The Present

 

The Present

8"x8" Oil on Panel

 

     The weekend before Thanksgiving my daughter Kim and I travelled to New York City with her Meredith College (Raleigh NC) alumni.  We had a fabulous time being tourists and of course doing the obligatory shopping that all women love to do!  We went into Tiffany's on 5th Avenue and I was so excited to see their iconic robin egg blue colored boxes wrapped up and posing for me as a gorgeous still life!  Over a year ago, I bought a tube of Gamblin Radiant Turquoise and it seemed the perfect tube to use to bring this box to life! 

1935 Hay Barn

1935 Hay Barn

8"x10" Oil

$295.00 framed

 

 

     Recently our plein air buds returned to Hunter Farms, which is one of my favorite places to paint.  We had absolutely gorgeous weather again and I scoped out the property and decided to paint this hay barn.  From this angle it looks like the barn has no roof but from my vantage point it didn't!  I think I have an affinity for old barns because of the memories I have of the times spent at my grandparents during the summers.  I remember slowly walking into the horse barn because I just knew I would come across a black snake!  To this day, I still am petrified of snakes!

Lined Up

Lined Up

18"x24" Oil on canvas

 

 

     Someday I will travel to Italy to snap photos right and left of all the colorful images popping up all over the place but for now I continue to use my friend Renee's photos from one of her recent trips.  Fortunately for me she snapped quite a few boat photos and in this painting I tried to capture the rugged-looking boats which have been sun drenched through the years from sitting by the dock waiting for someone to come along and take it out into the beautiful waters.

 

Overflowing

 

 

 

Overflowing

8"x6" oil on panel

$125.00

 

 

     Our Snapfish order arrived today with almost a year's worth of photos in it!  I am still old-fashioned enough to want photos in albums so I can look through them and relive the memories of good times through the years...beach trips, mini vacations, the kids and grandkids at holiday times and all the school activities and sporting events they are involved in. 

 

     Back in March, Steve and I went to Charleston SC for our anniversary.  We had fabulous weather and spent a long weekend wandering the streets and snapped photos of everything we saw.  The flower baskets were "Overflowing" with Spring flowers and Charleston is at its best in the Spring in my opinion.

 

     Earlier today Kathy Cousart put out her blog post of a fantastic window box spilling over with flowers and I told her that she inspired me to paint one of my Charleston scenes and I could not wait for my photos to arrive and look what the mailman brought!

 

 

Bon Appetit

    

Bon Appetit

24"x24" Oil on Canvas

     For the past three years, I have attended weekly art classes with Curt Butler and this most recent five-week session was "photo-free".  Usually we work on landscapes, etc. from our own photos but our challenge was to work solely from life, in this case, still-life.  Curt tried to introduce us to Cubism and Abstract art and this is my effort in that direction.

     I must say I really enjoyed the process causing me to experiment more with drips, to be more ambiguous with the shapes and to stretch my sense of adventure playing with the oil paints.  Working larger is so freeing and I have already started another piece, a 24"x30", here at home and am really having fun with it.  Stay tuned!

French Cafe

French Cafe

18"x24" oil on canvas

$695.00 framed

     Back in the Spring of 2003, I "lived" in France while I was attending a ten-day oil painting workshop with Connie Winters.  It was a fabulous experience and we had several daily excursions into little villages throughout Provence on days when we were not painting.   This is a lovely cafe in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue where we had a delightful lunch after wandering through this antique-lovers paradise where canals dart in and around the village.  I have been looking at this photo off and on for over nine years and finally decided to give it a try.  

Summer Bouquet

Summer Bouquet

12"x12" Oil on canvas

$325.00 framed

     So glad that I cut these blossoms and painted them before the intense heat hit here in North Carolina like it has in most areas of the country.  Hydrangeas are such beautiful shrubs in the correct location in your landscape and mine have performed beautifully up to now.  When I cut these flowers, I made sure to select slightly different colors, some are more lavender and some more blue-green. 

     I played with my transparent paints with this one and I am starting to use them more and more.  I think the colors are much more vibrant and I am pleased with how this one turned out.  Paint something beautiful from your gardens before the summer heat takes them away!

The Bings

The Bings

6"x6" Oil on Raymar Panel

$75.00

     Here's another simple composition using complementary colors with summer Bing Cherries against a sap green background.  Simple, but sweet!



Peachy Keen

Peachy Keen

6"x6" Oil on Raymar Panel

$125.00 framed

      I love simple paintings like this where opposite colors on the color wheel can POP on the canvas!  In this case I've contrasted summer peaches set against a cerulean background. 

     This is my second entry in the Guild of Charlotte Artists show hanging for the month of June at Christ Church Gallery at 1412 Providence Road here in Charlotte.  If you are in the area, I hope you can stop by to view more than 70 pieces created in oil, watercolor, pastel and drawing by the extremely talented artists in our group.

Bobbing Along

Bobbing Along

Oil

12"x12" 

$325.00

     This painting will be one of my two entries that I will submit for a juried Guild of Charlotte Artists show this coming weekend.  The show will hang at Christ Episcopal Church Gallery here in Charlotte for the month of June.  My friend Renee spent a couple weeks in Italy this past Fall and she took hundreds of gorgeous photos and she has graciously shared her images with me. 

     "Bobbing Along" was done completely with a palette knife which is a tool that I really enjoy using.  This past February, I took a workshop in Atlanta with Leslie Saeta, and of course, we painted boats which is one of her favorite subjects.  So for this upcoming show I decided to do another boat palette knife painting.

Sprinkles

Sprinkles

8"x8" oil on panel

$150.00 framed

     Ever since my recent workshop earlier this month with Dreama Tolle Perry, I have been wanting to paint a cupcake using all my transparent oils.  Dreama always has photos for us to paint from during our musical easels time on the last day of the workshop  and several other artists chose the cupcake.  They all turned out so well that I wanted to try one.  My friend/family member Asheley told me about a store only three miles from my house that runs a $2 special every Tuesday.  Off I drove to SAS Cupcakes and bought this creamy cupcake with sprinkles.  Guess what's for dessert tonight!!!

Autumn

Autumn

24"x18" oil on canvas

SOLD

     I feel like I have been missing in action for the last three weeks!  I have not been very diligent in posting to my blog lately but I have been very busy painting, entering shows, attending art classes and attending my second Dreama Tolle Perry workshop in Cary NC.  It was a fabulous three-day workshop and I learned so much from such a giving teacher.  If  you love color and lots of it, I highly recommend her workshops but you have to act fast because they sell out as soon as they are posted! 

     This painting was entered into "A Natural View", a yearly juried art exhibit presented by The Schiele Museum of Natural History and the Gaston County Art Guild.   I have been fortunate enough to have at least one of my two entries accepted each year for the last four years.  Both of my paintings were juried in this year and this painting was purchased by one of the five sponsors.  In the last few years, Steve and I have visited Grand Teton National Park two times and each visit has given me hundreds of photo references of some of my favorite things to paint-trees.  This grove of trees is near the Gros Ventre Slide area of the park near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Fat Fugi

Fat Fugi

6"x6" framed

$95.00

     This big, fat, juicy apple is just one piece that will be available starting today, Thursday, April 19 and continuing thru Saturday, April 21 at the 35th Annual Charlotte Country Day School Art Sale held as part of their Big Saturday celebration.  The sale is held in the upper school library and will be open on Friday from 8 am until 4 pm and on Saturday from 10 am until 4 pm.  The festivities on Saturday will feature lots of fun games for the whole family to enjoy and great food as well.  This will be my 3rd year participating and it is always a very well-attended event.  Come on out, share in the fun and see the beautiful original oil paintings, jewelry, pottery and other fine crafts created by some very talented local artisans.  

Kathy Collins Paints: Sayago's Cafe

Kathy Collins Paints: Sayago's Cafe: Sayago's Cafe 6"x8" Oil on panel $125.00 unframed           Sayago's Cafe is located in a planned community just south of Cha...

Sayago's Cafe

Sayago's Cafe

6"x8" Oil on panel

$125.00 unframed

          Sayago's Cafe is located in a planned community just south of Charlotte in Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC.  Baxter is a lovely town lined with streets bustling with shops, restaurants and other small businesses.  My "plein air buds" frequently eat lunch at Sayago's when we paint in Baxter.  In fact, we will be having a showing of our artwork on the sidewalk in front of Sayago's on Friday evening, April 27, 2012.  If you are in the area, come on by, eat and maybe take home a piece of original artwork.  



Kathy Collins Paints: Stacked Stone Wall

Kathy Collins Paints: Stacked Stone Wall: Stacked Stone Wall 9"x12" Oil on canvas panel $325.00 framed Today my plein air buds and I travelled a whopping two miles from my ...

Stacked Stone Wall

Stacked Stone Wall

9"x12" Oil on canvas panel

$325.00 framed

Today my plein air buds and I travelled a whopping two miles from my house to Providence Presbyterian Church and Cemetery.  The oldest grave dates back to 1764 and the present sanctuary was built in 1858 and is the oldest frame sanctuary in the country!  I drive by this property every day but never went tromping through the woods and graveyard before.  This stacked stone wall grabbed my attention immediately and the sun was peaking through the new growth on the trees in just the right places. 

Butterball Rooster

Butterball Rooster

12"x12" Gallery Wrap

$350.00

Several months ago my plein air group went to Hunter Farms here in Charlotte. It is still a very limited working farm but mainly school groups come on field trips to see the goats, chickens, roosters, donkeys and other animals in the barns.  This rotund rooster was very intent on eating and would not pose for me, much to my chagrin.  From the size of him, he doesn't miss many chances to eat!

Come Into My Garden

Come Into My Garden

8"x8" Oil on canvas panel

$150.00 unframed

Just got back from a splendid weekend in Charleston, SC.  Spring always arrives earlier down there because it is on the coast and is three hours further south.

I painted this piece last week from a photo taken on another trip.  Charleston is a favorite destination of ours and is always a great weekend getaway!

We took dozens of photos so expect to see future paintings of azaleas and window boxes bursting with color!!!

Tangerine Trio

Tangerine Trio

6"x8" Oil on Canvas Panel

$125.00 framed

Why is it that when you have a cold that tangerines and oranges taste so good?  Drinking orange juice and eating oranges and tangerines have been a constant in my diet for the last month - yes, month!  If you are suffering through a cold, or even if you're not, go grab a tangerine -they're good for you!

Hanging Out

8"x8" Oil on panel

$150

This is a story about "firsts".  Welcome to my first blog post.  Hanging Out is also the first painting done on the first day of a recent fantastic five-day workshop that I attended in Atlanta with Dreama Tolle Perry and Leslie Byrd Saeta.  These two energetic ladies gave me the boost I needed to get started with blogging about my artwork.  I hope you come back for SECONDS!