Off to the Lakeside Paintout

Tomorrow morning I will head east to the shores of Lake Erie for the annual Lakeside Paintout and Wooden Boat Show. This will be the fourth time I have done this paintout and I enjoy it because it's generally cooler and there are tons of quaint cottages and flowers to paint. Last year  I stayed with a family who works there during the summer months and they have invited me back this year. They're nice folks and it is wonderful not to have to worry about parking or checking out on time.

The annual Katherine Crampton Art show is up in the Hoover Auditorium during this period, so I usually enter something if I can get someone to deliver it for me. I was thrilled to get a first place ribbon for my painting "A Wonderful Life". It's for sale during the show but if it doesn't sell I have a buyer here at home who I would prefer had it. The man on the bench reminds her of her deceased husband, who took many painting classes with me before he passed away late last year.

Hopefully I will get a lot more paintings done this weekend to share here next week.

24" x 30"

A Wonderful Life

American Indian Children Series

This is number 8 in the series of 10 different American Indian children I am painting in 2007. Quiet Sister is an Apache girl. I am listing this on eBay, as I have the entire series and prints will be available in November.

I am a little bit behind on posting my work. The fourth was a big family time and we were gone for awhile but I did a few paintings this week and last week. Blogger was down and I couldn't post the last time I tried.

Turn Back Time...

The premise behind this little painting is simple if you've ever heard the song made famous by Cher: "If I Could Turn Back Time" The lyrics of the chorus go like this:

If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that have hurt you
And you'd stay
If I could reach the stars
I'd give them all to you
Then you'd love me, love me
Like you used to do
If I could turn back


The jar of "face cream" and the lipstick represent our efforts to turn back time. On the surface, the cow is a clock, but she is also the ultimate symbol for fertility and reproduction, especially when she has a calf by her side. I found the clock when I was going through some boxes designated for our church rummage sale and the idea for this painting was born as soon as I set eyes on her. The Minnie Mouse cup represents our eternal youth. Quite a bit of thought went into choosing the objects for this still-life. First of all, I needed them to be small- I like to paint my stills life-size or very close to it and this is an 8x10 canvas. I also wanted to stay with the three color theme of red, black and white because it was just so retro and fit the cow and Minnie so well. The jar of face cream was truly an inspiration when I thought of Cher, who has really tried to keep her youth as long as possible. I don't know how old she is exactly but I know she must be getting up there. And you never see her any more. She used to do those Bally fitness commercials. Anyway- the lipstick was the perfect color and so was the face cream jar. The circular composition draws the eye into the painting and around it with the red and the placement of Minnie's eyes because she is gazing up at the cow.