I spent the day today catching up with the challenge… all day! I had 4 paintings to finish and I did it! Each one took approximate 2 - 2 and half hours … yup 10 hours of painting! Yeaks.. I'm going to tired tomorrow!
So this post will be on the short side….
I do know that Dean has a wonderful post for Meatballs and Tomato Sauce… 
I'll be posting that one soon… on our new blog Full Plate Colorful Palette.

It seems like I've been working so much from photos in the past few months that this challenge has been great for me to get back into painting still lifes. Although the rings on the onion were getting me a little dizzy trying to keep them separate, I'm very happy with the way the whole onion came out. I added the background colors with a palette knife letting a little bit of the underpainting to poke through. 

I'm glad that my studio was warm enough today to paint in. The past few days it's been so cold I brought all my paints upstairs and painted at the dining room table near the fireplace. 

Dean's working on his blog post … so stay tuned… I'll add the link in later when he finishes his part.

Let me tell you a little story...
So, last night, well afternoon, 4pm - 10:30 I worked on a landscape painting, 16 x 20 in size, but after six hours ( took a little break around 8:30pm) I stepped back from my easel and... ugh... it was just a huge flop! 
I could hear my inner voice saying "it's not that bad" and "it's not your best work". 

Over time that voice has softened. I can remember just a few years back I would get so frustrated and discouraged. But now, hopefully just a little bit wiser, "flops" are just part of the process.

So what happens after 6 hours spent on a painting that you don't even want to show the dog? Drink lots of wine? No, just kidding.

I have learned that the next step isn't to try to paint the same painting over again. In fact, I'm more likely to make the identical mistakes. Instead, I seek advice, inspiration and/or more knowledge. This time I did all three.

One of my all time favorite websites is Dailypaintworks.com for inspiration. I love to peruse the "what's new" listings. This time I went to the Art Bytes Store (very clever name by the way) Short in length but packed with information the Art Byte store offer tutorials on so many topics for artists. 

Today I downloaded for free the tutorial on "Collective Insights on Blocks' - eight pages of different artists talking about the dreaded "Artist Block" and what to do about it. It was great! One "take away" was to do something fun... just for yourself. So I went downstairs pulled out my "grown-up coloring book" and started coloring with markers. What's that you ask? They are books printed with line drawings of graphic elements, like mandalas, to color in.

 Here's the link to Art Byte store.

Then I downloaded a Tutorial called "Fracturing and how to do it" by Julie Ford Oliver. Each time I see Julie's work I would say to myself "I love how she paints but I couldn't but my finger on the technique". It's called Fracturing.. I just love learning something new! So I watched the videos (4 all together) all the way through and then went back and tried the technique myself. I would play a section. Hit the pause button. Run downstairs paint a little. Run back upstairs for the next set of directions ( Yes, you are right, I should have brought my computer downstairs... but I couldn't waste the time... I was too excited to try something new!)

So out of the darkness of that dreaded Artist's block came something new, something different and to my surprise something quite interesting.

Please tell me what you think? 

And.... if you're interested in bidding on this painting it will be up for auction on 6/2/13...  click here to bid.
with much gratitude,
Linda

Today is Day 22 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that I signed on to be apart of with Leslie Saeta and over 260 other artists.

My theme is: Connecticut Treasures. 
 Feeling the need to paint something HOT, I came across a photo I took last summer of the stuffed lobster my husband Dean made for us on a HOT July evening! Dean's an amazing cook and he's always experimenting in the kitchen. 

Since I started this project, I've been scoping out books and websites to find interesting facts about CT to share and this one kept popping up. Did you know that Connecticut is "Home of the Famous HOT Lobster Roll?" According to John Mariani's Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, the lobster roll "may well have" originated at a restaurant name Perry's, in Milford CT back in 1934. Since I grew up in Connecticut I had no idea that there was any other kind of lobster roll but the one that comes served on a HOT dog bun with HOT melted butter all over HOT fresh lobster meat. And to my surprise I once ordered a Lobster Roll in Boston, MA only to find that it was cold, and mixed with mayo! No thanks! So for me Connecticut's HOT Lobster Rolls RULE!  I don't believe Perry's in still in business but Lenny's and Joe's FishTales has three locations, Westbrook, Madison and now in New Haven, CT and they serve the REAL HOT Lobster Roll on their menu! Hungry, yet?

Join in the Journey
 Hope you join me on this 30 day painting challenge... you can sign-up for these blog posts to be delivered right in your inbox... just look for the email sign-up box in the right column. Feel free to comment below and share either your  favorite places and/or things to do in CT or...which Lobster Roll do you like better? HOT with melted butter or cold with mayo?

Today is Day 17 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that I signed on to be apart of with Leslie Saeta and over 260 other artists.

My theme is: Connecticut Treasures. 
I set this still life up early this morning on the kitchen counter thinking I would have a relaxing morning painting after everyone leaves the house, so off I went for a cup of tea with my very dear friend Tracey at Panera. A little while later ready to paint I come home only to find the lighting wasn't right anymore so I set everything up on a small table on the other side of the kitchen and then the apples wouldn't cooperate. They would randomly roll around or lean over awkwardly. And to make matters worse, our cat Jac was desperate this morning for attention. First jumping up right on the chair that my painting palette was on and next onto the table with the still life. (see photo below). Who knew it would be so difficult to paint a "still life"? Now what's up with that?

Frisbie Pie Plate Takes Flight
We had this pie plate in our hutch and it comes from the Frisbie Pie Co. in Bridgeport, CT. Here's a few notes about Frisbie:

• Frisbee was inspired by the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, founded by William Russell Frisbie. 
• In the 1870s, William Russell Frisbie opened a bakery called the Frisbie Pie Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His lightweight pie tins were embossed with the family name. In the mid-1940s, students at Yale University tossed the empty pie tins as a game.
• on January 13, 1957, Wham-O Manufacturing Co. of San Gabriel, California, Americans were introduced to the Frisbee.

And that's how the plastic Frisbee disc came to be.

Join in the Journey
 Hope you join me on this 30 day painting challenge... you can sign-up for these blog posts to be delivered right in your inbox... just look for the email sign-up box in the right column. Feel free to comment below and share either your  favorite places and/or things to do in CT or... are you a Frisbee fan?I've tried playing a few times but it appears that I'm quite dangerous with my keen ability to hit the house window rather than the target when playing "Frisbee Golf" just ask my brother, Mickey! or perhaps you have a favorite frisbee story to tell, please share, I would love to hear your story.

Today is Day 4 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that I signed on to be apart of with Leslie Saeta and over 260 other artists.

My theme is: Connecticut Treasures. 
Over the past year I've taken so many shots of places, events, people and things all around Connecticut and I'm looking forward to sharing these inspirations with you.

Walk Down Memory Lane
One of my favorite things to do when my kids were really little is to take them to a Rose's Berry Farm, in Glastonbury, CT.  Rose's was truly like no other farm I've ever been to. Climbing this winding back road in Glastonbury to the top of the hillside you come across a typical New England Farm house with a welcome sign and "Today's Pick'n"... (you can pick: blueberries, raspberries, apples, pumpkins and even Christmas trees!). As you turn into the driveway and head down the dirt path the most spectacular vista awaits you. The rolling pastures are dotted with fruits of the season, there's a little farmhouse that sells homemade vinegars, jams and fresh baked breads... but what my kids enjoyed most was the ride on the good old-fashioned red farm truck that ran every hour out to the "pick'n fields".... I can still hear all three of my kids laughing and roaring as the truck bumped along the dirt road and their anticipation to fill their bellies along with picking a few berries was worth every precious moment. Ahh, I miss those days.

Join in the Journey
Hope you join me on this 30 day painting challenge... you can sign-up for these blog posts to be delivered right in your inbox... just look for the email sign-up box in the right column. Feel free to comment below and share either your  favorite places and/or things to do in CT or... Have you ever been to Rose's Berry Farm in Glastonbury? or perhaps you have a favorite place to pick strawberries , please share, I would love to hear your story.

There are several reasons why I chose to paint a pomegranate this morning for the first painting in a new series I'm titling: Thankfulness.

My sincere intentions this holiday season is to seek out the joy of the memories and moments of my life that I'm so thankful for and what better time than to reflect on this time of year from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

In Christianity, pomegranates were featured in paintings of Mary and the baby Jesus by the likes of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, as symbols of the resurrection and everlasting life.

So for me, my first painting is humbly painted with gratitude and thankfulness to the one who created and saved me... and gave me this talent to be shared with others.

Well my first art opening is coming up this Friday at the Main Street Caffe in Cheshire and I'm a bit nervous. I sent out the invites, posted it on Facebook and started to panic that I didn't have enough artwork to show. I know silly me... but this is how my mind works. I got up at 3:30am headed for the refrigerator and there was a fresh package of strawberries just screaming out "paint me, paint me!"
Really? It's the middle of the night should everyone be sleeping?
Well... needless to say.... I wash the strawberries arranged them on the new pink striped kitchen towel Veronica and I picked out at Ikea on Friday night... and the rest was history.

I'll be bringing this painting to the show on Friday even if the paint doesn't dry in time... how much fresher can it be off the easel....;)

Hope you can join us... it's from 5-7pm 
209 W. Main Street, Cheshire CT
It's a little tricky to find but look for the clock out front that says "Coffee" on it ...
by the way... Main Street Cafe not only has great food and coffee but the gifts - jewelry, scarfs, coffee mugs are worth checking out!
Hope to see you there!

So now that all the fresh cut flowers have wilted and the only thing left in my house that’s green and living besides the mystery meal in the tupperware container in the back of my refrigerator... you know the one everyone in the family just pushes around hoping that someone else will be brave enough to open, make a discussing face and then throw out...

was this Pothos plant I picked up 2 weeks ago at the grocery store. I’m quite surprised that its still alive consider, one, I don’t really have a green thumb and two, our cat, Jac, just loves to nibble on any green leafy plant he can get his paws on.

So why haven’t I been in my studio for almost five days, you ask?

A couple of reasons. First, I’ve been studying, going to workshops, watching video tutorials and attending webinars on art marketing. There’s so much wonderful information on the web and many different organizations are seeing the need to help artists develop and grow their business and sell more art... so they can paint more.

One of my latest addictions is listening to a blog talk radio show called, "Artists Helping Artists".( Links listed below.) Leslie Saeta and her co-host Dreama Tolle Perry, two very talented artists and savvy business women. They are the number one Artist Blog Talk Radio Show and offer innovative, up-to-date information on how to grow your art business. They also interview well-known artists. If you're an artist and want to grow your business... this is one of the best... BY FAR.... places to help you do just that.

I’ve been wanting to paint sushi for a few months now. Each time we order it or go out to eat I say “this time I want to paint it first.” But as soon as we get it home, arrange it just so on the plate... we just can’t help ourselves... and dive right in.

I’m not use to painting at this angle and using very dramatic lighting where the shadow are so dark but I hope it comes across as being in a dimly lit restaurant rather than my studio.

There’s a few more pieces in the take-out box...let’s just see if they make it one more day in the refrigerator or get eat’n.