Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Athens - view of Mount Lycabettus (two versions)

We came across this view as we were heading up to the Acropolis.
22 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
1 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Monday, November 29, 2010

Santorini - view from Oia (two versions)

This painting is of a view from the northernmost part of the Oia, looking back at the way we had come.
18 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
This second, smaller version is actually the progenitor of the first.
16 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper
gifted


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Santorini - along the caldera


16 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper


Thursday, November 25, 2010

cat and canned cranberry sauce

This strange, jellied substance known as cranberry sauce has been one of our family's Thanksgiving Day mainstays.  Our cat friend is dubious about its palatability.
10" x 6 1/2", gouache on paper
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day (at least in the USA).

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

cat and one of the last autumn leaves

8 November 2010
10" x 7", acrylic on paper



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Santorini - view of Oia and the caldera

15 October 2010
10" x 14", acrylic on paper

Monday, November 22, 2010

Santorini - diverging paths (two versions)

This was one of the many spectacular views along our walk from Fira to Oia.
20 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
This second one is a lot smaller than the first (a fourth the size, to be precise), more of a study and less thought-out as a composition, before I took the plunge and painted the larger one.
15 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper


Saturday, November 20, 2010

Santorini - Oia in the distance

15 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper

Friday, November 19, 2010

dozing

Not a bad idea for a chilly, rainy Friday.
16 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Santorini - on the walk to Oia from Fira

We still had quite a bit of a walk ahead of us.
14 October 2010
10" x 14", acrylic on paper

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Santorini - morning on the caldera

14 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Ancient Thera, redux, in miniature

This is tiny version of a painting I posted last week.
12 October 2010
5" x 7" (13cm x 18cm), acrylic on paper

Sunday, November 14, 2010

National Garden of Athens, redux, in miniature

I painted a larger version of this a couple days previous.
12 October 2010
5" x 7" (13cm x 18cm), acrylic on paper

Saturday, November 13, 2010

safe as houses

I painted this one as a gift to someone.  It's small by my usual standards, 5" x 7" (13cm x 18cm).  It's another version of a larger painting I'd done earlier.
12 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper
gifted

Friday, November 12, 2010

in the National Garden of Athens

This is a haphazard tour of Athens and Santorini, isn't it?  This painting is of one of the paths that meander through the National Garden of Athens.
11 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Athens - pine trees at the foot of the Acropolis

9 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Santorini - Ancient Thera

We drove to the east side of the island and visited the mountaintop ruins of Ancient Thera.  I'm omitting adjectives of wonder and amazement, as that would get redundant and old very fast.
7 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Santorini - path to Red Beach

On one of our days in Santorini, we rented a car and explored the island in earnest.  There wasn't much red along this footpath; the red cliffs, for which the beach is named, were above us and around the bend.
6 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Monday, November 8, 2010

Santorini - road to nowhere

5 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Virtual Paintout submission - Rio de Janeiro

I submitted this to Bill Guffey's November Virtual Paintout.  It's a view off Avenida Borges de Medeiros.
5 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper
I painted a couple of other Rio de Janeiro views for good measure (or excessive measure, perhaps); this first is a bit down the street from the pier view.
5 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper
And this one is a beachfront seen from Avenida Portugal.
4 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Friday, November 5, 2010

autumn


4 October 2010
10" x 7", gouache on paper

15 October 2010
10" x 7", acrylic on paper

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Santorini - road to somewhere

Here's the first of my studio-based paintings of Santorini and Athens, our two destinations during our September visit to Greece. Perhaps one day we'll visit some of the other Greek islands and cities...  As for this painting, we (husband and I) had set out on a 6mile/10km walk from the town of Fira to Oia, following the ridge of the caldera.
4 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
On another, somewhat related note, I happened upon the website for the MOBA, the Museum of Bad Art, which I thought very well-curated (I couldn't stop laughing).  I also liked the Wikipedia entry for it, exceptionally well-written and fully referenced.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

en plein air in Santorini, Greece

Here's the one en plein air painting I managed to complete from our September visit to Greece.  It wasn't a horrible dilemma - or maybe not even a dilemma at all, but it was hard to stop and paint when there was still more to see and explore.
23 September 2010
10" x 7", gouache on paper

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Fowey, Cornwall - view from Readymoney Road

I found this view on Google Maps, taking Bill Guffey's idea of painting from Google Map Street Views. 

I traveled virtually to Cornwall for nostalgic reasons.  To make a short story long, one of my favorite book series as a child was Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence.  During my student years, I was in London at the tail-end of a month-long youth-hosteling adventure about Europe with friends, and decided I would set out on my own and visit one of the "real" sites where the books take place.  I chose Trewissick, Cornwall, location for two of the books, as getting there seemed relatively straightforward.  I couldn't find it on a map (to date me, this was before the Internet was widely used to research such things), but thought this might be because it was just a small fishing village.  I took the British Rail to St Austell, mentioned in the books, asked around, only to find out that Trewissick didn't exist.  I know, it was dopey of me not to have considered that possibility.  I did the next best thing and wandered about St Austell and then found my way to the sea. 

At this point, I'm not sure if the nostalgia is more over the books or this goofy trip to St Austell.  In any case, I thought I would re-visit the area, at least virtually.  This particular view is in the neighboring village of Fowey, east of St Austell. 

1 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Monday, November 1, 2010

chrysanthemums

I used these paintings for some greeting cards I made recently (scanned then sized for a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card and printed).

1 October 2010
7" x 10", gouache on paper
gifted
 
12 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper
gifted