Stained Glass Garden 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 28 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
OK, this one is a little silly, but I'm feeling the crunch here at the end of the challenge--I need to get ahead by two days before our vacation comes up. This is a technique that I've been wanting to try, which I would have done in acrylic, but felt it would work in oil, too. I used the palette knife shape to make the red and pink flowers, and bottles and bottle caps to make the other shapes, including the blue flowers. Then palette knife to put in stems and leaves. It was fun and quick!

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Frog Fountain 6x6 oil painting

Day 27 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
I've had a water garden for over 20 years, and have had a lot of different fountains. I started with the plastic kind that stays just on top of the water and sprays water into the air in different patterns. They were pretty but not very stable, kept falling over or getting blown over by the wind. Then I had a concrete fish, standing on his tail, spouting water high into the air. Very impressive, but over the years, he started to disintegrate from the water falling on him, and he looked pretty ugly, like he had a disease! I guess this happened because he didn't have a painted protective coat. Then I had a spitting heron, who was beautiful--made of some sort of resin, I think. Then he sprung a leak! :( This frog has been around and lasted through the fish and the heron, and still looks great. He's cement, but painted.
My husband said the frog looks like he's throwing up. ;) Guess I have some learning to do on painting falling water.

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Rooster 6x6 oil painting

Day 26 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
Just for fun, a wild and colorful rooster! Need to get away from the tight realism for a while, more relaxing.
Gifted to a friend.

Oreo Cow 6x6 oil painting

Day 25 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
Have you seen Oreo Cows? Also called Panda Cows. The real name is Belted Galloway, originally from Scotland, bred from Dutch belted cattle. Belties come in black, red and dun (brown). I took this photo in Tennessee, and the cow is actually reddish brown. Thought I would paint her as a true "Oreo". I was able to get the photo because the herd was fairly close to the fence, and I could get a decent shot with the zoom. I think of her name as "Cookie". ;)

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Blue Hydrangea 6x6 oil painting

Day 24 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
My blue hydrangeas have always been beautiful--until this year. In the spring, I thought I would be really efficient and clean up the garden and get everything fertilized before the company came and spread 150 bales of pine straw. Apparently I broke the rule about fertilizing flowering shrubs AFTER they bloom. The plants didn't have a single bloom this year, but they are greener and healthier than ever! :( Lesson learned. Luckily I have lots of photos from previous years.
This painting is SOLD!

Red Hibiscus 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 23 in 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
Red tropical hibiscus--my favorite color of all of them, although the yellow and pink and salmon are gorgeous, too. So many flowers, so little time!
This painting is SOLD!

Garlic 6x6 oil painting

Day 22 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
Garlic looks so white and bland, but if you look closely, you see so much more color. It's fun to exaggerate those colors, and makes the painting more interesting. I enjoyed painting this one!
I'll hang this in my kitchen with two other paintings--one of onions and one of leeks and scallions.

Green Jeep 6x6 oil painting

Day 21 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. This green jeep almost glowed in the sunlight in a movie theater parking lot. The color was metallic green, hard to paint. And the proportion! He lost some length in the front--not sure how that happened! Anyway, overall it was a fun painting. Will have to practice more on cars and see if I can get closer to the correct proportion.
This painting is a gift to a family member.

Cattails 6x6 oil painting

Day 20 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
Cattails and waterlilies, my sister's favorites, along with dragonflies and ducks and seagulls. We grew up on a large river in our front yard in Michigan, and behind us was a marsh system that was huge. Lots of opportunities to see all of these, and the red-winged blackbird, too. I was intrigued by the frogs and polliwogs in the small ponds in the field behind our house, and baby crayfish, and in the river, whole schools of teeny fish we called pinheads--literally, the size of a pin. It was a wonderful place to grow up, swimming everyday in the summer, and skating on the ice in the winter. Carefree days.

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Lily Pond 6x6 oil painting

Day 18 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
Quick oil sketch of a lily pond, very simple.
November 7--I'm painting over this one! Didn't like the way it turned out, will try again.

Pink Rose 6x6 oil painting

Day 18 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
A rose is a rose is a rose is a . . . difficult flower to paint! Especially quickly. When I painted a pink peony a few years ago I took a lot of time, painting very slowly. I'm not sure I have the patience for that now. :( Will try one another time when I'm not in such a hurry. On to the next painting!

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Trick or Treat! 6x6 oil painting

Day 17 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
OK, time for a little humor. These two butternut squash are wild and crazy guys who love to party! Their motto is "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you're soup!" Which is exactly what they'll be tomorrow.
Gave to my grandsons for Halloween.

Red-Winged Blackbird 6x6 oil painting

Day 16 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
The red-winged blackbird is seen all over Michigan in the marsh and lake areas. It's an attention-getter, with the red patches on the wings. Makes me homesick for Michigan summers. I used copyright-free online photos to draw this image.
This painting is SOLD!

Cheers! 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 15 in 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge
Cheers! Woo hoo! Halfway through the challenge! Had to celebrate with a purple martini. Well, a couple--I had to try different recipes! The usual combination is Blue Curacao and cranberry juice with vodka, but what did I find right next to the Blue Curacao? A purple liqueur! Marie Brizard "Parfait Amour". Made from oranges, like the Blue Curacao. So why isn't it orange? ;) Finished it off with purple sugar sprinkles on the rim.
Tried to make the background "confetti-like" in the spirit of celebration--too busy, I think. Fun painting, and fun celebration!

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Sea Gull 6x6 oil painting

Day 14 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
This sea gull landed on the balcony of our hotel at Mission Bay, San Diego. He stayed long enough for me to take some photos. Surveying his domain--great view!
This painting is SOLD.

Bird Nest 6x6 oil painting

Day 13 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. This bird nest is imagined, abstract and more colorful than reality. Fun to paint!
This painting was gifted to a family member.

Summer Marsh 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 12 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. This marsh is near Kiawah Island in South Carolina. I'll try it again another time with brushes instead of a palette knife, in a larger size.

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

Poppies and Seed Pods 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 11 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge Painted this one a little more loosely and abstract. Went a bit wild with the sky color.
This painting is SOLD!

Ghost Crab 6x6 oil painting

Day 10 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
This little guy has been a lot of trouble! When we found him on the beach early one morning, he was so cute--ghost crabs are nocturnal, so he probably wouldn't have been out for much longer. He was so still, I nudged him gently with my foot to be sure he was alive. He skittered a few inches away, but stayed facing me, ready to fight! Ghost crabs come in many colors, and although this one looked pretty pale when I photographed him, the picture actually showed blues, oranges and yellows. What was I thinking, trying to paint a critter with eight legs and two claws??? A ways into the painting, I realized I had given him an extra leg! I actually considered leaving it. ;) For a little creature, he can do a lot of damage--one thing he feeds on is turtle hatchlings. :( Painting him larger would have been easier--a lighter beach background would have been better. Oh, well! Another learning experience.

Horseshoe Crab 6x6 oil painting

Day 9 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
Found this horseshoe crab on the beach early in the morning. Such strange-looking creatures. They've been around 450 million years and are considered living fossils. Their eggs are an important food source for migratory shore birds. Their blood is harvested and used for medical purposes. They swim on their backs, but feed on the ocean floor. The tail is used to flip themselves over when they're on their back. I have a new respect for horseshoe crabs!

Beach Sunrise 6x6 oil painting

Day 8 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.
On our first day at the beach this summer, we walked at 6:30am. So peaceful, quiet, almost no one else on the beach. We saw turtle tracks and a horseshoe crab. The next morning we walked in the other direction. The sunrise wasn't as pretty, and we didn't see any turtle tracks at that end of the beach. The rest of the week I slept in every morning. Hey, I was on vacation!
This painting is SOLD!

Bird of Paradise 6x6 oil painting

Day 7 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days. Took the photo for this painting in San Diego--wonderful place for reference photos--all kinds of flowers and beautiful scenery. Simplified the background and used an unusual color for a little excitement. ;)

Price

Option 1 $50.00 USD

"Pocket Paintings" 2.5x3.5 pastel paintings ATC/ACEO

Small paintings that I gave to my sisters--a hay bale in Tennessee, and a sunset on the lake in my sister's backyard. Will have to figure out why the hay bale painting turned sideways. :(

Orange Pepper 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 6 in the 30 in 30 Challenge. The last pepper painting! Had a hard time with this one getting the shade of orange the way I wanted. Tomorrow, on to other another subject!
I'm having this and the other three peppers framed to hang in my kitchen.

Green Pepper 6x6 oil/palette knife painting

Day 5 in 30 in 30 Challenge. This pepper was difficult to paint--because it such a dark color, it's hard to get enough contrast. I'm painting these peppers from photos I took months ago--in natural light indoors. Should use a light on the subject to make brighter highlights and deeper shadows. Next time! Learning as I go in this challenge.

Red Pepper 6x6 oil/palette knife

Day 4 in the 30 in 30 Challenge. Painted with a palette knife to simplify.

Yellow Pepper 6x6 oil painting

Day 3 in the 30 in 30 Challenge. I'm doing simpler paintings for the next few days--fewer details, less stress. ;) And palette knife instead of brushes. Yellow pepper today, and red, green and orange to follow. (The background is actually lavender, not blue.)

A Bee in the Lavender 6x6 oil painting

Day 2 in the 30 in 30 Challenge.
I used to grow a lot of lavender, and dried it to fill vases, make potpourri, and lavender wands. I don't have any now--it's hard to keep the plants looking nice, they grow so scraggly, and I seemed to somehow miss the season before it was over to make the lavender wands. But I love the scent and found a lotion that is authentic--so many of them don't smell even remotely like real lavender.
This painting has SOLD!


Lavender Wands (Not for Sale)