Summer Absence

Pineapple Impasto Oil
Thanks to Jutta in Carmel, CA.

I've been MIA for some time and I apologize if you've missed my posts.  June was spent in our condo on Miami Beach, relaxing by the beach most days and July brought an onslaught of work for my  "other" job. Throw in a mix of health issues, doctor's visits, etc. and plain laziness when I had some free time, and ergo, you have an ignored blog!   

Despite all this, my paintings have managed to be bought and shipped on to loving homes. For that, I'm ever so grateful!  

Cuban Coffee and Lime Red.
Thanks to Erin in Ringoes, N.J.

Oil Paints
Thanks to Mathew in Royal Oak, Michigan

Tropical Fruits
Thanks to Mary in Glade Spring, Virginia

Thanks for stopping by!

Beach Escape

Beach Escape

I just listed this little impressionistic painting, which reminds me of how much I love the sights, sounds and peacefulness I usually find at our little spot on Miami Beach. It's done with palette knives and shows thick, rich impasto. I love working with palette knives because, for one thing, you don’t need to wash brushes! It comes with its own little easel. No need for a frame! Great art for small spaces, cubicle, dorm room, book shelf, etc. Makes a pretty, unique gift! Have a great week-end!

Winsor Newton Oils

New Paints!

When I first started painting in earnest, about five years ago, I used acrylics. They were great in the sense that you didn’t have to deal with turpentine or Turpenoid (the synthetic stuff) and cleanup was done with water. No harsh chemicals to deal with! However, since acrylics are water based and dry so fast they left me with little time to correct my beginner’s mistakes and prevented me from playing around with the paint before it dried. Of course later on I learned tricks about using gesso with your paints, and extender medium to prolong the fluidity of acrylics and so on but I found oils to be my favorite medium because I really didn’t need to deal with these additives. Oils really freed me to play around until I “got” it right. It is so much more forgiving of my mistakes, which are many!!

The problem with oils now, though are that even though I work out of a well ventilated home studio, I seem to have more frequent colds and upper respiratory issues which might be related to my sensitivity of the chemicals used in the paints and turp. So…I’ve bought these Winsor and Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oils and I’ll see how they work out.
If you paint, have you ever used these?

UPDATE: I've painted this using my new water-based oils and so far, they're great! No smells whatsoever and they react like regular oils--love 'em!!!