Stragglers

I have continued to paint the little still lives. I can't help myself. They are bright and cute and bring me much joy, especially in the fact that they can be completed in one paint session (and as my Dad would say, "It's good, I can tell what it is.") These are the last of the fruits that I completed last week....the stragglers.

Straggling is something I know too, too well, it goes along with procrastination. Straggling to arrive, straggling to get up, straggling to get done. It's all straggling and it's not bad.
Straggling is seen by many as a negative personality trait, like procrastination. However, I tend to see it as a more relaxed, slower way of living. When you straggle, you slow down, you see things, you dream things and you are most likely late for everything. Hey, it's the nature of the beast, it's not perfect.

So here are my stragglers. I am starting a couple bigger pieces and changing up the still lives, but I'm sure to still throw in a little fruity joy here and there.

Apricot Carnival (2016)
Oil on Clay board 6x6
Click to Bid

Cannon Ball (2016)
Oil on Clay board 6x6
Click to Bid

Pick of the litter (2016)
Oil on clay board 6x6
Click to Bid

We can fit some more (2016)
Oil on Clay board 6x6
Click to Bid

To all my straggly, procrastinating, kindred souls out there (you know who you are)
Go ahead, take your time, hit snooze one more time, have another cup of tea, Life is fast.
And you can always shower tomorrow.
-Cheree

Still searching for words

It's called writers block, and I'm having a terrible case of it right now. I have been painting several little still life's, some portraits & some other commissioned works, but no words come....None.

Absolutely NONE!

I've sat down to blog for a few weeks and the only product is a blaring white computer screen.

I am starting a new series of paintings that I'm very excited about and I'm hopeful the words will come to accompany these when they are complete.

In the meantime, here are a few little still life's that I have done in the last couple weeks, with more to come. (Pardon the glare with these).

A Pear of Three (2016)

Oil on Gesso 6x6

Click to Buy

Mule need some more (2016)

Oil on Gesso 6x6

Click to Buy

Limes vs. Lemons  (2016)

Oil on Gesso 6x6

Click to Buy

Until next time....
-Cheree

Beeing on Sabbatical

For the past month I've been on a sabbatical with lots of weekend filled baseball tournaments that have dominated our life for the past 2 months and have been quite exhausting. Watching young energetic children run around on a field 10 degrees hotter than Hells volcanos motivates you to take on the world with passion and enthusiasm....until you get home and realize that even dinner is not gonna happen; let alone blogging, painting, bathing, and sometimes even blinking. These are the days that my children eat 3 granola bars before dinner...opportunists they are. 

 

The things we do for those little ones that we love.

 

It's been at these events that has made me take a step back and truly appreciate the joys of a child's world. And how important  it is to always connect with your inner child (mine happens to be my 5 year old self, complete with nonsense songs, crazy stories, and my squirt gun...of course). The joys of a child are simple really. Joys consists of fun, games, fun, activity, fun, creativity, forts, crayons, water, and most important, FUN.

 

To honor this for the summer. I'm going to paint with the intention of childish Fun, run through fountains, play catch & soccer with my son & dolls/girls/dress-up/super heros with my daughter.

The below painting was inspired by a painting my son did last year where he used a bottle cap to create a water color abstract. My son is super type A & the A does not stand for art or abstract! He's mathematically oriented & things are either right or wrong. You win or you lose.  So creating art with a perfect circle and then painting it in...that makes sense to him. So I tried one his way. And I enjoyed those perfect circles mixed in. 

Wild Bumble Bees (2016)
Acrylic on canvas 10x10
 

It made me Bee happy, bee free, & Hive fun! 

-Cheree 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for a hobby

My last few painting sessions I have been working on the below painting out my balcony window and have been fairly obsessed with my squirt gun. Squirting it all over the place, making a big enjoyable mess on the easel, the floor, myself. This is really not unusual for most adults my age....nearing 40. It's a crazy thing getting to 40 how you become more like a child with your "me" time. I've told the peacock that I feel to be having a somewhat practice midlife crisis, a small study you may say, with my squirt gun leading the way.

He seems to ignore these comments going back to focusing his attention on the latest road bike he has bought or is buying. One to match the weather or his mood or the road...(if that means anything) or because "trigger" (the name of one bike) needs a friend. Which coincidentally is how I agreed to have a second child. Anyways.... 

What has become this business of 40? 

Hobbies! 

Hobbies of yesteryear or "always wanted to do it but didn't" dreams to prepare for the looming crisis of the slide down the mountain of life.

Some take up residence in adult soccer leagues or flag football or half marathons or they start a rock band. Obstacle course races and sip & paints and adult gymnastics, voice lessons, repelling down rocks, road biking, starting a blog....painting. Bucket list items. Forgotten dreams. True ambitions.

Whatever it is, embrace it with the passion and grandios delusion of your 5 or 9 or 11 or 17 year old self (any age before 25 when that hindering frontal lobe kicks on and starts to parent your brain). 

Clock Tower 2016
(balcony squirt gun painting plein air)
Acrylic 15x30 museum wrap canvas with 1inch profile
 

Me, my paints, my squirt gun. Reckless, childish, frontal lobectomy abandon. 

Taking care of the canvas & the crisis. 

-Cheree 

Slow to progress

It's been a while since I blogged. I was knocked down with a nasty head cold that really shouldn't have wiped me out like it did.....but, it did. I have been messing with a few "projects" over the past week. 

This is a little progress shot of one I started. It looks very different now, this is my style of underpainting. It's getting close to done.....maybe?.....kind of? 

I'm having my typical problem where I start a few things & dabble in each one a bit, depending on how I feel. I have 2 different series of paintings I want to do & 2 more panels to go with this one. So you can imagine the inconvience of a head cold. 

But...I'll get there...eventually....

Slowly...slowly...slowly. 

-Cheree 

Where's the knife

I really wanted to paint these white onions to work on "more color with in white". I set up a cute little still life that included a knife. When I went to paint the knife (which I saved for last) it was a total disaster. I spent waaaaay too much time trying to paint the knife. I let my brain trick me and I got very impatient. In the end I scrapped it out & set it for a different time to paint. 

Where is the knife?  (2016)
Oil on gesso board 6x6

For now, these onions are safe, but soon, they will be getting the knife.     

-Cheree

April 31st...as promised

As I mentioned, during my 30 in 30, I received this picture of the Wynkoop bridge from my magnificent artist friend, Connie Mobley Medina. (if you remember, I did not get it done) I met Connie through our nanny, Anastasia "Anna", who happens to be Connie's daughter. I do not believe in coincidence and the fact that we found a nanny that not only loved our children, but is a HUGE Colorado Rockies fan and has an artist mom....I know it was meant to be. Anna and Connie came into our life when I was going back to work full time after having the goldfish and I was just starting to paint again. To say I was rusty is not even the word, I was terrible, but I really wanted to paint! I needed to paint. I asked Connie if she could come over to the 900 square feet one day and look over some of my art and give me some feedback....She was very nice, in a honest & encouraging way. I knew I was terrible, but I didn't care because I knew I could only get better. She gave me some great tips and her encouragement meant the world to me during this time.

Anyway, I begged Connie to be a live artist for my son's fundraiser at school. I knew she was amazing and would make something so incredible. We had gone to her show, Portrait of a Woman, last year during the Santa Fe art walk and the peacock and I were blown away.
For the fundraiser, she recreated a version of this:

14th & Wynkoop, 2013, acrylic paint/oil pastels/wood, 40″x 49″
Connie Mobley Johns

She honestly knocked it out of the park and I wish I had a picture of the finished painting (however, I had 3 glasses of wine); But, more so, I wish the peacock wouldn't have put the foot down on my bidding on her painting. Apparently, we had an agreed upon budget, so some other Lucky person got it.

And speaking of Lucky, that brings me to another of my favorite paintings of Connie's (to date) this guy:

Lucky, 2014, oil on canvas, 4 panels, 8″ x 8″ each
Connie Mobley Johns

Please, Please, Please check out Connie  HERE
I cannot say enough, you need to see for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

Lastly, here is my own version of the Wynkoop Bridge, as promised, on April 31st.


Peeking at the City (2016)
Oil on board 8x10


 

Everyday we come across people in our lives, uncoincidentally.
I will forever be grateful to Connie for her encouragement and forever in awe of her art.
-Cheree