in progress

another in progress

Working in the studio again and the weather has been so nice that I'm able to open the windows and bust out the oil paint! This is making me immensely happy! I haven't used my oil paint for quite some time and have really been feeling the need to use them again. I've been using casein and some acrylic for the better part of 2 years now. I really love working with casein but wanted the luminosity and thickness of oil for the ideas I'm trying to work through. But I'm not abandoning casein, by any means. In fact, both of these painting have a casein underpainting. Technically, the green one has a casein underpainting and the gray one is an oil painting over a half finished casein painting that wasn't quite making the grade. But I used it as an underpainting of sorts.

new toys: old Grumbacher oil paint, giant tubes of Sennelier, and Shiva Paintstiks

The mark/drawing are made using Shiva Paintstiks, which are pigment compacted into a stick form with a minimal amount of linseed oil and wax.

I had been taking a break from the studio after a long productive time working on the CSA project. I needed to redirect my mind and figure out what's next. When I go through this process, I usually think back to things I know and how I studied art ... figure drawings, self portraits, still lives ... but I didn't necessarily want to take that route. So, instead, I thought OIL! Digging through my oil supplies, I found some really old tubes of Grumbacher paint that were given to me; the colors are not my typical color palette (there were mostly Thalo greens and blues) so I thought it would be the perfect way to open up and try something new. As you can see in the green painting above, I had fun using them and think I'll definitely add them into the normal rotation.

I don't know where I'd be without the help of my husband-- in general and in framing support, too!  He's cut mats and framed all of the work for the CSA show and I am so happy that he loves doing the technical work because it's just too fussy for me.  Give him things to measure and cut and he's a happy fella.  But don't worry- I help him plenty with the photography for his Etsy shop.  So let's call it sort-of-even!  (I still think I've made out on this deal)


I'm still chugging along on creating new paintings for the upcoming shows and I think I'll just keep making work beyond any exhibition dates.  I've purchased many panels to paint on and have gessoed a whole bunch of them.  I love painting on a freshly gessoed board!

Caran d'Arche Neocolor II water soluble wax pastels

I was just selected to be Dick Blick's Artist of the Month! You can see more on their Facebook page. I've been awarded a gift certificate to spend on art supplies...what more could a girl ask for?? :)