Painting Mom for 2 hours and a cabochon pendant

Detail shot of Mom

With my Mom visiting for 3 weeks, I always go out of my way to devote me time with her and "sneak" in business as usual art activities :) Yesterday I excused myself for about 4 hours to do another jewelry piece. So this afternoon my trade was that she'd pose for me so I can paint her from life. I had envisioned 4 hours. But I didn't realize it was going to be like working with a kid LOL! Are you done? Can I see it? I'm tired, can I nap? After responding "No" to all of the above. I finally pointed out the clock to her that it hadn't been as long as she thought. Martha Stewart was after all still talking about Asian noodles on TV (I really thought the show would preoccupy her). After Martha I let her nap. She came back and I put on American Justice for her. Well the crooks had not been given sentence yet and she was done posing. So this was as far as I got -2 hours give or take. Maybe I can refine it tomorrow :)

Work in progress 8x10 oil of my Mom

I am happy with this pendant that I wired yesterday. Striped agate wrapped in sterling silver accented with wooden beads :)

DSDF 44-45 San Francisco, Mom's Art Class

"San Francisco Street" 6x12 oil on canvas

After a long absence from Karin Jurick's Different Strokes by Different Folks I finally got another piece painted! I'm so glad I did it because I really enjoyed painting from the photo with all it's colors and shapes and I now have a companion from my New York street :)

My dearest Mom is visiting us for 3 weeks so I am even happier that I was able to swing a painting because I usually love to devote my time with Mom when she's here. On this visit I thought it was time for me to introduce her to the joy of being an artist. She's practically a virgin at this lol! I really can't justify why I had never done art with her. But here is her progress work from day 1 and I must say I'm very impressed with her progress!

You can click on images to enlarge if you wish :)

The last one is "modified" blind contour drawing which is drawing in continuous line without lifting the pen/pencil. This is a concept that's always confusing to teach beginners; as you can detect Mom lifted her pen lol We're still at it lol I can conclude that one of the qualities an artist has to develop is STAMINA! I must really be well developed in this area because I last about 2/3 longer than Mom which is a BIG surprise to me!

Hibiscus Done! Peony my favorite!

"Nancee's Peonies" 9x12 oils

I painted this partly from life. I had to put it away to finish commissions and to take a break. I'm pleased with it :)

I have THE BEST neighbors in the whole world! Although my neighborhood is not the most wheelchair accessible place, I find comfort in knowing I love my neighbors as much as they love me :) One of my neighbors is Nancee who is a wonderful gardener (and an equally wonderful cook!). For the second spring she and her grandaughter have brought me cut peonies from her garden (and before that daffodil bouquet). As a matter of fact, Nancee has a special spot in her garden for my favorite flowers which are peonies! But the rest of her garden if full of botanical wonders! I can see why she aspires to be in the garden tour of our neighborhood. Her target date is 5 years. I tend to think she will be ready sooner than that!

"Hibiscus and Basil" 6x12 oils

And here is the finished version of the hibiscus. Incidentally, thanks to all the encouragement of my dear friends and readers, I now really like my gazebo painting and in fact am testing some merchandise with the image on it.

And I'm still happy on non-steroids yay!!! I'm not 100% painless on the new meds but I'm functional and keeping the smile on my face :)