Early Spring

Early Spring, oil on gessobord, 6x6"

The weather is like none other this year. Call it what you will, but it's not normal. These jonquils sprouted quickly and bloomed in February. Regardless of time of year, they are always beautiful, and welcoming...a definite ushering in of spring.

Green House

Green House, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

So many angles. So many straight lines.  I think this will be the final architectural piece for a little while to give my honing skills a break.  Despite the fact that they are small, they require more attentiveness and attention to detail then I'm accustomed to.  I have produced nine works all together

 and am extremely proud of myself for sticking with it even though it wasn't easy. Here they are in the order they were painted in starting from bottom left (sorry for poor photo). I'm also happy with the variety of the painting and content.  Now back to broad landscape until the next series idea strikes me.

Summer Field

Summer Field, oil on Arches oil paper, 8x6"

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Celia Kelly Studio

I painted this late last night as an experiment and because it is so cold in my basement studio that I needed some warmth.  The painting is actually much brighter then the photo suggests. 

Pink Ladies

Pink Ladies, oil on gessobord, 6x6"

We are having nonstop rain and I had a hard time photographing this one.  I may repost with a better photo; for now I just to blog about it.  Echinacea are in bloom and so fun to paint.  The combination of colors, along with the dark background make them very photogenic :-).

Graduation Carnation

Graduation Carnation, oil on gessobord, 10 x 8"

I have been enjoying all the lovely painted flowers on DPW so I wanted to try it myself. The only flowers I could find were some carnations given to my son by a fellow student, for his high school graduation. I haven't had much luck in the flower area, though it hasn't been for the lack of trying. This one turned out to my liking!

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/celia-kelly/graduation-carnation/393444

French Landscape

French Landscape, pastel on paper, 5x8 inches

I have been looking online at some abstract landscapes done in pastel.  I find myself enlarging sections of them and looking at the layering of color, completely amazed. I have to admit, I have done very little work in pastel, but I have always wanted to learn. So, throwing all caution to the wind, coinciding with me not wanting to paint in my freezing cold studio, I found  a reason to work upstairs again with a new medium. This photo is from my sister's collection of her tour de France back in July, that I had on my list of photos to paint from. It was a simple scene to start a small pastel journey. I left the photo unedited so you can see the small size and the bound sketchpad that I am working on.

Stop Copying Me

Stop Copying Me, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

This is part of Leslie Saeta's 30 day challenge. 

I did a quick and fun drawing of one of a bunch of flowers given to me over the Holidays.  I hope to do more flowers, which I continually struggle with, because this was enjoyable.

Geraniums and Friends

Geraniums and Friends, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

I started this painting the other day after attempting 3 others and completely wiping the paint off of the gessobord. Yes, there are (many) days that I cannot get it together. Actually, I can get it together it's just an incredibly busy time of the year, both mentally and physically for all, me included and other things are taking up my time. I was almost to the point where I was going to stop painting this particular night and chalk it up as a loss for the evening, and then this little one appeared from somewhere. It's wispy and light, and reflects my fatigue in some ways. That's not always a bad thing considering what preceded it. All in all it's a happy one :-)

Brunelleschi's Dome, through the Geraniums

Brunelleschi's Dome, through the Geranium's

oil on gessobord, 9x12 inches

Everything around Florence can be viewed through geraniums because geraniums are everywhere! And one can almost see the Dome of the Florence Cathedral from anywhere. It appears at the end of many nook-and-cranny walking streets at every turn, floating above it's octagonal drum. It is an engineering feat (it is said Fillipo Brunelleschi watered down the lunchtime wine of his workers while construction of the dome took place, as a "safety first" procedure). The problem solver extraordinaire and first engineer of the Renaissance is buried within the Cathedral.

The city of Florence is such a vivid place. Full of artisans and artists and overall cool folks. If you are ever there, look up the little outdoor restaurant of Francesco Vini with the beautiful Roman face. He will sing on the sidewalk to lure you in. 

                             

   

Hidden Dandalion

Hidden Dandelion, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I look down a lot when I walk.  I am deep in thought most of the time and looking at people during these times would be a distraction, not anti-social :-) And because I look down just as much as look up (sky high), I see a lot of treasures like this. I would never have thought a dandelion could be found still growing after a freeze, but here she was, all bundled up in her blanket of various wild grasses.   

Au Cep de Vigne

Au Cep de Vigne, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

The translation of "au cep de Vigne" is simply "vine" by most translation apps, but it is really more like "from the vine" or "vine stock".  I choose to add my own interpretation and imagine it being a roundabout way of getting to the end result - "wine" :-).   This was painted from another photo of my sister's farewell tour of Europe before returning to the U.S.   The building is a hotel/restaurant near Stasbourg, France in the Alsace grape growing region, near the German border.  Natural window decorations are common throughout Europe in the old old cities and easy to miss if you are used to looking down. So, when you go to Europe get used to looking up!

I had multiple problems with this one including straight lines!  Also,  the colors I painted with are true to the historic structure, thus making the photo of the painting run very hot. I rarely manipulate the images I take, but this one had to be cooled down.   

Orderly

Orderly, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x6inches

I was taking a quick walk at work to clear my head last week and saw this little scene across the street. It seemed like everything was in it's place, i's dotted, t's crossed, unlike what I trying to rid my head of at the moment.  I took a few quick photos from different views and decided to paint this one.  I love the contrasting cedar trees in a row with the rose bush demanding attention, and the criss-crossing power lines overhead. I think I'm seeing more power lines in my painting future.  At least subconsciously :-)

Ribeauville

Ribeauville, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

This is painted from another borrowed photo from my sister's pre-move, farewell tour of France.  It is from Ribeauville, a small,colorful town in the heart of the Alsatian region of northeast France.   I was lucky enough to visit Ribeauville seven years ago and enjoyed the quaint shops and vin d'Alsace.  The palette for this quaint street scene was a bit foreign to me but I truly enjoyed it. 

Venice Windows

Venice Windows, oil on gessobord, 6x8

NFS

Venice, Italy is the city of all cities. The natives have long individualized their crowded slice of the island with beautifying their homefronts. Thus, the summers are full of flowers and beautiful light. Not to diminish the beautiful architecture that makes up Venice, I zoomed in to concentrate on the flowers for this photo, taken last summer. I realized while sketching this out however, the orderly repetition and calculations of the Italian architect couldn't escape me.

Heading Home

Heading Home, oil on gessobord, 7x5
NFS

Today is the lil' skateboarder's 13 birthday so I post this in honor of my darling daughter Barrett! I painted this back in July when I painted the others in the skateboard series, but never posted it. It was painted from a series of photos that I took over the 4th of July weekend, when the  weather in Louisville had turned cool and the humidity was gone. In other words....perfect for beautiful light and color! Happy Birthday B.   You are the light and color in my life!

Geraniums and the unruly Tomatoes

Geraniums and the unruly Tomatoes, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches
SOLD

The title of the painting almost sounds like the title of a play or Broadway musical!  I planted two small tomato plants in the most fertile, organic soil this summer and it turned into Tomato jungle.  You could get lost in there.  The right side of the gessobord represents a tiny potion of the entire thicket.  The geraniums were at a re-growth stage in full bloom when I snapped this photo.  It was a lush little scene!