Small child's portrait

A small portrait in graphite

Small field

Here's today's painting, a little 4x6 landscape in oils.

Available on Etsy--click here to see Etsy shop

New website!

I finished my website a couple weeks ago; for just my artwork. You can take a look at it here: http://www.debmarett.com

Small portraits, sisters

I finished these two Little commissions last week. Oil paintings, just 8" x 8". I love painting children; i seem to come back to that same subject often, especially candid poses like this. I really am pleased with both of these.

Chickens On Parade

Here's my first adventure into painting with a knife--Chickens On Parade! I enjoyed it very much, partly because I haven't been painting at all since September--life got in the way. But I liked how it handled (this is in oils), and will definitely use the knife more. This is the first in a series of chickens, I think. And, it's already sold, WOW!!

Kissel, 1921

Had a really nice time this weekend painting at the Wisconsin Auto Museum, with the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Asscociation group. They have a painting day once a month, all over the state. This was an interesting one! Not used to painting cars (or straight lines in general), but I had a great time. This is a Kissel, from 1921. I love that little side seat! What fun.

Duet

Little tow-headed boy, maybe four, comes by on the path where I'm painting with his family. Starts asking questions, making comments. "You're mixing colors." "Yes, I'm mixing shadows. See under the bridge where it's really dark?" "You need some more red." "Do I? Where should I put it?" "Here, under the green shadows." So color by color, we finished the painting together.

Wisconsin River Cliffs

Plans gone astray by life intervening, left me in the Wisconsin Dells for a day & a half with no work to be done. A friend told me about this spot, awesome little park that few people know about, with great views of the river. Some people recharge by being with other people; I recharge by being alone. Spent an utterly peaceful afternoon with just the breezes through the pines. This is my first attempt at a plein air using oils.

Listing on etsy

Purse Kit! :)

I found a teeny 3" x 4" spiral bound book of watercolor paper a few weeks ago, which inspired me to put together a tiny plein air kit that would fit into my purse! I had my first chance to try it out today. I also bought a small squirrel quill brush, which I am already deeply in love with.   I have learned that squirrel brushes are the best ever, and with this new addition I now have 3 of them, with which I paint 99% of the time! They're expensive, but they're so amazing. 

I actually bought my first one years ago kind of by mistake--it's an angled mop brush & was in the wrong bin so I thought it was a different price. At the register I was too embarrassed to tell them I didn't want it after all......and of course as soon as I tried it there was no going back; it's been my favorite since then. Now I have 2 more, and I feel lucky to have such a luxury! They make painting with watercolors so much easier.

Here's the little kit (there's also a pencil & eraser in the zippered pouch). The little hairspray bottle holds water.

And here are today's 2 little sketches

Artichoke Still LIfe

This is the piece I completed while at the Gallery Night on Saturday. The head designer at Flowers By Walter did this floral arrangement, and I painted it. I started at around 3:00 pm & finished right around 9:00 pm. I'm pretty pleased with the result, especially for a timed piece.

Listing on etsy

Autumn River

This is from a photo at our amazing dog park, taken last October.

I finally finished it--it's the last new piece to go into the show tomorrow. Hauled everything over today & got it mostly set up. Tomorrow taking the easels & a table to set up -- will be painting a still life "live"--for auction by the end of the night! Oy, nothing like a little pressure. Still, I'm looking forward to it.

Listing on etsy

A fun exercise this weekend! I found these tiny 3"x3" canvases at the art store. I thought they might be great for my show this coming Saturday--have some really small (inexpensive) things for sale. Tom thought not! Then he said, "Well, if you could paint each one in 5 minutes, then it would probably be worth doing." Fine! I took up the challenge.

So yesterday I sat down & he set the timer. 5 minutes turned out to be not very realistic--however, these were each 10-15 minutes, so still very quick. Great exercise in turning off your brain & trying to just get shapes/values down quickly. And I still think they're cute! They're definitely going in the show.

One more:

This is a scene from the Lake Path that goes around Geneva Lake. One of my favorite places to take a stroll!! This little gazebo caught my eye, and I couldn't resist. :)

Listing on etsy

St. John's Chapel

I'm trying to learn to do architecture better. So yesterday I spent the afternoon (took the day off) working on this. Although it's pretty tight, I think it's not bad. I see progress from the last time I attempted something like this.

Listing on etsy

The Old Ford

I found this really cool old truck today, while I was actually looking for a farmer's market to paint. Couldn't pass it up! Tom says it's from the 20's, and was a dump truck. I've never painting any type of vehicle before, & will probably attempt this one again on a bigger canvas. But it was fun & quite a nice spot to sit while painting too! The funny thing is, I've actually driven past this spot a million times and have never even seen the truck before.

Listing on etsy

Field & Woods

I found a nice little spot behind a church today. I'm working on taking an ordinary view & making it more interesting by the way I paint it. I think I like this one--it's the first plein air landscape I've done in acrylics & I'm liking how they handle. Studio work I still prefer watercolors I think.

Listing on etsy

Backyard Roses

Today's roses. I tried a challenge & only used a primary palette--red, blue, & yellow, plus white. Mixed everything from there. Lightens how much you have to carry, if nothing else!! The light changed really fast; they were all in full sun when I started. I actually like the shadows anyway!

Listing on etsy

Irises

Here's my 1/2 hour lunch time plein air that I did last week. I had a ton of work to do, but really just needed to paint! My backyard provided the irises.

Listing on etsy

Door & Courtyard

One of my goals for this year is to make painting more of a priority. I've been trying to make time to paint almost every day, and I'm loving both the increased productivity, and the fact that the extra time has increased my skills and confidence with this tricky medium! Here's last week's painting. It's also up for sale on my etsy.com store. Enjoy!

 

Listing on etsy 

Tree Tops

I spent last weekend up north at my family's cabin in the northwoods in Michigan. The cabin itself is pretty luxurious as cabins go--2 bedrooms, kitchen, electricity & running water with a generator. And 20 acres of very quiet, peaceful forest. Come November, my sister and her son will be stalking the property in hopes of finding deer to shoot. But during the summer it is a place of tranquility and relaxation. I don't get to go very often, as I live 6.5 hours away, but it was a real treat to spend some time there.

I spent Saturday afternoon sitting high in a tower which is, in the fall, a hunting blind. You sit in a small chair and there are long narrow windows from which to look out on the world from your tree top perch. I chose this spot for its unique perspective, and to be honest, because it was the last place on earth anyone would think to look for me.

Of course eventually hunger and dying light drove me from my treetop refuge, and responsibilities compelled me to come back home and face life again. But oh, I would have stayed, if only I could. I definitely would have stayed.