Cherries, Berries and Stripes

 

This is my proposed entry in a small show on the 25th at SFA college in Nacogdoches. Debbie Cannatella, Nita Bridges (from Houston) and I were looking for a reason for a get together, and this came up. Nita is from Houston and is also a member of our Artcolony blog. This show is rather different in that we hand deliver our work by 9:30, it is judged until 12, then we come back from 1 to 4 for critiques, awards and the gallery show. If your work is selected, you leave it there at the college for the next month for their show. Sounded like we could meet, shop, have lunch and see an art show all in one day. We take every advantage for a play day.

My painting is half sheet (15x22) on 140 Arches CP. As you can see, I am still on my cherry kick, and if a painting doesn't have red in it then it's not fun to paint. And, this one has LOTS of reds. Probably used 4 reds and magenta, sienna and purple for the shadowing. The stripped placemat is from a set from Pier I and I use them all the time. It really sets a cheerful table, and I do have the napkins to match. Goodness, who ever uses cloth napkins any more in this day and age? ME!!

Chicken Ranch Prada

 

Our Artcolony challenge this month (and I'm just under the July 15th deadline) is "unusual shoes". These are my rain boots for venturing down to the chicken pen in the rain and winter cold. You wouldn't believe how the chickies ran from me on my first trip down. They usually just see the food coming, but I think the sight of big orange boots and circles probably "freaked" them out. This piece is small...originally 8 x 10...but I cropped the top of the standing boot in a bit as I felt the background was rather boring. So...if it's not right...crop it! This was painted rather quickly in about 2 hours, including the sketching time. The next time I use masking fluid, I'll be more careful of my edges as all the circles possibly should be a little neater, but, not this time.