Love that lace wip 4

I have started the stems, although I still have a bit of work on the cherry tomatoes... Since I never know how much painting time I will get during the week ( at least until Dec 1st :-) I decided to post my Sunday night update. The picture was taken inside and the color is not quite true.

Do you think that they look more like cherry tomatoes now?

Have a great week!

Love that Lace WIP part 3

I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, and added some red to my current work in progress:-) The cherry tomatoes look a bit like cherries....everything I paint lately looks like cherries!
I have a lot more work to do on the tomatoes themselves, but hope to start the stems tomorrow. I'd love to read your comments.

Meanwhile, this week, my Southern Belle is continuing its lucky streak on Red Bubbles and was featured again.

I still have difficulty believing that as of Dec. 1st, I will no longer be working full time and for the first time in my life will have time to do what I love...painting, of course:-)

Happy Saturday night to all.

Love that Lace WIP -part 2 and news

I have worked a bit more on the lace portion of this painting. I think I am trying to postpone the moment when I have to put some red paint on those tomatoes:-)

However, I soon will have a lot more time for painting....Here is my big news: I announced at work today that I was going to resign and retire as of 30th November... On Dec 1st, I can become a full-time watercolor artist:-)

Southern Belle - In top ten in Impressionism Cafe Group Challenge

My "Southern Belle" watercolor has just placed in the top ten in the Impressionism Cafe Group challenge on Red Bubble. Check out the 22 great entries.

Southern Belle - original watercolor by Christiane Kingsley  -

SOLD

Lace WIP, Artalee and Red Bubble

I am back from a beautiful  short trip to NYC to visit my daughter.

I have been neglecting my painting lately with my two recent holidays. I have also been spending a lot of my energy thinking about my life at work: my organization is going through a reorganization, and  I am trying to decide if I will resign from my full-time job and retire in December. These thoughts are not conducive to creativity:-)

To get my brushes wet again, I  have started a new painting with fruit and lace. The approach is a lot less realistic than my previous lace work. It will eventually represent 6 small cherry tomatoes from my garden on another beautiful lace piece that I have borrowed from my mother. I have tried  to increase the effect of shadows across the battenburg lace and those created by the tomatoes: I am not sure that it will work, but it's a nice way to get back into painting after the short hiatus.

On another note, my strawberry painting, "Let's Talk"was featured this week on Red Bubble:

Last, but not least, I have just added a new feature on ARTALEE: this one is about our blogging friend Deb Ward who, among other artistic achievements, is a true master at painting lace! I hope that Deb will approve of the paintings that I have selected for the post about her beautiful work.

As always, I am looking forward to your comments.

Update

In Canada, this is Thanksgiving weekend. I will be flying to NYC to spend a few days with our daughter who is on a one-year assignment there. I am bringing a small painting to work on...but , I'm not sure how much I will get done. However, admiring Kathy Wirth gorgeous posterized portraits of her grandchildren, reminded me that about three years ago I had done my first ( and only) posterized portrait: it is of my daughter ( she is much better looking IRL) and was done in poured monochrome watercolors. It would be fun to try this again.

I am slowly working down my blog roll to feature my great blogging friends and fellow artists on the Artalee site. Today, I invite you to have a look at the beautiful whimsical world of Ross Lynem: I think that one of his paintings would cheer me up any day!

Update: Maine, Red Bubble and Artalee

We returned home last night from a most relaxing week of vacation in Ogunquit, Maine. The weather did not cooperate very much: we had only one sunny day and came back in a downpour. Nevertheless, I had a great time: walking on the beach...in the fog, eating sea food and taking pictures. I find that the sound of the ocean is music for the soul and it simply washes away all tension. The only downside of our week is that somehow I did not paint very much and my laptop was too slow for any blogging.

I was pleased to find out that my watercolor "Southern Belle" had placed 3rd in a challenge on Red Bubble. This painting is already sold and I recently posted a new version of it which I probably prefer, although the background is less dramatic. 

In "Southern Belle II",  I really like the plum highlights in the dark background and the more detailed painting of the petals and the stem.  This painting is currently hanging in a group show at the Ottawa Little Theatre.

My slow laptop did not allow me during the week to post any new features on ARTALEE. This morning, I was so happy to return to my regular computer! I have just posted a feature of a watermedia artist we all know and love, Sandy Maudlin.  I hope that I have done justice to Sandy's versatility and talent.