Painting in Progress

Flower Stand

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:40:00 +0000

This idea came from the Daily Paintworks site. They post painting challenges and I liked this one so I gave it a try - this challenge came from Carol Marine, one of my favorite artists.

Lots of fun to paint!


Flower Stand 12x12 Acrylic on Canvas

Painting White

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:00:00 +0000

It's been almost a month since I posted. I've been pretty busy painting, looking for a job, (hire me! paint supplies running low) working on a new web site that will include a blog (stay tuned) and getting ready for my son's high school graduation this Friday. I'll try not to cry on the big day.

Here's a painting I did after I painted the other white pottery still life. It is my wedding china that I think I've used twice, so I'm happy it has found new life as a model. I liked the challenge of finding the colors in white that you don't see unless you pay attention, and I wanted to try a white background as well.

Wedding China
Acrylic on 8x10 Canvas

Glass Shaker

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:05:00 +0000

Wanted to try painting glass - I did it once before when I first started. It was a salt shaker and my first "good" painting.

This is a cheese shaker I think. I've had it in my cabinet for years and I don't think I've ever used it for anything. It finally found a purpose.


Cheese Shaker Acrylic on 6x6 Gallery Wrapped Canvas

More Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:06:00 +0000

This is the same pitcher (which I think is really a coffee carafe) that I mentioned a few posts ago - the one I painted a long time ago and inspired me to do a series of reflection paintings.

This painting went through a lot of iterations because I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it - I ended up simplifying the background significantly - it had lots of shadows and folded cloth and it was too busy. You would think that the lemons and the reflections would be the hardest part, but I had more trouble with the background.

I've been averaging a painting every day or two for a while now - it's a fantastic feeling!

Pitcher and Lemons
9x12 Acrylic on Canvas

Self-Portrait re (over?) worked

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:58:00 +0000

I attempted to get rid of the chipmunk cheek, which I did, but in the process I overworked it a bit. As I mentioned in an earlier post, acrylic dries darker than it is when you first apply it, so I find it very difficult to match the color and correct tone. I couldn't do it on this painting, so I had to adjust all the color on the face. But it is a good exercise, because I need to figure out how to do that.

I like the before best, stuffed cheek and all, what about you?

Self-portrait w/o chipmunk cheek

Self-Portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:45:00 +0000

My first painted self-portrait. I have done a couple of drawings, one of which made me look 80, hopefully this doesn't.


Self-portrait Acrylic 9x12 panel

Reflections 2

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 05 May 2013 18:38:00 +0000

I wanted to try painting white objects as well as reflections and it was a lot of fun. The ultimate challenge would be white objects on a white background. Maybe later.

Next up - can't decide between another reflection themed painting or attempting my first self-portrait (in a painting).

Reflections 2
Acrylic on 8x8 Canvas

Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:30:00 +0000

I only painted two paintings before I got my studio. One was a still life that included a vintage chrome drink pitcher. The painting wasn't very good but I really liked doing the reflections on the pitcher. That was 18 years ago, but I kept it - probably to remind myself that art is important in my life and so, after 14 years, I finally started painting.

I was looking it at the other day and it inspired me to try a series of paintings with reflections. Here's the first one - another vintage item, but this is a little individual serving teapot:

Reflections 1
acrylic on 6x9 linen panel

Lemons and a Lime

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:06:00 +0000

New fruit. Happy with many things about this painting - the cloth, the lime and the lemon on the left.

Acrylic is becoming my friend.

Lemons and a Lime
6x8 acrylic on panel

My Buddy Billy

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:18:00 +0000

I was laid off in the fall. Besides losing my job, my income and a lot of confidence, the thing that really bugged me was that I was freaking crazily self-involved. My solution? Get a second dog.

It's hard to focus on yourself when you are housebreaking a 10 week old puppy in a snowstorm in December at 2AM.

This is a portrait of Billie, the fantastic dog I adopted from Sterling Animal Shelter. She's the second dog that I've adopted from there, the first was Sammy, almost 9.5 years ago. She is also a wonderful dog, but Billie is something special. Sweet, attentive, loving and affectionate. Only negative so far is she manages to find and roll on every dead thing in the yard/woods/pond.

Billie

Grey Pear

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:04:00 +0000

I painted this last week and I'm really pleased with it. I like the palette, more muted than I usually use. I didn't paint much this past week because I had a visit from my wonderful old friend Timmy. It was fun and relaxing - we spent 3.5 days catching up, laughing, watching movies, walking the dogs and then seeing my son's play.

It's really amazing how your oldest friends are your best friends, and how - no matter the mistakes, no matter the amount of time that passes - the love is always there.

Grey Pear
6x8 acrylic on panel

Bowl of Fruit 1

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:34:00 +0000

Lots of glare on this photo but as good as the iPhone camera is - it's not perfect. Not loving this one, I really struggled with the paint - acrylic colors change when they dry! So irritating. At one point this painting was very dark, and each time I thought that I had lightened it up it would dry and be drab again. So then I decided to just exaggerate the colors to get the brightness and light that I like in my paintings, but then it got overworked. Oh well, try try again.

The colors aren't quite as vivid as this photo. The two things I like are the pear on the right and the tomato on the left attached to the vine. I like the bowl too. The orange on the left looks like it's losing air :).


Bowl of Fruit 1 9x12 acrylic on canvas

Beware the Pit

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:02:00 +0000

Since I said I would post everything, even the weird - here is a painting I did a couple of weeks ago. It's a creepy painting that I did the week before the horrible Boston bombing and the insane, and scary, aftermath.

Beware the Pit
Acrylic on 9x12 canvas

Crosshatch Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

This is the latest acrylic. Getting the hang of it - I like painting in layers. I don't have the patience to do it with oils - you have to wait a day between layers because they take so long to dry.


Crosshatch Mac Acrylic on 8x8 canvas

Two Greens and a Red

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

So it's fruit again. But fruit is the old reliable that I go to when I need to figure out the paint so there will be more coming (lucky you!)

Two Greens and a Red
6x6 acrylic on panel

Boston You're My Home

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:07:00 +0000

Sad day in Boston. My thoughts are with everyone impacted by today's craziness. So cruel and so evil.

Is 22 months too long between blog posts?

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:51:00 +0000

Well well, here I am. I feel as though I have stepped out of a cloud and back to crisp, bright blue clarity. Cerulean blue.

It's been a long time. Lots of things have happened - got a new job, worked many hours and had a hard time separating work from life which didn't leave time for art. I did have time for my son, of course. He probably would have preferred if I had backed off a bit because he's a senior in high school - which makes me an awkward annoyance with a wallet.

After not painting for well over a year - almost two - I started again a couple of weeks ago. I have kept my studio this whole time, but rarely went and when I did I just sort of puttered around. I was completely and totally blocked.

I still struggle to get to the studio, but I started painting at home with acrylics. Painting with acrylics is completely different than painting with oils and I'm learning all over again. I'm going to post one of them, even though it's kind of embarrassing, but the whole point of this blog - and my art - was to focus on THE PROCESS, not the end result.

I lost sight of that.


Shapes and Colors 11x14 Acrylic

My focus right now is to learn what I can do with acrylic paint and reveal the shapes and colors (hence the title) rather than the subject matter. That's hard for me to do because I'm the most literal artist in the world (poetry is usually a mystery to me.) With oils I can goop it on and move the paint around and things blend and overlap and do wonderful things. Acrylic dries very fast so no gooping and moving unless it happens in 5 minutes; instead I've been doing many thin thin layers of paint. I'd like to get to a where my acrylic paintings are less literal and more painterly.

Catie's Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:15:00 +0000

I don't post for months and then I post twice in one day.

Catie's Trees is based on a photo I took it at the house of a sweet and talented young woman named Catie. Trees are one of my favorite things to paint because for some reason I don't get all hung up on the details. Fall trees are the most fun because all my favorite colors are there - warm reds and yellows. I use reds and yellows in so many of my paintings and my house used to be filled with them.

Catie's Trees
Oil on 9x12 Gallery Wrap Canvas

Adira

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:55:00 +0000

I finished this a couple of months ago, but never posted it, so here it is. There is one thing I want to fix, but since it is always risky when I go back into a painting after a long time away I will leave it alone.


Adira Oil on 12x12 Raised Panel

Portrait in Progress - 2

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:51:00 +0000

Next phase - I'm struggling with the skin. No, she doesn't actually have a 5 o'clock shadow. Hopefully I'll have time to work on her today.

Portrait in Progress - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 01:30:00 +0000

Last May when I went to NY for Karin Jurick's workshop I spent hours roaming the city taking photographs. I took over a thousand pictures and whittled it down to about 500. I go back to them often for inspiration.

It was May but it was an incredibly hot afternoon and I was having a beer and fries (very nutritious and pre gluten intolerance diagnosis - aaahhh the memories) at Chelsea Pier and thoroughly enjoying every moment. I saw a woman sitting with her friends and I thought she was so beautiful and timeless in her bohemian, earthy way. I've been too chicken to paint her until now but now I am giving it a chance.

I haven't finished, so I'm going to show a few stages of the painting. One of the biggest struggles is that my paintings go through so many phases; I like many of those phases but then they are lost. I think really good artists recognize the "phase" as the place at which they should stop. I haven't gotten there yet.

This is what I did yesterday. First I sketched her with white watercolor pencil on black gesso. Then I thought it made sense to create her as negative space so I did the background first. I don't know where the background came from because it just sort of happened, maybe it was remembering the heat of the day. I do want to remember this kernel of whatever it is - this "phase" - because I think this is something I could work with in a future painting.

Sometimes a Yellow Vase is Just a Yellow Vase

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:08:00 +0000

When I have had the chance to paint (which is rarely these days) I've been doing studies rather than trying to do a finished painting - mainly because I don't have time.

I used to collect pottery and then I got tired of having all this stuff around so I packed most of it away, sold it at a yard sale or brought it to my studio. Vintage pottery generally has great shapes and colors, reflects light in interesting ways and works well in still life setups. I did this study to play with yellow and try to figure out how to show the shadows and light with a very limited palette.

Hey Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:07:00 +0000

Here's this week's challenge entry. The rules were:

"Paint this image using only burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and titanium white. That's it. No other colors. With that combo you can have it look pretty darn close to a full color painting by achieving a wide array of values and temperatures."

Here's my version. Not loving how it turned out but it was a fun exercise. Check out the other paintings to see how each artist interpreted a pretty straightforward photo.

Zippo
8x8 Oil on Canvas

I can't see a Zippo without thinking about the big box of tchotchkes we had in the basement when I was a kid. When I was little my father was a salesman for a paper company. Like all good salesmen he had a big supply of branded freebies for his clients and prospects, which ended up in our basement. There were pens, ashtrays, pads of paper and - best of all - Zippo lighters with a little tree logo on them. And yes Dad, Carol and I pilfered goodies from the box on a regular basis.

That was a looong time ago. I just googled and not only is Boise Cascade still around but they have the same logo that they had in the 70's.

The 10 MInute Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:16:00 +0000

Almost two years ago (wow - I can't believe it was two years ago) I took a workshop from Carol Marine. I had no clue who she was, or what I was getting into and I'd only been painting for about 8 months or so. I signed up because I saw it listed in my local community center flyer and I thought "cool - something remotely interesting is happening in Westford". It was a great experience because I learned a lot, although I was a neurotic basketcase because it was way over my head. I didn't even know I had learned so much at the time, but even now dribs and drabs of what she taught come back to me.

I've been following her ever since. She recently started a weekly painting challenge on dailypainterworks.com where she posts a photo or challenge and a bunch of painters take the challenge. I just found out about it and its already on its 3rd week, but I'm really excited to try it every week.


Four Yellow Cups 8x10 Oil on Canvas

This painting was my first challenge. These were the rules: "Get a timer. Divide your canvas or canvases (I used 2 - 6x6in Raymar canvases) into 8 or so small squares (or rectangles). They should be smallish – a couple or 3 inches square or thereabouts – they don’t have to be perfect. Now choose ONE object. Just one. Set your timer for 10 minutes. Paint your object in the first square. When the timer goes off – stop! I mean it. Repeat until you are done. You can rotate your object and/or change the light for each new square."

I didn't do 8 - I took an 8x10 and broke it into 4. I actually did two of these exercises on Sunday because I liked it so much, but the other photo was too blurry to post. 10 minutes is SO short, but it really helped me loosen up and it just isn't enough time for neurosis to set in. I just have to paint the color, shapes and light and STOP.

Fall Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Meg Temple) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:15:00 +0000

Back at the studio for the last two weekends. I didn't paint for over a month. Same old reason -work taking up my time and energy.

It's an all or nothing thing with me - once I start painting I don't want to stop and that means the house doesn't get cleaned, dinner doesn't get made, and the laundry piles up. Hours go by unnoticed and it is the only time my mind shuts off. It is the greatest thing ever, better than any drug, drink, mindless TV watching, or retail therapy. When I walk into my studio, or start a painting, I am so filled with calm and gratitude for this small part of my life that it helps me put the silliness of work stress in perspective.

Fall Morning
Oil on 8x8 panel

This painting is based on a photo I took of this gorgeous tree near my house. It's just another tree for most of the year, except for the one week when it hits its peak fall color. I tried painting it before but it didn't work out very well. I'm pretty happy with this one though. I can't seem to capture the painting's vibrancy and saturation with the camera without making the contrast too harsh. This is the best version, though it flattens the shadows quite a bit and there is a bit of glare.

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