Reno Portrait Society and an Explanation

Kristi / oil on toned board / 9x12

Kristi / oil on toned board / 12x9

Kristi / oil on cardboard / 10 x 8

A family emergency that necessitated a long trip to Florida has kept me from painting for the last several weeks. Just prior to that trip, I received some very good news from Jason at the Reinert Fine Art Gallery in South Carolina - both of my large paintings sold within a week of their arrival at the gallery! That was some very exciting news! Here are the two SOLD pieces:

A Haze of Possibilities / 16x20

Galloping With the Light / 18x24

The quick sales got me all fired up to finish the new steeplechasing painting that I had on my easel at that moment - about 50% done. But before I could even pick up a paint brush, I had to drop everything and leave town. Getting back a few days ago, I found I just could not recapture the prior excitement that I had about the partly done piece  and ended up ruining it in grand fashion! Sadly, it was unceremoniously consigned to the trash heap.  Normally I would be kind of upset about something like that happening but I made up my mind to just begin again. Hopefully this time I can carry it through to completion.

Yesterday morning was life painting at the Reno Portrait Society - the first time I have been able to attend in weeks and weeks. As our model for the day, we were fortunate to have Kristi, who agreed to pose in the nude. She is so professional, researches her poses before arriving, needs very little direction and gives us a quite a challenge. She provided us with three different poses - each about 40 minutes - and the above three efforts are my results.

Over the next few days I intend to visit my favorite blogs and make my presence known once again - it feels like I have been away for such a long time and I have a lot of catching up to do!

The Primacy of Doubt - New Camera, New Photos

For my birthday, my family surprised me with a new camera - a fabulous, complex computer of a camera that I am just now learning to use. I decided to re-photograph this painting using my brand new Nikon digital SLR D5100. I read the manual, and then read the manual again and read it for a third time! There is so much to absorb and try to put into use but the camera is now set to what I think are the ideal settings for me - only time and experimentation will tell. In comparing these photos with the previous set (my very old Sony Cybershot) I find I am much more pleased with the capturing of a color more true to the original and the crisp way that the paint shows up. It's time to retire my old paint covered Sony for this new technology for sure. Please let me know what you think as well.

I also received a shipment of new business cards from Vistaprint. Both sides of my card have the same info so there really is no front or back. The card was fun to design - I love the ability to use my own images and design the card via the internet. Hooray for Vistaprint!

Obeying the Quantum Rulebook

Back to basics after a rather long hiatus. I love the high key pastel jockey and how he harmonizes with the wild beauty of the landscape. I love the level of his comfort with his beast and their current position in time and space. Oil on linen 16x20

All She Wants to do is Paint, Paint!

Have not had much time lately to paint as life got in the way. I am determined to  spend as much time in the studio as possible over this upcoming 3 day Memorial Day weekend - I hope it doesn't take me too long to get the rust out! And so I have posted two recent paintings in their current spots in my home. I love to see them all dressed up in their frames and I  thought you might like to as well.
A funny and apropo quote by one of my heros - Albert Einstein: "Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."
I need to return my attention to the fine craft of painting and hope to have some new paintings to post over the next several days!
(Apologies to Don Henley for tweaking his lyrics a bit)!