Joint effort

I always like to give credit where credit is due. Every day we see things that inspire us and get the creative juices going.
With the invention of the internet...well...there's no limit as to where these bits of inspiration can come from.
My latest painting of Buoys came from another dear artist friend of mine Terri Kahrs who lives very far from me, but whom I can talk with "online" every day. Not only is she a terrific artist...but she also is amazing with a camera. Always taking beautiful shots as she travels.
When she posted her shots of the buoys I had to ask her right away if it was alright for me to use this in a painting. Yes...she was delighted to pass the image on.
Here is her photo....
 






Well...you can see from the beautiful colors why I might have felt the need to paint this one!!
It was a longer project than some since I didn't have the time to devote on working on just this piece...but I love the end result.
I have lots of little surprises throughout this one...but I'll show you just a few.
Wish I could show you all the hidden gems...but wouldn't want to spoil that for those who get to see it in person!
Terri, thanks again for letting me interpret your beautiful photo.

Series

Once again I find I'm working in a "series". Thought you might enjoying seeing a pic of the group together right now. The latest...lawn/beach chairs.
There really is something to be said for doing art in a series. It makes for an actual collection of similiar images, which is great for showing.
It also takes the pressure away from the question, "what will I do next?". You're already excited about the subject you're doing and can't wait to get to the next.
I spent a long time doing the series of beach toys, buckets and shovels. While there may be more to come down the line...I'm now really enjoying this new subject and I know there are more of these.
I have some other subjects in progress, but just this weekend I was down on the dock behind my house taking more reference shots of my chairs.
Yep...there's more coming!!

End result....almost

Since I'd shown you an earlier pic of this piece when it was just being worked on, I thought it only fair to show you the end result...of the piece....not the project.
The project this was made for will have to wait till about the end of the summer to be revealed...but it will be worth the wait.
Until then, here's the finished piece.

Beach Cabanas

 I never seem to stray too far from the beach. I've gone from beach toys to beach cabanas!
Wasn't sure how long it would take me to finish this one since I found myself with a sinus infection while half way through. It did slow the progress, though not that much.
I'll be putting a few progress shots of it on the FaceBook Fan Page.
I included one messy shot of the work table here while I was trying to plan out the papers for the sand.

I'll be putting it back on the easel for a day or two before I varnish it. I always do that so I can see if anything jumps out at me that wants to be changed.
Now....on to the next piece!!

The Painted Inch

I don't usually join in too many "Inchies" swaps because...let's face it...doing art on 1"x1" isn't all that easy.

There are, however, some themes that come up that I simply can't resist! Can you even image me not joining a "seaside" themed inchie swap!?! Roc...you had me at "sea"!

Soo...I did little watercolor beach dune inches. Hope I never have to paint on a smaller scale than this!