The Dixie Chick

5 X 7

Oil on panel

  My friend Mona is a bone fide southern belle from New Orleans.  She is here in her element, sitting in the sunshine at the water's edge in Savannah.  And thank you to her sis Carmen for letting me paint from her pile of photos from our trip last November!

The Jolly Sommelier

8 X 10"

Oil on deep cradled hardboard

     On our way to Hilton Head, my friends and I stayed over at a Bed & Breakfast in Tennessee.  At our hostess's suggestion, we went to a nice restaurant where we were beautifully served by this gentleman, with a radiant smile and a nice table wine.  He was a portly fella with delicate hands and I knew I had to paint him. 

The Sedona Arts Center is the organization that organizes workshops, classes, field expeditions, and more to educate and provide experiences in all mediums to artists and art students.  They are the organization that sponsers Karin Jurick's Workshops.  If you're new to my blog, first, thank you for visiting, and to bring you up to date, this series of mug shot paintings and many references to the "Hilton Head Gang" (HHG), is all born out of a workshop we took from artist Karin Jurick last November in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  Hanging out with Karin, learning so much from her, and meeting and forming friendships with the other artists attending was just an amazing gift.  

As if that wasn't enough!  Recently, the director of the Sedona Arts Center, Vince Fazio, extended an invitation to any artist who had participated in one of their workshops, to submit a painting that exemplified the area where the workshop was held, for an exhibition called "A Sense of Place" which will be part of Sedona's "First Friday Artwalk".   Ultimately, almost all 19 of the Hilton Head Gang responded with enthusiasm and if that wasn't cool enough, Karin let us know she would be sending a painting to hang with our group!  What solidarity!  


Gang member Regula Scheifele, made this poster to celebrate our excitement over, well, everything, but specifically that Karin is hanging with us once again, on the walls of this exhibition.   If you happen to be in Sedona, Arizona, please stop in and see our paintings.  The show opened yesterday with the formal reception on Feb.3 and stays up through the 14th.   I sent my painting "Bamboozled" which was of a bamboo weaver we met in Savannah.  This isn't the greatest photo but here it is, framed.   Good luck to all who are participating in "A Sense of Place"!

Betsy's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on panel

I'm having a run of frustration with my little mugs.  My last one didn't turn out as well as I hoped and will definitely be a do-over when I get a stretch of time.  I didn't post that one.

I looked forward to painting artist Betsy Stevenson and did indeed enjoy painting this one.  She is just so beautiful with wonderful color in her face, framed with her gorgeous grey and white hair.  But again, I'm afraid this just does not do her justice and I'm going to have to try it again, maybe smiling next time.  Betsy's website can be found here

Self Portrait

16 X 20

Oil on panel backed canvas

I just finished this today, 4 days too late to make the deadline for a self portrait exhibit at Artlink, our local art center.  Ah well.  The devil was in the detail, but so was the fun.

Nancy's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on panel

This one was definitely a challenge.  Last night, I was getting so hung up on details and ultimately frustrated, I decided to call it a night and tackle it later.   What happened next is probably something all artists can relate to.  As I was putting things away, I kept looking at the painting to evaluate where I was going wrong, then grabbed one of my freshly cleaned brushes and took a swipe here and there, then more, then more, then pretty much repainted the whole thing loosely, almost carelessly, and found I liked it.  So Nancy, I apologize for your blue chin and purple neck.  You can view Nancy's blog here.  And to see everyone's work on Maria's site, take a look here.

Roxanne's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

Happy New Year everyone!  Hilton Head Gang member, Roxanne Duke, has the distinction of being the first mug of 2012!  I loved the challenge of her rimless glasses and chose to not stay true to the photo in which her eyes were quite shadowed.  She has beautiful eyes that deserve to be accented.  Roxanne's paintings can be viewed here.

These mini portraits have been so much fun, and they're going so fast now, I'm thinking I may start doing family and friend's minis to be displayed together.  I'll add this to my "think about it" list.  I can't believe there was a time I suffered from painter's block - straining to come up with a subject.  There are so many ideas I want to get to, let alone the two projects on various easels right now.  I'm looking forward to posting more paintings besides the little mugs this year.  I better add resolutions to my list as well.