#305 Yellow Flowers and Lemons

Click to buy! (10x8 in.)

I painted this piece in February.  I was in a yellow groove and experimenting with high key.  The flowers were from a bouquet from my husband on Valentines Day.  

10x8 inch oil on gessobord. Email me at jamiestevensart@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram

#artcrushxo Interview

I am so honored to be featured as this week's #artcrushxo by Kim Smith!  You can see the interview here.  I first discovered Kim's artwork on Instagram.  She is also a daily painter, filling this world with beauty one painting at a time.  You should definitely check out her work!  

Email me at jamiestevensart@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram

#293 All in the Family

Click to buy! (8x8 inch oil)

These bottles were all sitting on a shelf together in my studio.  They caught my eye and a painting was born!

8x8 inch oil on canvas. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram

#292 Freshly Squeezed

Click to buy! (10x10 inch oil)

It was my husband's idea to paint a glass of orange juice.  I had a totally different composition in my mind initially that was going to have a white background, but it wasn't working out too well.  So I changed it up and went darker.  I still hope to do another orange juice painting in a higher key soon.  I tried the reflective surface again, too.  The background is a little more blue than this photo shows.  You can tell that better in the second picture.  

quick value study I did for the painting

10x10 inch oil on canvas. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram

#273 On Display

Click to buy! (12x12 inch oil)

Painted this last night, starting around 9pm.  Too late really to start a painting, but I had been working on a commission earlier in the day and wanted to do something a little more free. 

12x12 inch oil on canvas. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram

#259 Purple Peaches and Glass

Click to buy! (5x7 inches)

More paintings of glass and trying peaches again. 

5x7 inch oil on gessobord. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#258 Morning Flowers 2

Click to buy! (10x10 inch oil)

I run by these flowers on most mornings and they are so pretty!  I think they are a type of hibiscus.  They catch my eye every time.  It was hard to get all the subtle shades of purple and pink and the texture of the petals.  The darks in the actual painting are a little darker than they show in the photo.  

8x8 inch oil on gessobord panel.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#254 Shine On Us

Click to buy! (12x12 inch oil)

I've been doing some quick 15-20 minute sketches before I start a painting.  Sometimes I use it to solve potential problems and sometimes it just helps me warm up beforehand.  I did one for this painting because the vase is new and I didn't feel confident since it is white.  I actually liked the sketch more than the final painting!  The photo of this painting is a little washed out on the right side, again.  

The original sketch

12x12 inch oil on linen panel.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#250 Sunflowers in Pitcher

8x8 inch oil

This one was a struggle from start to finish.  I wiped off the pitcher once.  Then I started painting things out of order (for me) and started having problems with the edges.  I decided to experiment with softer edges in most of the painting.  

8x8 inch oil on linen panel.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#248 Sunflower and Glass

Click to buy! (10x8 inch oil)

I keep adding glass to my paintings lately.  I'm trying to get better at it because it's fun and I like what it adds to a painting.  I've never painted this orange bottle, though I've had it for a long time.  I also added a sunflower from Sprouts!  I really like the shadows made by colored glass.  

10x8 inch oil on gessobord. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#247 The Aviator's Wife Book Club

SOLD (12x12 inch oil)

This month we read "The Aviator's Wife" by Melanie Benjamin about Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  Fascinating story.  Didn't know much about them beforehand and definitely made me want to learn more!  Found these flowers alongside the road.  

12x12 inch oil on gessobord. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#246 Purple Vase and Orange

Click to buy! (6x6 inch oil)

Painted this today while my little was at pre-k!  It was her 3rd day and each day seems to be getting better for her.  Change is hard, right?  It was so nice to paint during the day instead of late at night and also not feel rushed.  I actually set this still life up on Friday, but I didn't have time to paint on Saturday and wasn't feeling too well on Sunday.  Thankfully the flowers were only wilting a little.  I painted the vase at one of those paint your own ceramic places.  I still want to go back and paint more pieces for my still lives. 

6x6 inch oil on gessobord. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#242 Blue Vase, Flowers and Peaches"

Click to bid! (10x8 inch oil)

Tried to keep the flowers somewhat loose by mostly just blocking in the lights and darks.  Also wanted to add some peaches because they will only be around for a little while longer!  This is the blue vase I purchased from At Home a couple of months ago.

A couple of process shots below...

10x8 inch oil on gessobord. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#230 Lemons and Linen

Click to buy! (8x8 in.)

I had a lot of fun experimenting with a linen panel for the first time.  It was really different from using gessobord.  I've already painted another on linen and plan to paint one more in the same way.  Maybe it will be a little series when I'm finished :)  Was out of town with my family over the weekend but hoping to paint again on Monday evening!

8x8 inch oil on linen panel. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#229 Morning Flowers

 Click to buy! (7x5 inches)

I almost never paint in the mornings, but on Sunday my daughter was occupied and I had a little time before church so I decided to get started on this one.  It was nice to paint while I was still kind of fresh in the day!  Ha!  The flowers were tricky.  I started with them and wiped them 3 times before getting it like they are now.

7x5 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#218 Pops of Sun

Click to buy! (16x12 inches)

I really enjoyed painting this piece.  I bought the vase last Friday and I was very excited to paint it.  Isn't it pretty?  I thought it looked great with the sunflowers I purchased at Sprouts yesterday.  I set this still life up around 8pm last night and felt like it needed to be bigger than my 6x6 or 7x5 inch panels.  I found a canvas I purchased last summer and decided to give it a shot.  I haven't painted on canvas in almost a year. It was different than the gessobords I've been painting on but I enjoyed it more than I did in the past.  Ever since the workshop I attended in May, I've been experimenting.  I've felt kind of lost because of it...still do, but I think that experimenting is so important and I trust that it will lead to good places in the future.  For this painting I experimented by using canvas.  I also blocked in the whole painting by thinning down my paints a little with mineral spirits before going back in to add the details.  For the details, I used a little medium in my paint.  I painted the light and more saturated parts of each object first and then the parts in the shadow.  I noticed with the canvas, it was harder for me to make distinct brush marks.  I probably need to apply thicker paint to make that happen?  I still have 2 other "large" canvases from last year that I want to give a try.

16x 12 inch oil on canvas. Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#214 Second Chances

Click to buy! (7x5 inches)

I painted these flowers pretty quickly last week.  I tried to just have fun and not overthink it too much.  My husband said the white flowers look more like lights than flowers, but I kind of like how they turned out!  I'm always trying to paint this dark blue background in my still lives...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!  I like how that part turned out this time.  After I painted it I realized the shape of the one flower on the right is a little awkward.  Oh well!

7x5 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#211 White Rose

SOLD (14x11 in.)

I used an artificial flower in this painting and it worked great.  It was my first time painting a white rose.  I painted all of it one evening and then fixed a couple of places the next day.  I tried blocking in the painting, again, this time.  I also worked from dark to light for most of it.  I also went for a softer look.  I'm still exploring so much about art and who I will be as an artist.  I think it is good to try new things and new ways of doing things.  I do think that every painting is helpful...even if it doesn't turn out well because I still learn things.  I will be selling this painting at the Indie Trunk Show this weekend.  If it doesn't sell, I will have it listed online!

14x11 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#208 Fun Flower Challenge

SOLD (6x6 in.)

I painted this flower last Sunday for the Daily Paintworks Challenge,  but didn't get a chance to post it until now.  I had a great week in Alabama at a Gina Brown Workshop.  If you have never seen her art you should check it out!  I will write a whole post about it soon. Right now I'm trying to get this written quickly before putting my 4 year old to bed :)  I felt a little crazy in the middle of this painting but I like how it turned out in the end.  The pinks in the painting are warmer than they appear in the photo.  It was hard to get it to match!  

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram  

#197 Yellow Daisies

Click to buy! (7x5 in.)

I think this will be the last painting from the bouquet I purchased last week.  Wanted to do something a little more dramatic for this one.  It was actually a lot of fun to paint.  I used a piece of cardboard next to the light source to push the background into deeper shadow.  I also experimented with my brushwork a little though you can't tell as well in the photo.  

7x5 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

Instagram