Another Pansy Painting :)

Study of Pansies and Apple, 8x8 Oil on Canvas, Etsy

I was hesitant to list this piece. Partly because I really like it and thought about keeping it. Also because it strays from my current direction in that is it's... well, let's face it, a little more cheerful than I usually paint. Bright colors against a brighter background isn't usually my style.

So much for style and authenticity, right? I guess I was just in one of those moods where light and bright was the song for the day.

As for keeping this piece, I guess I need brushes more. I use my small studies to fund my supplies so for that reason, I'm letting it go. Also, and this is big, I'm learning to NOT hold onto everything. Gotta let stuff go. Otherwise we'll end up on one of those TV shows that would embarrass the bee-geebies out of my kids. You know the ones.

I just gave 2 boxes of art magazines to the library and promised not to come back for 2 weeks to give them any more. :) It's my little effort to minimize the stuff around here.  It's baby steps.  Eating elephants.  A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step...    :)

Red Carnation Study in Chiaroscuro

Red Carnation Study,  8x8  Oil on Canvas, Sold

A lower key version of the previous carnation studies. I ended up doing a full size gallery painting with this palette.

Once again I've sprawled my flowers across the table top in my shadow box for a slightly less "arranged" look. But to be clear, they were arranged. And re arranged and re arranged and re arranged.

I know what you may be thinking... there are 4 carnations there. How much arranging can really be done. Apparently 4. :)

Study of Pansies and Brass on Green

 Study of Pansies and Brass on Green , 8x8 Oil on Canvas, Sold

I originally painted these pansies in a different vase. Every time I looked at it I felt that it lacked something. I took it back into the studio and edited in this brass pot. So much better. 

The lesson? That while the vase was greenish, it didnt relate well with the pansies and background. It was very blah which I thought would make the pansies pop. And it did but too much. They almost floated. This brass pot ties in well with both the pansies and background. The pansies still pop but their reflections on the brass help unify them. 

Thanks for looking! :)

Pink Carnations on Red - Floral Oil Painting...

Study of Carnations on Red, 8x8 Oil on canvas, Sold

​This time I went bolder with the background just to see what would happen.  I used my deep red drape for my set up wondering how pink on red would pan out.  Then I pushed the light to give it that little glow.

It certainly made a bolder statement.  A little sexier then the previous painting.  This one might even work in a bachelor pad where as the previous one, in my opinion, was a bit softer and more feminine.  

It looks great against my buttery - parchmenty colored walls and it sends a completely different message than the last one.  The carnation is facing forward sends a bold, in your face, I'm trying to tell you something - message.   

Maybe I'm over-thinking again.   :) 

Pink Carnation Study on Camel

Carnation Study on Camel, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, Sold

Carnations are a tenacious bloom. My son brought these over at Easter and they are still holding on. Unbelievable. 

I've never painted carnations before and really wondered what I was getting myself into with all the layers they have. It really gave me a chance to get in there and focus. Then I had to un-focus a little just to simplify them somewhat so they weren't quite so tight.

My thought here was about the pink blooms and how to make all that pink fit into my house - or any house. I had been told once that pink was the kiss of death relating to a painting. Stay away from it. But really, that only makes me want to paint it more...get the picture?

This experiment was painted with a camel-ish colored background because it's similar to my walls at home.  I did a quick color study on a scrap board and found it pleasing so it was time to get down and dirty and start painting.  The real test was staring at it in my house for a while to see if it really DID work or if I was just in denial about the whole PINK thing.

I like it.  It might not work in a bachelor pad.  More of a granny style bedroom kind of feel.  I actually have one of those (I refer to it as heirloom decor) and it would fit there nicely but it was drying in my TV room and frankly, it looked great there.  Or even my dining room which has cranberry accents.

I dont have any degrees in interior decorating and I'm starting to see how that could benefit me when I'm putting together a painting but at the end of the day, if I dont like it in my house, it doesnt get posted.

There you have it.  Pink Carnations on Camel.  :)

Back To My Roots

Study of Red Tulips, 8x8 Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

​I think I may be going back to my roots.  That is lower key and quiet paintings.  While I havent posted them on Daily Paintworks I've been doing a lot of larger gallery pieces this year which have been very consuming.  So consuming that I often forget to eat lunch - which is saying a LOT.  That's right, I work straight through lunch and right up to dinner.  YOWZER! (Did I spell that right?)

But all this heavy lifting, so to speak, has me doing some "heaving thinking". 

Sometimes I wonder if I'm spinning my wheels in the studio.  Why am I really doing this??  Who am I doing it for ?  And various other philosophical questions clutter my thoughts - until I get my brushes wet.  From that point on it's pure and utter focus.  My thoughts turn to questions of hue and brush strokes and what would Richard Schmid do here?  But when the dust settles, I'm back to the age old question, what is it all for?

In an attempt to answer this deep, philosophical question, I've been throwing a few things against the wall to see what sticks.  So far, this is what I've come up with:

I live on a small farm. Why? Because my father shared his memories of his farm life as a boy then for a short period moved his family to a small farm - his roots.

As a young girl with a horse I too developed farm life memories and so convinced my husband to move us to a farm some 20+ years ago.  My roots

As an adult, I often wonder if all the work is worth it.  

• Hay has to be cut, raked, baled and stacked.  
• Tractors have to be maintained $$$.  
• Water pipes in the barn have to be protected from freezing weather and repaired when they werent.. :(
• Fields need to be cut in the off season to keep the weeds down and grass thick for better hay.
• Outbuildings need maintenance (we need a new roof on one of our lean-to's ASAP).  
• And that doesnt even account for the animals :  
• A geriatric horse.  
• Cows due to calf (while we are away no less).  
• Goats that are like puppies on steroids.  
• A dog who seems to search out skunks and a cat that has been here since, well, since forever.  I cant remember a time when she wasnt here.  
• Then of course there are the critters that come around just to keep us humble:  Raccoons, opossums, rodents of all shapes and sizes and of course the afore mentioned skunks.

I've decided that it's worth it.

So what does this have to do with my art?  I'm getting to that.  I think, and I'm still percolating on this, but I think I have rural farm life in my blood.  Sure, I fantasize about living in a condo with an extra room for a studio.  NO animals and NO yard to take care of.. Certainly no outbuildings. But when I go out to feed the animals with my husband in the morning and evening, I always have an appreciation for where we live.  I love my barn.  And I love seeing the cows in the fields.  I love taking care of my aging horse. Two decades plus later and I still love it.

Still, how does this affect my art?  I'm rural deep down.  Like everyone else I've had my share of crisis and like everyone else I've had to deal.  But I've learned a lot living on a farm.  And I give some credit for my (relatively healthy) emotional status to the slow but steady pace we've adapted here.  And it's my emotional status that drives my artwork. I often see people rushing off in so many different directions.  So many priorities.  So many commitments  (all of which used to be me).  And I often wonder if I'm just lazy.  Jury is still out.  But lazy or not, it works for me.  :)   We get things done.  We try not to lag and fall to far behind lest our farm will quickly get trashy.  But we also stop to smell the roses, lilacs and my new clematis vines.  

Can you see it yet?  How it relates?  I may be reading more into it than is there but here it is:  

I relate to quiet paintings.  Less is often more.  I think (still experimenting here) I gravitate towards dominantly warm paintings over cool.  I inject quiet atmospheric backgrounds vs. active brushy backgrounds.  (I do like brushy though.  It just rarely works in my pieces).   I dont put a lot of inorganic items into my paintings anymore.  I try but it never quite works for me and I often just take it back out.  

So I dont quite know how to articulate it yet but I can tell you that while I was the only (pretty much) exclusively (can you be "pretty much exclusive"?) still life painter at the Fred Oldfield Western Show last year I felt like I finally found my tribe.  Most of these people painted horses and mountains (beautifully so) and here I was with a booth of pansies.  But I felt like we were family.  

So there it is.  My rant.  I live on a small farm and I paint quiet atmospheric paintings.  Less is more.  Stop to smell the good stuff.  Fix the fences and bake a pie.  Enjoy today because time is the one thing you cant own (I got that from Marc Cuban. Dont know where he got it).  But that doesnt mean stay busy.  It means do what counts.  :)

Brrr... Cold Days Cold Roses

Frosty Mug, 16x20, Oil on Canvas, Click for info 

More Manganese Blue please.  What a great color.  Uber icy.  And paired with red it just makes me want to grab a sweater.  :)

This is so far from my earlier pieces that were warm and smokey that it almost looks like a different artist!  But I assure you, it's all me.  As always, I continue to experiment and push myself because...  well, I'd be bored to tears if I didnt.  

So this bright painting has been delivered to the gallery along with another one that I will post next week. Today I start a new project.  But I dont think it will include Manganese Blue.  It will likely be a warmer painting but still a new palette for me.  More on that later.  :)

Red Winter Roses Oil Painting

Winter Roses, 18x24, Oil on Canvas, Click for info

It's been a cold winter.  A long, cold winter.  I cannot remember a time of going out to the barn without my hat and gloves.  Everything I paint recently seems to reflect that in a much cooler palette.  

Spring is just around the corner - although I'm hard pressed to see that because it was 28 degrees this morning.  The silver lining, however, is that my studio is warm and cozy.  And my easel faces away from the window so once I'm underway, I am far from whatever is happening outside and happily locked into my own little world.  Still, as you will soon see with the next few posts, everything I paint has chilled.  For now anyway.

So this painting is titled "Winter Roses".  My concept started with Valentines Day.  Ironically, I am not a fan of Valentines Day.  It could come and go for all I care.  The kids are grown so I'm not buying those cute little cards and those little heart candies.  Also, all sugar seems to rest comfortably on my hips so I'm not a fan of that either.  BUT the thought of having (painted) roses that wont wilt and need water changed was a comforting thought.

Here's the paradox.  I dont care for Valentines Day but I used it as my "jumping off" concept for a romantic painting...  Its really the whole (currently acceptable) concept behind Valentines Day (far from the original history, I hear).  So what I was really focusing on was the love and sharing of ones self.  The giving of a gift (or the gift of giving..) that demonstrates your love, respect, appreciation.   Roses are the traditional medium for that in our society.  At least this week.  

People appreciate being appreciated.  I know I do.  Nobody is perfect so we focus on something that we have in common and start there.  Everybody brings something else to the table because our history has given us our own unique perspective.  Those personal experiences have left thin slices of information stored away in our subconscious that influences our decision making.  However skewed everyone else may think it is, it is very real and intuitive for us.   

These roses are for you, skewed person.  You are just trying to make your way in this crazy world like everyone else.  :)

Cut flowers are nice but already dead.  A painting will live forever, right??  RIGHT??

Holiday Gift Guide for Artists #2

Bright Christmas, 12x16, Oil on Canvas, Sold

The painting above is, as of yesterday, fresh off the easel and delivered to the gallery in Edmonds, WA.  If only poinsettias were on the shelves earlier - I may have more poinsettia paintings available. But as it is, I may get one or two more done before the season is over and we will all be moving on to other things.  

But as to the title of this post, I thought I would mention some of my favorite art related books that might be considered for gift giving.

Hawthorne on Painting

The Art Spirit

Art and Fear

Steal Like an Artist

The War of Art

Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often To Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist

The Simple Secret to Better Painting: How to Immediately Improve Your Work with the One Rule of Composition

Mastering Composition: Techniques and Principles to Dramatically Improve Your Painting

I understand this next one is really good but I still dont have it.  Kind of pricey:

Composition of Outdoor Painting

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting

Creative Authenticity: 16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision

The View From The Studio Door: How Artists Find Their Way In An Uncertain World

Hensche on Painting

Rembrandt: A Life

Oil Painting with the Masters: Essential Techniques from Today's Top Artists

This is a pretty good start for now.  I have others but these really stood out for me.  Granted, it's been a while since I've read some of them and I had some on my kindle which passed away about a year ago soooo...  That said, I've read a few of these more than once such as Hawthorne on Painting the Art Spirit and Creative Authenticity.  But they're all good.  

Happy Shopping and dont forget to click through from Ebates if you do that kind of thing. 

Christmas Gifts for the Discerning Artist

  

It's Christmas time-ish and that means we look forward to finding that something special for that someone special, right?

Is your someone special an artist?  Or a wanna be artist?

OR -- did you draw the name of an artist this year?  Was it mine?  :)

Here are some brainstorming ideas  from $ to $$$:

(If you are an Ebates user, dont forget to click through from that site!)

$      Value Finder Not to be confused with View finder- put this next to your palette. Dont underestimate the value of values.   :)

$      Color wheels are inexpensive and there are a blue billion of them out there.  Options are endless.

$       I just saw this mug warmer on a blog.  I could have used this when I first set up my studio.

$       View Catcher  I use this ALL the time.  Wish I had had it years ago.

$$     This is called a View Finder and it seems over priced but I guess that's the way it is with specialized items.  I dont have one but I've often wished I did.  It basically breaks the view down into a value structure by weeding out the indiscriminate values.  Trust me on this.

$$     I LOVE my subscription to Southwest Art Magazine.  And it's not limited to just barns, deserts and cactus as you might imagine.  There are plenty of still life, portrait and figure paintings as well.  It covers events, artist bios and competitions.  Pretty inspiring.  I dont know what I would do if I let my subscription run out.

$$     Artist Magazine and it's sisters Pastel Journal and Watercolor Artist.  There's also Acrylic Artist
Drawing, Beadwork, Lapidary Journal, Cloth, Paper, Scissors, and so many more.  Magazine subscriptions are the gift that keeps on giving, right?

$$     More ideas?  Is your artist on the road a lot or EVER?  How about a wet panel carrier? Or the more elaborate Wet Canvas Carrier.  I'm a canvas painter but when I'm on a plein air excursion I use panels exclusively for reasons I wont go into at this time.

$$$     If you have a really deep pocket maybe a pochade box (this is mine) or the many, many accessories that make painting outdoors fun.  Keep in mind the box is only as sturdy as it's tripod so that is an added expense...

$$-$$$     I have a detached studio with a corner for my Keurig and mini fridge - so many options here but I wish my fridge didnt have the freezer.  I have never had a use for that in my studio. However, I do put my florals in the fridge in between paintings.  They last so much longer that way.

Books, Books, Books!

My must have list is:
Alla Prima by Richard Schmid  ( I dont know what Alla Prima II is.  I've only read the original)
An Artist Teaches by David Leffel

Of course there are many more but I will save that for another post.   I really want to get out to my studio and finish my painting.  

Have fun shopping!  And dont forget to use Ebates to get your cash back!   :)

Original Oil Painting : Fall Pansies

Study of Pansies in Low Key, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

I went out in search of a grow light because I knew I had only so many days left with these pansies before they went into hibernation.  

There is a variety of grow lights out there and I really didnt want to do a LOT of homework on it nor did I want to spend a lot of $$ on one.  Lets face it.  The plant only cost about $1.89 -- but when it's gone, it's gone until spring. 

I settled on a rather inexpensive one off Amazon and set it up in my studio with a timer so it stays on for about 18 hours.  So far I have a few new buds opening up. However, the plants that I had purchased earlier may be toast because it gets pretty cold in my studio at night (I used to turn the heat down).  So even the light may not be much help for them.  They have a few odd kinks in their stems.  That said, they are still green and not losing their leaves so I'm not giving up hope. 

If this is effective, I may be able to start my own seeds in the dead of winter for an early, maybe even ongoing, onslaught of pansy mania!

Study of Pansies in High Key

Study of Pansies in High Key, 6x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

This is a rare attempt at a high key painting. I really loved doing this. More importantly, I loved looking at it next to the TV while it dried. Yes, I was watching paint dry - and enjoying it! :)

Light and airy, this painting has a different feel then the previous mid key in yellows and red-oranges. Not so spicy but more quiet bliss. Kind of like a crisp clear morning if you will. At least for me. :)

Original Oil Painting * Yellow Pansy Study in Mid Key

Study of Pansies in Mid Key, 6x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

Fall pansies.

This mid key study was an attempt at depth without sacrificing color. I generally add my version of atmosphere which interferes with color and, in my opinion, enhances the subject.

This time I applied knowledge from a recent workshop and spiced up the color still pushing the background in to the background.

I dont think I like one over the other. They both have their qualities but are having different conversations. One is more smokey and moody and the other is a little spicer and louder.

Study of White Creamer and Apple Blossoms

SOLD

Study of White Creamer and Apple Blossoms, 8x8 Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

Glass Study with Cherries Oil Painting Auction

Glass Study with Cherries, 6x6, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

I've been really tied up getting ready for the Fred Oldfield Show last weekend. I painted this before all the chaos started with packing up and framing paintings, preparing gicleés and purchasing new equipment for my booth. All that behind me now, I'm finally back in my studio where I can  relax and get back to doing what I do.

This little painting is about depth and light atmosphere. I'm starting to realize what authenticity means - to me anyway. I like to experiment and study new areas in painting but sometimes when I do, it just feels wrong. Like it's phony. Fake. When I just start putting in colors or strokes for the sake of - what if I did this, or that (usually because someone else did it and it looked interesting) ... But you dont know if you dont try, right?

What I am finding, for now anyway, is that depth and atmosphere are home for me. Yes, my paintings are a little dark in that they lack bright cheerfulness. I like to think of it as old worldly and a little moody maybe. But it's what I see when I paint - for the most part. So it's what I paint and that makes it authentic - for me.

This little painting is authentic. It's my little jar and actual, real cherries before they died in my studio. There was a reddish background that I integrated the foreground with. Was it hazy in my studio? No. But I prefer a simplified background to a drapey one. And I want depth. I also want it to be quiet. I think this painting accomplished that even with the dominant use of red which is commonly know to arouse anger and appetite I'm told.

Anyway, this is what I saw and frankly, how I paint. Thanks for taking the time to read my blurb! :)

Hummingbirds

Hummer Study 2, 6x6 Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

This is part deux.  Hummer Study 1 is below:

Hummer Study 1, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

It's likely I'll be doing more of these.  Finding a good image with strong directional shadows is not an easy task.  Taking my own photos is not an option because I dont have the patience for it.  However, there is a website called Paint my Photo (https://pmp-art.com/) that is AWESOME if you are an artist looking for reference images - which was necessary for me if I was going to paint hummingbirds. 

Both of these came from there.  

Hummer 1:  https://pmp-art.com/robin-brady/gallery/25377/hummingbird-on-vitex-bloom

Hummer 2:  https://pmp-art.com/linda-anderson/gallery/173367/hummingbird-in-bee-balm-flowers

Thanks to Robin Brady and Linda Anderson for the terrific shots of these little buggers and the permission to use their images for paintings.  I'll be watching for more!

Winter Blush * Red Tulips

Winter Blush, 12x9, oil on canvas, SOLD

I have that bittersweet thing happening.  The gallery emails me and says, "We sold two of your paintings!"  "Really?" I'm thinking.  And " Are you sure they're MY paintings??".

I really liked those paintings but then if I didn't like them I wouldn't have taken them to the gallery.  I would have thrown them in the growing pile of used canvases with undetermined futures - reground or burn up?  But I DID like those paintings and decided that if they didn't sell I would hang them in my guest room which is done in an heirloomy kind of decor in, believe it or not, red and green.  That is,  red grommet top curtains and one wall painted chartreuse.  

On the flip side, they did sell.  This one and Tulips and Cherries.  So I will do what I've been doing and redesign an new painting for that room.  It seems to be my ace in the hole as far as artwork goes.  When I do a painting for me, in my house, a specific room, a certain wall, I am freed up to loosen up.  Experiment a little - but I want to love looking at it.  And it cant be too cliche but it also cant be too off the wall, figuratively speaking.    :)    But when I do a painting for ME, and not just "to do a painting, ANY painting"  it has a better flow.  It takes on a little bit of my persona.  A little Lori Twiggs flattened onto the canvas.  Who knew that someone else would want some Flattened Lori Twiggs on their walls?  

So it is what it is.  Someone has spent their hard earned cash to hang some FLT on their walls and we are both better off for it.  Me, because it frees up that space for me to design a new piece and them because, well, hopefully they know that the artist behind the painting speaks the same language as they do.  We communicate in color, brush strokes and atmosphere.  We aren't looking for bold splashes of chroma or safe lighting in compositions.  We respect dark corners and lost edges.  We don't need all the information spelled out for us.  In fact we appreciate a little mystery and the opportunity to decode missing pieces.  We might be the minority but we are a community.  Like it or not, we like what we like.  

My paintings were once coined "Melancholy".  Hey, I'm okay with that.  I went through a spell of melancholy (rather in and out of melancholy) for about a decade so if that translated onto my canvas then more power to me.  I don't think I'm in that same space now but I do consider my pieces quiet and restful -ish..mostly.  No noise here.  

So bittersweet but mostly sweet.  I have a new idea for that wall now but I don't have the right props yet.  Sometimes the planning is half the fun.  :)

Twiggs Studio Original Oil Paintings Tulips and Cherries Speed painting video!

Tulips and Cherries, 8x8 Oil on Canvas, Sold

Red tulips snap me out of the winter blues. Always so happy to see them in early spring! 

This painting is finished with a black frame with inside gold trim and available through the Cole Gallery. 

Check out the the video demo  on YouTube.

Twiggs Studio * Study of Pink Tulips

Study of Pink Tulips, 8x8 Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

My study of tulips is rapidly coming to a close as tulips are being replaced by daffodils (most likely my next study).  However, I've been able to gleen what I can from the last few experiences (and I will admit that you dont get to see them all - yikes!).     Those experiences have helped me with a slightly larger piece which I will be unveiling soon.  

And I HAVE learned something.  I'm learning to paint a little more boldly and a little more confidently.  I'm learning that it's okay to trash a canvas that doesnt work out like I'd hoped but I've also learned that you dont know if you dont try, right?  Right?

I've also learned that red tulips last longer if I put them in the mini fridge overnight and pink tulips open up in a matter of minutes - so take a picture because they will also lean to the light before the project is finished.  Heaven forbid I have to come back the next day to work on any of them because they are completely different flowers by then!  :)

Tulips are pretty even if they are short lived as cut flowers.  But as the first breath of spring, they are worth the effort in the studio.  

Twiggs Studio * Chiaroscuro Apples

Tablecloth Series Apples, 6x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

 Again with the table cloth. It was about the vignette and pushing the light and shadow as well as working with the small color changes as the stripes move from shadow to light and back to shadow. There was a lot of inventing with this painting. I had some fun here! :)