Paintings
 

So, I have been painting for quite a while, now and have decided to focus just on that (and raising my little boy) for a while. I will post a few that I have digital pictures of. Please add your criticism/comments if you like.



I know I need to get a good website together, but I can't seem to get good enough at web stuff to do what I want to do. I definitely don't have the money to pay a professional, but does anyone have any suggestions for ideas on getting a site up?

Thanks.

phpNuke turned out to be pretty easy and fun for me to play with, but I have a fair amount of patience for monkeyfucking around with things.

Slang helped me by staying in the corner and not saying much unless I asked a specific question ...

lemme know when you get the site up and posted. I'm looking for new artwork for the office.

The nude is excellent! The still life is quite nice, too.

Good feel for value and light. Watercolor and acrylic? Whats the scale? Put up some more!

Thanks for the props. The first one is a still life entitled "Aqua Plate Still Life". It is done in oil and measures 12" X 12". The other is a nude study in acrylic. It is about 24" X18". I have done some larger paintings too, but haven't yet captured them with my digital camera. I will post another I did the other day here in a few minutes.

Also, I have a couple up for auction on Ebay. Here is one that is actually selling Mitchell Farm

Here is the one I finished on Tuesday. I used a picture of a rose in photoshop and played with the gradient map and then put a cutout filter on it. I printed the results and then painted. It's kind of like an abstraction of an abstraction of an abstraction.

The canvas is 30" X 30". The medium is acrylic on canvas.

The first image is my painting. The second was my reference picture that I bastardized in photoshop.

That is just totally cool! I like the painting much better than the photoshop.

Congrats on the Ebay auction, that's awesome. I have always wanted to have someone paint my portrait, something like the scene in Titanic, or As Good As it Gets. Partially nude, but tastefully done. But, I just get older and saggier the longer I wait. :) Please, show us more!

Thanks, Wolf. :) I have a hard time liking my own painting as much as the manipulated photo, but it is a fun process. I felt like I was doing a paint by number.

I will get some more up soon. I just need to get pictures of the ones I have.

Getting Serious, now.
 

Well, here we are back where we started.

For those who don't know, Dakota and I decided to leave the farm life and re-enter the thriving metropolis of Fort Collins, Colorado. It feels like a metropolis, anyway. We have been back in Colorado for about 2 months, now and are adjusting well. Right now, I am still looking for a job and Dakota just got hired with a company in Louisville and starts next Monday.

While I wait to become enslaved by a lifesucking corporation, I am concentrating on getting involved in the art community. I have joined the Colorado Coalition of Artists and am renting a studio at the headquarters here in Fort Collins. So, painting has become my job and I would like to get my work into some galleries in larger places, like Denver, Santa Fe, and wherever it may fit in well. Right now, I am still new to this submission stuff. I was wondering if anyone out there has any knowledge or expertise they would like to share with me on the subject? How do I submit to galleries? How do I know if I am getting ripped off, etc.?

Also, I am attaching some of my paintings (not the best photos). I would love any feedback you all may have for me on these.

http://www.sugarbeaddesigns.com/Images/092505 008.jpg

Another
 

"Sunshine Gal"

http://www.sugarbeaddesigns.com/Images/092305 117.jpg

More...
 

"Falling Through Time"

http://www.sugarbeaddesigns.com/Images/092505 007.jpg

still more...
 

"Hands Unbound"

http://www.sugarbeaddesigns.com/Images/092505 021.jpg

This one was done in acrylic.

Your depth of emotion is evident in your work.

Good luck. Most important thing, though, is to enjoy what you are doing. That will show in your pieces.

still going...
 

"Life in Decay"

http://www.sugarbeaddesigns.com/Images/092505 001.jpg

another...
 

"Red African Daisy"

http://www.sugarbeaddesigns.com/Images/092505 011.jpg

That's probably enough, for now. Most of these paintings are oil on canvas and 16" X 20" or larger. I have several others, but some I have sold or given to people. Please let me know what you think (besides that the picture quality is not great...I already know that. :) )

Thank you, Wolf.

I enjoy it very much...almost to the point of obsession. I am in my studio every day and have a hard time taking my focus away from the art, long enough to go do the marketing work it takes to get paintings sold. :P

In the "Sunshine Gal" painting... on closer examination I'm sure she's supposed to be holding a parasol of some sort, but when I first looked at it I swear I thought she was about to hack at something with a huge machete. :)

I really like "Red African Daisy."

I thought it was a whip, or perhaps a riding crop. Along with the briefcase, I thought it expressed the artist's frustation with the roles that women are expected to play today by being masters in the business world, while still presenting one's self as feminine.

I'm no good at interpreting poetry, either.

actually, she is holding onto some sort of bar or cord...standing up high on some kind of construction beam...but you really can't tell. I took a fashion picture from the 1930's as my inspiration for that one.

I really REALLY like the African Daisey, about how big is it? My second fav is the Sunshine Gal. You use really intense colors, each one is neat in it's own way. Thanks for sharing, and please post more as the mood strikes you!

The African Daisy is 16" X 20". Thanks for the comments!

i just LOVE the Falling Through Time one. Its VERY cool. I want it in my loungeroom!

Thank you, sparkie. I spent a lot of time on that painting.

Falling Through Time kind of freaks me out actually. Maybe because it reminds me of those machines in The Matrix?

I was thinking "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure."

I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you. :D

Mary Poppins. :biggrin:

case's space
 

re: post entitled "Getting Serious Now"

What is this painting called? I wanted to comment on how beautiful the colour choice was. Strange colours you would not usually see together, very nice.

That painting is called "Kaleidoscopic" and was painted in oils. Thanks so much for the comments! I feel honored that you used your first post to comment about my painting! Welcome to the cellar.

Red African Daisy is shockingly spectacular. Seriously.

Thanks, Beestie. I think I need to paint more flowers...that one seems to get a lot of attention. :)

Get thee to the library
 

Case - My library often has exhibits by local artists. The artwork is displayed AND there is always a price list. Do you have a library nearby that would do this?
I would buy your artwork. :) Many others would too. It needs to be displayed.

Thank you! I really want to get it to some more public places and the library is just down the street. I am going to check with them. Also, there are a ton of those college coffee shops and bars down here that often display and sell art down here. We just moved to our own place in Downtown Fort Collins, so now we are in the middle of all that. I am also across the street from my studio now Yay!

I absolutely LOVE 'Life in Decay'---it is GORGEOUS!

So. If one wanted to know the price of one of your paintings...like, Life in Decay, how would one go about asking? I LOVE that painting. You are extraordinairly talented.

Loved them all. Very much liked the Aqua Plate still life. Gorgeous colors, texture.

Thank you, Bri! I like that one, too. It was fun to paint.

I pmed you my email address.

So, I now have my paintings on a site, if anyone wants to look. There are some new ones out there. This site is only temporary, as perth is in the process of making my real site (thank you, perth!) The URL is http://casereif.ebsqart.com

Red African Daisy is fantastic. You see something in flowers that I'm not really connected to, but I can feel it through the paintings. Loads of depth. Maybe it's the backgrounds...

don't know art, but i like the purty pitchers.