Sunshine, you are mine!

Sometimes the cloudy days are lovely with the cloud formations, but I thought I would do one of a day of endless sunshine. The photo was of a girl, whom I don't know, and there was no background in the photograph. I wanted her to be just peeking out of part of the lower right corner. It is an effect Degas used, successfully I might add, to give the idea the girl is walking along the seashore with the bright sun overhead.

Also there is a show coming up in a few months called "Expressions of Color", and I thought a bright parasol would be most powerful if everything was understated. Let me know what you think.

Soon I am taking a step I have never taken. I am going to have some of my paintings scanned by a professional in printing, and then have prints made. Many have asked me about prints, and I was too concerned to do it with my own printer as the results probably wouldn't be worth it. Anyway, I will know more next week.

florals and figures

Last night I had a class in acrylic, which is a fun brush-up for me. Cathy Zander is a very encouraging person with a PhD in Art Education. I'm having fun and find the time goes by quickly. My focus right now is to have items selling on EBay. Yes, you get to bid and find a real bargain.

My art works that I'm showing are acrylic painted 5X7" panels. They will be unframed. These are very easy to frame, and I will ship for FREE. Check it out. Four paintings should be up on EBay in a couple of days.

Yes, I will also offer a Paypal account you can use if you'd like.

The two paintings I started with are the Plumeria from Bart and Kim's yard and the centerpiece arrangement used on the tables at the wedding.

Toasting the Sunset

Once again I have an image with permission of my friend, Lynn, who captured our daughter, Sabrina, as she was toasting the sunset on the north Shore of Oahu. I have played with lots of texture in this piece. The Japanese papers and the pieces from my watercolors are intermingled. Yes, I do cut up and use paintings that no longer "work". that way I am often able to collage from these cuttings as the watercolors I use will be the same palette.

I love the way the framer has custom-framed the paintings of the Heavenly Light series. He has "floated" them onto the matte with another matte creating a shadow box effect. This makes the piece look terrific and presentation is so important.

Painting snow:-"No Play Date Today"

I have not painted snow very often. I took a photograph of my daughter's backyard in Reno. Jennifer has taken down the swing-set as her youngest is now 8 years old and isn't playing with it as often. I thought the image of a play set with lots of snow was quite the image of abandonment.

I am now painting in a class with Cathy Zander up at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. I don't think Cathy knew what this painting was going to be when she saw the image of an all white painting. The details of the snow shadows and the trees made by using parts of berry baskets had not come together until I worked on it for a while yesterday. "Found" art materials are a lot of fun but challenging as you must find the proper color value and the texture needs to enhance the work. This painting is a work of "whimsy".

My website is: www.mesart.com/ashleyarts

Abstractions continued

Often when I'm working on a series, I divert from the "Heavenly Lights" to doing the "Getting Personal with the Computer." There are several works over the last two years that deal with computers and how I feel about them. This painting is a redo and offers a feeling I have when an email comes to me when the unknown person is "phishing" for my personal account information. It is an attack, and I guess that's why I call the painting , "Phishing".

I have a link to my website as I will be much better in redoing it once a week. www.mesart.com/ashleyarts

Also there is a member show of Pacific Art League, 668 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301. I have the Double Rainbow painting in the show, and I call it, "Papalua Anuenue" which means double rainbow in Hawaiian. The gallery is open from Monday through Saturday, closed on Sundays.