Unruly Zinnias

Unruly Zinnias

10x10x1 oil on panel

$200 unframed plus $10 for shipping

This piece is a continuation of my Zinnia series. As long as my zinnias are still alive, I will paint them. They are such unruly children, as I attempt to arrange them in a vase. None of them will stay where i put them, always looking in the wrong direction. (They remind me of my grandkids when we are trying to get a decent family photo :) It takes me about as long to get them the way I want them, as it does to paint them. Well, almost.

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Bottle and Red Zinnia Still Life by Jacki Newell

I guess I should stop calling these 30 minute attemps because I really haven't been able to stay under the 30 minute mark. This one was at least 45 minutes. When my alarm went off I had to do something with the background-it was so splotchy, and the bottle was a little mis-shapen.
I bought this cute little bottle at one of my favorite stores on North Main St in downtown Greenville-"Drakes". It's a beautiful gift and florist shop. I had my eye on this bottle for a few weeks and finally got back to buy it on Saturday.

Bottle and Red Zinnia

8x8 oil on gessoed panel

$125 unframed

30 Minute Painting-Attempt #2

Here's 30 minute (more like 32 minute) painting #2. I hope to explore this subject more in the future. I bought the pitcher at Pier 1 this summer because, I needed a decent pitcher but mainly because I loved the shape of it and wanted to try painting it. I painted this outside, yesterday, on my deck, since, it was just too beautiful of a day to be inside.
Today, Dave and I made the hour drive to the mountains with the full intention of me painting at Jones Gap after a short hike. Our hike ended up being much longer than we planned because it was just too beautiful to turn back. We kept going, especially when we found out there was a 50 ft waterfall about 20 more minutes up. Wow, it was definitely worth the climb. So gorgeous and the colorful leaves were falling right along with the water. It's days like this that I'm so glad that I work so hard to stay in shape everyday! Unfortunately, I didn't get to paint there, today.

"Water with Lemon"
6"x 6" oil on canvas board
$75 unframed plus $8 shipping

30 Minute Painting-Attempt #1

I was inspired by artist Robin Cheers' blog post http://robincheers.blogspot.com/2010/10/30-minute-start.html to attempt to paint a small painting in 30 minutes. It took me about that much time to find something to set up to paint and adjust the lighting, etc, but I did paint this one in just 30 minutes. Well, to be honest, I took 2 extra minutes to touch up the highlights, etc. but was suprisingly happy with the results.

Some of the benefits of painting so quickly is that it forces me to work more instinctively rather than labor over each decision. The brushstrokes are fresher and bolder as I hurredly move on to the next section rather than hang around and redo the paint that I just put down. One of my favorite things to look at in other artist's work is the freshness of their color and brushstrokes. Learning to work quickly is especially helpful when I paint outdoors and have to keep up with the changing light and shadows. I'm hoping this little 30 minute excercise will help. This zinnia theme continues, as I have never been one to let a perfectly good little zinnia go unpainted:)

"Zinnia and Coffee"

8"x 8" oil on gessoed board

$125 unframed plus $10 shipping

Sun-drenched Zinnias

This is the resulting piece from my "plein air"session on my deck. I thought I would touch it up a bit when I brought it into the house, but decided to leave it alone.








"Sun-drenched Zinnias"
Oil Painting on linen
20"x10"
$395

Back at it.

I have been out of town to celebrate my mom's birthday and my grandson, Xavier's 3rd birthday in Omaha. I had a blast. When I got home I had three days to frantically get ready for the West Greenville Art Festival on Sat and Sunday. We had gorgeous weather, which made it so nice compared to last year's weather. I really enjoyed myself there. I sold some small paintings and met so many nice people. I'm glad it's over though, so I can get back to painting.
My sweet husband, Dave, kept my zinnias alive for me while I was gone, so I was happy to paint some of them today. I think I'm addicted to them. I love the colors and the variety of shapes and sizes. I placed some in a jar of water and set them on my deck railing so I could paint outdoors. During the oppressive heat and humidity of the summer, I brought them indoors to paint in the air conditioned studio, but I'm happy to be able to paint outdoors now that the humidity has gone way down, although, that sun was very intense. Now that the art fest is over, it can rain anytime. We really need it.

I have a bit of touching up to do on today's painting and then will post it soon.

"River Song"

I started out painting this "en plein air" on a bridge over the Middle Saluda River at Jones Gap State Park in June of this year. It's much larger than I have ever attempted outdoors and was quite a challenge. I made three trips to the park (about an hour from my house) to paint it at the same time of day and same lighting conditions. I also worked on it in the studio to finish it. I hope to paint this large again, but I better get faster at it or make sure to paint a subject closer to home. This will be hanging at the West Greenville Art Festival in the Pendleton Street Arts District the weekend of September 18 and 19. Stop by and say hi and see this piece in person.

Untitled

28" x 22 x .75" oil on stretched canvas

$575 plus postage