VALENTINE FLOWERS

 Here's this year's painting, in oils,  of my Valentine's Day flowers from my sweetie.

ROSES FOR SUE

 I painted the rose bouquet I received from Nicole and Victoria so I'll have it forever.

I did it in oils - I still don't know much about using oils.  I need a class and more practice.

CORAL ROSES

 I think this is the final version of my Coral Roses oil painting.

OIL PAINTED FLOWERS

 I had left my painting on the easel outside on the picnic table last night.  The wind blew it off onto the cement and it was now covered in little bits of sand and dirt.

So, the first thing I did this morning was to scrap those bits off.  I then tried to repair the damage.

So here it is after another few hours of painting on it.  It still needs work.  The roses are coming along, but the background needs a lot of help.

FLOWERS IN OIL

 This is the first time I've painted in oils since last summer when I painted the Alphabet series.

I think I forgot a lot of how-to.  But I had fun.

This is where I stopped for the first day.

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.