Day 30 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - I did it!!!!!!!

Shapes of Drama

5"x7"

Oil and Cold Wax Medium on Gessoed WC Paper

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Coming Full Circle

5"x7"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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It is over!!!!  And I am a little sad and happy all at the same time.  The word "Challenge" is so appropriate.  This has been such a learning experience on many levels.  In the next few days, I will be getting my thoughts together for another posting about all of it.

As to why there are 2 paintings posted today - my choice was Shapes of Drama.  For the whole challenge, I had been considering a cruciform design.  It has never been one of my favorites.  So, this was sort of aversion therapy and my last chance during the challenge.

Then I showed it to The Art Critic I Live With.  His nose wrinkled up.  Not a good sign usually.  So, I showed him Coming Full Circle and got "That one is better."  To humor TACILW, I am posting it, too.

Coming Full Circle's name comes from how it relates to Day 1's painting.  Viewed individually, I thought they were too much alike but side by side, there are variations.  Maybe they are like children - the same and different, all at the same time.  I love both paintings equally.

Thank you, Kathy Elliott, for getting me to do the challenge.  I think we supported each other very well!!!  Love you 

Shapes of Drama is available at The Gallery at Round Top. 

ARTtgart@aol.com

979.249.4119 

Day 29 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Veins of Turquoise

7"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$95 framed

Some of my favorite colors appeared in this painting.  I did work on it more than some others in the challenge.  It has lots of layers.  The colors work back and forth between the layers.  They are a revelation working their way across the the painting.  I am happy today!

Veins of Turquoise is available at The Gallery at Round Top. 

ARTtgart@aol.com

979.249.4119 

Day 28 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Ribbons of Red

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

It could also be called Scared Me Part 2.  Just another fun experiment with a limited number of colors and working very quickly.  The small format I have been working with has certainly freed me up to experiment and not take things so seriously.    

Day 27 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Scared Me

7"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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I have always admired black and red paintings but have been too scared to commit to one.  Once again, the 30 day challenge has allowed me the freedom to do something I would not usually do.  I don't know if I will ever do one larger but I can say I have tried one.  I do like it in a smaller format.  Never say never.

Day 26 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Windy

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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Yesterday, I was digging through my box of paint and realized that there some colors I have never gotten out during this challenge.  Phthalo blue was one of them.  This shocked me because love the varying shades of it.  That is how today's painting came to be.  It is only phthalo blue and permanent green light.  What fun to see some of the many variations of only those 2 colors!!

Day 25 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Hillside Villas

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

The under painting for this was leftover paint from yesterday's painting.  That is how a lot of my paintings begin - with the desire to not waste paint.  When I switched from watercolors to oils, one of my first reactions was that the new medium was wasteful.  I had been used to just reconstituting my watercolors.  So now, ever frugal Doris slaps the oil and wax leftovers on another surface.  There is aways a new painting just waiting for me to begin.

Also, I will claim that this is a continuation of The Art Critic I Live With's yellow challenge from yesterday.  

My friend, Kathy's challenge for me was to work with diagonal design.  It started with shapes that reminded me of buildings cascading down a hill, trees and vegetation all around them.  Some of the windows are hidden in the shade and others are reflecting the beautiful sky. 

Day 24 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Many Shades of Yellow

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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As Leslie Saeta talked about on her BlogTalkRadio program yesterday, coming up with ideas for paintings is difficult.  Thirty days of painting is even harder.  One of her ideas was to get suggestions from other people.  So, The Art Critic I Live With challenged me to a yellow painting.  This is another painting that has not photographed exactly as planned because you would never know it has every yellow that I own in it.  Only I know what all is in it.  

Day 23 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Wisteria Garden

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

And now for something different.  This painting has been in the works for several days.  I was using up paint from other paintings.  Instead of applying them to the whole surface, I let them skip across the surface.  Wisteria appeared.  Maybe this will make Martin happy.  He says I have been in a rut.  

Day 22 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Dots, Spots and Dashes

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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Some of you may have seen, my friend, Kathy Elliott's blog discussion about circles.  A couple of days ago, we were independently thinking about our dislike of circles in our art.  It was certainly fun to discover how alike our telepathic, brain conversations had been.  That is how this painting came to be.  Lots of dots and circles all over the place.  Some are obvious and some are rather hidden.

  

Day 21 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

A Different View of the World

5"x7"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$95 framed

We're not at White Place today.  Oh well, technically we are but just by turning the painting, it loses the calmness of White Place and gets an edgier feel with the orange bar shooting straight up.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Later:  My husband walked in my studio and ask to see today's painting.  I pointed to it and his first words were "That's disturbing."  And I said, "You get it!  You have proven my point with this painting."

A Different View of the World is available at The Gallery at Round Top. 

ARTtgart@aol.com

979.249.4119 

Day 20 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Look Closely

7"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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Day 20….Whoohoo!  I am sure a lot of us doing Leslie's challenge are finding every day to be a little harder.  Today, I had to go for some of my favorite colors - blue and green.  Normally, I would have had a big splash of blue but my challenge was to have more of the green.  It isn't one of my favorite paintings; so, I will be analyzing to see what I can do differently in the future.

If you are wondering about the title, this little painting has some of those magical colors showing up in teeny tiny areas that you have to get really close to in order to see these little jewels.  The photo does not do them justice.  

Day 19 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Coldness

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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Finally, I am really enjoying making marks.  I had to make myself stop or the whole painting was going to be one big mark.   I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I have.  This one started with an almost black under painting.  On the paper, I mixed Van Dyke brown with Indigo, let it dry and then added shapes with Zinc Titanium.  The fun started when I cut back into with different tools and the lovely beige, gold colors appeared out of nowhere.  

I do believe this painting has taken longer to photograph than it took to paint.  It looks different in every kind of light and in every room in my house.

Day 18 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Thinking of Georgia O'Keeffe

7"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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This painting was done on heavily texturized paper.  I felt that was enough of a statement and that it did not need a lot of color.  Just the simplicity of the texture.  And of course, it started to remind me of White Place and Georgia.

Day 17 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Fallow Fields

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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I never set out to paint a landscape today.  The tree line just appeared as I was manipulating the paint.  It ended up being a rather minimalist painting done with 3 colors and a squeegee but viewers will know exactly what story it tells.  

On day 17, the challenge is still a lot of fun.  

Day 16 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Red Sky and Power Lines

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

I am always intrigued with the power lines and the "marks" they make on the sky.  From my studio window, I can see them, in the distance, cutting across the sky at sunset.  They really are a softer arc than depicted here but I have purposely chosen to straighten them to add to the harshness of the whole red sky scene.  Nothing soft in this sunset.

Day 15 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Homage to Gerhard Richter

5"x7"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

I am really getting outside my comfort done today.  Totally loose, all over pattern has never been my thing but I decided to give it a try.  It began with paint left over from other paintings but mainly primary colors.  That was entirely too garish.  I decided to use one of my personal challenges - working with more neutral colors.  The result reminded me of a Gerhard Richter painting - thus the name.

Day 14 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Mesa 6: Southwest State of Mind

(Ghost Ranch Series)

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$95

Day 14!  Yes, almost half way there but just saying painting every day for 2 weeks sounds wonderful, too.  

This painting started out really pale.  I would say almost a value 3 (That value may be backwards to oil painters.  I started out with watercolors; so, to me it is a 3 and not a 7.) and really did not feel like my kind of painting.  So, I applied my favorite thing to tell myself "Just go for it."  Then it became another New Mexico painting.  NM requires bold colors by my way of thinking.

Southwest State of Mind is available at The Gallery at Round Top. 

ARTtgart@aol.com

979.249.4119

Day 13 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Shimmering White Place

(Ghost Ranch Series)

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

NFS

Oh my, I didn't think today's painting was going to happen.  Nothing was working.  Suddenly, I knew I was painting White Place and I was HAPPY.

Last Fall, my friend, Kathy, and I spent a week at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.  For us, it was Art Camp for adults because we got to paint every day.  One day, Cindy Walton, our instructor took us to White Place.  I have to admit that I did not know about Georgia O'Keefe painting White Place but I quickly fell in love with it, too.  Beautiful whiteish,  grayish canyon walls were in shadow when we arrived.  Out in the open, the sun made the rocks in the stream bed sparkle.  Magic. 

I didn't get much painting or drawing done while we were there.  I just wanted to get the feeling of White Place.  I was perfectly happy sitting in the shade, feeling the cool breeze and soaking it all in.  That one short morning was absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!  This painting sums it all up.

  

Day 12 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Flock of Seagulls

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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Another limited palette painting.  If I remember correctly, there was a yellow underpainting but then the upper layers are Cobalt Blue, Turquoise Light and Asphaltum.  The ominous sky really sets off a flock of seagulls looking their storm refuge.  My husband grew up on the coast.  He told me this is a common sight there. 

Day 11 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Hombre

7"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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No, this is not a black and white photo of today's painting.  After yesterday's bold green block of color, I decided to try the opposite using a neutral palette of colors….Zinc Titanium, Olive Green and Asphaltum.  I am finding it rather soothing and I must say, it is looking wonderful in a black frame.  I will show you that view when I get a mat to fit.

Day 10 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Red Lined

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

I have been wanting to do something with a big block of color.  Today was the day.  It was a little more difficult than I expected using a direct painting method.  Drier layers is the way I will go if I do this again so that the colors do not bleed through as much.  In the end, one of my favorite things - good straight lines - bailed it out.  It has possibilities for a much larger painting in the future.

Today has been a challenge just to getting done and then the photo part was an even bigger challenge.  It has been so foggy, rainy and just plain dark that nothing wanted to work. 

Day 9 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Lava

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$95

I am continuing with organic shapes.  It is proving to me that I should do more of this style.  I think this one would be fun to make really large.  It looks great with a plain black frame. 

All of the paintings I have done so far are more directly painted than usual.  Normally, I work with many layers.  At times, I have used the word "agonizing" for what it takes to get to the final painting.  My art mentor tells me that you don't get to charge more just because it took forever to paint.  Maybe this direct process has merit.

Lava is available at The Gallery at Round Top. 

ARTtgart@aol.com

979.249.4119

Day 8 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Nuggets

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

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Week 2 begins!  For me it is beginning with 2 challenges….colors that I normally would not use and also sticking something on my painting.  I have never been one to stick things on my paintings; so, today I can say I have broken personal rule.  I put gold leaf on a painting.  

Day 7 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Flight of the Dragonfly

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

I am still trying to add marks to my paintings.  It is just not a natural thing for me.  Everyone else's marks look wonderful to me.  Mine still look contrived to me.  So, today, I tried to imagine something in flight.  I closed my eyes and went for it.

I have to give Cindy Walton a lot of credit for this painting, too.  I took a workshop with her at Ghost Ranch.  It was there that I became enamored with her color palette and just had to try it for a little painting.  Thanks, Cindy  

Day 6 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Pieces of Gold

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

This is definitely a highly textured painting.  The pieces of yellow and gold just sparkle.  The real challenge for me was to use white.  I have a much longer history as a watercolor artist than an oil artist. White paint is something I am not accustomed to working with and don't get me going on the different types of white paint.  So, today's challenge was using titanium white mixed with other colors and as an actual color.  I keep saying,Yes, white is a color.

Day 5 of 30 paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Organics

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

Bits and pieces of this painting have been done for a couple of days.  I have just been looking at it many times.  Finally, I realized that it had a couple of my favorite straight lines but it was mainly more organic than usual.  So, why not go with that theme.  So, I added the organic black lines.  I am happy I did something new.

Day 4 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Indigo and Yellow 

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC Paper

$75

Today's painting is a color study of Gamblin and Winsor Newton's Indian Yellows.  They look so different straight out of the tube but then become almost identical when spread in thin layers.  Then I added WN Naples Yellow Light and WN Indigo.  The result is spots of luscious greens and greys.

Day 3 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Mesa #5 (Ghost Ranch Series)

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC paper

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Not only is this a painting challenge for me, it is a Blog challenge.  I hope I decide on a format soon.

Day 2 of 30 paintings in 30 days Challenge

Growth

5"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed WC paper

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Day 1 of 30 paintings in 30 days

First post to my 30 in 30 challenge.  Painting was really done yesterday but I am slow getting my blog started.  So, here goes…..my first ever post to my blog….Scary to do….

New Year's Party

7"x5"

Oil and Cold Wax on Gessoed Paper

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