Token Male

Tho' the holidays aren't completely over I'm back in the studio working......

Bill and I have five hens and one rooster that we've had for going on two years now. The hens are great! We get plenty of fresh eggs from them and tho' the old rooster can be obnoxious with his crowing & carrying on, he's by far the prettiest bird in the chicken yard and winds up getting painted quite a bit........so here's another tribute to our 'Token Male'

"Family Portrait"

Still painting apples! This is another piece for our upcoming Women On Paper Show.

"Time to Makeup"

Another piece for our upcoming Women on Paper Show on Nov. 20th. As I studied these two apples while I painted them, they looked more & more like a couple who'd had a spat!

Quiet Time

Donated to The Gertrude Herbert Art Institute's annual fundraiser "Oysters on Telfair"

Workshop Works II........

Here are the last three paintings. I waited til the last day to tackle the grapes!

Workshop Works I.....

October 19th - 23rd I had the privilege of studying with a wonderful painter named Carol Marine at a workshop in Jacksonville, FL. At the tender age of 31 Carol is a very accomplished painter and teacher. Carol is a 'Daily Painter' and during this workshop she shared with us how valuable the discipline of daily painting has been for her and how it has positively impacted her art career. She certainly made a believer out of me and the rest of the workshop participants. The images above are just a few of the exercises she had us complete during the week. It was a great art experience!

The images posted go from the first painting completed to the last one of the workshop.......It'll take two posts to get all the images on here (and I'm leaving out all of the monochromatic studies! Yes, it was a productive week!!)

River Island

The smaller River Island painting that I posted previously was a study for this larger version. This one is a private commission for some residents of River Island.

River Island

I'm back into my oils again after spending the past few weeks on the big 'Flesh Colored Canvas' collage. I'm doing more works in oil on paper for an upcoming show with 'Women on Paper' a group that I paint with weekly. When we have a show there's a stipulation that all works must be on paper.

This painting is from a photograph I took of the Savannah River out at River Island....a lovely residential development in our area. They've built a beautiful park with a raised walkway for their residents and they welcome artists to come out to paint on location. It's a frequent spot for our 'Women on Paper' group. I suspect there will be a number of River Island pieces in the upcoming show.

(Big) Little River

I haven't posted in awhile 'cause I've been working on another commission that I had to get done before Bill and I leave for an upcoming trip. This is another painting for the bank that I did some work for earlier in the month......I used my small (5 x 7) daily painting of Little River as a reference for this larger one (24 x 30). All the paintings in the bank have a water-theme.....either ponds, marshes, lakes or rivers, etc.....so this one should fit in nicely.

"Bend in the River'

I'm still painting from photographs......and still using leftover paint from the recent commission I posted (Sat)!! I guess the colors I have on my palette plus being in the water/reflection mindset made me choose this scene of a spot on the Oconee River.

'Little River'

Bill corrected me about yesterday's painting. It's not a creek....it's actually 'Little River' so I guess I'll have to officially change the name of the painting!

"Leftovers!"....

Here's my painting from today.....it wasn't painted plein air but rather from an old photograph of a creek here in Columbia County. I'll have to ask Bill the name of the creek.....I honestly don't know so I'm just calling it 'Shady Creek' til I know for sure!

An art instructor I had some time back made a suggestion that when you finish a painting, rather than waste the paint on your palette.....start a new painting that calls for those colors. That's what I did here.....I'd finished up the painting of the pond (below) and used the 'leftovers' to do this one! (and I still have paint leftover!!)

Getting back to business!

After taking a week off from painting to spend time with my other interest - - music - - I'm back in the studio. Up until today I've not gotten back to my 'daily paintings' and the reason being, I was commissioned to do a painting that had to be completed fairly quickly so that's where all my efforts have been directed this week......The finished painting is pictured above. But today I managed to get a small painting done.....I'll put the image in another post........

The Results

A few weeks back I posted a painting of my husband, Bill, hoeing his newly planted Silver Queen Corn........Well here's the result!

Happy July 4th!! - 'Red White and Blue...sort of!'

Here's the last post for the day! I'm still not completely caught up but I'm getting there - - I'll post the rest of the collages tomorrow!

Happy Independence Day!

Playing Catch Up - 'Perfect!'

Bill's tomatoes are ripening up......This one was too perfect to slice right away!

Playing Catch Up - 'In The Pits'

Another oil on paper.....

Playing Catch Up - 'Bananna Peppers'

Here's another of my oil on paper daily paintings.....(see earlier post)

Playing Catch Up - 'Hydrangeas'

The camera is fixed now so I'm playing 'catch up'...photographing & posting the paintings I've completed since I returned home. I also need to re-photograph and post the rest of the collages I did at Cill Rialaig....

The first painting is one of a few hydrangeas I painted on June 23rd. It's oil on paper. While painting with oil on paper is not new to me, I saw the work of artist Valerie Lane while I was in Ireland, and it rekindled my interest in working on paper...thanks Valerie! I have LOTS of watercolor paper and as I seldom work in watercolor these days I decided it would be sensible to give it a try .....these hydrangeas are the first and I must say, I've really enjoyed using oils in this way!

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I'm back in the studio but unable to photograph my work as my camera is on the blink right now. Fortunately, it's still under warranty so Sony has promised to fix me up by either repairing or replacing the camera. Until I get it back tho, I'll just have to describe what's going on w/ me in the studio.....how exciting, huh?

Yesterday I put the finishing touches on the collage pieces I did at Cill Rialaig. I had a very productive week there and managed to get 10 small collages done - - in addition to the hand-tinted tissue paper and textured papers that I typically use in my collages, I used native dried grasses and other natural elements from the area around the Cill Rialaig Village in most of them. So Ireland is literally 'in' the work! I'll post photos as soon as I can.

Today I wanted to do a quick study from a still life. Hydrangeas are in bloom right now so I set up a small vase of them in the studio and came away with a very loose, sketchy, painting.....oil on paper.....and I like the result.....wish I could share it with you!

I felt I had to post some kind of photo so the one I chose is of the gorgeous wild foxgloves (digitalis) that were blooming all around the Cill Rialaig Village. This photo will likely result in a painting.....stay tuned!

Images from the Cill Rialaig Village

In addition to the cottages themselves, I thought some images of what can be seen from the cottages might interest you. It's almost too much to capture with a photograph - - it's definitely too much to describe with mere words.

Home Again!

I'm back home! Got back early yesterday am (3:00am to be exact!!) after a long day of travel....but home safe & sound and that's what matters! My trip was wonderful. I had a great time in Listowel during Writer's Week. The opening at Olive Stack Gallery went very well. It was opened by Nora Relihan who is a writer and stage actress from North Kerry. She did a great job and is quite an inspiration...a remarkable woman to say the least. Three of the collages I had in the show were based on John B. Keane's plays and Nora played key roles in two of them when they were staged in Listowel. She played the role of "Maggie" in "Big Maggie" and she played the role of "Mena" in the play "Sive" so it seemed quite fitting that she was involved in opening the exhibition.

After Writer's Week I spent a week at Cill Rialaig, an artists retreat on the Iveragh Peninsula in the south of Co. Kerry. The images above are of the stone cottages at Cill Rialaig. Each cottage is a restored ruin which has been converted into an artists studio w/ living space. There's a small kitchen, bathroom and a loft with a bed...otherwise it's predominately studio space. I met artists from Scotland, England, Holland, Ireland and one writer from the US. All very talented and interesting people. I was pleased with the work I was able to accomplish while there for a week. I managed to complete ten collages....some were small (5 x 7) and some were medium in size (12 x 16). I'll have to post photos of them at a later time as my camera is on the blink right now.

I also enjoyed some wonderful traditional music while I was there and had the good privilege of having two private fiddle lessons with a fabulous fiddler from Co. Clare named Maeve Donnolley. She was incredibly generous with her time and her talent.....it was an incredible opportunity for me.

I'm home now full of inspiration and as soon as I'm rested up a bit I'll be back in the studio with a vengance!

Well, my bags are packed and I'm ready to go! I leave tomorrow for a three (+) week trip to Ireland. I'm looking forward to seeing all my good friends there, hearing some great music.....playing my fiddle......eating great food.......seeing great sights.....and just enjoying myself in general. As my good buddy Dan O'Connell says. "All I have to do is 'show up!!'"

I have an exhibition during Writer's Week in Listowel (www.writersweek.ie) and then an art residency at Cill Rialaig (in the south of Co. Kerry) where I'll be working independently. Hopefully I'll come home with some interesting collage paintings!

I'll post again after my return on June 15th!

All the best.........Lillie

"The Gardener"

This was actually yesterday's painting......when I finished it, it was pouring rain!! My studio isn't attached to my house and my camera was IN the house so the photographing and posting had to wait til today. (I'll admit I couldn't refrain from 'tweaking' it just a little bit when I went down to my studio today to get it.)

This is Bill - - I took some photos of him last week when he was hoeing his corn..........With all the rain we've had it's looking really good. Let's just hope the deer don't discover it! So far they haven't touched it but Bill says they don't really care about the plants - - it's when the ears of corn start to develop that the deer are more likely to show up!

Nut on a Napkin

I did this little, and I mean LITTLE (4"x6"), painting this afternoon and spent way too much time on it. Sometimes the smaller an image the more inclined I am to tighten up in my work. Still, I'm glad I got it done. The past two days I've spent time in my studio getting ready for my trip to Ireland. While I'm at Cill Rialaig I'll be working in collage so I've been making my papers and organizing things in preparation for that!

PS. My husband, Bill, wanted to know if today's painting is a 'self-portrait'......what a guy!

Rose Campion

Several years ago a co-worker of mine was thinning out some of the perennials in her garden and gave me  a handful of Rose Campion. I planted some of it by the creek at our house in town and gave some of it to my mother-in-law who planted it up here at Whiteoak...........now, eight years later, it's about to take over!!

I'm fairly happy with the little painting I did today but anyone who's familiar with Rose Campion will spot right away that the color of the flower isn't exactly accurate.....I was on the right track initially, but I guess you could say I got carried away and never got it back. Oh well......I'll try again tomorrow. 

New Life! II

I  started this piece a couple of days ago and finished it up this morning. It's a companion piece to the collage I posted back on April 27th (the smaller of the two images in this post) called "New Life. I used the same type of fern and another wing of the same butterfly Bill found. 

POPPIES!!

I painted today with my plein air group,"Women on Paper".  We went to the home of a friend who lives near me (in the country) and plants wildflowers every year. With the rainfall we've had this spring her flowers are spectacular. Especially the poppies - - red, pink, white and orange. I did some small watercolor sketches and took some photographs. Hopefully I'll have a painting of them to post here soon.

Bill's Feather Vane

I couldn't think of what to paint this morning so I asked my husband, Bill, for a suggestion. About a year ago Bill started making what he calls 'Feather Vanes'......He takes a 'found' feather and attaches it to a swivel hook and wire then puts a few beads on for weight and embellishment. He hangs them in the trees and they dance in the breeze.....So this morning he suggested I paint one.....not just any feather vane......he made this one specifically for me to paint. What a guy!

Just Hanging Out

Yesterday my plein air group, Women on Paper, helped out at The Morris Museum during their 'Artrageous Sunday' event. My job was to provide an opportunity for the children visiting the museum to work with acrylics......I started this still life as a demo and finished it up this morning in my studio.......Haven't worked in acrylics for quite awhile - - it was fun!

A Cup of Sunshine

After seeing the roses in a new way I decided to paint a few 'weeds'........they're beautiful too! Bill is teaching at Cambridge College this weekend so I've had the whole day to myself and I figured I'd attempt to 'make up' for one of the days I missed this week due to the Undercover Artists event.......which, by the way, was a real success!!

Wine and Roses

We have a climbing rose on our deck that neither Bill or I has ever been particularly in love with. Bill said something earlier in the week about getting rid of it after it finishes blooming this year - - I didn't object when he said that but after finishing this morning's painting I've completely changed my mind.....it's not going anywhere! Sometimes you can look at things day in and day out and never really 'see' them.......hmmmm

Oranges on a Green Plate....Obviously!!

After finishing the collage I felt I had enough time left to do another painting......enough said!

Lillie's Lilies

These are calla lilies that grow at the edge of one of our ponds.  Like the iris, they were also planted by my mother-in-law, Mary. I especially look forward to them blooming every year!

Holy Mackerel!

Today's painting is small (6 x 8) and is from a photograph I took while in Ireland back in September. Our friend Martin took us out in his boat and Bill caught three mackerel. Martin caught the fourth....I never knew mackerel were such beautiful fish!

Monday April 20th, 2007 - Purple Bearded Iris

I've begun.....now here's hoping I can keep it up...posting a daily painting, that is! This one is of a beautiful purple bearded iris that was blooming in our yard.  It was planted by my mother-in-law, Mary,  a number of years ago. We bought Mary's house after her death in 2004, and throughout the year are reminded of her love of gardening as the perennials she planted reappear. Bill cut this iris yesterday and brought it in so we could enjoy it up close & personal....after studying it for awhile yesterday evening, I decided I 'needed' to paint it!