Buellton

"Buellton"

Image size 6" x 6"

Oil

It's been a while since I've done a palette knife painting.  I really enjoy this technique and the textural look of the finished painting, but have been preoccupied with encaustic paintings. 

I'm planning to paint 'en plein aire' in June for a local contest so I thought I should start practicing with oils since I will be using them and can use some practice.  It's stressful enough painting outside (since I never do that) so being comfortable with my medium will help.

Buellton is a small town in Santa Barbara county and there are several nearby wineries that are fun to visit.  I love the look of the rolling hills with dotted greenery behind vineyards.

Sunstone Villa

"Sunstone Villa"

Image Size 8" x 8"

Watercolor

My daughter's wedding was this past Friday up in Santa Ynez, CA at the Sunstone Winery Villa.  This beautiful villa was built with stones and various other materials imported from Europe.  It is an amazing property and being there feels as though you've traveled to another country.  

The wedding was amazing and the setting was magical.  I'm so happy to have gained a wonderful son-in-law.  I am truly blessed.

I painted this on a cradled panel with a textured finish meant for oils and acrylics.  I painted it in watercolor because my daughter wanted to give it to the wedding photographer as a gift and my acrylics are at my son's house and oils would have taken too long to dry.

The texture adds an interesting effect and it was fun working on a non-porous surface with watercolor.  I sprayed it with a sealer so that it could be displayed on an easel.  

Cabernet

This has been a busy week so I've only done a small palette knife painting this week.  I am going to be at an art show on Thursday and I've been trying to get a bunch of silk paintings framed.  If you are in So Cal and would like to spend a relaxing day watching about 20 artists painting and displaying their art in a beautiful park, come on by.  The art show is a part of the annual Tustin Garden Tour.  If you are interested in coming to the art show, it is free.  If you want to attend the garden tour, the cost is $30.00 and you can buy tickets that day.  There are 3 gardens on the tour and they are all really beautiful.  One of the gardens is across the street from the park where the art show is being held and you can buy tickets there.  The park is on Lower Lake Drive, North Tustin, CA so just go maps.google.com and input that and it will show you the spot.  It doesn't work in mapquest for me.  The event will be held from 10:00 - 3:00.

Cabernet
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil
Sold

Ready For Harvest

I had to have a silk painting fix.  I enjoy painting on silk so much and miss it if I go too long without doing it.  I love the graphic quality of it.  This is the second silk painting of grapes that I've done.  They are really fun to paint and they bring back happy memories of visits to the wine country.

Ready For Harvest
Image Size 10" x 16"
Silk dyes on silk

Tuscan Landscape

This isn't a typical weekly painting since it took over a month to paint but I wanted to post it for this week's painting since I just got it hung. It is 23 canvases painted to hang together in an abstract collage. It was fun to paint but also a challenge because I used acrylics (which I haven't used since high school) so they would dry quickly and I could get it to Mexico. The original reason I used a series of small canvases was because it was a good way to get a large painting to Mexico on the plane. It fit neatly into our luggage. The largest canvas is 10" x 20" but the overall painting is about 4' x 8'.

Tuscan Landscape
4' x 8'
Acrylic

Tuscan Hillside - Silk Painting

For some reason this silk painting didn't steam correctly and the dyes didn't set. I'll try again tomorrow but wanted to post this on time. I'll re-take the picture when it is steamed and I can stretch it.

Wrought Iron Grapes Silk Painting

Back to silk painting. I have so much fun doing these paintings that I can't stay away from them for long. I've used the wrought iron theme again on a smaller scale. I concentrated on using more subdued colors on the leaves and am very happy with the results.

Wrought Iron Grapes
15" x 15"
Silk dyes
Framed