August 19 - Moonlight Horse

"Moonlight Exercise"  This painting is a really quick study that I'll take with me to Kentucky next month, to help explain the color system for moonlight scenes during the workshop I'll be teaching.  I'll do a second one with far more muted colors, to help the students understand that with advanced practice, the colors you choose become more subtle and thusly more beautiful to the human eye.
  It's an oil, 5 x 7 inches.  The horse was done without any yellow but yellow ochre.
$100 from the dailypaintings.com site for this date.

August 18 - Moonrise #2

"Moonrise #2"  I'm exploring the response of my emotions to the moonrise again with some quick color studies to see if I can capture the essense of a mood. This is such a painting. There are nuances of color and brushwork in this one that are missing from the other one. It is an acrylic, but done without layering. It's interesting to switch between oils and acrylics and to see how the use of one affects the other. Can you tell this is acrylic? 5 x 7.  $100 from the dailypaintings.com web site for this date.

August 17 - Moonrise

"Moonrise at the Edge of the Woods"  I have memories of moonrises just like this one, growing up in Virginia. In the summertime, I would be out late playing, and look up to see the moon coming up over the trees.  Growing older, moonrise represented romance, wonderment about my future, and a familiar friend.  Nowadays when I see a full moon rise, I have memories to recall, and enjoy the continuity of this life-long event.  I wonder where and how the moon will rise behind the new place?  Where is your moonrise?  Original oil, 6 x 6 on gallery wrap canvas.  $100 available from the dailypaintings.com web site for this date.

August 16 - The New Mailbox

"Mailbox at the New Place" Today my brushes were on something totally different for me--a mailbox!  We have to put in a new box for the mail at the new studio, and my spouse brought home one that will hold small parcels securely.  Of course it has to have the street numbers on it, and if this is the portent of things to come, looks like there are many more painting opportunities ahead on non-normal surfaces!  
  I took a view from the end of the street, and put in the mailbox on the left, and then added the scene of the house as one would see it from that point.  The Reserve is in the background, and I think it portrays the feel of the seclusion.  The numbers were done in thalo blue, to contrast with the usual cool palette of distant landscape. I wanted a loose, fun font for the numbers, so I wouldn't have to live up to the calligraphers on the list! First I had to prep the surface with a sanding to rough up the powder coat finish, and then a layer of gesso before painting this with oils. Original oil, about 6 x 12 inches

August 15 - Blueberries and Blue Glass

"Blueberries and Blue Glass" Here's another painting of things I'm uncovering in packing the move.  This small hand-blown glass creamer was my mother's, and she kept it on a window sill where the sun would shine through it.  I used to see it along with the the other glass pieces in the window when I came to visit.  I thought the natural colors of the blueberries would enhance the composition, and placing it all on an orange background makes for a very cheerful image!  Original oil, 7 x 5 inches $100 from the dailypaintings.com website for this day.

August 14 - Paint Tubes

"Tools of the Trade" Moving has surfaced some interesting tools from the studio depths--these two old tubes of oil paint ended up on the taboret for immortalizaiton before being boxed up and sent to the back of the pickup truck for the move. Still good, these oils have probably been with me since the 70s. That Cadmium Red Medium had a price tag of $1.75! On another note, my first daily painting almost a year ago was the same subject matter--different tube, though. Original Oil, 5x7 $100

August 13 - Red Wine, Cabernet

Time for a glass of wine, time to relax and enjoy the long day's progress in the move.  A pickup full of artwork, canvases, furniture, and books.  Then we spent the hot part of the day working around inside the place, earning the rich reward of a great bottle of wine upon our return home.  I poured 3/4 glass of this cabernet-sauvignon 2004 and looked at the glow of the rich red color... toasted my spouse and headed for the studio.  This is a 6 x 4 oil, and is still around, although the wine is gone! 
SOLD to Nancy Merrill's collection of Salt Lake City, Utah.