Goodbye Winter

I went out in search of chocolate today. That was my plan. I wanted to paint something that could be Valentine-ish. Tomorrow is February and Valentines Day may be my favorite holiday. I did buy some chocolate, but I just couldn't say no to these flowers. This is the finale painting and I'm a little sad.  Painting every day is awesome, but I do have a few other things I need to do. I've made some new friends, interacted with people both online and off, and even sold a couple of paintings that I probably wouldn't have it I hadn't been posting so often.

Day Old Bagel

Kitchen Sink bagels are the best! It's possible I'll loss a few teeth with this one, but it's  a risk I'm willing to take for the little hits of garlic and the pieces of sea salt hiding in that mess ;-) I bought it yesterday, thinking I would paint it last night. (I painted a glass of beer instead.) Painting this was a good lesson in not getting hung up on details, i.e. poppy seeds.

Drinking Buddy

My dad used to travel to foreign countries for his job and he always tried to bring home some souvenirs. This little brass llama is from Peru, I think. I want to start fitting some of my mementos from his travels into paintings in the future.  By the way, I'm not a beer drinker, but I won't let this one go to waste. 

Back to Basics

There are certain paint colors that I just love, like Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Yellow Medium. And then there's Ultramarine Blue. It seems like that color is sort of my work horse.  It ends up in everything I do.  Some people paint with a very limited palette - just the primaries, plus white. I think it's a smart practice and I do that... sometimes.

Prioritize

One of my reoccurring issues is time management. I never believe it's a late as it is. Or I push my painting time to the back burner because I think I should be doing other things first.  I don't think I'm alone with this. Also,  I need to replace the battery in my watch, but I probably won't get to it until next week.  In the meantime, I'll keep looking at my arm every now and then.

Weekend Flowers

We made a quick trip to Minneapolis today for brunch with our daughter, which provided a good excuse to swing by Trader Joe's for a fresh bouquet.  I can't find beautiful flowers here for such great price.  And the fragrance!

Cutting Out the Devil's Tongue

Hmm. This seems rather dark for me, don't you think?  This all started yesterday, when I stopped on my way home from having coffee with my buddies. I thought I'd grab some flowers or apples, but these peppers caught my eye.  Last night I tried painting them, but wiped them it off. Today, I approached them in a different way.  In the meantime, I have looked at recipes for pepper soup.  I have even more of them and they are truly 10" long! They are sweet, not hot.  Suggestions are welcome.

Left Out

One day last year this fragile little antique tea cup mysteriously appeared in my mail box at work.  I never was sure who put it there, but I have my suspicions.  I do enjoy a cup of tea most days, but I don't suspend my pinkie when drinking. I drink from a ceramic mug and favorite flavor is Earl Grey.

Simple Pleasures

I am not a wine connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. I just know what I like, and I like a very dark red, like a malbec.  Under $12, if I'm honest. To sip that while gnawing on some crusty bread is quite lovely.

Cold Catalpa

The sun is shinning! I decided to take a break from still lifes and look out the window. Catalpa trees look downright tropical when they are blooming and have dangling seedpods. It's hard to believe such a tree could grow here, or would want to. The sun is making everything sparkle, but is is still only 16 degrees.

Rhythm

I used to hate beets, thanks to being forced to eat them as a child. Now I love everything about them. Nothing goes to waste. The leaves will be steamed and I'll roast the tubers with some other tubers. And the color is so beeutiful!

Well Read

Those little packets of white powder that come with flowers really work!  I've shortened the stems and ditched a few, but this bouquet has lasted almost a week! Up past my bedtime again with this. Too many play dates during the day.

Starring Role

I'm just squeaking by with this one.  I didn't get to start painting until 8:00, due to "life".  Anyway, some of the previous flowers departed, so now a supporting actor gets a starring role in tonight's drama. 

Flowers, Second Act

So nice to spend the days with flowers when its bitter cold and windy and my driveway is coated with ice.  I wanted yellow today.  I think I can get one more painting out of this bouquet before we get tired of each other.  A few of the flowers are beginning to complain so I sent them to the back.

Cheers Darling!

Back at it! This is the first day of Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge and I'm going to try it again.  Not only that, but I'm planning to double-dip.  The makers of Strada Easel are hosting a similar  challenge.  The Strada challenge asks that participants paint 31 paintings in January and post each one on Facebook. All of the paintings must be from life, not from photos. Those that succeed in painting all 31 will be entered in a drawing for a Strada easel. Strada easels are awesome! I have one, but I would love to add another to my collection;-) I actually do prefer to paint from life anyway, but I was planning to paint a few things from some photo resources.  Guess that's out until February. Anyway, all of us who give this a shot will be winners for painting more!  I felt really rusty when I painted this little guy and it took way longer than it should have.  I think I always start out that way, so maybe tomorrow will be easier.

Key Largo Sunset

I'm not one to paint a sunset. Such a cliche, you know. But someone on FB gave me  the idea of using the Daily Paintworks challenges as ideas for paintings and I kind of like that.  And it's good to paint the things you avoid. This is inspired from a photo taken last summer.

Farmer's Market Bouquet

You would think I might use my time more wisely. Nope! I went to the farmer's market right before it closed to grab something to paint.  This bouquet had some spectacular flowers, but I realized that the star of the show had a broken stem - already lurching forward.  I don't think it will last long.  And, true to MOA, I didn't start painting until late.  Can't help it. I like to paint at night.

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road

Multiple theories on that. I'm having fun with chickens and I'm hoping this theme will see me through the next few days. 

Winter Light

This was inspired by a photo that Julie Aune posted a while ago.  In light of all the snow the east coast has gotten, it seemed appropriate.  I loved Julie's photo because I could just imagine her looking out at this scene somewhere in St. Peter. 

Not to always be making excuses for not painting, but yesterday, right when I was about to set up, I got an automated phone call from fraud prevention that let me know my credit card had been hacked. It's great that the fraud prevention works, but it messed up my schedule a little bit. I've recovered, every thing's fine and now - get to the paint!

C and C

It's a good thing I've got all these oranges. Caffeine and vitamin C may get me through this month of painting.