SHADOWS, 16x20, oil

Next week I hope to be back in the groove, painting almost every day.  But, this week I cannot seem to carve out any painting time from my schedule.  I do have a few older paintings that were never posted and this is one of them. 

Happy New Year!

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$349.

REFLECTED RED PEARS, 6X8, OIL

This doesn't really qualify as a "Christmas painting", but it does have the right colors.  I had a great time painting it, using both knife and brush.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.  I'm off to the gym, trying to burn off all those extra calories!

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$90

WATERROCK KNOB, 6X8, OIL, SOLD

Waterrock Knob offers stunning mountain views from the Blue Ridge Parkway, where it meanders into Smokey Mountain National Park.

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SOLD

PELICAN PARADE, 6X8, OIL-SOLD

Not too far from where I live, there is a colony of white pelicans.  I believe they are very rare and only found in a few locations in the world.
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SOLD

SUNBABY II, OIL, 8X6, SOLD

We have had some very cold days here in Florida this week, as have many areas of  the US of A.  I thought I would post this painting from last summer, when it was hot and humid and we spent long days at the beach.
Feeling better yet?
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$75

This is my entry in the StreetViewPaintOff contest.  It is a popular vote contest and the entries are coming in everyday.  I hope you will take the time to vote for your favorite, and of course, I hope that is me!  When you go to the blogspot  click on "How to enter" and then on "Enter Contest here" and finally "vote here".  Or just go to facebook and search for Street View Paint Off.

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME, 8X10, OIL

I came across this young woman on Etsy selling her traditionally made hair decorations.  Her name is Kuniko Kanawa and you can visit her shop here.  I recommend you take the time to check it out, as she goes into great detail explaining her training and the different aspects of her hair pieces.  She is truly an artisan, trying to keep traditions alive.

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$169

215 SOUTH 8TH AVENUE, ORIGINAL OIL SOLD

SOLD

Have you seen Kay Zahn's new challenge blog?  Every month she picks a site at Google Street View as a challenge.  The site this month is the state of Iowa, so I found this little farm house and gave it a try. Go to Streetview Paint Off to join or to vote for your favorite painting  Thanks Kay, for giving us another place to showcase our art.

SURFSIDE SUNRISE, 6X8, OIL, SOLD

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$70

LONG BOARDS, 6X8, OIL, SOLD

Yet another painting that was hidden away in my closet for over a year!  I really need to do some house cleaning!

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$85

WINDOW INTO THE PAST, 6X8, OIL, SOLD

Yesterday my art group and I had a big Christmas sale as part of the Greater Melbourne Art Studio Tour.  There were 13 studios on the tour and close to 40 artists represented.  It was a fun day with beautiful weather and lots of great art lovers who stopped by to share the day.   I am still suffering today with a bad case of "catch up"  and a shortage of "get up a go"!

One of the hot items at our show was our art and recipe cookbook.  Consisting of 20 recipes and 20 photos of our art we sold out twice in the last month.  We are expecting a third order to arrive this week and still have a few copies that are not spoken for.  If you are interested, contact me at jmschiff@bellsouth.net and I will send one to you for only $9.50.  I can vouch for all the great food as we taste-tested the recipes on our group trip last fall.

The cabin is located in Whittier, NC and is surely a couple hundred years old.

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SOLD

STRAWBERRIES AND SHADOWS, 6X8, OIL SOLD

This is another of the paintings that I found stuffed in the back of my closet.  Yes, I painted it last summer when strawberries were plentiful and beautiful.

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SOLD

PEAR DUO, 5X7, OIL

I have been getting ready for a big sale this weekend and while cleaning out my studio, I found a stack of paintings that were never posted.  This is one of them; there will be more to follow as time for painting runs short this time of the year.

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$65.

ROLLING SURF, 6X8 OIL, SOLD

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$90

A ROSE IS A ROSE..., 4X8, OIL SOLD

This is more than a daily painting..it's a multi-day painting.  I have worked off and on for three days on this little piece, trying to make it look presentable and maybe even "fresh".
I started off trying to do one of Qiang-huang's three-stroke roses.  After all, it looks very easy when he does it.  Needless to say, didn't work.  Didn't work the first time, or the second time, or even the third time. Scrape, scrape, scrape!!  So this is what I ended up with..not a Qiang masterpiece, but maybe better than I was expecting.

CAROLINA BARN, 6X8, OIL SOLD

I love driving around the back roads of North Carolina looking for old barns full of character.  This one caught my eye on my last trip.  I don't know if it was the barn or the stone retaining wall that appealed to me.  Maybe a combination of both.

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SOLD

SEA OATS, 4x12, OIL, SOLD

A view of paradise from the top of the dunes.  It was a mighty fine summer!

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$99.

LEMONS OF CAMPO DI' FIORI, 8X10

Campo di' Fiori is an ancient piazza in Rome where people still live and work.  I lived there for one week in a wonderful apartment that has probably been there since the days of the first pope.  On the Saturday I was there the piazza was devoted to a farmer's market. I found these wonderful lemons that taste similar to lemons we are familiar with, but are huge and lumpy.  It was a great week in Roma!

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$149

A GATHERING OF LEMON, 6X8, OIL, SOLD

This started out as one of my usual paintings.  I don't know what happened...but I decided I like it and it was fun.

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$80

UNDER THE INFLUENCE, 8X10, OIL

A few days ago I posted  a still life painted before my workshop with Qiang-huang.  This is one of the paintings I did during the workshop.  Qiang has such a wonderful technique, one that looks so easy, but I soon found it to be very difficult.  To view his beautiful paintings, visit his blog here.

WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, 8X6, OIL

A scene from our trip to North Carolina last month.  A beautiful place any time of the year but especially in the spring and fall.
6x8 $70

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This is the set-up for Qiang's 2nd demo at our workshop last weekend.  He did a stunning painting, which is on his bog here.  Check it out!

QIANG HUANG WORKSHOP

My painting friends "Pieces of Eight" and I spent a inspiring and educational weekend painting with the talented Qiang Huang.  Qiang flew in from Austin to instruct  a workshop here, and far exceeded our expectations.  I cannot say enough about this young man's skills, both with a paintbrush and as an instructor.
We finished off with a  fun morning of coffee and talk, followed by lunch and a ride to the airport.  We are all sorry to see him leave and are already planning another workshop with him.

The image above is about 5 minutes into his first demo .  To see the finished painting, go to Qiang's blog.

BLUE BOTTLE II, 6x8, OIL SOLD

I am attending a workshop this weekend with the great Qiang-huang.  If there is one person out there who has not visited his blog, I urge you to do so immediately!  Not only is he a great painter and excellent  professional instructer, he is a charming and interesting fellow.

This painting was done before the workshop...I hope to have an "after" painting to show you soon.  No promises, if I come out of it with a completed painting, it will be a workshop first for me.

$80.  Purchase here

THREE DAYS LATER, 18X24, OIL

I have been very busy the past few weeks (or you could call it unorganized) working on a few pieces with deadlines.  Maybe that is the problem, or maybe fear of the upcoming holidays with all the added responsibilities, but I have wiped off more daily paintings this week than I can ever remember doing before.  That is my excuse for digging out an old painting to post.

When I first purchased these tulips, I dashed off a quick painting of them.  Three days later, they were much more interesting, thus the title.

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PLUMS, 5x7, OIL, SOLD

One of the members of our painting group had really good news last week so we decided to celebrate.
At 9:30 in the morning we poured pink champagne and ate chocolates.  An unusual but divine breakfast for me.  Then we went to our easels and painted.  Is it any wonder that my brushstrokes are much more relaxed?  Do I need to throw out my fiber cereal and buy Godiva stock?  I have to admit is was fun!

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SOLD

DANCING ON MY WINDOW SILL, 6X8, OIL, SOLD

You never know where the perfect still life will be discovered. I tossed these tomatoes on my window sill and several hours later the sun made a perfect still life out of them.  Backlighting is a beautiful thing!

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SOLD

BEING GREEN, 6X8, OIL

I am back in my old rut doing still life again, and it feels good.  I must say my little "vacation" from them lasted longer than usual this time.  I even got creative with a few knife paintings.  But sooner or later, I always return to my comfort zone.

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$90

PUMPKIN AND BITTERSWEET VINE, 6x8, OIL

Bittersweet always bring back memories of childhood.  Wreaths were made, mantels were decorated.  It is the perfect fall symbol.  Fall is my favorite time of the year and a pumpkin covered in bittersweet  is very comforting when you live in a state that is more into surfing than changing leaves.

CAROLINA MOUNTAIN STREAM, 8X6, OIL, SOLD

Another of my plein air attempts.  This was probably my favorite of the places we painted while in North Carolina last week.  It is always wonderful to sit quietly by a stream for a few hours on a beautiful fall day, but add to that the pleasure of sharing the experience with 7 very  wonderful women friends (and fellow artists) and you have the making of a near perfect day.

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CREEK AT SEVEN DEVILS, 6X8, OIL

I don't paint plein air very often but every fall my paint group Pieces of Eight takes a week to do just that.  We usually travel to North Carolina.  This year we were in the Boone, NC area where we painted this creek .  I really enjoyed being next to the creek for a few hours.  The weather was perfect and the trees were making their way to "peak".  All in all, it was a great experience.  I did have to do some touch ups  when I got back to my studio.

7 DEVILS AND GOOD CARMEN

Our painting group, Pieces of Eight, just returned from a fantastic week-long retreat in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.  We had a great time staying at Cindy Michaud's condo (thank you Cindy) and traveled out daily to photograph and paint.  Lucky for us, it was peak leaf season and every morning we ohhhhed and ahhhhed over the increasingly colorful landscape.

The night before we arrived, Cindy had a dream in which problems abounded.  Her mother, trying to comfort her, told her not to worry as she had "good Carmen".  Hence the photo above, featuring 7 devils and our own good Carmen.  In case you are wondering, starting at the left is Cindy, me, good Carmen Beecher, Donna Vines, Phillis Holland, Kathy Garvey (our photo shop expert), Denette Schweikert and Mary Warnick.

We had the most wonderful time, painting, cooking (we will soon have a little cookbook for sale), drinking lots of wine and enjoying each other. My next post will include some of the fruits of my labor.  In the mean time, here is a recipe that I featured on our trip and is also included in our cookbook.  Contact me if you our interested in purchasing the book which features our artwork and kitchen skills.

Roasted Cashews and Rosemary

1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts
2 TBSP chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp kosher salt
1 TBSP melted butter

Roast nuts in ungreased pan at 375 for about 10 minutes.  Combine all other ingred. in bowl, add nuts and toss until nuts are coated.  Enjoy!

SUMMER MEMORIES, 6X8, OIL

Sunflowers and hydrangea bring back memories of summer.

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LONG SHADOWS, 5X7, OIL, SOLD

I have been playing with the palette knife off and on for the last month and I'm begining to get quite fond of it.  For me, it is a nice change when you get those "painting blues".

TWO FOR TEA, OIL, 8X10

More teapots!

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GLAMOUR GIRL II, 8X6, OIL, SOLD

Just had to do one more of these hotties from the 40's!  This painting was featured on Etsy's front page Saturday!  Somehow I posted the Etsy badge twice, sorry!  I paint better than I compute!

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TEAPOT WITH LOTUS BOWL, 8X10, OIL, SOLD

Tea anyone?  Have you noticed that teapots are one of my favorite subjects?  I also have always been drawn to all things oriental, so, this seems to be the perfect subject matter for me.

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SOLD

BFF'S

Years ago, when my granddaughter was five or so, I did this pastel painting of her with her best friends from ballet practice.  Recently she sent me this photo of the same girls all grown up.  Only one girl (2nd from right) was missing.  What fun to see these great kids turn into beautiful young ladies.

RIVERSIDE PALMS, 10X8, OIL SOLD

Lately, I have been frustrated fighting with my paintbrush, so, I tried the palette knife a few times.  It is nice to have an option when you are battling fatigue and burnout.  I think I need to go on a photo shoot in the hopes that I can get excited about painting again.  I have had this happen before and I know the cure.

SOLD

MOUNTAIN POPPIES, 5x5, OIL

I find it hard to believe that summer is gone.  One of the disadvantages of living in Florida  is that we have not had much of a weather change yet.  It is hard to get excited when instead of 95 degree days we are having 91 degree days.  If it wasn't for the stores who have displays of colorful leaves and pumpkins, we would still be wearing white!  As a result, here I am, still painting summer scenes!

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7:15 AM, 18 SEPTEMBER 2010, MELBOURNE, FL, OIL, 6X8 SOLD

We are having the most unusual weather patterns this year.  September is not usually a nice month to be here.  It is still hot and muggy with lots of tropical disturbances which make for gray and windy days.
This year is another story.  Beautiful, dry, days that remind me of our October and November weather.  As a result, we are also having the most beautiful and colorful sunrises and sunsets.  You know what they say about silver linings..I guess this is it.

GLAMOUR GIRL, 8X6, OIL

In the 1940's, all our mothers aspired to this type of glamour and sophistication.  I have to admit, I much prefer this type of image to the slutty chic portrayed by today's "role models".

BRIDGE ON CONLEY'S CREEK, 8X10, OIL, SOLD

When I visit North Carolina, I always try to take a few walks down our road.  There is a sweet, tiny church, a nice campground, plenty of vacation cabins and this nice stone bridge.  Every time I go it seems to change.  Everyone flocks to the area this time of the year for the fall foliage, which is stunning, but the spring show is just as beautiful.   Full of pastel colors, pinks, grays, lavenders...it seems everywhere you look there is something in bloom.  It's a softer, gentler,  more muted beauty than the bright reds, oranges and yellows you see there this time of the year.

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SOLD

THE END OF SUMMER, 5X7, OIL, SOLD

You know summer is really over when the sunflowers wither and die.   As much as I love summer, I also love fall, and I have my fingers crossed that I will be in the mountains next month, during that magical week they call "Peak".  Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina.........

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SUNFLOWERS, 5X7, OIL, SOLD

Sunflowers are everybody's favorites.   It is impossible to be in a bad mood when they are around.

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SOLD

GRANDMA WAS A VAMP, 8x6, OIL

Things have changed a lot in the last 100 years.  What was considered a hottie and scandalous then...not so much today.

Anyway, I like the baby doll features on this head.  It makes a haunting portrait.

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ANTIQUE FRENCH TEAPOT, 16X16, OIL

I am sort of an Etsy fanatic and I found this teapot listed on a site http://www.dandeliondecor.etsy.com/.  I contacted the owner of the site, a very nice French woman, and she gave me permission to use her photograph for this painting.  She still has the teapot, so if anyone wants to buy it, along with my painting, it can happen!  Wouldn't that be fun?

Today is my granddaughter, Courtney's birthday.  She is sweet 16 today.  Remember when we used to say "sweet 16 and never been kissed"?  Hmmm, I will need to talk to her about that.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COURTNEY!

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BLONDIE, 8X6, OIL

Are you sick of this yet?  Hope not as I have another to show you tomorrow!

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