third marble

5" x 7" daily pastel painting
third marble

Day 31 of October.
I finished my 31st painting of the month. There were some days when I wasn't sure I had the time to complete a painting yet I somehow always did.
Daily painting is a commitment I made to myself. It's one of the best decisions I've made in some time. I was one of those artists who experienced creative blocks quite often but I'm seeing that much of the time the cause was my thinking.
More marbles to come . . . they are little jems to paint!

SOLD

blue marble

SOLD to Marchant in Jacksonsville, Florida

5" x 7" daily pastel painting
blue marble

I wrote in a previous post that I was going to take a break from blending but it's just impossible! The challenge of trying to make an image look like the real thing is just too much fun.

old vase

$75 with free shipping and handling in the US E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

5" x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)
old vase

clothespin

5" x 7" daily pastel painting
clothespin

I usually work fairly tight and it works well when I'm going for photo-realism.
For the next week I'm going to work on loosening up a bit. One of the reasons is because the paper I use has a lot of tooth and I usually rub my fingers raw while blending. My fingers need to heal ;-) therefore no blending for a week. We'll see how long I can go without.

SOLD

lonely tree

5" x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)
lonely tree
SOLD

When I was a teenager I was obsessed with drawing trees. I don't paint trees much anymore although when I do I enjoy it. Landscapes are the perfect subject for me when I'm pressed for time. The challenge of making the composition work is part of the fun when the piece is so small.

whistle

5" x 7" daily pastel painting, unframed

pheeew . . blogger came through for me. For a while the server was down and I was thinking that I'd miss a day. This will be my first full month of daily paintings and I'm lovin' it!

Part of my collection at the Preservation Framer in North Attleboro, MA.
To purchase please email me.

teapots

SOLD to Catherine in Newton, MA

5" x 8" daily pastel painting
teapots

Some teapots in my kitchen.
This painting almost didn't make it on the post today. I had some issues with the background but then reworked it. I'm very pleased with the outcome of the purple pot.

pine cone

5" x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)
$75 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

weathered book

SOLD to Pamela in Uxbridge, MA

5 1/2" x 8" daily pastel painting
weathered book

ceiling fixture

5 1/2" x 8" daily pastel painting
ceiling fixture

We still have a number of these fixtures in our house.
I wasn't crazy about them until I decided to paint one.
Daily painting is providing me with a whole new way of looking at things.

$75 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

outlet

5" x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)
grounding outlet

There's something about utilitarian images that intrigues me.
I guess part of it is the challenge of trying to making an every day object intrigue the viewer.
$75 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

last of the season

5" x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)
juicy red

I'm going to miss fresh tomatoes ;-(

$100 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

paper fan

SOLD to Catherine in Newton, MA

5" x 8" daily pastel painting
paper fan

I have a number of "collections" that never interested me enough to continue. One of them is old clocks. I have about 16. They are randomly placed around the house. None of them have the correct time and many don't work at all.

I used one of my paper fans for this painting. I just love the colors.

laundromat

SOLD

7" x 7" daily pastel painting
laundromat

It's been a totally hectic day filled with other obligations but I don't want to miss a day of painting. I set a goal for myself and I'm sticking to it. I hurried through this a bit but I'm still pleased with the results.

I've been working on abstracting my subjects more, focusing on colors and shapes.

pumpkin

SOLD to Catherine in Newton, MA

5" x 7" daily pastel painting
pumpkin

I could have added greater detail to this painting but decided that it looked good at this point. Sometimes it's hard to know when to stop. In this case I thought greater detail might distract from the overall feel.

an apple

SOLD

5 3/4 " x 8" daily pastel painting
an apple

cypress

5 1/2 " x 8" daily pastel painting (unframed)
cypress tree

Some day I'll visit Tuscany. . . just for the trees ;-)

$70 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

swan

5 " x 7" daily pastel painting

I noticed after almost finishing this that the paper has a bend in it so I will not be putting it up for auction.

abstract fields

SOLD to Jennifer in Bozeman, Montana

8 " x 10" daily pastel painting

Feeling lazy today so I painted something off the top of my head.
When you have a lot to juggle sometimes getting to the daily painting is difficult.

dice

belongs to Janice in North Brunswick, NJ

5 " x 7" daily pastel painting
colored dice

I had fun painting this.
Another case of simple objects needing great attention to detail.
The colors in the actual painting are more vivid.

unforeseeable

5 " x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)
Unforeseeable
$75 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

two cherries

	SOLD
5 1/2 " x 7" daily pastel painting two cherries

We had a family party today so my painting time was limited. I thought a simple subject would be a good pick for the day. What I seem to forget is that the more simple the subject is, the more of a challenge it can be to create something that's actually eye catching.

peapod

5 1/2 " x 7" daily pastel painting (unframed)

I grew peas in my vegetable yard a few times but there were never enough to feed more than one person at a time.It's one of favorite fresh vegetables but hard to come by.

$70 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

marble

	belongs to Janice in North Brunswick, NJ
5" x 7" daily pastel painting marble

You've probably seen a few marble paintings if you browse the daily painters blog. I almost didn't paint one because of that but I always wanted to so here it is . . . a simple marble.

plugged in

	belongs to Heidi in San Francisco, CA
5" x 7" daily pastel painting plugged in

Sometimes I forget how dependent I am on this.

shell

	SOLD to Jeff in Aledo, Texas
5" x 8" daily pastel painting shell

Most of us probably have memories of walking the beach and collecting shells, or listening to "the ocean" by placing the shell against our ear. We lived 1/2 mile from the beach on eastern Long Island, NY when our children were much smaller. We all share some of the same precious memories of the beach during all seasons.

the bishop

	SOLD
5" x 7" daily pastel painting the bishop

I haven't played chess in a long time although it used to be one of my favorite games. I haven't played in so long that I actually named this piece "the pawn". Thanks for pointing that out Paul! When I was a kid we vacationed in Maine every year for 3 weeks. We stayed on a small peninsula that had 8 rental cottages on it. The owner of the place, Mr Smith, was a sweet 80 year old man. There wasn't a lot to do so I spent many days with him learning how to play the game. Marcel Duchamp was quoted as saying "From my close contact with artists and chess players, I have come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are indeed artists."

green apple

	donated the the MattyFund.org
5" x 7" daily pastel painting Green Apple

A common small works subject. It was really difficult trying to get those water drops to look real and I'm not totally satisfied with them but overall I'm happy with this piece.

absurdity

7" by 7" daily pastel painting, unframed

I have a rock collection. Having them randomly placed in the house reminds me of the ephemeral qualities of life and everything we construct . . . barring spent uranium.

So here it is . . not one from my collection though ;-)

Looking at it again I suppose it could be seen as a potato. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Food for thought?

Surrealism is one of my favorite subjects. It's not a subject I always choose because the ideas usually come to me through a word or a song. For smaller paintings it often requires more detail work which would take more time than a daily painting.

$70 with free shipping and handling in the US. Please email me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.