HOLY COW FOR KAY by Linda Popple

Kay's moleskin theme is "HOLY COW!" and I painted a few cow studies for practice and in one word they were pitiful!  So, in keeping with her theme (sort of!), I decided to paint something associated with cows.  Cows produce wonderful milk, and from cream, butter.  YUM!  For Kay, two plates of butter with a silver butter knife waiting to spread this treat on a slice of bread.

STORMY by Linda Popple

This is a painting of one of my favorite dogs ..... and family member.  Her name is Stormy and she was adopted by Abby, Ben and Asher (three of my fantastic grandchildren) after she was abandoned by her previous owner.  I painted Stormy in Angela's moleskin.  She has several dogs in her book and they are all special and beautiful!  I hope you like this very late addition to your book, Angela.  I'll get it in the mail to Kay so she can add her work.

Remnants of an All American Snack for Jean by Linda Popple

Jean Townsend's theme is detritus. She has such a creative spirit. Her theme was quite a challenge. My first thought was to paint my leftover palette, but SOMEONE (a fantastic artist, I must admit ..... Sharon Hodges) beat me to it! And her painting and format was amazing. So that idea went into the detritus file (which is over loaded!) As I sat down with my peanuts, I was just stumped and thinking and thinking of something to paint. I left the shells and went to the studio to paint another mugshot and so frustrated that I just couldn't come up with anything. The mugshot was finished and I came downstairs and saw the remnants of my snack and there it was ..... finally. As soon as it is dry I will send it on to Kay.

P.T. BARNUM by Linda Popple

6x6 Oil on Paper

Phineas Taylor Barnum 1810-1891

This is a painting for Carol Morgan's moleskin. Her theme is "Sides." Mr. Barnum was known for his sideshows which began when he was only 25 years old. He paid Joice Heath $1,000.00 to be put on exhibit. She claimed to be 161 years old and a nurse for George Washington. From this exhibit he made about $1,500.00 per week! And thus began the sideshow and soon his Barnum & Bailey Circus.

This was really fun to paint and also to learn more about P.T. Barnum. He was certainly an interesting person.

THE POSER by Angela Elledge

8x10 oil on moleskine nfs

Ok, I admit that I am terribly behind in my painting commitments for our moleskine adventure; please, please, please forgive me..."the end of the year school wrap up" just about did me in, but I'm back on track and will soon be all caught up. In addition to no time for painting, I had no idea what to paint in Linda's book. The Poser was so much fun to paint, he kind of just painted himself, don't you love when that happens? The background color was something of a struggle, I wanted something kind of dull, but sophisticated and something that would allow his feathers to stand out. I like the end results, but ya'll will have to let me know what you think. Jean, you should have Linda's book by the end of the week...I promise!

FIVE HYDRANGEAS by Linda Popple

Well, I am really late on this one! I finished this still life yesterday for Ann Rogers and when dry I will mail Ann's moleskin to Kay Wyne. This last week has been busy and also I've had a million wipe-outs! Yes, a million ..... well, it felt like a million. It's been frustrating, but also good. I've been reading a few art books (since painting was a no go) and concentrating on light. I think I am seeing a little different and I am trying to capture light with paint and continuing to concentrate on loosening up.

This vase of flowers was in a tea shop in Asheville, NC. I took a photgraph and re-discovered it while going through photos for the DPW challenge. I used this photo for another painting I did yesterday and will post that one later on my blog.

And, thanks to Jean Townsend this was much easier to paint! I used her suggestion to put medium on the gessoed paper and that helped in a million ways. YES a million!! Thanks, Jean!

TOMATOES

I painted this in my moleskin as the first painting before I send it on to Kay Wyne. She will then paint whatever she would like to in our moleskin exchange. I am so happy that our first painting was in our own sketchbook. I gessoed the paper and then approached the painting as I would when painting on a canvas or board. When applying the ground I made a horrible mess! Then my moleskin fell off the easel and that was an additional mess. I managed to clean everything and continue, but if it had been someone else's I would still be totally stressed!