New Arizona Series of Paintings

My painting has just become revitalized after a rather long dry spell. I'm using photos taken on our recent trip from Texas through New Mexico, Arizona, California to Tijuana Mexico and back. It was a lot of driving, but since I never get to drive I got to take a lot of photos out the windows as we sped down the highways. A lot of the photos were awful. It never fails, you frame, shoot and where did that road sign or billboard come from? Oh well. I guess if you take enough photos at least a few of them will pan out. Here are the first two paintings from photos taken on the trip. Both available on Daily Paintworks

"Sun Kissed Rocks" 6x6 oil on panel

"Saguaro Skyline" 6x6 oil on panel

Back in the Groove

It's not that I haven't been painting, it's just that I haven't been painting as much for the past few weeks. I actually worked full time for a friend for a week and a half. I was not used to working like that and it really took it out of me. Before that we were traveling. I did get some paintings done on the trip but not as many as I'd hoped. Life just kept getting in the way.

During the time since I last posted, I completed what I consider my best still life to date "White Roses"

I also painted what I consider my best ever version of Mount Sopris. This one will be in the Plein Air Austin Annual show at the Corridor of Art Downtown in September and October.

Among the other paintings I've done in the past month or so, is one for the Central Texas Pastel Society Annual show at the Cultural Activity Center in Temple September and October. That one was a peg legged grackle stealing food from plates left on the table at Julios. 

It's been a busy month or so even if I haven't been painting every day. I'll try to post more soon.

Happy painting!

Recent Works

Lots of painting in the past couple of weeks. The weather has been perfect for plein air if you don't mind the mosquitos. Much cooler than normal for July in Texas. I've also been doing some in the studio. Here are a few of my latest efforts. All but two of these (those marked with a red dot) are available through my Daily Paintworks Gallery at www.jfrederickart.com 
Thank you for viewing my art.

The Magic of Rust

It's odd. Most things are ugly when they get rusty, but somehow I believe old trucks look better with rust. That was certainly the case for this old pick up out at the Start Hill Ranch. I took photos of it last time Plein Air Austin went out to paint there. I remember freezing while we painted, but I did get some good photos to use later. This one's turn came last night when I was looking for something to paint. I was pleased with the results. I remembered painting another truck out there back when I first started posting on Daily Paintworks almost 4 years ago. The first truck sold a long time ago, but when I compare the two images, I can see how far my art has come since that first truck. Can you tell which is which?

My Largest Painting to Date

A dear friend of mine asked me if I could create a special painting for her. She was redecorating her living room and wanted a painting representative of the Texas Hill Country. Up until now, my largest painting had been an 18x24 of a hill country scene that sold on Daily Paintworks last year. Since she wanted something larger, I was a little nervous. We talked about what she had in mind and she even picked a couple of paintings from my website that she liked, so I'd have an idea of where to start. I took those two paintings and did an 8x10 study combining elements of both into the one. After some discussion and some adjusting we decided to move forward with a 30x40 canvas. It took me most of last week but I think I'm done. She said she likes it and we've arranged for delivery in April when we will both be in Galveston.

Going to the Birds.

I've really been enjoying birds lately. I painted a photo of a bird I'd taken at my in-laws home in Evergreen, a chickadee, I believe. Then I used my brand new camera (birthday gift from my hubby) to take a great photo of a blue jay enjoying our bird bath. Really had fun painting that one so then I went out with my camera looking for more birds to take photos of. Today it was a grackle. I think this all started with the peacock whose picture I took at Mayfield Park last year. I painted it in pastel and it won an honorable mention at the Central Texas Pastel Society Show last August.

"Blue Jay Bath" 6x6 oil on panel

"Grackle" 6x6 oil on panel

"My Little Chickadee" 6x6 oil on panel

"Show Off" 8x10 pastel on paper

30 in 30 The Final Tally and Moving Forward

Although I forgot to post it to my blog, I did complete the 30 in 30 challenge, having painted all 30 paintings in a square format. Most were 6x6 but I had a few 8x8 and even one 12x12 in the line up. By the end of the challenge several had already sold which was gratifying.

The last day of the challenge Leslie Saeta gave us instructions on how to build a collage of all 30 paintings to post online.

Here is mine:

Overall I was very happy with the results. There were a few that I felt might have been better given more time, but for the most part I was satisfied. The challenge was a wonderful way to start the year and spur myself to paint every day. I also loved looking at everyone else's paintings. With almost 900 artists signed up for the challenge, if they all produced 30 each, a lot of new art was generated. To get a closer look at my 30 please check out my gallery at www.jfrederickart.com

Today was Qiang's mentoring class. I found a large Bombay Sapphire bottle and built a still life around that. Bombay Sapphire was my husband's favorite gin for a very long time so I've seen a lot of those bottles. They're a beautiful shade of blue. I'm not sure why I never tried to paint one before.

"Apple, Gin and more..." 8x8 oil on panel  for more information click here