Limes and Caiprinihas

Today through tomorrow we have a wind chill warning in Indiana with a forecast of -17 tonight!  When I lived in Brazil January and February were the months we went to the beaches to relax, enjoy the sun, the good company, good food and the national drink, Caiprinhas.  Caiprinhas are made from limes, sugar and cachaca and you only drink one!  If I can't have a caiprinha on the beach I can paint the limes and dream of the warm beaches.

Teapot with Sunflowers

Indiana surveyed the winter storm, but just barely!  Today is another pretty winter day, but a cold winter day.  I thought the teapot with some sunflowers would put some sunshine in the day!  There was nothing easy about this little painting.  It's an  8" x 6" oil painting and the teapot was my challenge.

I have an art class every Tuesday and after class we always go to lunch.  One our favorite places is a spot on Michigan Road in Zionsville, Indiana.  The cafe also has an antique shop of which some items are antiques and other items are just fun things to purchase.  I bought this teapot about three months ago and decided with all the snow and ice it would be a good time to set up a still life!  I have one more still life with this teapot and I hope to finish it by today.  Tomorrow I leave for San Jose, California to visit my son, daughter in law and their mountain baby.  A week in the Santa Cruz mountains sounds like fun and a nice winter break.  I'm  taking some nice shiny sparkling pink tennis shoes for the mountain baby.  I'm sure they will be a big hit!

Poppies for Christmas

The snow storm arrived in Indiana last night and stayed all day Friday.  After living in Wisconsin it takes more than five inches to set off any alarms for me!  The snow is very pretty.  This painting is a commission!  Yeah!!  It's a Christmas present for a friend's husband.  It's a 6" x 8" painting, very small and it very quick!  My daily paintings are forcing me to paint faster and I'm getting better!  My painting of the persimmons sold yesterday!

Two Paintings

It's a rainy day which makes it perfect for little paintings.  I have a good start on these persimmons, which is a fruit that grows wild over southern Indiana.  Once I'm finished with the painting I plan on making a persimmon crumb cake!  I'll finish the persimmons on Friday and they will go out to eBay on Tuesday just in time for Thanksgiving!  I'm sure the crumb cake with be baked and eaten by the end of weekend!

I'm playing around with different ways to get the paint on the canvas for a quick daily painting. Yesterday I painted the barn and field with no cows, today I painted a new one and added two little cows.  I am also trying to use my pallet knife which makes it very thick and fun.  The is a little Indiana farm that I pass by every Tuesday on my way to art class.  This painting will go to eBay on Friday.

Pumpkin and Sunflowers

The start of my daily painting!  I bought the pumpkin and sunflowers at the grocery store, came home and set up my still life.  The painting really looks small on the easel!  The little drawing in the upper right hand corner is by my six year old grandson, in fact I think he did that drawing last year at Thanksgiving.  When ever I start to take my too seriously I look at his drawing, I study the lines, the clouds, the sun and the trees then I can go back to my painting and relax a little!

A few hours later and I have my finished painting.  Tomorrow I think I'll paint cows!  

Strawberries and Wine

I started and thought I had finished this painting last week but the longer I looked at it the less I like the background!  So after a glass of grape juice and water I have a new background.  The Boulder Creek area in California had quite a few wineries.  My daughter-in-law and  I visited the Mountain Winery and we had a great afternoon.    Our little "mountain baby" spent the day with her dad , we text him when we were ready to come home.  My bottle of wine is gone, my strawberries are gone but I have a vase of sunflowers.  Tomorrow I will be working on sunflowers.  

Halloween Storm in Indiana

Last night the Halloween Monster Storm hit Indiana just as forecasted.  Fortunately it wasn't as much of a monster as predicted though trick or treat night was moved to November 1st, today!  I did prepare for the storm, I had my bottle water, I made a stew and prepared for a day or two with out power.  I also decided to paint a glass of wine and some strawberries!  I still have some wine but the strawberries are gone.  I did visit a winery while in Boulder Creek, California.  The winery was a treat to my daughter in law and myself as we had spent the past month entertaining our "mountain baby"!  The "Monster Storm" was the perfect excuse to purchase some California wine and paint away.  This painting goes up for sale on eBay next week Tuesday.