14 Devotion

14 "Devotion" oil on 8x8 board, ©Laura Gable

A much more settled day today (August 15th) and also the birthday of 3 friends and family members. It was a pretty happy day, still a bit toasty outside but nice and cool in the studio. The paint squeezed out into their colorful little ribbons on my palette were just begging to morph into another sunflower. So another sunflower mini-series is born. I hope you, dear reader, aren't tiring of these beauties. They just make me happy. It must be a deeply rooted association. I'm a naturalist at heart, with an inherent love for the flora and fauna that abounds on this loamy soil. The same soil which sometimes oozes up around our toes when we dare to wander barefooted in the summer. As a child, when the weather warmed in Nebraska, and school completed we'd tuck the shoes away and only pull them out if a trip to the library or shopping was in the plans. With toughened foot pads, we'd wander the gravel driveway of our family's motel, and jaunt off into the weeds and out to tend our gardens. There was so much to keep us busy, and always a great deal of interaction with 4 siblings. In the country, staying home for a length of time was just something very natural. Funny that nowadays I can scarcely stay home for 2 days in a row without going batty. I truly wonder about myself sometimes... so much to do. Anyway, I've greatly digressed here--sorry to ramble on so. Enjoy this sweet little still life and come see it in person at my November open studio tour. They will all be displayed together then.

13 Dalliance (sold)

I have returned to the world of sunflowers. It is in an effort to bring me back to a state of calm. After a day of getting "almost" lost and then getting stuck on a dead end road, while a train crossed behind me ... proceeded to stop and blocked me in. As I made my u-turn and came back to the crossing to wait for him, realization struck that he was going nowhere. I have no idea what that was all about, but I was concerned that I would be there through the evening and it was sweltering hot and I needed to get to the studio - or home - or back to civilization any way possible. Hunting for outdoor painting locations can have it's drawbacks! After some investigation, I fortunately discovered that down a short embankment was a deeply rutted, dirt road that followed the tracks, snaking behind several overgrown properties before letting out on a paved street about a mile up. I could almost hear the banjo's playing from "Deliverance" and was mighty glad to get out of there and to breathe again. Hallelujah, praise the Lord!

The painting is called "Dalliance" and has that energetic brushwork that I find remarkable. Sometimes it's like second nature, sometimes I have to dig it out of the bottom of the well. Today the paint just burst from the brush and this little gem was born. And yes, after it was completed, I felt much more at peace.



13 "Dalliance" oil on 8x8 board, ©Laura Gable

12 Lean on Me

The evening approaches and the canvas surface is still bare. Where to start to continue this 100 day challenge. If I bow out now, it won't be too graceful. Letting oneself down can be very abysmal. Fortunately I have these Ampersand aquabords and my watercolor paints here at home. I'm not especially fond of them as I've yet to master the way they handle the water and the paint. They do not absorb as much as the paper and so there's a bit of a learning curve. I'm sure someday I'll look back and rave about the process. That's usually the way it goes.

Here's a quick still life of that yummy pear I'm just aching to eat. It's just the right season for them and they are so juicy. I find the blush on the side of pears so pretty. The background resembles a summer night of stargazing.



12 "Lean on Me" watercolor on 8x10 aquabord, ©Laura Gable

11 Wisdom

11 "Wisdom" mixed media on 8x10 clayboard, ©Laura Gable

I have been following artist Julie Quinn on Facebook. Her work is mesmerizing. On a clayboard surface she uses inks, acrylics and oils to create her non-representational thought form works of art. I have no idea how she creates these beauties. This is my feeble attempt at a painting "in the style of" her work.

It is a fun super smooth surface to work on. I used a paint sharpie, acrylic inks, and acrylic paint. My "mark" work resemble the patterns left behind by traversing birds, while her marks have a zen-Asian writing quality to them. Some people are master "mark" makers, a talent that in it's simplicity is actually harder than it looks. Anyway, with doing a painting a day there must be room for experimentation, so I'm saying this one qualifies. Not my favorite, but the process was fun. I'm now  a little over 10% completed with my 100 day challenge. It's more fun to look back than to look forward to the number that I have yet to do. ;-)

Helping a Friend

I firmly believe that constant practice will greatly aid the artist's evolution. Sort of a chipping away at the larger vision. That's why I like painting on the small canvases - they are a quick "instant gratification" effort, they can really capture a mood, and from a buyer's viewpoint they are more affordable, allowing them to purchase an original -- with all it's luminosity and deliciousness.
Anyway, my recent effort involved assisting a friend with her business cards. These were designed in Photoshop, using her images of hand woven textiles and mixed media art. She lives in Fernandina Beach, Florida, and truly captures the beauty and lightness of their oceanside area. I know this isn't a painting, but thought I would post anyway. Isn't her work remarkable. And if you know her, she used to live her a few years back, go ahead and drop her a line .. the phone number is below.


Tomorrow the paints will come out of the freezer and I'll make more progress on the large canvas that's gathering dust in my studio. Oh and of course, the little daily paintings will continue as my November goal comes closer.

© Lynette Holmes, Fernandina Beach, Florida Artist

10 "Vineyard Glimpse"

10 "Vineyard Glimpse" 8x8 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

This is the fourth painting in this little mini series that explores the alternative colors from some different primaries. As you can see here, I'm dipping back towards some more vibrant tones using  reds and oranges that vary a bit from the original primary mix. All 4 of these paintings were drawn from the same photograph... this one a bit closer up. I like the abstract feel of this one.

One time I took a workshop by Donna Watson. She had us isolate sections of a photograph and then convert that into a painting. These little snippets of the photo gave no information about what the subject matter was and quickly became an abstracted image. It's a great jumping off point towards abstraction. The subject matter goes away -- and it truly does become non-representational. What remains is the movement and flow through the painting, and the colors applied in a supportive way that tells the story or message you are eager to reveal.

Mine isn't quite that abstracted, as I think it's still obvious that this was a view from the vineyards. But don't you think that would be a fun tool to explore to move your own paintings a bit towards abstraction.

9 "Soft Harvest"

9 "Soft Harvest" 12x12 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

Besides painting in muted tones originating from alternative primaries, I'm also focusing on varied brush strokes, and mass tones to suggest passages rather than reveal the entire story. Elements of abstraction are always present in a successful painting too. So many little things, all strung together create a painting. Do you sometimes marvel at the appearance of a pleasing image when you consider it all started with blobs of paint, a pure white board, and a couple of brushes. It's a story of the eyes ... the eyes teach me to paint. And I think sometimes, a little magic helps too.

8 "Pale Vines"

8 "Pale Vines" 12x12 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

Experimenting with unusual primaries lends some subdued colors quite dissimilar from the brights used earlier in this 100 day challenge. The pink underpainting shows through, adding an element of delight. The network of vines and leaves support the slightly shaded chardonnay grapes in this "Pale Vine" painting. I can't help but add in a few zinger colors, as I feel the painting becomes more balanced. I'm enjoying this.

7 "Within the Summer Heat"

7 "Within the Summer Heat" 12x12 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

This ensuing series of 4 paintings was inspired by a color wheel exercise I taught to my local Cancer Center students. They were so delightfully enamored and amazed by the many combinations of color they could derive from just the 3 primaries. I explained to them, that depending on which primaries you chose, you could come up with even more options of a myriad of color.

So using a slightly dulled yellow (naples) and a brownish red (transparent red oxide), along with a brighter blue (thalo), these vineyard views showcase some interesting muted color and tones. I'm enjoying the slightly greyed greens and blues. A few other colors were allowed in, but the palette was pretty limited. Sometimes the extreme summer heat and overcast skies from our smoky air mute the colors this way. Have you observed this? Enjoy.

6 "Pinky Drinky"



6 "Pinky Drinky" watercolor on Aquabord, ©Laura Gable

I was drawn to this teacup because I like the it's bowl shaped cup, and the delicate almost chintz pattern. Working with watercolor on aquabord, I experimented with more interesting composition by revealing only part of the saucer, and adding some disconcerting angles of the cloth and panels in the table surface. Also shown is a further exploration of the blue vs orange complementary color palette. For lack of a better title, Pinky Drinky was what popped into my noggin. Enjoy

5 "Demitasse Tea Cup"

5 "Demitasse Tea Cup" watercolor on aquaboard, ©Laura Gable

The tea cup collection includes this sweet little nicely shaped demitasse tea cup, just perfect for that little shot of espresso in the morning. Not that I drink shots of espresso, but the delicacy of the cup is what intrigues me. The saucer is a square shape, and contrasts nicely with the scalloped edges. This painting was done quickly on aqua-board (another Ampersand product). It offers a bit of a challenge, as washes don't go on quite as evenly as they do on the nice watercolor paper I use (or at least I've not yet mastered that aspect of the materials). But none-the-less, it is very nice for correcting mistakes, and color lifting. Even the staining colors can be taken back nearly to white.

Hope you have  a little spot of tea and think of me, today. My exciting daily self imposed challenge continues. It's an effort to create a piece of art daily until my studio open house in November.  Look for even more details to come.

4 On a Blue Day

4 "On a Blue Day" 8x8 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

Still life paintings are always a treat. This one was styled after the exercise we did in the Dreama workshop last March. It's from my vast tea-cup collection. I am enjoying the contrasts of the orange on blue and the blue against red and then the shadows represented in the white tea cup. Have a cup of chai today!

3 Somber Figurine

3 "Somber Figurine" 3x6 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

The daily painting continues. This little figurine sits in my studio. Painting whites are always a challenge.

2 After Picasso

2 "After Picasso" 8x8 oil on board, © Laura Gable

Enigmatic faces, swirls of orange and yellow, full light on the right, the evolution of a study in abstraction ... or was it perhaps just a portrait that went awry? You can choose.

I've titled it, After Picasso ... as I am assuming this is how his portrait series' of misplaced facial features came about. But then again, he was just genius so does one ever really know where the idea came from?

My personal challenge to create 100 paintings in 100 days continues. More on this later (tease tease). Comments are welcomed here, as are more followers.