Mary B Spires Watercolor & Art Stuff

8x10 On Canvas Board This was a fun one to paint...I experimented with a different technique....I did a value underpainting (black, white and gray) with acrylics.....Helen Van Wyk (we have her weekly on our PBS station in St. Pete) does this quite often.....it's a great way to paint. Get those values right and everything falls into place. I've also been working on a new design for my web site.....it's been a busy week. I hope to get a few more paintings with this technique.

5x7 Oil on Gesso Board I started this one last Spring, just didn't get around to finishing it.....I think this ended up being a favorite.

11x14 Oil on Canvas Board This was given to St. Paul's School for their annual fund raiser.....happy to say it SOLD!

11x14 Watercolor on Watercolor Paper I've had 3 wipers (What Carol Marine calls her paintings that were trashed or wiped off). So I decided to post my class project for the next two weeks. I'm scheduled to be at the Art in the Park in St. Petersburg today, but the rain is moving in......so maybe I'll just get to paint all day.

6x6 Oil on Canvas Board During the Carol Marine Workshop the girls from Georgia had these wonderful turnips....mine are not quite as pretty, but I did enjoy painting them.

6x6 Oil on Gesso Board As you can see I did change a few things, added a little more white on the dish, plus cropped off the top right corner, plus add a little more color on the oranges slices.

At this point I walk away for a while....just to get a fresh view I take it onto the porch where I have north light.......

Adding on more paint and starting the background.

I seem to get a better end product if I put on a first layer. I first toned the board with Cadmium Yellow Medium. Next I painted the shadows, then a layer on the oranges. Since the dish is white, I mixed several colors of Gray, then added white as I was putting in the "white colors" of the dish.

I began painting about 6 am!!!! Early Bird that I am....this is my best time.

I love doing Oranges....in fact I think they are my favorite. I took the time this morning to do a step by step.....this is the photo, remember when you set up your still life get those wonderful shadows, they help create the tension in the painting......plus you can feel the sunshine!

6x6 Oil on Gesso Board It's been a very full weekend...I was at the Saturday Art Market in St. Pete.....a little traffic, but they have moved the Farmers Market to another location a couple of blocks away......Hopefully they are going to move us too! I painted this one on Friday....I'm having trouble with those colors of "Red" ........I finally got the right color for the background using Phthalo Blue with a little Ultramarine Blue plus White.....a great color but that Phthalo is hard to work with....it gets into everything!

11" x 14 1/2" Watercolor on Watercolor Paper This was painted from a photo I took a few years ago while attending a workshop with Craig Nelson.....the hardest part was the shadow shapes.....nice challenge.

What a fun group! Carol's photo of the group is much better, so take a look on her blog.

This is one of Carol's class demo and I got to take it home! I love it!

6x6 Oil on Gesso Board Again, another left over tomato from the workshop....it's looking really ripe! After Carol went over the way she shoots her painting, I finally am getting a good photograph to work from!!!!! I start back teaching watercolors at the art center tomorrow...it will be good to see all my students.

6x6 Watercolor on Watercolor Paper I did this one this morning, but not quite sure if it's finished......will take another look this afternoon....I think I need some soft edges on the petal, so the flower becomes part of the background!!!!

6" x 6" Oil on Gesso Board I forgot to photograph this yesterday.....after Carol Marine's workshop at the Beach Art Center, I took home all the left over still live stuff.....these peppers were painted by Carol on Tuesday....they were wonderful, but I didn't get to buy them!!!! I'm having a hard time getting back into the groove, but it's fun trying!!!

6" x 6" Watercolor Watercolor Paper We're settle back at the condo....my new studio is ready & waiting for me to paint! It's been a very busy 2 weeks, had to do the "Spring Cleaning" thing...we're having construction in the complex....dusty dusty!!! My friend Brenda (3 doors down the hall) was giving away a couple of cabinets....so of course I moved them to my studio....what a big difference.....I have more room and a place for everything...if you didn't know I'm a little ADD (I want to play with all the crafts)...now maybe when I have a few extra hours I can find my beads, printmaking supplies, sewing, etc. I painted this little daisy this morning.....I'm plan on painting 3 watercolors per week, and 3 small oils....I've been so bad about doing watercolors....the oils have swept me away....but I still love the watercolors, just committing to doing little 6 x 6 it's really fun. I plan on showing at the "Art in the Pa...