Paintings from a Workshop

Morning Bliss on the St. Croix
oil painting, 8x10 inch
day 2

Afternoon Sunlight on the St. Croix
oil painting, 8x10 inch
Day 1

This past week, I attended a workshop given by Kami Polzin of Stillwater, MN. What a wonderful three days! Kami is an excellent teacher and her enthusiasm and love of painting is very apparent.

I have always found landscape painting a bit intimidating, but with Kami's help, I now look at the color temperatures, values, and light of doing a landscape with complete enthusiasm. The above paintings are examples of what I accomplished during the workshop.

What a delight!!

The Muse Seems to be in OVERDRIVE

Pendants with Stone Inlay
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

Goodness! The muse has been busy. It seems like ages since I posted anything, but I have really been busy going off in another direction....darn Geminis...what can I say. My passion for painting has not ceased, but I do love working with my hands to create.

While I was visiting my daughter in Montana, I did seem to have a revelation of what I wanted to try...wood, woodburning, stone...well, these are my first few tries at that revelation. I am still working out the bugs, but things seem to be fitting together. Time will tell. They do seem to have a mind of their own though. The first two that I made seemed earmarked for a couple who have seen some troubled times. It is amazing to find out what the wood, stones and symbols seem to give the receiver.

Each one is truly made with love and I know that each is deemed for a special person - all of the above have been spoken for. I call them energy or power pendants....whoa, this woman is getting way out there. Maybe. Who cares? I am recycling pieces of my apple, boxelder and wild cherry trees into something that look and feel good to the touch. The rest...who knows.

Currently, I am making myself one with the stones that I like. It has a bit of peridot, some tiger's eye, and a Swarovski red crystal on some apple wood. Next I will add a bit of wood burning for the final touch. Will the meanings of the stones and wood make a difference in my life....I will let you know. For now, I will just wear it when I finish it, because I like it.

Tomorrow, back to painting. I miss it terribly. By the way, if anyone is interested in a pendant, drop me an email. I call them power pendants and I would love to make one especially for you. Depending on stones and size, they are very reasonable priced with a cotton/rayon cord or a leather one along with sterling silver findings. Look for more.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Lilacs from my Yard

"Lilacs from the Yard"
original oil on panel board, 14 x 11 inches, unframed
$200 plus shipping
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

It seems like ages since I posted anything. The past week I have been catching up from my trip to Montana to see my new grand daughter and big brother. As usual, I had planned on painting, but I forgot how time consuming wee ones can be. My main reason for going to Montana was to help the new Mom with the little ones. I enjoyed each precious moment that I was there immensely.

Once home, I started this painting plus some new things with making pendants. More on those later. I just finished up this painting of the lilacs this morning and it was a joy to do. I am going to leave it sit for a day or two, but for now here it is.

Bud ~ Virtual Sketch Date Challenge

"Bud"
oil painting on canvas board, 8 x 8 inch, unframed
virtual sketch date challenge for April
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

Here is my completed challenge for the virtual sketch date. I almost forgot to do it, so this evening I made a dash for the studio and attempted to do it. Check out the other interpretations at Virtual Sketch Date blog.

Oranges from a Workshop

Workshop Still Life ~ Citrus
oil painting on canvas board, 11 x 14 inch
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

This past week on Thursday and Friday, I made a trip to Stillwater, MN to attend a workshop given by Kami Polzin. She is a very talented artist and an excellent teacher. Color seems to terrify me, but after this workshop I feel that I have gained confidence and the knowledge for a new approach to overcoming my fears. Basic drawing skills are imperative. Kami is a wonderful teacher. I hope to try out my new knowledge with a few still life setups. Seeing color and how it relates to what surrounds it is key. It sounds so simple, but our mind tends to get in the way and complicate things.

Waiting for Playtime

"Waiting to Play"
conte/charcoal on Rives paper, 8 x 12.5 inch
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

This dog portrait is complete for today. I will put it aside for a week or two and if something pops out at me, I will make some slight adjustments. However, for now I plan on just leaving it as is.

Work in Progress ~ Conan Day 2

Update on the latest art work ~ Conan

I thought that I would post a quick update on the charcoal/conte drawing. Still a ways to go, but here is what it looks like today.....

Another Work In Progress & eBay Graph Update

Work in Progress ~ "Conan"
charcoal and conte, 8 x 12 inch
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

Here is the latest drawing that I am working on. It is of a huge mastiff named Conan. He is a sweet and VERY large dog that lives in Arizona with my son and his family. I hope to finish the drawing in the next couple of days. This is another drawing created on Rives BFK using charcoal and conte. I hope to have a series of these completed the next couple of months as I really enjoy working with this medium! It is great for portraiture.

The Ebay "Daily Painting" Statistic Project

After that I have the lastest data that I have been collecting for the "daily painting" eBay auction. This is where I look at the listings for "daily painting" and count the number with bids. It does seem to cycle up and down. Also, the days that seem to be the worse for selling are Fridays and Saturdays. The average bids for the number of listings is still around 20% (the pink solid line).

If anyone would like more info, please feel free to contact me.

Coneflower and Butterfly

Coneflower and Butterfly
charcoal and conte on Rives BFK paper, 9.5 x 11 inch
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

I just had to finish this drawing up. What fun. Next I plan on trying this on a dog portrait and then a human. I did spend several hours on this drawing today, but I had a break in between as I had been invited to a wonderful dinner at my neighbor's home. Homemade ham! Great meal.

Tomorrow look for an update on my ebay statistics. I have been collecting data now for more than two months. Some interesting info.

Work in Progress ~ Coneflowers

Coneflowers ~ A work in progress...
charcoal and conte on Rives BFK paper
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

After reading an article in the International Art Magazine on an artist who works with charcoal and conte, I just had to give this a try. Typically, I use just conte or charcoal on a toned paper. It never occurred to me to use a nice quality, white paper. The trick seems to be not to get too carried away with the sanquine conte. As soon as I am finished with this drawing, I will post it. Charcoal and conte are one of my absolutely favorite mediums and I wonder why I just don't do more.

I will try to remember to take photos as I complete this drawing to share. I already have a couple more ideas in the works. Next will be a drawing of Conan, my son's Mastiff. Perfect for doing a dog portrait. After that will be a portrait drawing...I have a couple to choose from.....

Have a Happy Easter everyone!

The April Fool Joke

April in Minnesota
(a view from my backyard on April 1, 2009 ~ snow!!!)
original oil on canvas board, 7 x 7 inch, unframed
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

This is a view painted of my backyard. Yes, that is snow! Yes, it is April! Goodness, I am really tired of winter in Minnesota. Today we are again awaiting yet another winter storm. Wake up, Mother Nature! It is Spring!

This sweet little painting is done using a very limited palette. Ultramarine blue, mars violet and titanium white. I tried to play the warm and cool colors off one another and truthfully, that day was pretty simple color-wise. With the white snow and the bleakness of the bare trees, there was little color, but lots of contrast. The limited palette really fit the color scheme for this little painting.

I may start a little series of "My Backyard" and different days of the year. It definitely is ever changing.

A Portrait Commission in Conte

Portrait Commission
conte drawing on toned paper, 11 x 14 inch
copyright MaryAnn Cleary

This a portrait commission that is done in a sanquine conte on a toned paper. To accomplish this portrait required working from several different photos and combining them into one final drawing. Typically, I prefer to utilize my own photographs, but when there is a long distance between me and the client I must rely on the client's photos.

In the future, I hope to write a post on taking photographs for portrait work that will be utilized for a commission piece. This should be helpful to those requesting a commission and living too far away for me to do the photographing. Please feel free to contact me if anyone has questions.

Palette Knife Study

"Beach Body ~ A Palette Knife Study & Limited Palette"
original oil painting done on canvas panel, 10 x 8 inch, unframed
copyright MaryAnn Cleary

This is a study in oil using a palette knife as well as a limited palette. This is also for Karin Jurick's site called Different Strokes from Different Folks. I almost did not do this one since I have been gone and just got back from AZ. However, I just could not resist so I did a quick study last night using a palette knife for the main portion and then on top of that, I opted to use a limited palette. The colors used were cadmium red, cadmium yellow (both med.), ultramarine blue and white. That in itself was challenging. My thought for this was to try to capture the essence of a moment at the beach without getting hung up in all the detail. Very difficult for me. A palette knife definitely helps!

Apple a Day

Apple a Day
original oil painting on canvas on hardboard, 5 x 6 inch, unframed
copyright MaryAnn Cleary

Today the snow is falling so I suppose this means March came in like a lion and is also leaving as a lion. So much for Spring. Winter seems to be here for a few more days.

This little painting was done from life. I am trying to get back into the groove of painting after doing a few conte drawings. I still have a couple more that I plan on doing of my little grand daughter and I just finished up a commission portrait which I will post sometime this week. Tomorrow the painting for Karin Jurick's site for other painter's interpretations is due. I am working on it this evening, but now time to take a break.....I need an NCIS TV fix.

A Sweet Little Lass ~ Teagan

"Teagan"
conte on toned paper, approx. 7 x 9 inch
copyright 2009 MaryAnn Cleary

This morning I awoke to my cell phone sending me a message that my flight to Minneapolis had been upgraded. My days in the warm sun are nearing their end.

The above drawing is a quick sketch of my sweet granddaughter. She is a bundle of joy and as active as can be for a wee one. She has captured my heart and I am sure I will need to make many more drawings of her. What a challenging model she is! If I can catch her in a still moment, that means sleeping, I will try to draw from life. For now though, the best way is to take numerous photos and then work from them.

I may work on this one a little more, but for now I will let it sit a bit before doing anything more to it.

Visiting AZ and an eBay Update

Here is the latest chart for the eBay listings for Daily Paintings and for auction only. It looks like there might be a downward trend on the percentage of paintings sold. The current average for selling a daily painting on eBay is 19.2%. However, if we just look at the month of March, the average is 16.5%. The straight purple line in the graph is the average of 19.2%. The points are data that I collected on various days and times.

This week and next I will be visiting my little granddaughter in Arizona, so I will post when I am able. I hope to get some sketching in as the wild flowers are out and the days are sunny and warm. If anything, I will take some photographs!