Contemplation in Menton

I painted this yesterday and today from a photo I took in Menton, France on a Sunday morning. The man was deep in thought, and his pose spoke a volume.

It's on a little 6 X 8 X 3/4" wood panel, my new favorite painting surface. Just as I was finishing painting the edges, I dropped it and gouged a couple of grooves out of the paint. Fortunately the paint was still so wet that it didn't take too long to fix it.

Giclee prints available at http://connie-schaertl.artistwebsites.com/

Upside down

Last weekend I decided to challenge myself with an upside down painting. I picked a photo I had taken looking down at the construction area at the new Austonian Building on Congress Ave. By painting it upside down it was impossible to focus on details. It was all shapes. But when I finally turned it right side up, I kinda liked the results.

This won first place in a Wimberley Valley Art League juried show.

Giclee prints available at http://connie-schaertl.artistwebsites.com/

Congressman

I used a glaze to push the background crowd back and to accentuate the Congressman.

This is our central Texas Congressman, Lloyd Doggett, who was holding a townhall meeting in this summer's scorching heat. He and many around him found a spot in the shade, but the heat was ferocious that day. (6X6 oil on wood panel)

Giclee prints available at http://connie-schaertl.artistwebsites.com/

Two tiny portraits (4" X 4") SOLD

I had a lot of fun doing both of these last weekend for the Teeny-Tiny Show at the Birdhouse Gallery during the East Austin Studio Tour. The subject of both is my daughter's best friend, Kevin Foote, Mr. Birdhouse himself.

SOLD. Giclee prints available at http://connie-schaertl.artistwebsites.com/

St. Paul de Vence

This was a problematic painting I took with me to the Masters Class in Color and Glazing given by Edward Povey in March 2011. With glazes it acquired more depth and architectural clarity.

I did some alterations on this. The version above is what it currently looks like.



I started this in St. Paul de Vence after schlepping all my equipment up the steep cobbled alleys and doing a bit of exploration. What a beautiful place the old walled city is, and filled with art galleries. I went back without my art supplies a couple of days later and visited all that were open. If we'd gone in the summer, the streets and alleys would have been wall to wall tourists, but at this time of year it was generally possible to set up easels and paint without being an impediment to foot or motor traffic.