Mexicali Still Life on Bowl

I am posting this photo of a bowl I will be entering in a chili pepper exhibition.  I have two paintings that I will also enter but have not taken photos of them yet.  I will do that after I complete the framing.  Hopefully I will be accepted with at least one of my entries.

This is a large bowl that is 14' in diameter.  I don't know what kind of wood it is made of but it is very heavy.  It was dark in color and had a gloss on it.  After sanding I stained it in the same dark color.  It has a turquoise insert along the outer rim which I left.  I picked up the turquoise color in the painting and added dots in the same color along the inner rim.   I decided to not make the chili peppers the main focus of the painting.  I have studied much Mexican folk art and thought I would do a still life featuring things that I have seen in that type of art.  I have done similar paintings like this in the past which I call my "Pots, Plants and ?"  The ? is something different in each painting.  I could have titled this painting "Pots, Plants and Chili Peppers" but decided on "Mexicali Still Life" instead. The stand it is sitting on will be included in the price. It will be July before I find out if any of my entries have been accepted.  Here is the bowl.

Yesterday I was not sure what my next painting project would be.  I thought about it and since I only have one small desert scene painting left that is what I decided to do.  I am working on two of them and might have them finished today or tomorrow.  I'll post photos when they are done.

More painting projects

I was surprised to see it is almost two weeks since I last posted something.  I have been busy painting three creations that I will be entering in a chili pepper exhibition that starts later this summer.  I wanted to have these painting done by the entry deadline which is at the end of June.  I don't usually post photos of paintings before I submit them for an exhibition.  I haven't decided if I will stick to that or maybe post them in a few days.  I have to think about it.  In the mean time here is something I finished recently.

It is another Mexican Domino Train Station.  It was one of the last ones I had left but guess what?  A new shipment arrived!  This should keep me busy for awhile.

To tell the truth, I am not sure what I will be working on next.  I don't have any commissions at this time and no new exhibitions coming up in the near future.  The Sun City Art Festival is not until October.  I can go in any direction I want but the problem is I'm not sure what I want to work on.  I have all that yard sale stuff I collected both functional items and frames.  What do I want to paint next?  I guess I will think about it tomorrow.  I'm off to the movie theater now!

Another Prize Winning Painting!

The opening reception for the Accounting Allies Exhibition was yesterday evening and much to my surprise one of my paintings won a ribbon.  "White Roses in Talavera Vase" took third place.  It has been a good month for me.  It is the second time I won third place in an art exhibition in a 4 weeks time period.  I also won a people's choice award in an exhibition at the end of last year to add to my collection of awards and ribbons.   My total is four third place, two honorable mentions, and two people's choice awards.  Here is the newest winning painting.

This is the first time this painting has been shown in an exhibition.  It is the second version of the subject matter.  The first painting I did features red roses.  It sold quickly when I showed it at the SAAG Gallery so I decided to do a similar painting with white roses in a larger size.  Here is a photo of the first painting titled "Roses in Talavera Vase".  Even though it looks the same size as the one above it is smaller.  The one above is 21X19 and below is 14X11.

I have another painting in the Accounting Allies Exhibition.  It was painted for a cancer awareness exhibition.  If you look closely you will see I incorporated ribbons in colors that represent various types of cancer.  I painted it to honor family and friends who are cancer survivors.  This is the second time I have shown this painting.  It is 18" square and is titled "New Life."

New Exhibition

I am taking part in another SAAG sponsored exhibition at Accounting Allies.  The opening reception is tomorrow evening.  All the information is on the flyer below.

I will post photos of the two paintings I have in the show after the opening reception.

More Domino Train Stations

I was pretty busy last week.  I worked two shifts at the gallery last week, I bowled twice, had my nails done, went square-dancing and had lunch with friends.  In between all that I found time to paint.  Since I sold all but two Mexican Train Domino Stations at the gallery I had to replenish my supply.  I painted six of them last week doing three at a time.  I was in a hurry to get the first three to the gallery and forgot to take a photo of them but did remember to take photos of the second group of three.  Here they are.

The three I did not photograph were a hummingbird, an Indian Maiden and another quail in the garden which was a special order from another artist.  I put an order in to my son for more train stations.  I have only a couple unpainted ones left from the last bunch he sent me.  They are going like hotcakes at the gallery.
I wonder where that saying came from.  I will have to Google it.

Pretty Kitty and Friend

Two more projects completed.  This is "Pretty Kitty".  She is a candle holder.  Below are two images.

She stands about 8" high.  I will be taking her to the SAAG Gallery today along with the Sycamore Bowl I posted yesterday.

The other item I am showing today is a bowling pin.  After the bowling banquet where the pins I painted were given as trophies to the first place winners I had orders for two more.  Here is one of them.  I'm sorry to say I forgot to take a photo of the other one before I delivered it to the customer.

 

I am all caught up with my commissions and am now free to paint whatever I want to.   Recently I received  a "call to artists" that features chili peppers as the subject.  I have a few ideas so I think that is what I will work on next.

Speaking of exhibitions, tomorrow I deliver two paintings for a SAAG sponsored exhibition at Accounting Allies,   The opening reception will be next week.  I'll post more information on this closer to that time.

Sycamore Bowl with Desert Scene

I am back to work in my shop after 4 groups of company in 6 weeks.  We enjoyed the time we spent with all our guests but now it is time to get back to creating new art.  That is what is so great about retirement.  We can work when we want to and play when we want to.

In my previous post I showed all the stuff I found at yard sales.  I completed the first piece.  It is an unusual hunk of sycamore that was carved into this odd shape that I am calling a bowl.  Thanks to cousin Mickey who spotted it and pointed it out to me.  I might have missed it if it hadn't been for him.  The first photo is a "before" shot and then a couple of photos of the finished product taken at different angles to get full effect of the painting.

I took this photo after I cleaned it up.  I should have taken one before I did that.  It was pretty dirty.

I'll be showing this bowl at the SAAG Gallery.  I sold the large Butterfly Bowl this past weekend and painted this on to put to fill the empty spot in my display.