Things I Love But Shouldn't (My Painting Diet)

Too much time has passed since I've written or entered any work. Well, I've come to the realization that a painting a day isn't for me. I sure had fun while I was doing it. I loved the challenge and discipline but then Christmas was fast approaching and I had to stop. Once I got out of the habit I never got back into it and soon it will be time to prepare for Christmas once again so no reason to even attempt to create this daily habit. I have been painting and doing commercial work so the creative process has been pretty consistent.

I created this piece with our big state competition in mind but it didn't make the cut or should I say it got cut :) I then entered it in our museum, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, annual fundraiser/exhibit Showcase. I understand it sold pretty quick...it's called Things I Love But Shouldn't (My Painting Diet). Each canvas is 4" x 4" and was fun to produce...it was my painting diet...not a good diet but painting has me craving junk and these were perfect! I hung it horizontally, vertically and in a pyramid. They all worked and it didn't really matter which order the pieces where hung in, it was all fun. I hope you enjoy these as well.

Stuck On Cherries

Here's another one. I think I enjoy the playfulness of a cherry and thus painting them has held my interest.

Canoes, Kailua

This was recently completed and makes me realize I just haven't been painting. Some how it keeps happening, life gets in the way and the next thing I know I haven't painted for days and then weeks. I am a painter and I'm not painting! Doesn't make sense. I need to get back into doing a painting a day. Those small works were fun.

This is an acrylic painting, 36" x 24", Canoes (Kailua), $2,500 . A great beach on Oahu.

Big Waves

Winter is here and so are the large waves on the North Shore. It's an incredible sight and it takes courage and skill to surf in those conditions. Here's a group of onlookers totally mesmerized (well not everyone is checking out the waves). Definitely a winter day on the island. 40" x 50", acrylic sold

Over The Edge

I haven't posted anything in days and for anyone looking it might seem like I've dropped off the edge of the world. Not so. Busy painting a large piece, rescuing kittens (that have all sadly died), playing with my dogs and taking the time to "smell the roses". This is an older piece that I love and think is worth sharing. There's a lovely private school with it's own pond that is home to a few turtles, fish and water lilies. All this activity, plus water, equals a place children love to go. When you speak to folks who've long since graduated from the school, they all fondly speak of the pond and the inevitable, at some point you go over the edge! Some do admit they intentionally fall in while others say they got carried away. I love the shoes on these girls. Enjoy!

More Cherries

It's been great painting cherries and taking the time to realize what is so appealing about them. I think, besides the wonderful red colors, the stems are as important. It's the shape of the entire fruit and it's cast shadows that has captured my interest. Whether it's one cherry standing alone or a group, not intact, missing fruit, they create such great movement and appeal. This one is called Stems, (Cherry Series #6), 10" x 8", acrylic on canvas, gallery wrap, $150. My numbering system in this series is based on when I started it, not when I finished it... And as you can see I'm all over the place! This painting a day is a challenge, which at this moment I'm not meeting. None the less, it's been good fun. More cherries to come, I'm not bored yet. sold

Painting: Half A Bowl of Cherries

I'm not done with cherries, yet. Soon. Half A Bowl of Cherries, acrylic on canvas, 20" x 16, $800. sold
Presently I'm painting a series of canoes on the beach. It's a large canvas and hopefully I'll squeeze in some small pieces as I work on it. Not easy doing a painting a day.
One of my favorite painters these days is Julian Merrow-Smith. I found him while perusing blogs and this find has interested me in blogs in general as I hope to fall upon another person whose work I think is exceptional. His landscapes are beautiful. I love how he captures light. Recently his fall paintings, with such colors, makes me think that someday soon, I should face cold weather and check out the changing season and the colors of nature. But for now I'll stay barefoot and enjoy winter, on an island in the tropics and not mind having missed the seasonal change. Do look at his work at Postcards from Provence: http://shiftinglight.com/daily/about.php

New Painting, Mountains on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii

Molokai Mountains, acrylic on canvas, gallery wrap, 16" x 20", $800.

Painting: The View From Here

I've been painting but haven't been able to create a new piece each day. Life seems to get in the way too much and even when I finish a piece there's the photo taking to do. I tend to end my work at some ungodly hour and the sun itsn't out and my set up isn't right for photographing artwork in the house. Regardless of all my issues, I'm having fun since I'm painting most every day. For awhile there I was on a roll, doing smaller pieces and was truly loving it. Then I had to stop in order to do a commission, a portrait of a man. That took a few days and I concentrated on that piece only. It felt good since I used to paint the figure primarily. Once done I dropped it off, forgetting to photograph it. Not sure where my brain is when I do such things. Fortunately the gallery photographed it and I will retrieve the image and post it as well. In the meantime I have a number of finished pieces to show. Here's my landscape entitled, The View From Here, acrylic on canvas, linen liner with maple frame, 20"h x 48"w, $2,600.

Things I Love But Shouldn't (Reese's Peanut Butter Cup)

These have been fun to produce (and eat). This is also a 4" x 4", acrylic on canvas, gallery wrap, going for $100. Now there are four of them and they look quite good together. Presently they are at a miniature show at http://www.cedarstreetgalleries.com/bin/detail.cgi?10119 . Check out the show, it's entertaining. sold

Things I Love But Shouldn't (M&M's)

Here's the latest one in the series Things I love But Shouldn't (M&M's), 4" x 4", acrylic on canvas, gallery wrap, $100. This is one of the pieces in the show at Cedar Street Galleries. Check out the miniature show: http://cedarstreetgalleries.com/bin/special.cgi sold

Things I Love But Shouldn't (Kisses)

Here's a piece in the series: Things I Love But Shouldn't (Kisses), 4" x 4", acrylic on canvas, gallery wrap, $100. sold This is part of the miniature show at http://www.cedarstreetgalleries.com/shows.html

At Last, Back At Work

It's hard to believe that so much time has passed since I've entered any art. My excuses are good: I went to Switzerland and then returned home via Washington DC. I explored works at the museums in Switzerland and at the Smithsonian and wow, what fun seeing so much art. There was too much to see thus I had to be selective and I stuck to my favorite periods; modern and contemporary. I wish I could remember all the works that were my favorite but I am sure I've been affected by all of it and probably will never really know in what way, other then I have changed, again. That's what I love about traveling, it affects you. It's great finding unexpected pieces, works that I've seen forever in books, as well as falling in love with new artists (established names known the world over and names new to me) and their work. The two artists that stick out the most are Ruth Duckworth and her vessels and sculptures. The other is Jean Tinguely and his interactive kinetic sculptures. If you're in the DC area you shouldn't miss Duckworth's works at the Renwick and if ever in Switzerland take the time to stop in Basel to visit Museum Jean Tinguely as well as visit his fountain in the old part of town.

Another treat was stopping at the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery in DC and experiencing the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006. The show is up until February and is worth a visit as all the pieces are created at such a high level of art. Best of all, these are our contemporaries. Definitely a must see.

I've been home for two weeks and did start painting about a week ago. It's been great and I do realize that I'm paying more attention to the quality of the stroke and the paint more then I am about reproducing what I see. It feels good so I'm just painting. However, a major problem I am finding is it's not so easy to create and get around to posting my work daily. I think I have a system figured out and only time will tell if I get 5 paintings posted a week but I am starting a new piece daily (yes!). So here goes.

This painting is part of a series entitled Things I Love But Shouldn't (Candy Corn), 4" x 4", acrylic on canvas, artist wrapped with edges painted, $100. I've placed this one in a miniature show that opens on Friday at Cedar Street Galleries in Honolulu. sold

Apple

Doing an apple was a nice change. It still involved reds and similar shape to the cherry. This is Apple on Deck, acrylic on canvas (gallery wrap), 7" x 5", $100.

Triplets

Here's a small study of three cherries. This batch had multiple cherries attached to each other which surprised me. As a little girl we used to search out the sets and wear them as earrings. Triplets were a rarity. Triplets (Cherry Series #6), acrylic on canvas (gallery wrap), 5" x 7", $100.

More Cherries

This is also a 16" x 12", entitled Three to One (Cherry Series #4), acrylic on canvas (gallery wrap). I'm enjoying the play of the shadows as well as the shape of the fruit. After having painted this and the previous painting I have decided that I will make two more of this size as placed near each other they look good. Four together could be quite attractive. This one will also go to Cedar Street Galleries. sold

Cherry with Shadows

This is part of the group of paintings I started when I thought I'd try a painting a day. The cool part is that besides having all these pieces in the works suddenly I have all these paintings finished or near finished! I'm still just going to show one each day while continuing to start a new painting each day. This way a new piece will appear daily. For awhile all you're going to see is paintings of cherries with an apple thrown in.

This one is Cherry (Cherry Series #3), 16" x 12", canvas (gallery wrap), acrylic. This one will go to CSG. http://www.cedarstreetgalleries.com/bin/works.cgi?ManzioneIngrid

Cherry (Cherry Series # 5)

I've managed to start a painting a day as I had hoped. However, I don't seem capable of finishing them in one day. I end up with many canvases at various stages but it seems to be working out.

This one is part of a series I am doing on cherries. Cherry (Cherry Series #5), acrylic on canvas (gallery wrap), unframed, 8" x 10", $150.

A Painting A Day by Ingrid: Getting Started

This is going to be the discipline that I so need, painting and posting a painting each day, with Saturday and Sunday being days of leisure. My hope is to produce one small piece, each day, and post it for sale.

In the meantime I thought I'd show you a painting I did within the last year that I am pleased with. This is my youngest dog Hachi, at 6 months. The title is Naughty Hachi, for obvious reasons she is naughty. Hachi is the Japanese word for the number eight. She has a figure 8 on her hip plus the number eight is good luck, thus the name seemed to fit. This piece is acrylic on canvas and sells for $3,000. I really don't want to sell it but one must eat and pay rent.

Hopefully by Monday I will have my first small piece up and on the market. Well, here we go, time to paint...