Hmmm... in the middle of this one now...

Sullivan's Island Lighthouse  15" x 11" oil on paper

I'm either in the middle of this one, or I'll do another....

Need to let it "rest" ....

-JanettMarie
PS: Did you know the Sullivan Island Lighthouse has an elevator in it?

A Lighthouse... started

15" x 11" oil on paper... a start....

Small sketch on notebook paper

Hmmm... they are a little different.... hmmmm.. oh, well.

The small sketch happened last night and the painting at the top started today. Where is this thing going?  Time will tell.

More tomorrow : )

-JanettMarie

A couple of "Sweet Peach Rose's"

"Sweet Peach Rose One"  oil on paper  15"x11"  -SOLD

"Sweet Peach Rose Two" oil on paper  15"x11"

Just couldn't stand to leave too much paint on the palette!

I did it, I put paint on the drawings from yesterday and a month or two has not gone by!! Amazing...

Thanks my artist buddies for urging me on, you all are right, we all need that that little push every once in a while.

Finishing up these little guys today, I was thinking about a conversation I just had with my Mount Pleasant artist friend Beth. We were talking about how hard it is to leave any extra paint on the palette that you put out for a painting. Well, here is the proof. I used my palette knife to scrape it up and then apply it to my paintings! Professional artists oil paint is expensive! Gotta pay for the good quality and extra pigment though, it sure makes a difference!

Bye for now,

-JanettMarie

Can't win them all... or sweet victory...

"Win or Lose"  15"x11" oil on paper

I think I need a new model, no... I know I need a new model...

Gotta go... I'm kind of speechless tonight.  : )

-JanettMarie

Wow, this is 28 and only two to go, or thirty more...

"Tuesday's Rose"  15"x11"  oil on paper  -Sold*

I always thought a yellow rose meant "Friends", but I've learned from a friend of mine that it really means "infidelity". Here is the story:

Yellow roses express jealousy and infidelity. They may also evoke a finishing love. According to the legend, the Prophet Mohammed, while away fighting a war, was tormented by the idea that his wife, Aisha, was being unfaithful. He asked the archangel Gabriel for help. Gabriel suggested that when he returned home Mohammed should ask his wife to drop whatever she was carrying into the water as a test. If she was faithful, it would stay the same colour and prove her unconditional love. Mohammed finally returned from his battle and Aisha rushed to greet him, carrying a huge bouquet of red roses. She was surprised when he commanded her to drop them into the river, but obeyed and the roses turned saffron yellow. Eventually, Mohammed forgave his favorite wife but, for some, the yellow rose remains a symbol of infidelity." 
More recently, yellow roses have been associated with friendship, but this newer meaning was probably an invention by rose producers to promote this color, as no underlying legend or tale seems to corroborate this symbol. The original symbolic meaning being that of jealousy and infidelity be very carefull to whom you offer yellow roses as it may be interpreted as if you are saying: "I am not worthy"!

The site where I found this story has more stories about thee rose. Change is in the air! I wonder if this is the story Carolyn was telling me about. Hmmm...

Leave it to sisters. My sister Jane suggested today that instead of doing 30 paintings in 30 days that I do 60 paintings in 60 days. It's tempting, but I still have a few commitment to accomplish and my focus would definitely have to change. Maybe after April 26th I could try that. More food for thought.

Okay, I better stop now, this post is getting way too long. Especially for me!

Good Night...

-JanettMarie

"Oh My Goodness" and "Myra's Sunglasses". -Sold & Sold

"Oh My Goodness"  8"x6" oil on canvas panel

"Oh My Goodness" is what I image this Santa is saying right now. This is a painting I started last year sometime and never got 'round to finishing it. Tonight I did and I think "Oh My Goodness" is what I'm saying too!

Another painting that was started, hmmm, I'd say in the beginning of November last year, I finished today too! Wow, two finished, I was aiming to finish three, but things changed on me today and I'll have to go for it tomorrow again. 

Here is "Myra's Sunglasses". For some reason while painting this one I was thinking about Myra...then all of a sudden the phone rang and it was Myra! Fun.

"Myra's Sunglasses"  6"x6" oil on canvas

My goodness red and pinks are hard to photograph. I'm not sure that Myra wears hats like this but she is from Texas!

These two paintings catch me up to 27 paintings finished for the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge!

Good night Gracie...

-JanettMarie

"Orange Roughy"

"Orange Roughy"  8"x6" oil on canvas panel

Was a rough day for this painting today. I did a little experimenting, some good, some not so good, or maybe... just different.

Here is a view of the first part of my experiment. I used complimentary colors as an underpainting for this flower. I wasn't sure what compliment to use for the whitish background, so I used raw sienna.

under painting using compliments

Then, for some reason I got carried away with the gel medium that I was using and it seemed like the paint got really soupy on me. I had this before I broke out the painting knife!

Just before the paint knife came out.

I suppose this wasn't that bad, it just seemed a little boring to me, so I knifed it up!

I'm calling this painting number 25 of my thirty. Yesterday I painted twice, once in the morning for Cookies & Canvas and again later that night for Wine & Canvas. I posted the Cookies & Canvas painting on Leslie Saeta's site as painting 24. I decided being just one behind is still okay.

Oh, here is my "Cookies" painting from yesterday. Cute, huh? Sorry this guy is not for sale.

"Snow Friends"  14"x11" acrylic on canvas

How about a photo of all the painters last night? I'll tell you what, we had a great time!

Oh, that's my painting you can see in the monitors!

Hope to chat with you tomorrow.

-JanettMarie

Orange you glad I didn't say Banana...

"Orange One"   8"x6" oil on canvas panel

This must be painting number 23, I may have to go back and count to make sure, maybe.

Painted this one using an even bigger brush yet, I'm up to a one inch wide brush. Usually this size canvas I use a half inch wide brush. No, I didn't really finish in half the time... or did I?

Hope to check in again tomorrow!

Good night!
-JanettMarie

"January Rose 3". -Sold

"January Rose 3"  15"x11"  oil on paper  Sold*

ahhh rose three

"First Yellow Rose". -Sold

"First Yellow Rose"  8"x6" oil on canvas panel

The fun/frustration of painting something unfamiliar, what a challenge. Challenge is good. Painting along today, I was recalling when I first started painting the apples, they were not that familiar in the beginning either, so I'm reminding myself to be nice and be patient and to "do another".

Number 11 of the 30 in 30 days.... today is the twelfth day, still only one day behind!

-JanettMarie

Experiment with oils...

8"x10" oil and enamel on canvas

Well, it's not the best composition but it was a successful experiment. I used oil paint from the tube, you know, the traditional stuff, then I used black oil based enamel that you buy from the hardware store. The two paints so far seem to be getting along. I have ideas for using this mix on a larger scale.

This is supposed to be a painting of bourbon in a "rocks glass" sitting on a cocktail napkin. It's another beginning.

Whew hoo!
-JanettMarie

"You Can Do It!"

6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Click Here to Bid

I'm not sure what's going on here. Is that little tomato trying to jump up to the other one or is the other one trying to jump down to the other two? It's a quandary, I find myself in that type of situation all of the time!

This painting I again got a little crazy with, the orange especially drove me crazy, but I came back from the craziness and I'm going to try this one again also. The big question... when.  : )

Enjoy the day!

-JanettMarie

"October Pear" -Sold

6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Click Here to Bid

This little painting was an exercise in using conservative brush strokes. Trying to paint without overdoing it by dabbling too much, or too much blending on the canvas. Each stroke is supposed to be deliberate and with purpose. Hey, just like that golf book, every stroke/shot must have a purpose. Well, toward the end of this exercise I got a little impatient and put the shadow area in a little crazy like. That would make it expressive like.  : )  Maybe this should be titled "Expressive Pear". I think I will try this again.

October is time for change for the leaves, and me, so I changed the look of my blog page and tried to clean it up a bit. Hope you like it. Also, I am going to try the auction process of selling my paintings again. I gave up on it pretty quickly in the beginning of my "blogging my paintings" career, so I'm going to go back and give it a try again. If you think it's just crazy, let me know, I don't mind, we all need a little crazy in our lives.

-JanettMarie

"Salvo's Martini" ---Sold

8"x6" oil on canvas panel

A finished little commission piece, painted especially for Salvo. This special surprise did surprise him. The painting was still wet on Sunday afternoon and the presentation was that evening! So I carefully put this piece in a cigar box and labeled the outside of the box with little instructions on how to open it.

Here is the photo Andrea took with Salvo and his painting.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

More on the piano later.

-JanettMarie

"Four Fifty Nine Time" ---#9

16"x12" oil on canvas 

The time has come to shake up the martini and forget about work. Where's the cigar? I forgot the cigar.
Oh, I forgot the cigar.   : (   Next time, a cigar.

Painting number nine in the 30 paintings in thirty days series. This painting has also been on the easel for a while. Today, I decided it was time to just finish it. I even put some oil pastel on here because the need to draw is strong right now. I tried a little paint knifing, but I need to work on that technique more. I'm sure there is a technique, I just haven't found it yet. Patience, right?

Chat again tomorrow.  Or is it chatter?  : )

-JanettMarie

"What's for Dinner" ---#2

4"x2" oil on canvas

Number 2 of the Leslie Saeta January 30 challenge!

As I painted along on this one, I kept thinking "How can I make this more interesting, it's so boring?" Then I thought of Myra Anderson and her dots and circles and triangles. I thought of Carol Marine, she puts dots in paintings. You know a lot of artists use dots! Why not! Dots!

I read Leslie's blog post for today and it was very encouraging. She talked about how cool it is to have over 250 artists with the same goal, painting to finish a painting in a day. Yes, that is cool. And also the fact that so many are moving out of their comfort zones to do this! Welcome to the challenge Connie Nobbe! Our main objective is to have fun. Okay, I'm off to have some more fun!

-JanettMarie

Santa Four-"It's Time to Make the Kringles!"

8"x6" Oil on canvas panel

It is time to make the Kringles! Mmmm... I've only eaten them, maybe this year I try to bake one myself. Oh they are so good!

This is a Santa painted based on another one of my friend Carolyn's Santa Claus guys. His leg's are really long, so I just represented the top of them here. I thought about changing them but... I didn't want to confuse the grandkids Santa hunt too much.

Wednesday night we painted "Oh Christmas Tree" at Wine and Canvas!

We had a blast!

It's a "Sea of Christmas Trees!"

Merry Before Christmas!!

-JanettMarie

"Santa Three" -Sold

6"x6" oil on linen on panel

Here he is! Santa number three! This little guy was inspired by Christmas decor at my friend Carolyn's house. Hmmm, I wonder if she will be able to figure out which Santa this is... I can tell you that the physical ornament is carved from wood. I wonder what country this carved piece was inspired.

-JanettMarie

Santa 2-"Oh, Rudolph!"

8"x6" Oil on canvas panel.

When I started painting this, all I could see was Santa out here looking for Rudolph. Time for Christmas Rudolph! I added the white dots at the end. First they were stars, then I thought, oh, maybe it's starting to snow. I guess they can be what ever we want them to be! I love that about painting!

A big "thank you" to Carolyn, she gave me the nudge that I needed today, to get this painting finished!

How long have I been working on it, or I mean at it? Well, since I purchased a couple of "pot belly" Santa ornaments a couple weeks ago from Frazee Gardens in Brownsburg, when I painted the snowman with the kids! That was Sunday, December 2nd!

Frazee Snowman!

Hopefully, I will get the next one finished in a more timely manner.  : )

-JanettMarie

"Tug That Barge!"

6"x8" oil on paper on canvas 

Indiana does have tugboats! They are used on the rivers to push big barges around.

This little painting was influenced by a little model tugboat that my friend Dan let me borrow.  I made up the water and the green stuff that is supposed to be river bank... let me show you a photo of the model...

Hmm... I think I better paint another!!

Coffee tomorrow!

-jM