Happy Valentine's

(7x11)

Last week I posted some lilies I painted freehand; that day I also painted these lilies but this one didn't work as well ... for one thing I painted a bud going off to the left at a weird angle.
I decided to try to salvage it today and painted over the out-of-place bud with bleed-proof white (though as you can see, it did bleed!) and added the red background.

Winsor & Newton wrote a short histopry of their reds that you can read here:
http://www.winsornewton.com/main.aspx?PageID=595



Finally, for Valentine's Day, I want to encourage everyone to read a book I just proofread: Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It's being published by Knopf in September and you can preorder it at Amazon. I want to get two extra copies--one to send to Hillary Clinton and one to Michelle Obama.
I proofread and copyedit a lot of books every year, but this book I wanted to read out loud to every person I know and every person I don't know too!
This book will stun you both with its chronicle of women's suffering in poor rural areas throughout the world--Have you ever heard of fistulas? I hadn't! Do you know that a woman dies every minute in childbirth? I didn't--and with the tales of women, and men, who are doing something on the ground to alleviate suffering, provide education and health care, and generally promote the ideal that a woman is a human being too!
The last section of the book is titled "Four Things you Can Do in the Next Ten Minutes" and is a perfect antidote to despair.
I hope I'm not infringing on any copyright by at least passing on four websites that Kristof and WuDunn recommend here: Women's eNews and World Pulse for news and information and Global Giving and Kiva for information on contributing.

Happy Valentine's Day

wips

(7x11 each)

(7x11)

No time to finish these today. :-(

Please visit Julie's blog to enter in her art giveaway and to see some great mixed-media art and photographs!
This is the second giveaway I've seen this week. It's a nice idea ...

freehand lilies

(7x11)

I shouldn't take a break from work today--too much to do!--but I bought these lilies a few days ago at the supermarket: I cannot resist orange lilies, I hope I never can.
I painted this freehand, without drawing, and trying to keep the yellow-orange-red paints moving without worrying about overlapping shapes being "unreadable."

yesterday's lilies

Yesterday afternoon I had some time to work on these lilies--good thing too, as today many of them are wilted.

Almost done. I'm consciously trying to keep the three lilies in front brighter and more defined, letting those in back fade away a bit, though they're every bit as orange in reality.

summer shakedown

Memorial Day: shakedown weekend of the summer. Everyone's been fed and taken off for the beach or to fish. (One of Peter's men, Stevie, caught a 50-pound drumfish last night. I hear they're delicious, and hope to find out later today! I'll post a picture if they took one!)
I find I have too many things to paint and not enough time. The frustration of having too many desirable subjects! Never thought that'd happen: when I first began to paint and draw I was always at a loss for subjects! Now everything's a subject. So it's a good frustration (maybe the only one).

(10x15)
Bristol board cover for my drawing day (June 7) folio. A few of these cherries may need a bit of sprucing up later ...

(11x15)
Drawing of a pot of orange tiger lilies. These aren't the "natural" ones that grow by the side of the road here--blooming in July with the Queen Anne's lace and blue flax; a beautiful roadside bouquet; I did get a few bulbs of those though, and perhaps I'll get lucky in July. Orange tiger lilies are my absolute favorite and made up my wedding bouquet!

BTW: Thanks to all my faithful blogger friends who have commented on my last few posts; I really appreciate your comments and apologize for not taking the time to respond individually ... yet. I'll post post-Memorial Day!