Girl in the Monaco Flower Market

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If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Girl in the Monaco Flower Market  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

Another painting inspired by a Jilly Bennett blog. This time it's her Monte Carlo Daily Photo blog. What a rich resource her blogs are! AND they're INTERESTING to read as well as to view!

Anywayyyyy - I took some liberties in making the painting from Jilly's photo. So what's new? 

I had done a painting a while ago of a vendor in a Flea Market Flower Stand and had fun trying to paint things that looked like flowers. I struggle with plant life-forms for some reason. Trees, shrubs, flowers and etc. make my palms sweaty. Some research into some "how to paint green things" seems in order! :-)

The Pose

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The Pose 8x12  Oils on canvas panel

The inspiration for this comes from Jilly's blog Menton Daily Photo  You owe it to yourself to spend time browsing through her photographs and commentary of her hometown of Menton, France.

This is actually a "study" for a 16x20 painting that I would like to do. I've made some artist's choices in that I changed her straw hat to a solid material. AND I turned her around to face left instead of facing right. 

I can't seem to eliminate the glare or the highlights on my brush strokes.  Any of you photo gurus have some advice? I've tried using opaque and translucent "light blockers" but . . . . .  I have even put my painting in a long (deep?) cardboard box. Zip, nada, zero eliminating the glare.

Fly Fishing No.1

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Fly Fishing No.1  16x20  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

I have another fishing painting that I will do soon thus the "No. 1" in the title. As if that needed an explanation! I never know.

 I attempted a serene, calm image with a man fishing by himself not worrying about catching a fish. He's just enjoying the peace and quiet and if a fish decides to strike his line, he'll just have to deal with it.

Updated 10/10/10 (don't you just love that date?) It was REALLY cool at ten minutes after ten this morning!

Carrots From The Farmers Market

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Carrots From The Farmers Market  8x12  Oils on masonite panel

Five carrots in this bunch isn't going to go very far in that pot roast waiting to be cooked. Maybe the guy is going to stop for a banana split on the way home to compensate for all of this healthy stuff?  

I had a bunch of blobs of paint from painting the homeless guys and the "thinking man" so I painted this. I still have some rather big blobs left.  I'm going to buy some empty paint tubes so I can save these blobs that I seem to mix time after time only to throw away when they crust over and dry up.  I've tried several ways to "save" the leftover paint but when that crust forms, it's just plain unusable (in my humble opinion). It's all glumpy and lumpy - YUK!

:-)

Happy Guy

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Happy Guy   8x12  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

I guess that this guy is happy. Maybe he's sort of happy or just not unhappy? I don't know. :-)  If I say that he's happy then he's happy. So there!. 

I did this rather quickly - in about 2 hours. I may call it done or fuss with it a little bit. I think that I'm done with the "small" paintings and will move on to 11x14 or 16x20 for a while.

What If

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What If  7 5/8x115/8  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

This fellow seems to be 'way off in a daydream or "remembering when" or wondering what if he had - - - - instead of - - - -. You can fill in the blanks. I guess that we all wonder what our lives would have been if we had done this or hadn't done that. Would we be any more or less content with ourselves?

Some of the saddest words are "I wish that I had/hadn't....".  Life is about choices and we do the best that we can at the time with what we have and what know. Most of the time!  :-)

Another one of those "el cheapo" canvas/masonite panels. Waste not.

Homeless

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Homeless 1  7.75x12  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

Another painting of a homeless person. The stories this fellow could tell! He's relatively young (compared to me) and could probably do "well" if he could get a helping hand and some good advice.

The unusual size is me being a bit lazy and plenty cheap. :-) I used this piece of masonite as-is nstead of cutting the masonite down to a "conventional" size such as 6x8 or 5x7. If I cut those sizes then I'd have smaller pieces of scrap to get rid of.

France - Menton - Creole Beauties - update

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 France - Menton - Creole Beauties - update

I initially posted this as a "work in progress" (sort of) with two other Creole dancers on August 20th.

The first painting is the "improved" version. I added the flowers to her head scarf. I also added some of her beads that are in her costume. I DO HAVE MORE WORK TO DO! :-(

I haven't captured the spirit and enthusiasm of this young woman. That's really elusive for me.  One small, tiny brush stroke can change an eye from happy to not happy.  (GREAT BIG SIGH!)  :-)

I hope that Jilly (Menton Daily Photo) will bear with me while I putz around.

Serenity - update

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 Serenity - update

I posted this painting September 1st and some of my blogger friends made some suggestions that I tried to implement. 

The first photo is the "adjusted" painting. 

I didn't change the background - the camera and the lighting played with me.

Homeless

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Homeless 2  8x12  Oils on canvas panel

How close are any of us from being homeless? Without family support I've heard that most Americans are one or two paychecks from being homeless. Scary stuff.

This fellow is resigned to the fact that he will most likely sleep in an alley. If he's lucky he'll find a large cardboard box for cover from the elements. If he's really lucky the gospel mission will have an empty bed and a hot meal tonight. He isn't going to worry about tomorrow until tomorrow.

My wife & I don't have to worry about much any more. We're on a "fixed income" now that we're retired but live a VERY good life with our two dogs, our hobbies, good health and each other.  How and why does this fellow not have what we have?

Challenge Eleven - Lemons for the Rookie Painters Blog

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Challenge Eleven - Lemons  7 3/4 x 16  Oils on masonite panel

I haven't participated in these challenges as often as I should have. But it's a fun thing to do and after doing this I remembered how much fun it is to make a painting that I wouldn't ordinarily do. This is my submission to Rookie Painter blog Challenge Eleven - Lemons.

My initial thought was to do something like "when given a lemon, make lemonade" but . . . . .   :-)

Take a look at the Rookie Painter blog. There are some really good works there.

Walking In The Rain

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Walking In The Rain  5x7  Oils on masonite

This began as a quick study practice piece then I touched up here and touched up there and pretty soon I had a reasonably nice little painting!

I don't usually do really small stuff but what the hey?

The Prayer

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The Prayer  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

Why does anybody say prayers? They speak to their god hoping for good things.  

This young lady might be the wife of a husband in the armed forces who is in a dangerous place. Maybe her young child is terribly ill. Or, maybe she's just thankful that none of these are the reason.

She appears quiet, calm and collected in this her time of peaceful contemplation.

A little information about the artsy part of this. All of the darks are mixtures of red & green with (maybe) some Prussian Blue Or Van Dyke Brown added.  No black paint tree was harmed in the making of this painting.  :-)

Please excuse the glare - this is the best of many, many photos!

Serenity

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Serenity  8x12  Oils on canvas panel

This is another painting inspired by Jilly Bennet's blog Menton Daily Photo.  If you have not visited her blog click on the link and browse some really interesting photos and commentary!

I was impressed with the profile photo the calm, serene expression on this nun's face.  I think it would be a great gift to be able to know her.

I Love you Too! (Best Friends)

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I Love you Too! (Best Friends)  7.5x12  Oils on masonite panel

10/21/2010 - I renamed the painting from "Best Friends" to "I Love You Too".

This is a fine example of maximum mutual admiration. The dogs' tongue is going to get some skin in a second or in a few minutes.

I figure that these two have probably spent some time out of doors with maybe the dog chasing a stick or a ball. Now they're taking a breather in the shade of a large tree telling each other how wonderful they are.  Both are very fortunate to have the other.

The Rose

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The Rose  9x12  Oils on masonite panel

The Pro Flowers web site tells us: "White roses represent innocence and purity and are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings. The white rose is also a symbol of honor and reverence, and white rose arrangements are often used as an expression of remembrance. 

OK, so what does this white rose mean to the lady?  From her expression it might be one of an arrangement sent to her by her new found male "friend".  Or it might be that she's in her garden enjoying the scent of a fresh rose.

For me, this is a subdued painting - not a lot of color. I did put a red hair band in her hair just to ease my angst.