottle... also from the dump behind our house. I have become fascinated with painting glass... I have a little bit more to do on this but am almost done... 24"x 48"

This week I was just stressed and I can't say why... I really struggled with this painting and am still not happy with it but am moving on.. Laura looked at a it a few days ago and said it wasn't me.. no color.. I agreed. So I worked on trying to put some life back into it today..

This is a little glass dog that held wine once upon a time.. on the bottom it has 'Cohodas Vineyards, Inc, Geneva, Ohio. We have 30 acres with a deep ravine out back and once upon a time the farm that was here dumped all their garbage over the edge of the ravine, and when I get a chance, I go see what has been unearthed by the rain.. My whole family rolls their eyes when I come up with my treasures, but I do find some fun things!

30"x36"

I liked painting the rocks and thought of a whole bunch of ideas for a series of sorts... but maybe they should have stayed thoughts. :/ I struggled with this painting and decided in the end that part of what I didn't like may have been the composition of it... I don't know.. Called "Rock Takes Scissors".. 24" x 36"

Finally finished the new creepy bunny I found to paint. He is a hard plastic bunny head bobber with a human body... CREEPY! Had a hard time painting him.. a bit of a frustrating week, painting wise, but tomorrow is another day!!

24" x 36"

Thank you so much to Dan, from emptyeasel.com for the lovely article about my work! The website is a fabulous resource for artists- informative and educational articles on everything form current artists to painting techniques to the business of art to how to stretch a canvas (Wish I have read that one LAST week!) Be sure to stop by and check it out!!
Thanks Dan!

I was going to use the number in a collage once, but I wasn't ready to part with it... It is just an old house number that had been painted over then when it was removed, the paint chipped in a way that I liked...and so.. another treasure for my collection...

24" x 36" Weathered One

Okay... true confessions.. in addition to my "treasures" , I also have my rocks. I love my rocks! I have piles outside around the house of rocks I found that I like... and a few piles inside the house as well.... yes, my husband deserves sainthood! So here are three of my favorite rocks.. the one on the left I like because it looks like a potato... the other two because they are so round and well... just because I do! :)

This painting took a long time because I had forgotten how to stretch and prime a canvas! I found these stretcher strips and canvas.. (I believe left over from Cat's pre-college program at MICA two years ago) and thought, "I remember how to do this". Yeah. I didn't prime it well enough and it ate up tons of paint... I really like buying them pre-stretched and pre-primed... is that bad?? :/ Oh well.. 52" x 54" titled 'Trinity'

Just my robe today... Matt was still wearing his! :)

24"x 48"

I started this painting early this morning... and am just now finished with it.. 8:40 p.m. Had more than the average number of interruptions, ventures out, company, etc. and it shows a bit... also painted over an old painting and the surface was a bit rough for this painting. I really like to finish a painting in one sitting so I remember what I wanted to do with it.. But, having said all that... I am fairly happy with it and have another one in mind along the same lines... just one robe maybe.. tomorrow maybe...

24"x30"

We have a huge (4'x 6') painting over our bed that I painted months ago.. when I very first stated painting with oils... it's a landscape of our pond. Well this morning when I walked out of the bathroom and saw it, I thought it would be cool to paint our rustled bed to hang over, you know, our rustled bed... and it seemed like such a good idea to me!! So I took down the painting and dragged it up to the studio.. just before I started to paint I texted my husband to see if he minded... well it turns out he likes the landscape... damn. So I painted it anyway... just not to hang over our bed.. 36"x 48"

Art Blog Award

I received an AWARD from fellow artist, Ohioan, and friend , Dean. Please check his blog and see his wonderful paintings. According to the rules, I am to post 7 things I love and pass it to 7 friends...

1. I love my family! They are always a source of joy, comfort, companionship, amazement and often entertainment!! :)

2. I love to paint.. I have always love to create, but have only recently found an unending passion and borderline addiction to oil paint!

3. I love to read these things and find out more about the people I care about, but am loathe to actually do it myself..

4. I love junk... the old, weathered stuff that most people would walk past, or, gasp!, throw away!

5. I love living in the country.. we have an abundance of wildlife and beauty in our yard and for me it's like being close to God out here...

6. I love going to New York to visit my daughter.... and I love when she comes home too..

7. I love seeing other peoples art and ideas on their blogs! I find myself constantly amazed by how many talented, gifted artists there are and am always inspired to do better!

Here are the seven artists I am tagging... I will look forward to learning more about each of you!!

1. Michelle Burnett

2. Kate

3. Jennifer Woodburn

4. Carol Horzempa

5. Laura Arthur

6. Heidi Weller

7. Robin Roberts

Another treasure from the corner cupboard in my studio... I set this little guy on my windowsill to get a picture of him and he reminded me of a dog looking outside on a rainy day. There were actual raindrops on the window... so I painted them in the picture... I haven't decided if they read as water yet... I'll have to set it aside and think about it..

24"x36"

I saw this jar sitting on the counter the other day after the kids left for school. My son had eaten his breakfast cereal out of it... a few pieces were stuck to the inside of the jar.... I loved the way it looked.... so I painted it!!

36"x48"

I had so much fun painting the bunny, I did it again... I love the old plastic and what the light does to it. This one, I believe equally as creepy as the first, is 17"x17".

I talked my husband (God love him!!) into going back to the garage sale Saturday so I could get this bunny I had seen... a vintage hard-plastic guy probably from the 50's ... I couldn't get him out of my mind and knew I wanted to paint him... creepy, isn't he?? :)

24"x36"

I was excited to do this piece.. I really liked the composition and vintage colors... but I've been painting these last few larger paintings over old paintings and the ghost of what was on this canvas shows through on this one... the others were just kind of a texture, which I kind of liked... but this has some distinct lines.. this would be one of those 'live and learn' days... :/

36"x 48"

I spent the whole day in the studio today! I was trying to get two pieces done for the new show at the co-op gallery. It will hang on Tuesday and if these pieces are dry I will take them...

I had originally wanted to add text to the images but didn't like it so I painted over it... I will look at it again tomorrow and make a final decision... Titled, "Never Black", and "Never White", because things are always shades of grey in my world.. these are vintage checkers from a fabulous garage sale this weekend.. 24"x 24"

This is the newest of the larger paintings... 30" x 40". Titled "Stacked". I'd like to get one more done this week.... but darn it all if I don't have a house to clean, laundry to do and a family to feed!! :) We will see ....