Some New Paintings To Round Out 2019

And what a year it's been. So very happy to see the back of it. My mood has been improving the closer we get to 2020. Not that 2020 will be particularly kind to me...but it will be fair. This is the year of a Very Big Birthday. I'll leave it to you to guess which one. As young as you feel, yes? Well, I felt around 90 for most of 2019. Today I'm back to being my forever-and-ever 38, which is a nice age - youthful enough to still enjoy everything. Wise enough not to try.

These paintings were just little asides. I wanted to paint a floral picture, but I wanted to do a vintage-style folk picture, and I really wanted to do a wild seascape. So I painted them more or less at the same time. I mentioned them to you in my last blog. Don't try this at home unless you're a very patient person.

"Early Bird"

"The Shepherdess"

"Can You See Me?"

I intend to lie low for the next 7 days. No visitors to speak of, just family. And the heat has let up, which is wonderful. Enjoy your holidays. See you in the New Year.

My Actual Paintings Are So Much Nicer Than the Photographs On My Website. (Or so I've been told.)

I know how long it's been. I used to post two or three times a week. I have no idea how I did that. I guess it was the novelty of a new blog page. Again, I apologize to those who almost have given up on me. I am still painting, but not as much.

Below is a picture of my latest painting. It's only the second time I've completed one this big (48 x 36 inches). You don't just sit in one place with this size, but need to move around the table (forget the easel - wouldn't support it) to reach the whole surface.

Hope you like it. Really don't know how I feel about it yet. Still tempted to add one of my little houses. You know I'm a little house freak. My photograph doesn't do it justice. I really am the worst photographer. It means you need to use your imagination a lot when studying my pictures. I know that often the first thing customers say when they receive their art is that the painting is so much nicer than on the website. Well, I knew that.

I called this one "Big Sky" and it's available on my site at Etsy. Yes, I'm back with them again, although I'm not sure why. Think it's the companionship. Lots of chatty people on forums at Etsy.

Ill health this year, and for a person who didn't get sick (not even a cold), it was a shock to me. I am apparently vulnerable just like everyone else. Had no experience with such low energy and did a lot of sleeping. I always thought that the first thing to go were the legs (and that's a whole other story). Anyway, I'm almost back to my old self again. Almost.

Found a new art site I'm exploring. Will let you know if it's a good fit for my work. We poor artists are always on the lookout for The One, like a young girl looking for that one really nice guy. A new  art site is always exciting, not forgetting Etsy. of course, always there, like an old standby-last-minute prom date. I've even started some new paintings - working on three at once right now. I've done this before, but wouldn't recommend it because it can become a bit frantic, but the mood hit me. Looked at the canvas and couldn't decide which of three ideas to go with, so I started all of them. Oh, and definitely saves on paint.

Talk soon. Waiting for the New Year when the world should  be a Better Place.

Be happy. If you're really stuck, there's a perfume for that.

Quiet Folk Art Sales. Perhaps Naive is redundant? What about Trompe L'oeil?

In fact, sales have completely dried up at all of my sites. Modern, colorful and wild abstracts seem to be popular, but I can only paint what I love...my naive figures, land, city and seascapes. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I had promised to post my trompe l'oeil food painting, "Light Lunch", but I forgot. A bit late, by four months, but here it is:

Naturally, this made me hungry. It didn't help that I try to live without dairy. Guess this was my response.



In thinking about the lack of sales, I remind myself that I don't paint with a view to selling. It's never been a livelihood for me, and I don't think I could handle that kind of pressure if it was. Daily Paint Works suggested I should paint more regularly - be more visible on, say, a weekly basis. But I can only paint when the urge is greatest. My work isn't a product that I can simply whip up, following a tried and true template. I surprise myself with the paintings I create. I need that little touch of wonder when new places or people present themselves. Where did they come from? Magic.

I have a lot of followers, people who like what I do, and I am always grateful for that, but the occasional buyer is very rewarding, all the same. I remember every single one of them, even decades after I sold to them. They are like my family, almost, sometimes sending a photograph of my art on their wall, in their living room or kitchen.

I love that.

See you soon. Getting some art rumblings again. It's been a while. I imagine a lot of my paints have dried out.