New Year’s Resolution - Cleaning

Let’s take a moment to laud the lowly stir stick.  Beautiful in their own right where would we be without them, after all?  As for me, I’d have very colorful fingers. Today is studio cleaning day which involves a lot of gathering and putting things into their rightful place.

The background is a handmade linen scarf we bought from a vendor in Belgium.  We were traveling on a particularly chilly day.  Gary bought a sweatshirt, I bought this scarf.  The two items made our day and we were nice and cozy after that!  I first laid the stir sticks on my desk, but the desk looks the same so it was like they were wearing camouflage.  Had to find a plain background! 🤭

This unsung paint sticks really ARE beautiful, aren’t they? And now I actually have them all in one place instead of scattered all over the house and garage.  Maybe.  Now... what else can I organize around here...

Paint!

It would be pretty cool if paint came out of the tube like this.  Actually, this luckless tube happened to be under some kind of paint pouring piece I was working on.  When I’m doing pours, all else absolutely fades away.  If YOU, for instance, were under one of my paint pours, you’d look like this tube!  

Come on over! I need someone to catch paint drips! 🤭 

Brushes

I bet you didn’t know that today is TINY BRUSH DAY! What that means is I’m almost done with another painting! :). It’s a commission so I can’t show you yet, but it’s coming! Yay! I love the sense of accomplishment when a painting is finished. 

Bunny Painting Sold

My little bunny-bun sold.  Such an adorable little fellow; and I’m glad he’s going to a good home.  I don’t think he’s even going to eat much! I wanted to post him with my pens so you could see what I used for him.  

These soft brush Pitts just can’t be beat, and it rather feels like you’re painting! Since we’re talking bunnies,I have to quote my favorite bunny poem: ‘The bunny is a feeble folk, whose weakness is his strength. To shun a gun a bun will run to almost any length!’  (You’ll thank me later when you need a good poem.) Happy days. 

Cat Painting Installment #5, Creating

Okay, here we go with Installment #5 spelling out how my creative mind came up with my recent cat painting and the steps I took to get ‘er done.  These four shots show the next set of layers into which I brought golds to pull those royal colors together.  You can see I used my handy dandy linoleum acanthus leaf stamp that I recently carved.  Now... we’re getting close to actually painting a cat!

For me, a painting has to hold my interest, just like music.  With all the layers of color and texture, I never tire of work like this! :)

Abstract Painting... Almost

Here’s a closeup of a section of ‘Enter,’ the previous painting I posted.  I love the abstract qualities of this piece. Happy day to you!

An Artist’s Palette

Luscious color testing palette.  The painting I’m currently working on is going to be REALLY colorul!  My color choices are about half the paints laying here.  For this piece I’m going to follow Matisse for he never liked to sully his colors and Maxfield Parrish because he put down layers and layers of glazings for that nice Parrish glow.

These three brands of paint are by FAR my favorites!  Of course Sennelier has been around for years and years, and Matisse,  they’re absolutely luscious.  Some of their beauties are not duplicated in any other brand, nor do others even come close. However, that young upstart, Golden Fluid Acrylics, is going to give everyone a run for their money.  They are absolutely color saturated and I am IN LOVE with three in particular, Quinacridone Azo Gold, Teal and Green Gold, all three of which will make it into my upcoming painting, including Senellier’s Ultramarine Blue Light and Matisse’s Primary Blue, which also is peerless.

I could talk about color all day.

Such yummy stuff.  Thank you, Lord, for making me an artist!

Mixing Charts for Paintings

Charts, charts, charts... they make me a better artist. Because I use such a plethora of paints,I’m always creating mixing charts before painting. Usually at this point I’ve got in mind exactly what I want, and am searching for the exact colors to flesh out my ideas. When I’m finished with the painting, I log the paints used so I have a record for my clients. This way, years in the future, if Uncle Max tumbles into the painting, we’ll know what to do.

That being said, if you buy a painting from me, you have as an extra bonus the assurance of knowing I’ve got the best quality materials in it, and know that if it ever needs repairs, we’ll have a good starting point.

Art Studio Work

Today is GREEN DAY! I bet you didn’t know! Well, it is self-declared, but Green Day it is. Of course it would be on a complimentary background, right? Of interest would be my lion magnets and a couple Artist Trading Cards. The delicious sea monster was made by one of our boys.  Love! Often when I paint I’ll tape down some nice sizes of watercolor paper to get crisp white borders and lay down colors to make cards, postcards and bookmarks. And... tools of the trade, por supuesto! And how is your Green Day going? 

If you like my lion magnets, check out my website at colorcatstudios101.etsy.com. They’re for sale there along with other magnets of my paintings, including tigers, bears, wolves, owls and raccoons.

An Artist’s Palette

Palette of the Day. My work for today is with this palette and an entirely new set of colors. What’s your work today?

Honestly, though, although I don’t paint a whole lot of abstracts, I love the abstract qualities of my palette and really love looking and the colors, layers and values.  I think it’s beautiful in its own right.  Sometimes I’m sorry to cover it up and start anew.

Making your Day Palette-able!

Just trying to make your evening’s feed a little more PALETTEable!  Har har har! Ah, hum.  Yeah.  Sorry.  Couldn’t resist. Anyway, kind of pretty, isn’t it? 

Artist Palette

Ya know, every now and then I just really love the look of my palette and think it should be a painting.  Such is the case today. Happy Memorial Day.  Today I will paint a little, we will remember. We will eat, swim and celebrate,and plan to go down to ‘our’ sculpture down on the Waterway to pay tribute to our lost friends.  Thank you to all who have served to keep us free and great, and grant us the freedom to plan our days in such a wonderful way.

In the Art Studio with My Watercolors

This is, I think, the most honest art form for me.  When I’m tired or worn out, in a hurry or just needing to lay down some color, it usually comes back to something like this.  And it always seems to be an expression of flowers, to which I am so deeply and intricately connected. The layers of color, the compliments and the bleeds satisfy me in a very deep way.  Not to mention the highly pigmented, super bright QOR watercolors made by Golden.

Art Teacher’s Car

What’s in your front seat?  This is very typical for me.  Art Supply and Art Teacher Transport Vehicle is at your service.  There is paint all over this car, in and out. What do you carry in your car? 

I teach classes in two locations, The Woodlands and Conroe.  In The Woodlands it’s with the HIS Classes, 

www.hisclasses.org

And in Conroe it’s with The Training Center.  www.ttcclasses.com

I also teach private lessons in my home and will be offering summer classes.  The summer class schedule will be coming out very soon!

Paintbrushes in My Studio

You know, these are the unsung heros of my studio. I have ... I just counted... twelve containers of paintbrushes. Mostly arranged by size and purpose. Some are for students to use, and then there are some that STUDENTS MAY NEVER TOUCH OR EVEN LOOK AT.  This particular broken urn holds my faves. Most often used, they find their way here for easy access. The square one at the base is also my go-to, and it hangs on a nail on the wall directly to my right. Here I’m using one of my paintings for a backdrop.

By the way, I always use broken things to house my brushes.  Broken favorite coffee mugs, broken pitchers without handles... it’s a good place for them. :)

Collie Painting Finished

Yay!! I just finished a commission and they love it!  Here’s a little sneak peek at a small portion of the painting; it’s of three gorgeous collies.  It was such a pleasure to paint these beautiful animals - I fell in love with them as I worked.  And now, it’s varnishing time.  Looks like the weather’s going to be sunny and good for that this week. Happy! And yes, I do commissions.  Just ask.  My email is colorcatstudios@gmail.com.

In Studio Today, Working

A tiny bouquet of baby bay leaves to help me stay out of the garden and in my studio today. If you EVER need bay leaves, ask! My tree grows so fast that I’m always trimming branches off. Wonderful flavor, pretty in bouquets. Even looks pretty on a palette!

My Palette

I’m working on a commission right now in blues and golds. The colors are so gloriously beautiful together that even my palette looks good! WhenI get a little further, I’ll be adding the complimentary colors to this,and hopefully soon showing you the painting. 

Art Studio Paint

I set aside a project and the paints I’m using for it to paint a commission. There’s a subtle hint here as to what my project is!

Watercolor Mixing

My floor is covered with my morning’s work; I have to quit because 1) there is no more room to walk, and 2) watercolor paper is expensive! Moving my students into watercolors now. Teachers do a lot more homework than their students, trust me on that one.