Work in progress

I feel like my blog has been stagnating a bit lately, so I thought I'd share some photos of a painting in progress. I mentioned this painting in my newsletter and in my Twitter, this is the big 24x36" painting which will be entered (should I finish it in time) into the Keizer Mayor's Invitational next week. The painting had to be at least 36 inches tall, so a big challenge for me but it is always fun to push myself, which is really why I decided (rather last minute I'm afraid) to go for it. So here are a few photos of where I am at now. Keep in mind it could all change before the end of the day...as it has many times already.



This last one shows a shot from the bottom of the painting. I wanted to give you an idea of the size without giving away too much about it just yet. Not that it will necessarily look anything like this in the end anyway, but...

I will let you know how it goes. Not expecting anything from the juried event, I'll just be pleased to have finished it in time.

Happy Holidays!

"Lila and Fern on a holiday" Acrylic on 10x10 inch panel.

This painting is now available in my shop and the limited edition print of it is available in my Etsy shop (thanks Vivienne!). I had some fun with this painting trying out a self-leveling gel medium. I found you have to apply it quite thick and with minimal brushing (a challenge to stop myself from trying to smooth it out more, as extra brushing will give it a more satin finish than glossy). I think it gives the painting a thickness, if that makes sense. Long drying period for it, apparently, but considering how thickly I applied it I am not surprised.

Lila and Fern, by the way, are the real names of the women in the vintage photo I based this painting on. Could be sisters, but I'm guessing they were good friends with very similar taste in hairstyles...

Have a wonderful holiday!

New painting listed in my Etsy shop

"Not one hair out of place" 3x5 inch oil painting is now available in my Etsy shop.

I have now finished the painting that was holding up my newsletter so I should be able to get that out tomorrow if not sooner (or Monday...this is a busy time of year...). Hope you are having a quiet, peaceful weekend.

New painting, etc.

"The older sister" Acrylic painting on 16x20 inch wood panel.

"The older sister" is available in my new shop I have built onto my website. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile, a place to list some of my larger paintings. I will continue to list smaller paintings as well as the limited edition prints in my Etsy shop for the time being.

I had hoped to have sent off my December newsletter by now but I'm trying to finish up a painting that I really want to include. I'm pretty excited about it and am looking forward to sharing more. Within a week, I hope.

Must share this

Last night I was fortunately invited by my good friend (thank you!) to go to a jewelry show held at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery 2 (Mary Lou Zeek Gallery). Not only did I find this stunning necklace by I believe Melissa Stiles (which after trying on I could not seem to put it back), but I also got to meet some wonderful people and hopefully will have some more to share about that in the future.

I'll post a new painting here in the next day or two. I think a very large one (16x20 inches) which will seem tiny next to the panel I just ordered (24x36 inches!). Can't wait to share the results of that.

I think warmer weather is coming (it has been extremely cold here), but I'm mostly excited by wetter weather at the moment. Our new humidifier (which we just had installed on our central heating system) has not been working and it has been around 18% humidity. It is miserable. They are supposed to be coming this morning to fix it. I wish they were here already... Have a good day all!

A couple of things

"Sad Eyes, 1936" Oil painting on 5x7 inch birch plywood.

This painting is based on a wonderful photograph Kate Gabrielle recommended to me, thanks Kate. See the original photo here (and thank you to Swapatorium for letting me paint it!).

The other thing I had to share was that I have a new, limited edition print available in my shop. "A cold day for a drive" is now available as a limited edition print, thanks to Vivienne and Matte for all their help!

A lady in purple

"A lady in purple" acrylic on 6x6 inch birch plywood.

"A lady in purple" (available now in my shop) really is wearing purple but I think the photos all look rather more blue. I took many photos in different types of light but she always came out kind of blue. Oh well.

I just spent a lovely morning with my friend Bonnie Hull (check out her web site: http://www.bonniehull.com/). We talked of many things including some art related things, naturally. Plus, I get to go visit her studio in a couple weeks and I can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving

"Oh happy day" Oil on 10x10 inch wood panel.

Despite all the holiday activities I am hoping to get some painting in today. I'm really excited about a couple of the paintings I'm working on right now and feel like I keep pushing myself further and further with each new painting. Have a very good weekend everyone.

A cold day for a drive

"A cold day for a drive" Acrylic painting on 8x16 inch panel.

"A cold day for a drive" is based on a lovely, vintage photo I found on Etsy. It is available now in my shop. The colors in this piece were undoubtedly inspired by the changing colors of the season.

I am working on several paintings right now (well, quite a few if you include the oils I need to finish). On the acrylics, I am trying out a self-leveling gel medium that I originally got for the oil pastels but thought would be fun to see if I could get a layering affect on the acrylics. I will let you know how that goes.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

A new gallery

"The new pocket watch" Acrylic on 5x7 inch birch plywood.

Good morning! I have been hinting around about a new gallery some of my work has gone to and today I am able to share it with you. Sebastian Foster is a new online gallery and has several of my paintings (like "The new pocket watch") as well as some of my limited edition prints. This is a wonderful new site with some really fantastic artists. You can see my work here but be sure to look around at the whole site, some of my favorite artists are there too.

I sent out my November newsletter last night, so if you are signed up and did not receive it please e-mail me (elizabethbaumanart@gmail.com). Also, go here if you want to sign up for it and receive that and future issues. Next one I hope to send in early December.

Arrangements

"Arrangements" Acrylic painting on 8x8 inch panel.

"Arrangements" is available now in my shop. I have 2 more acrylic paintings to finish in the next few days and then I'm hoping to send out my next newsletter (and I'd like them in it so I better get them done).

Lovely new things

With a little bit of money leftover from the antique expo still burning a hole in my wallet (and not wanting to just fritter it away on just anything) I suddenly remembered some ceramic pieces at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery that I've been drooling over for quite some time. So today I went down there and could not stop with just one but had to get both of these incredible pieces. They are created by Joseph Pintz and I just love them! It was hard to get their amazing colors captured in the photo so you are just getting a taste of their beauty.

I'll be back tomorrow with a new painting.

A few things

Here is an oil pastel I'm working on along with my disorganized box. I'd carefully line oil pastels up but they'll just be out of order again in a few minutes. I also have a few acrylics in progress as well as some oils.

I did a little work sprucing up my blog, as you might notice, and have also decided to give Twitter a try. You can find me here. I also put a link in on the right. Just art related posts mainly I imagine.

Yesterday I went to the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem, Oregon to check out the new exhibit as well as to see a finished collaboration piece based on Matisse's Music. The piece was blocked out in squares and each artist had one square to fill in based on a section of the original painting. I love seeing these pieces each year, it's fascinating to see how each artist approaches the work.

Waiting for the good light

"Wanda" Acrylic painting on 6x6 inch birch plywood.

This painting I had hoped to post last week but we had so many cloudy, dark days in a row I just could not get a decent photograph. Something about that background color is just very picky about getting just the right light. So here she is today and she is available in my Etsy shop.

Maybe tomorrow will be better (just the title of the painting...)

"Maybe tomorrow will be better" Acrylic on 3x5 inch birch plywood.

I had hoped to post a different painting today here as well as in my shop, but the light has been terrible all day except when the battery went out on my camera, naturally. So I'm sharing this one instead. Hope you have a good holiday weekend!

Once

"Once" Acrylic on 5x7 inch birch plywood.

Not much to share today other than this painting. I'm still experimenting with oil pastels (which means I'm getting little else painted) and am excited with how they're going. I am waiting for a delivery with some more colors but also a couple finishes to try out on them so they would not need to be framed. The pastels should dry (harden really, they never dry completely) for 4 weeks before coating them (though I'm checking further on that) but these test ones I'll do faster and I should be able to show the result in my next newsletter. I am going to try a fixative/varnish combination and then a fixative/acrylic gel self-leveling medium. I'm curious to see how they turn out. I'll let you know.

From the antique expo

Here are my new treasures from the antique expo yesterday in Portland, Oregon (minus one cabbage patch doll for my daughter-shhh, it's for Christmas). I was so excited to find this box for holding my oil pastels. I think it will hold around 90, which should be quite enough for now I think (even with the order I just placed for more coming). I knew I wanted something vintage to keep the pastels in but I was not sure what I would find. This box works great because not only does it hold a lot of pastels, it has a removable lid so I can get it out of the way while I'm working but then cover them up to keep the dust off when I'm not. Plus, it is not super nice so I don't have to worry much about getting it messy, though as you can see I did line it with some wax paper to protect it a little bit. I also added a couple new French bulldogs to my collection as well as two charming, vintage photographs.

On this day

"On this day" acrylic on 8x8 inch panel

Happy Saturday! It looks like a break in the rain, let's hope it stays for at least the day. Tomorrow I'm heading up to the big antique expo in Portland (Oregon). I'm so excited! This event is so huge and a bit overwhelming, but oh the anticipation of the potential treasures to be found... I'll be back on Monday to report on my finds. Have a great weekend!

Those were her flowers

"Those were her flowers" acrylic painting on 9x12 inch panel

"Those were her flowers" is a new acrylic painting available now in my Etsy shop. I really enjoyed painting this one and further exploring these more dynamic backgrounds. Although I use vintage photographs for reference, I do move things around a bit and do whatever I feel like with the colors (obviously) . It does make it easier, on that last bit, that the photos are usually black and white.

Right now I'm (still) finishing up some oil paintings. Hopefully one to show in a couple days. I'm working on 2 larger acrylics (one is 16x20 inches!) plus one smaller one. And, just in case that was not enough, I'm trying out oil pastels. Very fun, I like a new challenge. If I have something worthwhile to show, I'll be sure to share.

Class of 1938

Cal, Class of 1938 Sacramento Senior High School, acrylic on 4x4 inch birch plywood.

I am cooking apple butter to can and it is taking longer than I thought to cook it down so I thought this the perfect moment to post Cal on my blog. I really enjoy picking photos out of the Sacramento Senior High School book. So hard to pick from them as there are so many good ones. Cal particularly jumped out at me, his eyes were captivating.

Well, back to the apple butter. While it is so pleasant smelling those cooking apples and spices I hope it finishes up soon...

William Powell and Jimmy Stewart

This week I received a most wonderful anniversary gift from my husband. Two original paintings by the incredibly talented Kate Gabrielle of two of my favorite actors, William Powell and Jimmy Stewart.


Aren't they just wonderful? Take a look at her blog, Silents and Talkies, and be sure to also check out more of her work including her Flapperdoodles (a couple of which are above my desk while I'm writing this).

Thank you Cory! I love the paintings.

New painting and some news

Elaine and her dearest dollie Mabel, acrylic on 10x10 inch panel

Elaine is the actual name of this little girl (as written on the back of the vintage photograph I based this on) though I did make up the name of the doll she was holding. I was a little nervous about painting the doll as I haven't painted dolls before and she was so tiny but then she came together faster than the girl.

Thank you to all my first newsletter subscribers! The first newsletter went out this last Monday. If you haven't signed up yet and are interested, click here to find out more and sign up.

As I mentioned in the newsletter, thanks to a new gallery I will be a part of (more on that later) I will soon be listing some limited edition prints in my Etsy shop. In fact, it will be sometime today or tomorrow (I am waiting for some good light to photograph them as they are too big for my scanner and I do want to show what they look like as prints). They will be for these three paintings:

They are 9x12 inches and will be $35 in my Etsy shop. There will be more details about them in my shop and I'll have them in there as soon as possible. I am hoping to offer more paintings as prints in the future, but for now this will be it. A special thank you to Vivienne Strauss and Matte Stephens for all their help! And thank you to that new gallery too! (Can't wait to share the news about that here!)

Peggy's friend Ray

"Peggy's friend Ray" oil on 3x5 inch birch plywood

I did not think I'd have this painting finished to follow the last Peggy's friends installment, but here he is. Definitely I think a different feel in the oil paint from the Open acrylic paint I used on "Peggy's friend Guy". This is the last gentleman in the Peggy's friends series. Here's what Ray said to Peggy, "Peg, To a really sincere, mature and all around great girl, I wish you the best of luck in everything. We've had some good times but we're really gonna have a lot more. Keep smiling and always be happy. Love Ray"

In case you missed my last post, I'm starting a newsletter and the first installment should be ready to go out on Monday. I'll include previews for new paintings (I should have about 9 new acrylic paintings to share this time), news and updates, and occasional discounts for my shop (for sure there will be one in this first installment). To sign up, just go here (to my website) where you'll find a very short form that just e-mails me your e-mail address so I can add you to the list. Thanks everyone who has already signed up! I so appreciate the support.

Newsletter

Happy Friday all! I am on the verge of starting a Newsletter so I have set up a spot on my website for anyone who is interested. Go here to sign up. I've also set up a link on the side bar. The newsletter will have previews of some if not all of my paintings (before I even post them here), news and upcoming events, and even occasional discounts for my Etsy shop- exclusive to my newsletter subscribers! The first newsletter will be sent out in a week or two. I've been wanting to do this for awhile so I'm pretty excited.

The photo, by the way, is of my old Pentax camera. Totally manual and I haven't used it in years. I pulled it out the other day, inspired no doubt from wonderful photos I see in Flickr and blogs, and have started using it again. I'm sure the first dozen photos will be horrible as I had a lot of, "oh, that's how you do that," moments. I'm certainly spoiled with a digital camera! If I turn out any decent photos I'll share them with you (using my scanner, naturally! I don't think I've developed film in at least 5 years...). Have a great weekend!

Another Peggy's friend

"Peggy's friend Guy" Acrylic on 5 1/2 x 6 inch birch plywood

The latest in the Peggy's friends series (to see the previous ones, go here). I have a bunch of senior class photos all friends of Peggy's from 1970. Apparently Guy and Peggy were not that close though, here's what he wrote, "Peg, Good luck in the future. I don't know you very well, but if your a friend of Steff's, you gotta be alright. Guy" I haven't gotten to Steff yet, think I'll have to see if I have that one and paint her soon. I do have another of Peggy's friends in progress in oil and should finish that in a week or two. Another man no less.