June 30, "Astro"

Okey dokey kids!
One more dog before the PARTY STARTS TOMORROW MORNING!!! Wahoo!  This is Astro, with a moon behind his head-  what a sweet faced beastie!
And as promised, a shot of the start of my car with two of my helpers and neighbors!  My son is sitting IN the car~

You would not believe how nerve-wraking it is to glue mirror bits onto a new car...  whew!  One of my helpers kinda sensed my panic because I was talking about how scary it was, and I think she thought I meant the cut glass mirror pieces, which ARE sharp too!
It may take me a while to finish this-  the Art Car Parade is Saturday July 25 at 6pm around Lake Harriet (come and watch!) and I WILL have it done by then!

The DOG LIST AGAIN!

• July 1- Rosemary H- Bernice
• 2- Jenn N-  Z 
• 3- Kerry C- Rosie 
• 4- Cynthia W- Dash
• 5- Joyce M- Beau
• 6- Susan B- Ace 
• 7- Florence B- Hershel 
• 8- Andrea W- Teddy 
• 9- Candy S- Mexican Crested 
• 10- Audrey H- Henry & Frankie 
• 11- Donna H- Doogan
• 12-  Anna G- Meronym 
• 13- Sara S- Betsy, Australian Shephard 
• 14- Heather K- Pair Of Pups
• 15- Melissa M- Neville Longbottom 
• 16- Celia K- Nelly 
• 17- Molly G- Max the Corgi
• 18- Wendy R- Lucy 
• 19- Scott & Amy-  Boo Radley & Scout 
• 20- Eve S- Elvis
• 21- Lisa - Tex 
• 22- Dawn S- Toby 
• 23-Kathy J- Belle
• 24- Connie P- Eleanor & Marcel 
• 25- Sandra H- Eleanor
• 26-Loren K- Natalie 
• 27- Bill and Shari B!- Hannah 
• 28- Shelly S- Handsome Harry 
• 29- Mystery Dog
• 30- Guest Dog!
• August 1, 6-8pm FINAL EXHIBITION at DIAMOND'S!  come see all the dogs!

July 29, Cassie and THE LIST!

Sorry, I haven't posted photos of my art car's progression yet because I am busy getting art stuff going!  I mean, MORE art stuff!
So this is Cassie-  I absolutely loved the light on this one-  it's one of those that practically painted itself, I must say!
And below Cassie, I am including THIS YEAR'S OFFICIAL 30 DOGS in 30 DAYS LIST!!! Of course, subject to my rearranging it at a whim and human necessity, but there it is!

Cassie, 9x12 acrylic on panel

July 1- Rosemary H- Bernice

2- Jenn N-  Z 

3- Kerry C- Rosie 

4- Cynthia W- Dash

5- Joyce M- Beau

6- Susan B- Ace 

7- Florence B- Hershel 

8- Andrea W- Teddy 

9- Candy S- Mexican Crested 

10- Audrey H- Henry & Frankie 

11- Donna H- Doogan

12  Heather K- Pair Of Pups

13- Sara S- Betsy, Australian Shephard 

14- Anna G- Meronym 

15- Melissa M- Neville Longbottom 

16- Celia K- Nelly 

17- Molly G- Max the Corgi

18- Wendy R- Lucy 

19- Scott & Amy-  Boo Radley & Scout 

20- Eve S- Elvis

21- Lisa - Tex 

22- Dawn S- Toby 

23-Kathy J- Belle

24- Connie P- Eleanor & Marcel 

25- Sandra H- Eleanor

26-Loren K- Natalie 

27 Carolyn & Brad BM- Hannah 

28- Shelly S- Handsome Harry 

29- Mystery Dog 

30-Guest Dog 

June 28th, Jane

Here is the partner dog to yesterday's painting, the ying to her yang, the dark to her light, and it looks like the big wide face splitting grin to her little mona lisa smile!
Doncha love dogs?
And this was SUCH a fun pair to paint!  they are both such sculptural pieces!

12x12 acrylic on archival hardboard panel, SOLD

June 27, "Doris"

This is a commission I sent off to New York last week, and I've really enjoyed painting it!    There's that part of painting a white dog that gets a bit tricky... but the colors worked in this one- and her eyes in the photo were very dark, with few highlights, but this was fun to look closer at them and pull out some hints of shadow~
And we didn't get to the art car last night-  I need to wash my car and I'll put some on today!  I'll post photos once I get there!
AND I am also still collecting photos for 30 Dogs in 30 Days!  Send them to me at katjojo@hotmail.com!  I'll post the Official List on Tuesday!!!

12x12 acrylic on panel, SOLD

June 26, Hand Thrown Mug on my Birthday!

I love this mug!  I love my house!  I love my bed!  It's my birthday and I love EVERYTHING!!! Wahoo!
Today we are going to make my new art car!  I've been trying to decide whether I should do what I intended with this new car, which at first I wasn't sure I should keep it because it isn't big, but it IS cute!  So maybe if you are around today you can come by and help up glue mirrors to it!  I'll post pictures tomorrow!

6x6 acrylic on panel, AUCTION!  Click here to bid, starting at $25!

June 25, Sunny Rug

I came across this photo of Gus on our lawn on the rug I use at art fairs inside my tent, and I love the colors and contrasts.

SO I used this photo as an example last night for my painting class, in how to use transfer paper to get your basic drawing on your panel, and we had an incredible discussion about the validity of tracing to get proportions correct, and whether it was necessary to tell people that you had traced the drawing or not...  because I feel like it should be mentioned that the drawing wasn't free-hand, but at the same time, if the artist has had a lot of drawing experience and clearly has the talent to DO the drawing then it isn't as necessary.

My dilemma comes in when I find myself impressed with someone's drawing skills, thinking how much better they are than me, and then it is revealed that the individual had transferred all the images from photos, maybe even not their own photos. (Which is another entire discussion!)  I believe drawing from observation is required first to learn to see as an artist.  The eye must be able to discern line from space, form from shape, value ranges and contrast.  To me, tracing the photo to make a painting is like learning to write by only tracing the letter shapes and then going right to the keyboard;  there is no connection between eye and hand and heart, which is needed to create deep writing or seeing.  The work must be done first.  So yes, using transfer paper to transfer an image is fine when detail is required or speed is necessary, but I do believe if an artist ONLY uses transfers to get the image down, then they aren't developing the visual acuity of an actual visual artist.

And then, of course, you have conceptual artists and performance artists and others that don't use visual arts, but I do still strongly believe that feeling confident in your seeing through observational drawing will bring confidence in seeing what remains unseen.

8x8 acrylic on black gessoed panel, $130 click HERE to purchase!

June 24, Rudy!

Hi all!  Don't know quite how I missed a whole day again!  I gotta get my act together here for July!
And here is the lovely luscious sun-glazed Rudy, with a sweet gleam in his eyes!

9x12 acrylic on hardboard panel, sold!

June 22, "Jersey, the Bostonian"

This was a sweet face to paint!  It is the result of a fundraising auction at the Children's Hospital that I donated a commission for, which is something I don't always do because really, people don't call me when I've donated a piece.  It hasn't often led to more work, but I thought it would be fun to do it this once, and I donated an 18x18 inch piece because I wanted to paint BIG.  So here it is!  I'll still be playing with the darker eye... something funny there... but the rest I am really happy with!

18x18 acrylic on canvas, donated!

June 21, Happy Father's Day!

Darn it!  I forgot to post yesterday!  how the heck did THAT happen?!  Sheesh!  I have a painting I mean to post and everything!
BUT since it is Father's Day I thought I'd better post a Father/Son painting instead...
So here is one that I've been working on of Duane and Max at Monica and Frank's house in Key Largo from 2012 I think... it would have been March and Max's first exposure to the ocean and he LOVED it!  And we need to get back there again!  They are looking at Frank's fish in his little man-made stream that runs under a small wooden bridge.  Max is holding a container of strawberries, and i so love the familiar and comfortable positions of their bodies...

20x20 acrylic on canvas, not for sale quite yet...

June 19, "Antler Stack"

This was painted on a magenta ground, for class on Wed night as an example, and we all had a great time painting on "gentler" colors, so that our work looked softer than it does on the black.  It is interesting to me to try other color grounds (though I do seem to favor pink...) and I do like the paler look, but I always want to return to that punch of black-  it holds up stronger somehow... maybe it's the contrast, or really having to work your lights up, but I love painting on black!

8x8 acrylic on hardboard panel, $125 click HERE to purchase!

June 18, "Fuzzy Face"

You know, I don't seem to have any problem painting OTHER people's fluffy faced dogs, but for some reason my own is really hard...
Though I DO really like this one!  It got her quizzcal expression, though honestly she's just waiting for the ball to be thrown...

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click HERE to purchase!  Your own art!

June 17th, "Peonies #4"

Yup!  More flowers!  Really trying to look at that abstraction, the shadows and shapes, the colors...  very interesting!  I love the hot orange on the right against the cooler magenta petals... that's where this acrylic looks like oil so much!  I don't think I quite got the true color here-  I want to crop in sharper and try again-  we'll see what happens tomorrow!

6x6 acrylic on archival panel, $75 click HERE to purchase!

June 16, "Small Dog on the Studio Floor"

Some people know how much I love to paint dogs on wood floors, even really lousy, beat up wood floors like the one at my studio.  This is a lovely visitor from down the hall who comes in to say hi whenever I have the door open and she happens to be around.  I just love the variety of colors in the wood, and the cast shadows, and the curved shape of the dog, with those lovely dark ears folded back on her sleek head...

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, $75 click here to purchase!

June 15, "Peony #3"

So, this is the third attempt to paint the fluffy chaos of a peony...  there are so many intriguing details and color changes to get sucked into on these things!  And I think I was able to shut my brain down enough for this one that it actually works!  I like this one the best...

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, AUCTION $25 for first bid!  Click here to bid!

June 14, Peony #2

And here is the second peony... my continued foray into flowers... until the DOGS are UNLEASHED in JULY!!!!
Send me your DOG PHOTOS!!! And tell other people to as well!!!!
Woof!

6x6 acrylic on archival hardboard panel, $25 auction, click HERE to bid!

June 13, "Peony #1"

I've been wondering about how to paint flowers lately, as they are a subject I've never really attempted, though Carol Marine has had several posts lately in which she talks about painting them... and I've found them helpful...
I do like this one, it is odd to paint because I try to really look at the value changes and the larger shapes, and you get kinda sucked into the tones of white and which is darker and which is lighter and how can you tell and all... and then you like it better after you haven't looked at it for a while.
There's a lot of subtle color in the background greys as well, which are hard to see unless you are looking for them!

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, $25 auction, click HERE to bid!

June 12, "I have No Idea...."

C'mon, you know this face!  And you know a dog who has acted as if it knew nothing about that mess on the floor, or the chewed up leg of the coffee table, or how the couch developed a hole in it...
And if you have photos of that dog, send them to me!  I am looking for submissions (and commissions!) for this year's 30 dogs in 30 days Project!  I'll be painting one dog a day for the entire month of July again!  Maybe yours will be one of them!  wahoo!

6x6 acrylic on archival hardboard panel, $75, click HERE to purchase!

June 11, Cornered Mug- AUCTION!

This one was from my class on Wed night, demo-ing the One-Stroke-Per Color lesson via Carol Marine herself, as a way of really paying attention to the color mixing and the values-  SO many little things all work together to make a painting read true!  and this is just one of my goofy little mug models I have lurking around the studio-  I've painted it a few times...  that little foot on the bottom can be a pain, as can the slight curve of the sides, but it is a splendid little thing!

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, $25 starting bid, click here for the auction!  Wahoo!

June 10, Throw to ME!

Another dog, with another one of those faces!  The original is a boston terrier, but somehow this one looks a little great danish...  sometimes that happens and I don't want to argue with whoever sees it as one or the other if it looks like their favorite pet!
I did love painting in those whites and greys and reflected blues...

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, $75 click HERE to purchase!

June 9, "Reaching a Conclusion"

Here's one of the larger otter paintings I've been working on, since starting it in May at the Art Colony-  I do like this one, and think it may be finished but you never know!  I've tipped the photo on it's side because I like the negative space between the otters best when it is the focus of the curves to the bottom left~
Whadaya think of the title?

30x30 acrylic on cradled pine, $1800 click HERE to purchase!

June 8, "Drop it...NOW!"

Just a commentary on living with dogs, and what their expressions are saying...

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click HERE to purchase~

June 7, "Appleton Pup!"

Warming up for the dogs!  Yeeha!  This one was a photo I took a couple weeks ago when we roadtripped out to Wisconsin to see one of my bestest friends~  we went for a walk by the lake and there was this couple with this fluffy little puppy that couldn't possibly be any cuter!  And it was great because it was a younger totally hip black-clothed couple, with this stuffed toy looking dog!  SOOOOO cute!
SO I had to paint him~  the whites were fun to paint-  I realized my pallet was drier than I like it because my brush was dragging instead of being schmurpy so I added some of the boiling tea water to it and a bit more glaze and it smoothed out~  he's got a bit of a scrunchy looking face because of how bright the sunshine was~
Yay!

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, $75 click HERE to purchase!

June 4, "Peeper in the Hand"

It is that time of year when I really notice things closely-  those small things that appear, little crawly things, little flying things...  and sometimes those little things show up in my son's hands... I am not sure this particular creature survived the experience.  I was able to talk him into releasing it into some tall dewy grass, so maybe it was able to hobble away...

6x6 acrylic on hardboard, $68 click here to purchase!

June 2, Teddy Two!

Wow!  Happy June!  Sorry to be absent for so long!  I was in DC with our 6th graders for the annual class trip and got back later on Sunday than expected, and my work laptop crashed while I was gone so I couldn't do the usual business stuff...
SO here is Teddy again, and the color is a bit off, I think, but Max said this was the best one and so we have it!
Teddy is my sister-in-law's boss sheep, and he is a sweet as he looks!  You can lead him around on a leash!
Oh and the 30 Dogs in 30 Days Project is starting up!  Send me your dog photos!
Wahoo!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $68!  Click HERE to purchase!