Redbud on the Lawn

Redbud on the Lawn
Oil on canvas, 5x7

Weekend days are especially busy, full of basketball games, family activities and always unexpected chores that just pop up!  While out, I had picked up some small canvas boards (5x7) - for those days when time is short.  I never paint on these without first priming with a gesso tinted with acrylic paint, with some kind of a ground added in for boosted texture.  Well, today I did, first time in all of these 400 plus daily paintings.  Once I had picked out my subject matter, I really wanted this format for my composition - not the 6x6's that were already primed.  Taking one of these naked 5x7's, I washed it with burnt sienna thinned down with safflower oil, wiping it off once applied with a paper towel.  I never, ever use turpentine or mediums, so the oil was my only option.  From here, I used my stick pastel to sketch out the painting - and to my surprise, it did not get all "oily" and unusable.  The pastel just merged over the top of the wash.  The paint went on smoother than normal, because of the light wash.  I normally apply the oil right onto the dry surface, so more paint sticks readily without sliding around.  With all of the crazy little things I did differently tonight, the painting still flowed right out of my brush.  I am so looking forward to spring, and this one puts me in the mind of the Augusta Plein Air Festival!  Painting number 432 in as many days :)

Building the Snowman

Building the Snowman
Oil on panel, 5x5

This was actually a day where I had trouble getting motivated to paint.  It almost never happens to me.  I have so many "must do" items on my list, that I felt rushed from the moment my feet hit the floor!  After painting easels and priming panels, I pulled myself to the easel.  My panels were not yet dry for the multiple things I wanted to paint, so I started from scratch.  I have been wanting to paint the kids building a snowman for years, and just today have done that - on a small 5x5 inch scale!  Once I got it started - I was really into it!  Sometimes, the hardest part is just showing up at the easel!  Painting number 340 in as many days.  Now - I must get ready for dinner and a Christmas show with the girls tonight!

Autumn Pin Oak

Autumn Pin Oak
Oil on panel, 8x10
"Looking Out My Front Door" Contest

When I read about the "Looking Out My Front Door" contest, I went out in search of the perfect composition.  Wishing I had 200 feet from the door to work with, I instead had to stick with the 50 given as the rule.  This pin oak is one of a dozen we bought and planted 25 years ago.  These beauties have grown straight as arrows, and their colors vary from gold to red this autumn season.  This one is at the southwest corner of the front yard, backed right up against the south pasture.  Today, I am letting loose with the impressionistic strokes - first with brushes, following with my new friend, the palette knife. The paint is thick and juicy on this one - and it is so fun to apply it with such reckless abandon!  This day was another start and stop painting day - oh how I wish I could start and finish at one sitting!  This is painting number 305 in 305 days.  I may just paint the grand old oak that my grandma planted tomorrow - now THAT is one glorious oak!

Quantrill's Men Come to Call

Quantrill's Men Come to Call
Oil on panel, 16x12
Civil War Reenactment

Quantrill and his men rode up to the house, to ask Cindy Alderson permission to water their horses.  Stopping to rest, the men would be  starting again for the 40 mile ride to Lawrence. The Alderson family fed these men, and the soldiers paid for all supplies necessary.  Less than two weeks later, the Union soldiers would come here and take everything, setting the house on fire,  during Order 11 in 1863.  Unlike the neighboring houses, the fire went out on it's own, and the house remains 150 years later.  This is painting number  238 in 238 days.  It is hard to keep up this pace with larger panels and more complicated subject matter!