An apple a day...

I decided to do a small still life this afternoon, spur of the moment, taking the apples from my fruit bowl and arranging them in the new red bowl I bought to use for Thanksgiving.  I haven't been able to paint for a week, so this was the perfect subject to cut loose on and splash a bit of color around.  I love the warm color palette, and the chance to loosen up my brushstrokes and just have some fun.

After this, I have two commissions to do before Christmas, which should keep me out of trouble for a while.  It's good to keep busy!

"Apples" - 8x8"

Faux Phooey

Backtracking just a little, in August of this year I entered the Portsmouth Arts Guild's It's Your Masterpiece exhibition, which challenged artists to interpret a masterpiece of their choosing - not to merely copy, but to paint it in their own style and/or add a little something extra.

I chose Edward Hopper, being that he's one of my favorite artists, and his painting "Chop Suey", which I've always admired.  I love Hopper's rich color palette and the mysterious, somewhat solemn atmosphere that pervades a lot of his work.  I attempted to capture that with my interpretation, albeit with a twist - I wanted to modernize it and....well, I also added my cat Bob, just for a bit of fun.

I guess I did something right, as I won the Peoples Choice Award with my attempt, which was rather awesome.  But judge for yourself...

 

"Faux Phooey" - 16x20"

"Chop Suey" by Edward Hopper

Holiday Shows

For more info on the holiday shows I'm exhibiting at, which includes the Portsmouth Arts Guild, Spring Bull Gallery and Gallerie Ellipsis, I've attached contact information and show details for each gallery, or you can click on the links in this post for further info.

 

Horseneck Beach

In early October this year, on a trip to Westport (as chauffeur for hubs who was having sedation dentistry), I found myself at Horseneck Beach, early in the morning, and on a weekday.  I thought perhaps I would take a few pics, enjoy the sunshine, kill some time, but I ended up hanging out there for quite a while, digging my toes in the sand, watching the seagulls and the funny little birds who ran back and forth with the tide, and taking photos until the battery in my camera ran out.  It was such a gorgeous day, and there was hardly anyone around, so I had the beach practically to myself, apart from a few early morning risers catching the last rays of summer or getting some exercise.  I ended up with a tonne of photos, mostly of the waves, the dunes, the long stretch of beach, then over the proceeding weeks I did a series of small 8x8" paintings.  I also took a few pics of the wetlands across the road from Horseneck, so I painted one of those too.  Loved the golden colors of the marshland, as opposed to the cool blues of the ocean.

So now that Christmas is nearly upon us, I've entered my mini-paintings in various holiday shows around Aquidneck Island.  Four are at the Portsmouth Arts Guild, and three each at Spring Bull Gallery and Gallerie Ellipsis, both in Newport.  Here are some of the paintings being exhibited.

"Horseneck Beach" - 8x8"

"Horseneck Clouds" - 8x8"

"Horseneck Dunes" - 8x8"

"Waves" - 8x8"

"Waves II" - 8x8"

"Westport Wetlands" - 8x8"

"Seagull" - 8x8"

I don't think I've had this many paintings exhibited all at once before, in different galleries.  It's kind of exciting.

The Portsmouth Arts Guild show runs until December 22, and the Gallerie Ellipsis and Spring Bull shows open Thursday, December 5 and Saturday, December 7 respectively.