Where in the world are we???

Texas Moleskin Round-Up Artists: Are we finished with our moleskines traveling through out the state of Texas? I don't think I know where we are on our project...and I don't have a moleskine in my possession. If you know where we are, help me out! Stay cool.....and have an artful day.....Kay

08/17/11 Destin Morning

SORRY everyone for the miserable crop job I did on this picture!! This is for sweet Linda Popple. Being at the ocean gives me joy and peace!! That is what I wish for you Linda!!

"Holy Cow" by Ann Rogers

oil on moleskin

Here's another member of Kay Wyne's herd for her "holy cow" themed moleskin! 

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.

MISSY

oil on moleskine

Missy was a much loved family pet, so loved that to this day, her framed photo sits on Ann's bedside table along with her children's photos. Painting loved family pets that have passed is always rewarding, usually the photo references I have to work from can be a little problematic. I must thank Ann for the old and fuzzy snapshot, anything for a sweet friend. :-)

Jean, two books are coming your way, sorry for the delay!

Double Trouble for Mary Carol Morgan, by Kay Wyne

Here is my painting for Mary Carol's moleskine....."Double Trouble". I could not decide what to paint for the "Sides" theme. I found an old 1955 Black and White photograph of elephants in Sharon's stash of books. So I painted these two elephants walking side by side....and we are viewing their back side. I had fun painting it once I decided on a subject. Now I will send this book on to Angela. Thanks for viewing our moleskine artwork! Kay

MISS 68 for Sharon Hodges

8x12 oil on moleskine nfs

This is Miss 68 painted specifically for Sharon Hodges' moleskine and this is also #5 in my 50/50 series. Miss 68 belongs to friends of ours, I don't know what I like better, the amazing hospitality when we visit their gorgeous lakehouse in Corsicana or the bevy of bovines grazing outside our bedroom window! John has a wonderful variety of cattle, including some of my favorite longhorns. His cattle approach him easily making it a wide eyed adventure for myself and my camera toting husband. I hope you like cows as much as I do, Sharon. You can see more of my 50/50 series at my blog.

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.

My Daily Detritus, by Sharon Hodges

My Daily Detritus

by Sharon Hodges

for Jean Townsend's Moleskin

I had to look up the definition for Jean's theme "Detritus", and in doing so, found that my daily detritus is my dirty palette at the end of each painting session...and that is usually a good thing!  So, Jean, I hope you enjoy this little slice of my day!

Happy painting, all!

Please visit my blog and critique my work...your opinions, positive AND negative are appreciated and helpful to me!

A Nest for Sweet Ann Rogers

I must say that I struggled with this month's moleskin....I would like to say that I had issues with this painting because of the size of the book, the subject matter and the Texas heat. But I really can't do that. I just have to say that I have painted better nests. I would love the opportunity to paint another one for friend and artist Ann Rogers. If I had been working on a canvas, I would of simply started over on a new canvas....but you can't do that with a moleskin. If I ripped the pages that I painted out, it would probably ruin her book. So, I just hope that I get another opportunity to paint for Ann! Happy painting to everyone! Kay Wyne

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!

"Cowgirl" by Ann Rogers

oil in moleskin

This one is for you, Angela! Here's a painting of your precious Cowgirl. Don't know what I was thinking when I came up with the idea of painting a dog for the "Queen of Pet Portraits", but couldn't resist after I took this picture of Cowgirl one day when we were out for a plein air day. 

Cows for Kay

I'm late with this one, I can see everybody else is on to children already! Well, this cow was fun to do, my first, thanks Kay, it WAS a challenge!

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!

My painting for Sharon.....by Kay Wyne

O.K. I really pushed it to the final day on this challenge...On Saturday, the last day of April I pulled out Sharon's moleskine and decided that it was time to do the April painting challenge. No worries....I got it done, and if I am thinking I need to add some final touches, I know where to find Sharon. This empty nest painting measures 6" x 21" in her book. I know Sharon likes nests, since she has a collection of them at her house. If I was thinking, maybe I would of painted one out of her collection. But, since I was flying by the seat of my pants, I created her own canvas on moleskine. It was fun!