It’s All About Me – How Rad!

Okay, you caught me - tongue in cheek title.  Blushing. . . 

You know I love, love, love radishes -- not sure why, but they are so much fun.  Maybe if you eat your subjects, you can relate to them on a much deeper level.  HA, HA.    I get so excited painting a favorite food, in a favorite quirky saucer / bowl, with vibrant colors and the subtle shadows that I find so irresistible!   Simple is so much fun.  I hope you love it too.  

How Rad!

Have you noticed lately that radishes are now being sold in technicolor-bunches?  Our local stores have them grouped with red, white, purple, magenta and mauve!  I don't know what's up with that, but they all taste differently (and delightfully so - try 'em), not like the German white radishes I grew up with that were long and skinny. . . .    

Intrigued, I painted two of the round white radishes out of the bunch.  Will post that one this weekend.  

Meanwhile, here's the big news, I am putting Garlic Four Ways on auction Saturday 6/22.  There's been a lot of interest and I am buoyed by the recent sale of Lemons Four Ways.  What's not to like???

Trying on Some Black

Hello again - Earlier I mentioned that I had a few new paintings, but was not very happy with them.  I “called a friend”, got the CPR going, and will post them over the next few days.  In addition, I’m trying out black backgrounds because they seem so intriguing.  The black I use is Phthalo Green and Alizarin Crimson (learned a few years ago from DT).  Somehow, the dark green and red make the most luscious black.  These are both considered cool colors, who knew.  Perhaps that explains why anything warm will pop out at the viewer.  So much to learn.

Every day I try to take a three-mile walk.  The path has a number of wildflowers and it’s always delightful to see what’s blooming.  Go figure, all the time we spend hand-holding and tending our garden plants doesn’t seem to apply to these hardy specimens that brave the drought and the torrential rains!  This painting was to capture their bravado.  Calling it Daisy Divas, because it looks like they are actually singing into the wild clover “mike” and jockeying for the limelight!

Daisy Divas

Tomorrow I will post my favorite of the three and put it up for auction. I am delighted to report that last week's painting, Lemons Four Ways, has been bid on (auction to end on Sunday June 16th).

Enjoy, life is joy we make one moment at a time.

Crazy Challenge ~ Mega Trouble!

Here’s the blown up version which I like much better (excuse the glare since the paint is still wet).  I guess it’s true that repainting a subject tends to make a better painting.  Maybe the size helps to slow things down.  This felt like it took  f-o-r-e-v-e-r !

HELP - Please email me with what this beast should be titled!!!

If I’m lucky enough to have this one for a while, I would rotate it every week – it has a different personality depending on how it is hung. 

Check this out.  Quarter turns - maybe I should invent something to launch this kind of abstract format into a new art medium???  Once a day, rotate 90 degrees. . . .    How fun, enjoy!

p.s. did you know you can click on the title in the email to get to the whole blog?  You can also click on "Johnna's Painting Blog" header and get there too.  From the blog, you can easily sign up for email blog notifications and go to my Daily Paintworks gallery.  From there you can check out the art, submit auction bids,  send email, etc.  

Time Flies

Well somehow a whole week has flown by and not much to show for it.  I’ve been trying to focus more on the “marketing” side, handing out business cards and such.  Need to find a way for the biz brain and art brain to co-exist so we can all have a good time!   I love my new business cards and a big fan of Vistaprint and you-know-who doing the design, prototyping and final prep work.   

Now about the painting - I started two a week ago, but I was not happy with either of them.  I guess it was just an "off" week.  Yesterday I finally got a chance to perform emergency CPR – Creative Painting Rescue – hoping you agree it worked! 

The one I'm posting today was for a DPW challenge (okay, I know late again). Goal is to create a painting which is mostly white using warm and cool tones, texture, brushstrokes, etc. just make sure that light (nearly white) is dominant.  At the art club brunch, I served these cuties in my flamboyant martini glasses.  In my head, shrimp are basically white, so I thought this would be perfect for the challenge.  The glasses are clear and have frosted stems.  How perfect is that?  Since I am addicted to “bold”, I could not help but put a swath of orange across the bottom.  Guess what, shrimp are rather orange / red and caused a lot more color than I expected.  Worked to cool everything down and despite everything, declaring “challenge met.”    

Shrimp Cocktail - Paint It White Challenge

This painting has been added to the DPW auction and will run through May 5^th 8:00 pm CST.