My New Painting Mantra

 

"This Magic Moment"     Oil Pastel and Gouache, 8x6" 

$150 Plus Shipping 

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This is truly one of those times when I wish I could show you the painting in person...because this is one of those times when the photograph just doesn't do justice.  The whole painting is much smoother than it looks here.  The scanner just seems to increase the contrast and make everything look too mottled.  Oh well... I'll try to get a better photo at a later time.

I have a new painting mantra.  The non-artist Watchers among us may not know this, but every painting goes thru some real ugly stages.  As a painter, you have to kind of get used to seeing those stages.  As I painted this one, I found myself using the mantra, "This is not the painting, this is not the painting..."  It really helped!  

This is the painting, but this photo is not really the painting :)  But I've been working hard at all the controls I can find in Photoshop Elements and Picasa, and I'm kind of over it for tonight.  I hope you will understand...

I am somewhat captivated by this image, and have painted it before, but just didn't show it to you.  I plan to use this one again, larger, perhaps in the form of cut and folded paper one day, when I learn how (see this post if you want to know what I'm talking about).

And thanks for Watching!

Sunset Over the Next Ridge - Oil Pastel

"Sunset Over the Next Ridge"       Oil Pastel, 6x8"

$95 plus shipping

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Here at "Paint Like Nobody's Watching," I have been showing paintings I did awhile ago but never blogged about.  In a comment about the painting on my last post, my friend Carol asked, "How many others are you hiding away?"  I just loved that comment!  Because I am having fun showing work I've been keeping to myself.

I plan to paint again this coming weekend.  Last weekend, my art time was spent at an assemblage workshop with Leo Monahan.  I have mentioned Leo before.  He is quite the phenomenal artist.  His main medium on his website is cut and folded paper, but he also works in collage and assemblage.  Assemblage is "art in boxes," made with found and saved objects.

Leo's students are taking a series of workshops on design thinking, and later on color, eventually making us worthy of learning the techniques of cutting and folding paper.  I have to tell you, I am realizing that far more important to me than the subject of the particular workshop with him is the opportunity to observe how Leo thinks as an extremely creative person.  What a privilege to spend time with this amazing artist!  You want to see someone get a group excited about an old, run over, rusty car part, spend some time with Leo!  Not kidding!  :)

Check him out www.leothecolorman.com

Oh, almost forgot, about my own painting above!  This is a scene from my own neighborhood!  The true, blue ridge...

Thanks for being here... 

Pieces I have Never Blogged About

"Tree in the Field"    Oil Pastel, 6x8"

$95 plus shipping

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I have a lot of pieces that for various reasons I never blogged about.  Now that I am on a blogging roll, I thought I would show you some of them while I am continuing to work on the ones in progress.  At least, I think I didn't show these.  Memory may fail here!

This one was painted some time last year.  I had painted it years ago in soft pastel, then again in colored pencil, and this time in oil pastel.  I used the soft pastel as the reference for the other two pieces, and the soft pastel was painted from my own photograph.  

If anyone can think of a better title for this piece, please let me know.  I have always thought of it as "Tree in the Field."  There might be something a little more creative that would work!

Our marketing guru, Leslie Saeta, says all pieces of the same size need to be the same price, because it is too tough to explain to the public why different pieces of the same size may have different prices.

So I'm going to explain to you.  I am going to find it easy to explain.  The "art world" may think I am unjustified charging more for this one, but I feel quite justified.  Because: I am attached to this piece.  I've had it for awhile, and it's going to take a little more to get me to feel good parting with it. 

As the artist, I think I need to feel good :)   Feel free to disagree with me and tell me why you think I'm wrong :)

Love you guys....Meredith

Summing Up 30 Paintings in 30 Days, January 2016

I didn't think I would take the time to do a collage at the end of this 30 in 30, but I guess it's somewhat of a ritual I didn't want to avoid.  So there you have it, 12 paintings that probably never would have been painted if not for this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!

I hope at the outset of this Challenge, I announced that my intention was to work on mindset, because that was what I held dear during this 30 in 30.  I did not let the Challenge, or my paintings, stress me out very much.  During past 30 in 30's, especially the first few I did, I truly put pressure on myself and ended up feeling badly when I couldn't post a painting to Leslie's blog on time.  

This time, when I was too exhausted after work to paint, I didn't try to paint.  When family time was more important, I spent family time.  When my beloved art group had a meeting after work this month, I went to the meeting and enjoyed my friends there instead of painting.  I often forgot altogether about posting to Leslie's blog.  I think the forgetting was a really good sign!

So, I didn't force myself to paint when it would not have been sensible to paint.  I didn't exhaust myself.  Instead, what I did do was create habits that are sustainable for the long run.  I currently have four paintings in various stages of completion.  I now know about myself that these four will be finished in their own time, it's not good for me to hurry them, and rotating through four will help keep me from getting into battle with any single one of them.  

When I feel too much tension while working on a painting, I now MOVE ON to another one!  And know that I will cycle back around to each of them.

As always, I thank you for your kind feedback and support.  You all have been great!  For those of you in the Challenge,  doing this together has made this Challenge all the more worthwhile.

See you SOON (instead of disappearing like I often have after burning out during these things!).

Thanks for Watching... Carry on!  (oops, just noticed I put one of my paint ahead paintings on the collage, something I intended not to do.  oh well...told you I was relaxed :)

Things I Thought I would do During this 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Nicola's Bluebells"              Oil Pastel, 6x8"

$75 plus shipping

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I enjoyed painting this oil pastel so much...the slipperiness of the medium was really fun after all that (sticky) acrylic painting I've been doing lately.

A few things I thought I would do:  I thought I would do more Oil Pastels, I thought I would paint on black gesso, and I thought I would try my oil paints again.

I have some boards with black gesso ready to go, so we will see what this week brings.

The oil paints may have to wait till February! 

Happy Painting, everyone! 

And thank you, Nicola B for the use of the photo that inspired this painting...

Making Artwork PLAY with Oil Pastel for 30 Paintings in 30 Days, Day 3

"Mind's Eye"    Experimental--Oil Pastel with Acrylic, 5.5 x 5.5"

Opening Bid $40

Bid in the DPW Auction

This one was pure play with my Oil Pastels.  Do you ever want to just see "what would happen if...?" That's what I was doing here.  And full disclosure, this was one of my paint-ahead paintings!

My friend who is new to blogging is having trouble posting to Blogger using her iPhone and/or iPad.  Anyone able to shed any light for me to pass on to her?   The comment section would work or if you prefer to write me privately, here's how to reach me.  Thanks for your help.

  

And thanks for watching...

30 Paintings in January 2015 - Collage, Completed by a Great Friend!

Thank you, dear friend

I want to thank my dear friend, Carol Edan, who actually took on the challenge of creating my collage for me after she had already done two of her own, one for her 30 in 30 paintings and one for her reference photos.  You can see her collages on her blog.

Carol knew I wasn't planning to make a collage this time.  I just felt I had put enough time into the challenge and now it was time to clean the house and focus on family.  Carol and I have met only via our cyber art world; in fact, she lives in Israel...but she is a  constant support to me, and I just loved the art she created this past 30 days.  She did scenes from a spa she goes to and used a form of artist crayons (Neocolor I Wax Pastels to be precise--different than my oil pastels) as her medium.  Check her out and say hello!

Where Does this Blog go from Here?

My last post was my "Celebrate" and "Congratulations" post, so for this one, I want to address where do I go from here.

I am feeling much more committed to regular blogging than before this challenge, so you will be hearing from me on a regular basis.  Probably not daily though :-)  But at least weekly.

I will start with showing you the soft pastel paintings that I did in December and never blogged about.  Meanwhile, I want to take what I have learned with the oil pastels and expand upon it.  For one, I will be painting more oil pastel paintings.  Secondly, I want to see how concepts I taught myself with the Oil Pastels can be applied to acrylic painting.

 Artistic Freedom

I have also made a wholehearted commitment to myself that I will not pigeon-hole myself or put myself in a box with my art. An artist is "supposed to" create one cohesive, identifiable style.  So, I'm going to be going against the grain for awhile; there is a shift happening.

I will create what I feel inspired to create each day, even if I'm working in various "styles."  It's all still me.  Perhaps I will eventually settle back down to use one medium, one subject matter, or one "look," but I am not seeking that kind of self-definition unless it just happens.

I stated at the beginning of this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that my theme was "Artistic Freedom." I did not foresee, but I know now, that once you grant yourself that kind of Freedom, you never want to let it go!

Lots is brewing around in my mind...I am off to the studio today and hope you are following your heart, too, wherever it may lead.

"Finale!" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in 2015

Oil Pastel, 2.5 x 3.5"

SOLD (thank you!)

Celebrate!

Congratulations, everyone!  We made it!!  Time to celebrate!!  Clean our houses!  Renew our connections with our loved ones!

Thank you for being such an important part of my month.  If you are reading this, I absolutely include you in my thanks, even if this is your first visit to my blog.  I appreciate every single person who comes here, artist or art-appreciator, whether you ever let me know you are here Watching or not.

 I want all the artists in the group to know that I have been so uplifted and inspired by seeing your amazing art each day and so honored to have met some of you through our mutual blogs.  I do hope we keep in touch.

And special thanks to Leslie Saeta for convening this challenging and motivating us every step of the way!

Note About the Auction

I haven't used the DPW auctions much, so I thought it would be fun to do something different for my Finale! Painting.  If you want to bid, just click on the link directly below the painting at the top of this page :-)  You will be taken to the auction page on Daily Paintworks.

The auction will end on Tuesday, February 3, and if I have arranged things as intended, it will not re-list if there are no bids by the end of the auction.  If the painting doesn't sell at auction, I am going to put it On Reserve--meaning, it will not be available immediately for sale with a PayPal link in my DPW gallery.

(also, if you want to bid, please note the actual dimensions, listed above, are teeny!  I have made this painting as large as I could on the blog, for effect!)

Personal Note about the Collage

Leslie encourages us as the final step to create and post a collage showing all our work together in one image.  I am wanting you to know I may skip this part of the challenge.  I haven't decided for sure, but I am leaning towards feeling the time it would take me to create the collage is time I would rather spend with my family and away from the computer.  Possibly...we'll see.

"Where Will You Go From Here?" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 3x4"

$30 plus shipping

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The title of this painting is my question for all of us:  "Where Will You Go From Here?"  

We have had a great run with lots of ups and downs, and as this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge comes to an end, there is a risk of feeling like we are losing something.  Which is always a possibility.  

But so much potential exists for gaining something!  New art friends, new painting methods, new studio habits, and in my case, even a new painting medium...

Let us keep the best of this Challenge going indefinitely and let go of what does not serve us (the pressure to perform).  Let us stick together and continue to support each other as we have through these 30 Days.  

I will look forward to seeing where you all go from here!

Personal Painting Note

I wanted to tell you what happened to me with this painting.  The past few days, I have been very weary of the Challenge and noticing the same happening to many other 30 in 30ers.  I had a migraine last night, so I used one of my "paint-ahead" paintings for my post for yesterday and fully expected I would do the same for the final two posts, today and tomorrow.

Once I released myself from the pressure of having to come up with two more paintings, I did some cleaning at my house and then headed...to the studio!  Where I painted not only the above painting, but also another for the final day's post.  It seems I personally do better when painting feels like a "want to" not a "have to."   Letting myself off the hook brought me right back around to my art!

"Lavender Farm Red Variation" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 2.5 x 3.5"

This is a variation of yesterday's painting, and I have a couple more to show you coming up soon.  These are actually the first oil pastel paintings I did.  I have learned so much about oil pastels since these first ones, including be careful how you remove the paintings from your board--wash your hands first!  You can see how I boogered this one up in the upper left corner while removing it from the drawing board.  I'm going to try to fix this one up before I offer it for sale.

How to Remove Animal Hair from an Oil Pastel Painting
These Oil Pastel Paintings are never really dried or  hardened.  If you have purchased one of mine, I encourage you to get it behind glass as soon as you can.  Especially if you have pets in the house.  If an animal hair gets on it, it will seemingly stick.  If you  need to remove the hair, the best way I have found is to use the corner of a piece of paper almost parallel to the painting.  Just try to get the corner to move the hair or to go under the hair slightly.  Once it pulls away from the painting, you can lift it up.  Using the paper corner is far preferable than trying to use your fingers or a tweezer--both will potentially dig into the painting and change it!  If you use patience and the corner of a piece of paper, I think you will have the best results.

Kudos to the 30 in 30ers
My congratulations to you all!  I am so proud of you and hope you are proud of yourselves.  Some of you faced other challenges in addition to painting 30 Paintings in 30 Days, such as trying to paint around a full-time job (like me), painting with health challenges, painting with heavy-duty family responsibilities, and other challenges I am failing to mention.  You deserve so much credit!

Blogger Question and Tip
I am posting this on Thursday morning around 9:30 am, so I am imagining those of you Watchers who are subscribed will receive the email of the post around 9:30 pm EST.  Up until now, I have been doing my posts the night before and scheduling them for 12:30 a.m.--that's why you have been receiving notifications around noon, EST.  The question is:  Why does Blogger wait about 12 hours to send out notifications of a post?  Blogger is able to handle everything else instantly, why the delay in the notification email?

And artist bloggers, here's a tip:  If you are not already subscribed to your own blog, you might want to consider signing up.  It's very enlightening to receive your own email notifications and see for yourself exactly when they are being delivered.

Thanks for Watching...I'm off to paint--well, I may clean for awhile first :-)

"Lavender Farm" Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 2.5x3.5"

Happy Birthday, Jackie!

To be very honest, this is one of my paint-ahead paintings.  I did paint today; in fact, I went out plein air painting on my lunch hour in my car, while it snowed!  And then, when I got home from work tonight, I had to leave my car in town and walk up the hill I live on outside of the town...because the hill will be too dangerous to drive on first thing in the morning when I need to leave for work.

Anyway, my plein air painting is at the bottom of the hill, in town, in my car.  Not that it was ready to show you.  It needed tweaking, but will have to wait.

The one above is from a photo from another plein air trip I took with the Blue Ridge Art Guild to paint at a lavender farm.  I have used this composition a number of times, and you may see a version or two this week!

30 in 30ers across the blogosphere are exhausted and in need of a break.  I say, take that break if you need it!  30 Paintings in 30 Days is just an exercise...to get us all in our studios more.   Please, friends, do not allow this exercise to make you never want to see your studio again!  Far better to take a break and preserve your joy in painting than to make yourself literally paint 30 but burn yourself out! 

As I said in this post  "...I have come to realize that this 30 Paintings in 30 Days gig is more about opening hearts than counting paintings!" 

 

Please take care of yourselves, artists!  And everyone in the northeast of the USA, hope you are warm and safe and well-prepared for this storm...

Oil Pastel Version of "Long Hair" - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 7x5"

I'm repeating myself!  This is the Oil pastel version of the painting I did yesterday using Acrylics.  I am trying to rule-out/rule-in methods and materials I want to continue with, and one way to differentiate was to repeat this painting using the Oil Pastels.  I did sort of make it hard on myself by painting from the first painting rather than from the reference photo.  Since OP's give such different effects than Acrylics, I ended up having to make some Oil Pastel "moves" in order to find resolution to this painting--different than what it took in Acrylics.

I should have mentioned yesterday, I was happy with what I did with the painting because I used the reference photo only as a suggestion for composition and value.  The colors in these paintings are nothing like the reference photo, the setting is completely different (made up/abstracted) in the paintings.  I truly feel more satisfied as an artist when I feel I'm creating rather than copying a photo.  Maybe that's why yesterday's process was more satisfying than today's...

Everyone, please take care, try to get good sleep, and remember to uplift each other...

"Edge of the Road" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 4x6"

$40 plus shipping

Purchase Here

Right now, I am happy I finished this painting and am presently waiting for Daily Paintworks to finish some temporary maintenance so I can complete this blog post and get some sleep.  I seem to be in the habit of sleeping early in the evening and then getting up to paint until I really should be...sleeping.

While we are waiting for DPW, I would like to bring up a critical subject for all you 30 in 30ers out there...what are you going to give yourself as a gift for taking on this challenge?  You are going to get yourself a gift, aren't you?  You certainly deserve something wonderful! 

Ok, here's DPW, back on-line...I'm going to wrap this up so I can wake up and move on to the next...

Thanks for watching!

 

"Grace" Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 5.5 x 5.5"

$45 plus shipping 

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Hello, Watchers!  This painting represents for me a breakthrough process.  I am excited and thrilled actually at how this one came together!

I painted it on my lunch hour today from a scene I saw hours earlier on the way to work this early morning. No reference photo. It makes me very happy to have created from my mind's eye, memory only! A very freeing process...

In real life, the blues of the trees of this painting are much richer and the orange is lighter, calmer, and not so contrasty--the orange knows its place in the real painting.  

I am using Picasa to edit these OPs and am about ready to decide to keep this new computer.   When I decide for certain, I will move my Photoshop Elements license to this computer and then hopefully do a better job of photo-editing.

Anyhow,  thanks for being here to hear about my breakthrough...and to all my artist friends, Happy Painting!

"Imagined" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 3.5x2.5"

This piece was for two experiments:  scratching to create trees, and working on black.

I am happy to report to those who read yesterday's post that I now have clean socks!  Thank you  kindly for your concern...

Lovely day here in the mountains...we enjoyed near 60 degrees today!

Happy Painting, and thanks for Watching...

"Friends" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 2.5x3.5"

$15 plus shipping

Purchase Here

I am out of clean socks.  And now I need to go to sleep.   You 30 in 30ers will know exactly what I mean!

I'm going to have to talk more about open hearts (see yesterday's post) another time.  Right now, we're talking socks.

Before I bid you a goodnight, I want to comment that this image looks a lot like the actual painting--never let it be said that I missed an opportunity to not complain about a photo of one of my pieces!

And to all, a goodnight... (literally falling asleep at the computer here)

"The Valley" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 4x6"

SOLD (thank you!)

The good thing about my not knowing what I am doing with these Oil Pastels is that nobody else could possibly know what I am doing, so no one can really tell me that I  am doing it wrong--unless one of you happens to figure out what I am doing... :-)

Thanks for being here...I love you guys.  And I have come to realize that this 30 Paintings in 30 Days gig is more about opening hearts than counting paintings!

"Open Arms" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 4x4"

SOLD (Thank you!)

This is the one I talked about yesterday, that appeared horrendous when I scanned it.  Today I photographed it.   I would say the photo is marginally better.  I actually really like this little painting...not so sure about the photograph!

I am really glad I have a blog--for most of you, it is the only way I would ever be able to show you my art.  But times like these I really wish I could say, "Come on over to my studio and let me show you what I've been doing."   Ixnay on the digital images!

Anyhow, I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the 30 Paintings in 30 Days.

I am blessed to have people who follow and comment on my art.  Today, I would love to encourage everyone to go check out the offerings from the rest of the 30 in 30 artists on Leslie's blog.  Perhaps you would be willing to go find some new art you love and go let the artists know on their blogs. I think the other artists are already checking each other out, so I am mainly talking to my non-artist friends.

At the bottom of Leslie's posts, each of the artists in the 30 in 30 posts a small thumbnail of their painting for the day.  The later in the day you go to Leslie's blog, the more paintings will be there (obviously!).  You get to the blogs by clicking on the thumbnails.  If you are in Firefox, like I am, a new tab will open with the artists' website, blog, or FB, whatever they put in the link on Leslie's blog.  A few artists don't put links, so clicking their painting won't get you anywhere.

And, as always, I thank you for being here...

"Winter's Exhale" Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel 5.5 x 5.5"

Well, for the sake of the 30 in 30, I am showing you this one, but I just cannot bring myself to sell it until I can get the image accurate enough to the painting.  I tried three different photo editors!  So, I give myself credit for trying, anyway.

This is an extra one I painted the other day.  I was looking forward to showing you the one for today, but the scan was SO OFF, that the above one actually looks relatively accurate!  

Apparently, using the scanner for Oil Pastel Paintings is going to be a bit more iffy than using it for Acrylic Paintings.  I will be looking for a Plan B.

Happy Painting, everyone!

"Tree Dance" Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 3.5 x 2.5"

$15 plus shipping

Purchase Here

Now that we are "over the hump," I want to ask my artist friends, "How are you doing?"  Is everybody ok?  Still taking good care of yourselves, body and soul?

How are you doing with your painting?  Are you painting what you really want to be painting?  Taking risks?  Learning new things?

Are you giving yourself the freedom to be the painter you truly want to be?

These are the things I've been wondering...