STILL LIFE - Z

 

Well, I did the whole alphabet.  It took a bit longer than I'd planned.  But, it's done.  I'm happy and sad that it's over.

I'm going to take a break from painting.  But...I've ordered some canvases and they will be here in a few days.

STILL LIFE - Z BEGINNING

 I didn't have much time today to paint.  But I did manage to get a little done.  I wanted to get some of the zigzags done and give it a chance to dry a bit.

STILL LIFE - Y

 

In case you were wondering, that is some Yarrow on the Yellow background with Yogurt and Yams.

STILL LIFE - X

 You'd think X would be a really tough one.  It is, but after I looked in the dictionary, I came up with some interesting results:

I'll explain.

Xanthium is a common weed, basically a cockleburr.  I painted from an image of the Canada Cockleburr - Xanthium strumarium var, canadense.

Xanthophyll is a yellow or brown carotenoid plant pigment which causes the autumn colors of leaves.  Cool, huh?!

Xylography is the art of carving on wood.

And, of course, my very useful X-acto knife.

That little yellow leaf is one of several I picked up this morning on my morning walk in Lincoln Park with the dogs.  There's this tree that gets the most spectacularly bright yellow in  the fall.  Here is a picture from a few years ago.

STILL LIFE - W

 

And, yes, I have my own weasel.

STILL LIFE - V

 And now for something completely different:

I couldn't help myself, I had to include the 'virus' in there.

STILL LIFE - U

 

STILL LIFE - T

 

STILL LIFE - S

 It's not done, I still have to put black lines on the yellow 'square' ruler.

STILL LIFE - R

 

STILL LIFE - Q

 

We had a Brave Patch meeting this afternoon.  I worked on my Floating Squares.  I got the top part all sewn together so I could fold it up and work on the bottom.  I just cut out a bunch of squares and stuck them up there.  I left the meeting a little early so I could go out and finish up my Q painting.

STILL LIFE - P

 Lots of Ps:

STILL LIFE - O

 

It was raining hard in the morning with a promise to clear up later.  So, I went upstairs and sewed for a while.  I've got most of the Floating Squares joined into sections.  It was after lunch that I painted under the gazebo again.  The weatherman was right, it did clear up.

STILL LIFE - N

Another rainy and windy day out under the gazebo.  I brought a cushion and blanket out for Jelly to lay on.  She shared the bench with me.  I had a shirt, a flannel shirt and a jacket and my feet still got cold.  But I finished!

STILL LIFE - M

 I didn't finish the M Still Life yesterday.  I was frustrated and had a very sore neck when I quit for the day.  We are expecting a windy rain storm this afternoon, so I finished it before lunch today.  It was raining all night and still raining while I painted under the gazebo.  Jelly was not happy, not knowing how to be close to me yet be warm and dry.  

After lunch, I worked on my Floating Squares.  It was much warmer and drier upstairs in the studio.  

I might have to move my base of operations for the Still Lifes upstairs if this weather keeps up.

STILL LIFE - L

 Here's my Still Life for the letter L:

[I purchased the ceramic Lion during the 1980 International Expo from the Soviet exhibition (made in the U.S.S.R.) held in Vancouver B.C. ]

On our morning walk I dropped off the Cat painted rock in Lincoln Park.

STILL LIFE - K

 What a monumental task I set for myself today.  I didn't really think about the problems with the stainless steel reflective surface of my kettle.  At first  I thought I'd really attempt all of the reflections, including myself in there.  But, no, the roof of the gazebo was weird looking.  So, I didn't even attempt to do myself.  I settled for doing a partial reflection.  Unfortunately, I think it looks wrong the way it is.  But, that's the way it's going to be.  [Unless I change it.]

I took a picture of the drawing I did to begin.  I think I'm getting better.

The sun actually came out today and it was wonderful!  I had to take a picture of the new flowers I planted the other day - Rudbeckia and another Coneflower.  

STILL LIFE - J

 Here is my Still Life oil painting for the letter J:

It started raining just before lunch and by the time I got out to my easel under the gazebo it was really coming down.  It was wonderful.  Hopefully, it will clean some of the smoke out of the air.

Before lunch I got the binding finished on the Yuki quilt and I started putting some of the pieces together on the Floating Squares project.

STILL LIFE - I

 The smoke has finally lessened enough that I could get back to my outside painting of Still Lifes.  

Today's letter is I:

Before all that wonderful stuff above, I was in the studio putting bindings on quilts:

I also made the binding and sewed it onto the back on the Yuki quilt.  I forgot to take pictures though.

FINALLY FINISHED H PAINTING

 Wow, I think it's been a while since I painted outside.  The air quality has been so bad from the smoke from fires, here and in California and Oregon.  We've been advised to stay inside.  The few times I spent a little time outdoors I'd end up with a sore throat and lungs and a headache.  I've missed painting.

So, here is the H painting I started way back on last Friday, the 11th. I'm not very happy with it.  I just wanted to get it done and move on.