A Cold Gray Day, Colorado

We had more snow last night, I think about 8 inches and they are predicting more snow tonight into tomorrow. We were going out with our best buddies but with the snow and the fact that I have a very bad cold and am coughing all the time, we decided to stay home and cuddle in front of the TV.
I hope this painting looks decent on the blog. Paul my" motorcycle buddy" son saw it at the gallery and bought it. I had done the painting from a scene in Granby, Co. I painted this using only three colors Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Yellow Light and Ultramarine Blue and of course white. Try it it is a fun thing to do.

God's Beams

This is a photograph Mark my son took. It seemed appropriate to show this tonight. I wish one and all a very Healthy and Happy New Year and may God smile on all of you. May 2008 bring peace to the world.

Gammon

Make sure to look at Gammon's website. Great skies, watercolors and we have been friends for 100 years.

Close to me Sunflower, Acrylic

I enjoyed doing this little sunflower for my show. I just enjoy doing acrylics in case anyone hasn't noticed. I have been thinking and thinking about doing something very creative for the Currier show. It is a big show and a juried show. I have not submitted for a very long time. My mind is working overtime on this situation. Should I ? Well of course I should, just get going. Don't think, DO
Happy New Year to one and all. Thank you to those who comment. Welcome to an artist I just connected with. She does wonderfully creative art and loves Pugs. Now that is perfect, an artist who loves Pugs.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HEALTH AND LOVE FOR ALL

Ellen

Ellen, It's Christmas eve and you are the only grandchild I have not given a hug to. You are too far away. I have to email this to you. You are being hugged and kissed and loved at this very minute. You are our beautiful angel and we love you very much. Merry Christmas 2007
Love always your Gandpa Pepere John and your Memere x x x x x x x x

Remembering Georgia

Remembering Georgia is a colored pencil and oil pastel painting or if some people prefer a drawing. Mark and Peggy own this painting and they have it in their Oregon home. I always loved Georgia O'Keefe's paintings and she was my idol for years. At this moment I am loving Jamie Wyeth paintings. He is an edgy painter, you really have to see his work in life not from a picture to really see the beauty of his art. His paintings glow. This past summer I went to one of his shows at the Ogunquit Museum of Art on Shore Rd in Ogunquit, Maine. I was blown away by his painting of a huge ram, "Islander". His silhouette is looking over the ocean and some of the island. It is a gorgeous painting, I am at awe of this painting. I read he applied his paint right from the tube to get this wonderful animal's fur. The texture and color of this ram is stunning. Look up the painting "Islander" on Google and let me know what you think.

The Dream

One night I dreamed of this painting. Exactly as you see it. I woke up and started right in on it. The painting went very fast, I used oil sticks and was able to finish it in three days. This painting belongs to my son Paul, the fine furniture maker and motorcyclist. He always liked my more abstract paintings. This painting is perfect for him.
I love dreaming about paintings and then getting up so energized I can't stop painting. It happened a lot when I was doing the show Interpretations with my other son Mark. That was an exciting time for us, we love showing together.

Squash Landscape

This was the first of my squash landscapes. It was the first time I used oil sticks. I also used oil pastel over the dried oil sticks and I used colored pencils for the details. I sold this painting in Ogunquit Art Association Gallery in Ogunquit, Maine but not before it won an award at the Currier Museum of Art in the New Hampshire Art Association show 1993. I have loved doing these Squash paintings. I have enjoyed going back in memory thinking of these paintings and wonderful shows I have been in.

Green Squash Lanscape

Green Squash Landscape

This Squash painting is very large, something like 38 x 50", again done with the oil sticks.

Inner Landscape

This squash is called Inner Landscape and is also very large. This painting was done with Oil Sticks, you know great big oil crayons. This painting won the Ezikeal Straw Award at the New Hampshire Art Association show at The Currier Museum of Art in 1995. I loved getting awards.

Turban Squash Lanscape

Here is one of the first squash I painted and this one I did with Oil Sticks. Oil Sticks are a large round stick that are Oil paint and some wax and a medium to hold it all together. You use oil sticks as you would oils and a brush, but this is just so juicy and fun to use. It is as if you were a kid again and using crayons, large crayons.
This Painting won the Biennial Award at the New Hampshire Art Institute in 1993.

My Love Affair with Squash

This painting is the inside of a Hubbard Squash. I love squash, I love to eat it and I love to paint it. I've done a whole series of different squash and I will put them on my blog in the next few days. This one is an oil painting and I found painting it very intriguing. The color was so wonderful and while painting it I just saw so many different things and I am sure when you look at it, you will also see many different images. I hope you enjoy looking at it.

Tonight begins our three day Holiday Open House at the gallery East Colony Fine Art. The whole building called Langer Place will be alive with music, art and good food. Lots to see and lots to buy, paintings, stained glass, drawings, photography and more. I hope we have a great time and a lot of great people.

The White Iris

I did this painting as a gift for someone who has been so good to John and me. All the feeling I have for this person came through in this painting.
Today Cathleen and Randy and I hung our show which will open on Dec 1, 2007, on Saturday from 4 to 7 pm. This show is at the East Colony Fine Art Gallery and will be up for a month. The gallery is in the Langer Place building on 55 So Commercial St, Manchester, NH. The whole building is celebrating the holidays and all the galleries will be open and it will be a great day and evening. East Colony will have some Bagpipe music and great art and great food. Everyone is welcome.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. We are having Thanksgiving at my house this year. Everything is ready. Made the stuffing last night and the gravy will be ready soon. John made two pies and my daughter is doing all the appetizers and veggies. All is well. I am so grateful for my husband and children, my grandchildren, and my nephew and niece and their parents. I just love my whole family and I feel very loved.

A Painting Paradise

I love painting on Monhegan Island, Maine. It is 10 miles from Port Clyde, Maine to the island. It would be easy to spend the summer on this beautiful island.

Monhegan Island Cliff

Monhegan Island Fog

A Windy day on Monhegan Island

Monhegan Island, Maine

This is the first of my Monhegan Island paintings. I've been to Monhegan to paint three times.

Memories

Flowers and Lemons was painted a long time ago, like 20 yrs ago. I was just looking over my photos and came across this painting. I remember the day I sold it for $75.00. Wow, that was a long time ago. I had it setup in front of a north facing window, I loved painting it. Memories

Wall in the Gallery

Worked at the gallery today and I always love that. Today was an especially good day as two artists, Randy and Mary, came in to do some work. The time went by very fast and we never run out of things to talk about. Amy who owns a framing business is there too and we usually eat lunch together. She is very talented in her job and her life. The picture is from the gallery and was taken a long time ago. The bananas are in Texas and the Pear is in Bedford and the Red Pepper is in the permanent collection at Southern NH University. I am very proud of that.

White Lily

When my son Mark saw this painting he bought it right away. Image size is 30 x 40" and it is an oil. It is so wonderful to have my children like my art and want it and buy it. Of course I do love to give them gifts too.

Utah 2007

The Utah Trip

OK, I am ready to start again. Paul and I left Colorado towing the motorcycle in Paul's trailer. He thought it would be better to drive to Utah rather than spend days on the motorcycle. Our first stop was in Moab. We stayed in Moab two nights. The first day, we went to Arches National Park and spent all day just driving and seeing the magnificent sights. It was a warm day so we took the linings out of our motorcycle outfits. I thought Arches to be the most beautiful park I had ever seen. I have been to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon and those had blown me away. I guess I can't say Arches is the best all I can say is how different it was. It was a beautiful day and a lot of people. One couple took our picture often because they couldn't believe I was 73 and taking this motor cycle trip with my son.
The next day we left Moab in the truck heading to Hanksville. Once there we left the truck and trailer and that is where our motorcycle trip began. It was glorious. Paul is an excellent motorcycle driver and I trusted him completely. We took a ride to Lake Powell and what a sight that was. A huge lake and huge boats and 2 story houseboats. We headed to Zion the next morning. I loved the Dixie National Forest, the Aspens were just starting to bloom. We were at 9600 ft. It was a cool, totally clear day. We arrived at the Best Western about five pm, tired but happy. The next morning after a big breakfast we were on our way to Zion to meet with Mark and Peggy and Ellen.
What a welcome we got. Peggy and Ellen were jumping up and down and Mark my older son was very teary and happy to see us. We spent the day exploring Zion and that evening they met us for a wonderful Mexican dinner. Afterwards we visited galleries in this wonderful little town of Springdale. The next day we joined Mark and family at Zion and headed out to Brice Canyon. What a sight those two parks are. Zion, very spiritual and Brice like sherbet all peaches and cream. We spent the day there and had a cook out at there campground.
This trip has been unbelievable, we said good bye to Mark and Peggy and Ellen. Lots of hugs and kisses.
On the road again we headed to Capital Reef and spent a lot of time there. We did the Burr Trail and also the scenic trail. We went back to the Welcome Center and while we were there, it started to rain, lasted about an hour and that was all. Perfect weather this whole trip.
Our trip back to Hanksville was good but neither one of us wanted it to end. All and all we did 1,115 miles on the motorcycle.
I sit some days and just think of that trip. Will I ever be able to do another one? Who knows, we hope we will. I hope so. I'll keep working out to keep up my strength and dream of the next great adventure.

The Utah Trip

Last night I wrote a long time about the Utah trip and my daughter by accident deleted the whole thing. I was tired last night and that didn't make me to happy. I will have to write it again but not now. It has not been my best day. I think I will retire early so I will have a good day tomorrow.

Paul, excited about our trip

The Motorcyclist

In 2005 John and I went to Colorado for a 2 week visit. My son Paul and his wife Jane live in Colorado and we just love going to visit. Paul had just bought himself a new BMW motorcycle and I was very anxious to have a ride on it. Finally after much teasing he decided we would take a ride up to Monarch Pass. Monarch Pass is 12,ooo ft and it was just a gorgeous day. I just loved it and this made Paul very happy, so we started to plan a trip for 2007. We planned for two years and finally in May 2007, I was on the plane heading to Co. and our trip to the southwest part of Utah. I had to have all the necessary clothing for motorcycle riding. I had a new jacket and pants, gloves and boots and borrowed my daughters helmet. You know every inch of me had to be covered.
We went for a couple of practice rides in Colorado. The hardest thing for me was to get on the motorcycle, once I had mastered that we were on our way.

to be continued

The trip of a lifetime

We had the most wonderful time in Utah. It is so beautiful, so absolutely gorgeous you just run out of words to describe it. Seeing Utah on the back of a motorcycle is a real treat.

This is my first acrylic painting and I have to say it was great fun painting with acrylics. I should mention here that all my artwork is copyrighted and cannot be copied by anyone.
Today has been a dreary day but I did get a lot done. I took Missy for her physical and she is in great shape. She weighed in a 12 lbs 4 oz. Perfect in every way. At two, I went for a haircut and it looks really good. I love this hairdresser, she is the BEST.
After I post this, I am going to make some business cards and maybe some postcards.

Sunflower in the Sunroom,Acrylic

Today has been a beautiful day. I took Missy for her half hour walk and came home and started working in the studio. I redid my second Capital Reef, Utah painting and I am much happier. I still have those darn rocks, at the bottom of the painting to do but I am feeling confident I will finish them on Wed. Tomorrow I will teach and then go for an appointment at 1 pm. Afterwards I will cook. We are having six for dinner and I am making Cinnamon Chicken, Chili Rice and Broccoli. My friend Fay is bringing dessert. We always have a wonderful time. These times are very special.
I hope everyone reading this are enjoying this gorgeous weather.

Missy Sleeping 2007

Moody Monday

I have to paint today. One of the Utah paintings is not right so I thought today would be a good day to fix it up. I would have wanted it finished by last Sunday but no luck.
The Strawberry painting is one of my front porch series, like the Breakfast on the Porch, half eaten banana.
I really have to go, my studio is calling me.
I did take Missy for a half hour walk and it is gorgeous out.

A Beautiful Saturday

It was a beautiful day and my friends and I were going to an open house of a wonderful wildlife artist. The sun was shining and the leaves were just beautiful. Our wildlife artist has a great studio out in the woods. Her studio sparkled with beautiful colors, each painting had texture and color and each animal had their own personality. It was a treat to be there, we visited her chickens and sheep and loved her black dog and black cat. Wonderful visit and we hated to leave.
Once home again I was inspired to paint and I did, all afternoon. It was great I was energized by my artist friend's art work.
I want to talk about my painting Magic and Beauty. This painting is 30" x 40" and is an oil painting. It has a life of it's own. It was hard for me to find a place for it. I had it in the dining room but it just looked OK. I finally hung it over the entertainment center and it looks fabulous. The wall is a yellow gold and the colors of the painting just glow. I remember hanging it in the gallery and the same thing happened. One wall it looked OK then I changed it to another wall and it looked just great. This painting has a life of it's own, right now it is a very happy painting.

Magic and Beauty

Three Red Peppers

This little painting was so much fun to paint. I planned it all out, tied the string to the peppers and found a larger canvas and tacked them to the top. I placed the canvas in the sun and moved it around until I found the best shadow shape. I then drew the peppers and shadows on a smaller canvas. This painting was all about shadows. I was very happy with the way it turned out.
I am trying to figure out how to get my other photos into this blog. I guess I will have to ask my advisors.
Today's painting class went very well. Everyone doing a great job. I am very happy with all of my classes.
Now I am going into the studio to paint for a couple of hours.

Another busy day

Today is usually a painting day but I just decided to enjoy a visit with my grandson. He is totally entertaining and funny. We watched Godzilla, very interesting indeed. He practically knows it by heart. His Mom came in from work and we had a great dinner. Now it is quiet and I think I will go into the studio to paint for a couple of hours. I am busy working for my next art show and using acrylics is a big change for me. The colors are great and I find I am painting differently, course I am painting the Utah landscape and that alone is mighty different. When I went on my motorcycle trip with my son, it really was a trip of a lifetime. First of all he is very organized and I had complete trust in him. I love being on a motorcycle, just love it. He has a BMW 1200--, can't remember the two letters after the 1200. Anyway it was very comfortable. We wore helmets and motorcycle outfits and boots and gloves, not one inch of my skin was showing. You would be surprised how cold it gets on a motorcycle. We went in May and had the most beautiful weather and the most wonderful time. I could not have asked for a better vacation and the most wonderful trip any Mother could ever have. I love thinking about it and sometimes I get teary just wishing for a day on that bike. We met my other son and his wife and my grand daughter in Zion, that was the highlight of our trip. A great reunion.

Wonderful class on Tuesday morning. Everyone happy and everyone doing something different. There are three classes going on at the same time in different rooms. One is a pastel class taught by a very very wonderful teacher and the other class is Acrylics and the teacher is also very dedicated and very funny. My dog loves that room because it is sunny and because everyone has treats for her. She lays in the sun and when she needs a little loving she will choose a student and ask to be picked up and cuddled. Every one loves this, it is as if she is giving the person a gift of love.
All the paintings I have shown are oils and have been done in the last 3 or 4 years. Anyone wanting more information about them can email me at studiojeanne AT gmail Dot com.
It's 8:45 and time to climb into bed and read. A special time of the evening.
The oil painting is Breakfast on the Porch.

Today I am off to teach my class. On Tuesday's I teach drawing, watercolor, colored pencils and recently, oil pastels. It is a great class and the time just flies by. I teach all ages. In this class the ages range from 40 to 90 years old. I learn so much from my wonderful students, my friends. I have two women who have been coming for 34 years. they have tried everything from oil painting to all the different mediums. I love these ladies, they are close to my heart. Oh and by the way my little dog, a Shih Tzu that I got from the pound comes to class too. She is everyone's favorite. A perfect little dog with a big loving heart.

Sun and Sunshine

I have not stopped since I opened my eyes. I am amazed at how much I get done in one day. I walked for a half hour, I stretched for 20 minutes. Now I am in the studio finishing up my second painting for my featured artist show on Dec 1st. I have a wonderful partner for this show and I am delighted, she is a great artist and great person. I am just so energized about this show and I love acrylics.

Thoughts for the day

"If your daily life seems poor,
do not blame it, blame yourself, tell yourself
that you are not poet or artist enough to call
forth its riches, for to the creator there is no poverty
and no poor indifferent place, "

Welcome

This is my first time having a blog, so please be patient with me.
I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. I love art, I love creating. I usually oil paint but recently I have started painting with acrylics. I tried the Atelier Chroma Interactive Acrylics. The colors are beautiful and they are very easy to use. I guess these acrylics are suppose to not dry as fast as regular acrylics but I do have some Goldens and the painting I am working on now I have mixed the two. I am working on a series I have named My Utah Trip 2007. In May 07 my son and I went on a 7 day motorcycle trip. It was the trip of a lifetime. So I am planning on a painting series and have one done and one almost done and two others I am planning. That's it for today.