Blast from the past or, It’s springtime somewhere!

A quote for all my friends south of the equator, where spring is in full swing:

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

“Winter is dead.”

– A. A. MILNE, When We Were Very Young

SOLD

Debutantes © 2014 Karen Mathison Schmidt

12 x 36 x 2 inches • oil on museum quality, archival GessobordTM

private collection • Shreveport, Louisiana

This is one of the paintings I had on display at the Red River Revel a couple of weeks ago, a picture of the daffodils gracing our front yard last spring. As we were preparing to hang it, I accidentally dropped it, damaging the top left and bottom left corners EVER so slightly.

Man.

Oh well, accidents will happen. And you can hardly notice the damage, which could be easily and completely hidden by framing.

But still, I’m putting it in my eBay store at half price -- what a deal!

I'm back … with a new cat painting, even!

SOLD

On the Edge  © 2014 Karen Mathison Schmidt

8 x 8 x 3/4 inches • oil on Museum Series cradled GessobordTM

private collection • Alger, Michigan

The Red River Revel arts festival last week was wonderful and I’ll be sharing photos soon. Meanwhile, here’s a new painting of Jo I did today. I used a palette of vibrant and earthy fall colors for this fun painting, and working on it with all the windows open to this afternoon’s cool autumn breeze was an absolute joy.

Sunset walk and a scary dog

As Roadie, Trixie and I set out for a walk after supper, I thought that we might have started too late for me to get any good pictures, because the light was too low.

 Hmmm.

 Maybe I thought wrong.

Love our southern red dirt. When I was a kid we lived for several years in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where my Dad was stationed. The earth up there was black as coal. I remember whenever we went on family vacations down south, when we started seeing the red dirt we knew we were getting close to Grandma’s house!

Roadie loves to go swimming in this little watering hole out in the pasture.

 Hey Mom, wanna see my imitation of the Loch Ness monster?

Okay, are ya watchin’? Here I go!

Ooooo, scary, kids!

Who’s on first?

Untitled WORK-IN-PROGRESS • 6 x 24 • oil on cradled GessobordTM

This one is an exercise in spontaneity. Is that an oxymoron? 

I mean, is it possible to actually practice spontaneity? or does it just happen? 

Is it possible to plan to be spontaneous in your choices? or does the very fact that you say ahead of time: “I’m going to try to be more spontaneous with my decisions in this painting” rule out spontaneity altogether right at the outset?

Hmm.

Man. Thinking about this is blowing my mind a little. I think it’s time for a little winding down time with my husband and a good old movie.

Happy spontaneity practicing!

Because it was there

Studio Chair  © Karen Mathison Schmidt

6 x 6 inches • oil on 1/8" archival, museum quality GessobordTM

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Here’s my obligatory Still Life with Art Supplies. Including tubes of paint, a paint-smudged wiping rag, and my Chicago Art Institute souvenir mug filled with paint brushes. All seemingly casually arranged on one of my favorite antique green painted wooden chairs.

Okay, now that I got THAT out of my system, I can get back to the landscapes I’ve been working on!

Oh, hey, here’s another painting from days gone by in which this very same chair makes an appearance, although not quite so prominently:

Neighborhood Watch IV: Bailey Sees All  ©2011 Karen Mathison Schmidt

6 x 6 inches • oil on GessobordTM

Limited Edition prints of this one are available here on my website.

Happy Painting!

More painting progress ...

For the joy of ear and eye,

For the heart and mind’s delight;

For the mystic harmony

Linking sense to sound and sight;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

FOLLIOTT S. PIERPOINT (1935-1917)

Untitled WORK-IN-PROGRESS • 20 x 16 inches • oil on 3/4" cradled GessobordTM

The coral-orange paint daubs in the center near the bottom started out as sunspots on the grass, but now they’re looking sort of like flowers. So I just might go with that. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out for sure.

To be continued ...

Hasta mañana, kiddos!

Short and sweet

Untitled WORK-IN-PROGRESS • 20 x 16 inches • oil on 3/4" cradled GessobordTM

My posts are going to be short and sweet (well, short anyway) for the next month or so as I gear up for the Revel. Here’s what I worked on today. I love watching the trees take shape as I paint in the negative space of the bright sky peeking out between the branches.

Ciao for now!