New Coastal Paintings

A Beach For Seals
11" x 14"    oil on panel

I have been working on revising and up dating some older paintings.
I created this painting on location during the Big Blue Live TV show a few years ago.  It was painted at Hopkins Marine Station Beach near the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  I love this beach because it is fenced off and the seals have the beach all to themselves.  As I was painting from the pathway above and behind the fence, I had fun watching the seals resting and playing in the gentle surf.  Such a pretty place.

Send me an email via Daily Paintworks
 if you are interested in purchasing this painting.
You can see close ups of it on Daily Paintworks online gallery. 

$600 ~ does not include a frame.

Haggin Museum Visit

I had the opportunity to visit the Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA yesterday.  The museum has been newly renovated and is just beautiful!  Here are some photos I took of some of the rooms and a couple of my favorite paintings... so many from which to choose!  

The blue wall is spectacular!  It really shows off these beautiful paintings.

Here is the painting on the left on the blue wall above.  "Banks of the Saone, near Chatillon"  about 1901  by Jan Monchablon  French, 1854 - 1904
That pink skirt just plain sparkles and draws attention!

Another of my favorites is by George Inness 1825 - 1894 
called "Old Homestead"  c. 1877


If you get a chance to go to this museum, I highly recommend it!
First Saturdays in each month are free admission too!

I am warming up my paint brushes!

 

Trip to SF to see Monet Show

MONET: THE EARLY YEARS. 1858-1872

PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR, SAN FRANCISCO

Feb. 25 through May 29, 2017

Luncheon on the Grass   about 97" x 85"

Yesterday 60 art lovers and I climbed a bus in Modesto, CA which took us to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.  I had not been to San Francisco in a very long time and I was very excited to see the city again.  Our bus driver was an excellent driver and managed the tight streets beautifully.  

Street below new
Skyscrapers

   

SF Skyline from new
Bay Bridge

    We crossed the new Bay Bridge all    painted white and it was the first time I  had seen it.  We had a nice view of the  city from the bridge and saw some of the  new, very tall skyscrapers being built.    They were so tall they disappeared into    the low clouds.  It was amazing. When we  reached the museum it was drizzling and  my glasses were all wet when I got to the  front door.  






The show exhibited some of Monet's early work (1858 - 1872), which I like very much.  There were even some paintings created when he was just a teenager!  Some paintings have not been seen in public in many years. 

We went down the stairs to the exhibit and the first thing we saw was these two huge paintings! (see above) "Luncheon on the Grass"  One was very long and tall and the other square and tacked to the right side of the first one. This seemed very odd to us, but I later read that Monet was working on this very large painting for the Salon, but he was behind in his rent.  So he gave it to his landlord to keep until he could buy it back.  By the time he had the painting returned to him, it was dirty and moldy.  So he cut it into two pieces.  Thus this is what is on exhibit.  To show how big they are I caught a visitor in my photo standing next to them.

HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE PAINTINGS FROM THE SHOW
Note: the frames are fabulous!  

CLOSEUP OF THE WATER IN THE ABOVE PAINTING

"The Magpie"   1869   about 35" x 51"

"Still Life with Melon"  

I loved this still life!
the melon is yummy and the blue plate is beautiful... the peaches are so fuzzy looking!

I did not catch the name of this painting, but it really caught my attention since I had just spent time painting my own almond orchard in bloom painting near Modesto a few weeks ago.

To learn more about this amazing show, click on the link at the top of this page.

Carmel Mission Note Cards on DPW Gallery Store

 I just added this set of note  cards to my 
Daily Paintworks Gallery Store.  All painted at the Carmel Mission in Carmel, CA.

This is one of my all time favorite places to paint.  There are so many scenes, this place could keep me painting for a life time.  Lovely gardens, sculpture, old adobe buildings, fountains, and so much more.   

If you have not been there I hope you can get to go sometime. 

You can view these paintings on my website as well at:  www.RhettsStudio.com

Open Studio 2016

Wonderful turn-out for my Open Studio April 23 & 24, 2016

 Greg Frazier and I pose in front of my Daily Paintings display.  The pegboard panels worked very well for displaying the 6"x 6" paintings.

 Here is part of our set-up.  We were resting and waiting for the crowd to show up.  Our weather was good which was a nice change from the last few years with wind and rain.

Greg had some wonderful wood pieces: puzzle boxes, wooden pens, puzzles and other items of fun.  He does such nice work.  I especially like his burl bowls with the abalone inlays.  So pretty!

 Visitors had the opportunity to choose from boxes of unframed paintings and try them out in frames.  I also had matted original work, matted reproductions, paper cranes, and note cards from which to choose.

 Here is one of my visitors choosing a matted original.  She also chose one of my Daily Paintings!


I want to thank all those who helped set up and take down, and store away all my stuff!

Still Exploring the Color ORANGE

SPRING POPPIES  6x6  oils

APRIL 11th  Monday
Last week we took a 3 day trip to Monterey, CA and the coast.  I was amazed to see all the California poppies in bloom on the hill sides and even in downtown Carmel and Monterey!  Well naturally, I had to take photos! After all, they are ORANGE!  I was so surprised how difficult poppies are to paint and they are made up of such a variation of oranges and yellows.  Capturing the various shadows and changes in color was a challenge.  

< Here is my first effort.  I worked in water mixable oils on an ampersand gesso panel.  DAILY PAINTING # 29

SPREAD A LITTLE SUNSHINE

< Here is my 2nd effort.   I am worried that my paintings will not be dry in time for my Open Studio April 23 & 24th, so I thought I would try acrylics this time.  Wow!  What a difference!  I have not worked in acrylics in a number of years and found it quite a challenge.  The colors change as they dry, blending is more difficult and making puddles of color doesn't work because they dry so quickly.  But I worked on.
DAILY PAINTING #30    6x6 acrylics on ampersand gesso panel

CALIFORNIA GOLD   6x6 acrylics

< Second try at acrylics. I am slowly learning to manage acrylics and remembering from my work with them years ago.  I realize that I could use some new brushes,  I don't want to use my oil brushes and the ones I have are just too soft.  And I am struggling with the transparency of acrylics too.  But I do think this one is a little better.  
DAILY PAINTING #31

CARMEL POPPIES  4X6 acrylics

< So now I am getting a little more confident in acrylics.... well just a little.  This time I tried a smaller painting... just 4" x 6" on gessoed watercolor paper.  I found these poppies growing near the Carmel River in front of a house.  So cheerful to see them!
DAILY PAINTING #32





I can't believe I have painted 32 paintings now!  Great practice!
These little guys will be available for sale at my Open Studio.  
6x6s are $100 without a frame / $125 with a floater frame.  
4x6s are matted to fit an 8" x 10" frame and are $45 each.  
Believe me, they look better in person!  Come on by and check them out!

I am often asked "How long did it take you to paint that?"
My answer is simple: 
"After 50 years of practice, it took me 3 hours to paint this small painting." 

Still Getting Ready for Open Studio

APRIL 7th
 The last few days have been filled with painting and getting my studio presentable for the public.  Only 16 days left to get things in order.  Open Studio Tour is April 23 & 24th and I hope some of you will be able to stop by and see my new work.  

I am still focusing on my Daily Paintings.  I now have the first 6 framed and I like the way they turned out.  I used a floating frame type.  

Won't they look good on a wall together?

And I have been continuing my exploration of the color orange.  What a wonderful color!  It is fun to look for things that are orange.  My rose flowers are now in full bloom and the peachy orange ones are wonderful.  I just wish I could remember the name of that rose.  

First Spring Rose   6x6

< Here is the first rose that opened.  I put it into a pretty glass vase and of course my little owl had to get into the act.   So many colors of orange in this flower! 

Just Peachy   6x6

So now for a close up!  Lovely flower!  Such fun to see all the colors of orange!  

Pretty in Orange   6x6

<  This rose is very orange!  But with so many variations!  The golden yellows and soft pinks add to the vibrancy of this rose!  

Peek-A-Boo    6x6

And in this one my little Mexican owl had to get into the picture!  I call this one "Peek-A-Boo!"   

I can't wait to frame up these rose beauties!  

Come to my Open Studio and see them!

Getting Ready for the 2016 Art Studio Tour

Painting display boxes for prints 

I am getting my studio ready for the 2016 Stanislaus Artist Open Studio Tour in April.  Painting boxes, painting gesso on panels, matting work, and just plain cleaning too. Hope you can stop by my studio!

 

6x6 Daily Paintings in the sun to dry after varnishing

Painting gesso on panels for painting

Last week, Turlock artists met at the Turlock Library and put up a display of our work. Drop by the library and see our work.
Tickets / map are available at the Carnegie Center for the arts in Turlock, the Mistlin Art Gallery in Modesto. 

 

Orange Juiced!

 Day 12 Wednesday, March 23

ORANGE TOAST

I wanted to do a quick and small 5" x 7" painting and still had my red daisy from yesterday's painting.  I noticed a tall wine glass on my shelf and dropped the daisy in it with the piece of mistletoe.  Added the orange and voila!   "Orange Toast"  5" x 7"  This size sure seems small after enjoying the 6x6s. 







Day 13 Thursday, March 24

ORANGE JUICE

My orange tree is loaded with oranges so painting them has been a good practice.  I have painted them whole and sliced them, but what about juicing them?  So out came my juicer.  This time I added some scrap booking paper to the background.  A fun touch, don't you think?  "Orange Juice"  6x6  Yum!  Orange juice tastes so good.  One thing I discovered as I painted.... orange juice is not ORANGE at all, but quite YELLOW !

ORANGE MUG AND ORANGE JUICE

Day 14 Friday, March 25   I painted an orchid this day which was fading fast and I wanted to try a capture it now.  I will post that painting later.

Day 15 Saturday, March 26  Shopping at the Dollar store and discovered some very colorful mugs to try. Now if you don't think orange juice is really yellow, compare it to this bright ORANGE mug!  The little owl figure is from Mexico where I spent part of a summer.  He is so cute.  I think I will add him to more of my paintings!




 Trying to get ready for the  
Stanislaus Artist's Open Studios.
Hope you can drop by and see my Daily Painting progress.
Saturday,  April 23  and Sunday, April 24th
Tickets are available at 
Carnegie Art Center in Turlock and Mistlin Art Gallery in Modesto.

More Orange Paintings

DAILY PAINTING - A PAINTING A DAY - More Orange Paintings

ORANGE WREATH  6x6  oil

Day 7 - Saturday, March 19
Time to rearrange the fruit.  The oranges seemed to form a circle so I call this one "Orange Wreath".  I am getting the hang of painting oranges!  So many colors!  Tried a bright orange background this time.  It is fun to add a bright color to the background.  "Orange Wreath"




 

ODD STRAWBERRY OUT  6x6

Day 8 Sunday, March 20th
When I was re-arranging the fruit the strawberry fell out of the bowl.  It looked so sad and seemed to want to jump back into the bowl!  So I call this one "Odd Strawberry Out".

PANSY WITH SLICED ORANGE

Day 9 Monday, March 21st
Ok, what to do with oranges next?  Why not slice it!?  So out came the knife and the orange was cut up.  I wanted to add a spot of color purple and so I added this purple pansy.  I discovered that purple is a difficult color to paint.  The pansy is the most vibrant purple and it is not easy to capture in paint.  Did a lot of experimenting with mixes.  To balance it all, I added purple to the background.


Day 10  Tuesday, March 22nd
So now what?  Why peel the orange, of course!  But I got it half peeled and the curl was so interesting I thought "Why not try it?"  Tree trimmers were here today to take the mistletoe out of our tree, so I picked up a few pieces to add to the bowl.
 So here it is.  "Orange Peeled"  6x6

ORANGE PEELED   6x6

Wet - still on the easel

ORANGE SPIRAL WITH DAISY

 Day 11 Wednesday, March 23rd
Playing with the orange, the peel fell down and out of the bowl.  Well, OK  lets run with this.  But to add some more color I picked one of my beautiful daisy flowers in the garden.  I kept the mistletoe as I discovered it makes a pretty shape. "Orange Spiral With Daisy"  6x6




HOT TIP:  Since these paintings are small, 6x6, signing them is difficult.  I want to make sure I honor both my parents with my first AND middle names, so my signature is long.  I tried all kinds of things to use.  And Bingo!  I found the perfect tool!  I had a dried up Sharpie Extra Fine marker pen and tried it, writing directly into the wet paint.  Works great!  Just wipe it off often.  Try it!


See you later.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Come back later for more of my daily paintings.
Hope it inspires you too.

A New Resolve - Paint Every Day!

~ A NEW RESOLVE ~

 DAILY PAINTING - A PAINTING A DAY

I have been painting for a long time now, but not as often as I would like to.  Recently, I discovered DailyPaintworks.com and it has opened up my eyes to the importance of painting every day.  So I have a new resolve.... PAINT EVERY DAY!  So my new resolve has begun!
I have revised my studio fixing up my easel area, adding a new paint palette to preserve my paint, fixing up a still life area, etc.

DAY 1 March 13, 2016.... painted a yellow pitcher I bought at a garage sale
DAY 2 March 14   painted an orange on a blue plate  5" x 7".
Well, OK... so good so far.  Not great paintings, but I am having fun!

My still life set up

ORANGE BOWL  6x6

DAY 3  March 15  Now I am getting serious..  Set up a sliced orange in a bowl.  This time I graduated to a 6" x 6" panel.  What FUN!  I painted for over 3 hours!    I am happy with my progress.  I call this one "ORANGE BOWL" 6x6 

"ORANGE NEST"  6" x 6" oil on panel

DAY 4  March 16  Now I am on a roll!  Reworked the still life adding a strawberry this time.  Gee, painting oranges over and over is getting a little easier.  There is a lot to painting an orange!  So many subtle colors especially in the rind.  What I have noticed is that it is interesting painting the same subject repeatedly makes me look harder and work at my brushstrokes.  "Orange Nest"  6x6  oil on panel.

"FRUIT BOWL"  6" x 6"  oils

DAY 5  March 15   Now I wake up and can't wait to get to the studio!  Added grapes and rearranged the fruit.  I decided to zoom in and fill the 6" x 6" panel with the image.  The grapes were fun to add. "Fruit Bowl"  6x6  oil on panel

"AVOCADO INTRUDER"  6" x 6"  oil

DAY 6  March 16  Our avocado tree has been dropping avocados for months.  I have to pick them up right away.  Having one in my hand in my studio, I thought, "Why not?  Add it to the still life!" Since the avocado has joined the oranges, I call this one: "AVOCADO INTRUDER"   6x6   oil on panel

ORANGE IS MY NEW FAVORITE COLOR!

CHECK OUT MY NEXT POST TO SEE HOW I AM PROGRESSING!
All paintings are for sale $100 each.  Frames are extra.  Free shipping to USA only.
THANKS FOR VISITING. 
CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT:  www.RhettsStudio.com