Paintings and such

"I miss Thistle" 11 x 14 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

I finished working on two small canvases this week. I works for me to prop them on the floor while I have a larger canvas on my easel. I add a bit of color to the little ones when I have something right from the big one on my palette and bit by bit they get finished.

The title of the 11 x 14 above is "I miss Thistle". It refers to the long retired Crayola crayon color that was my favorite as a child. Why did they have to do that? I am still annoyed.

"Ghost pear"

You might remember the fun that my friend, Christina Baker and I had a few weeks ago with #bringingbackthepear.

It was joined by quite a few artists and can be searched by the hashtag on Instagram. It spawned a new Etsy shop by the daughter of another artist pal, Sally Kelly. Gabrielle Kelly has been busy painting watercolors for her shop.

My youngest daughter who is just 4 joined in and this melted my heart, so it got a frame. I think it works well with the color story in my larger painting.

I have added a few watercolor pears to my shop too.

On Monday, February 10, Jennifer of The Pink Pagoda will be posting another round of my watercolors in blue and white.

They have been going really fast but if you don't score the one you want you can still special order on.

 

Happy weekend Y'all!

New work

The other night I took a break from the wildly popular blue and white porcelain watercolors and and grabbed my pencils to whip up a few figural pieces on paper.

I am adding these and a few others to my Etsy shop.

I am knee deep on the next round of these...

for The Pink Pagoda and they sure are fun to paint!

Keep an eye out for them HERE

New work

untitled watercolor by Kerry Steele

I have been hard at work in my studio lately finishing pieces destined for places other than my shop for the most part.

It involves much of the non-creative parts like wiring, painting edges, and packing the canvases. Its not terrible work but it is hard to switch back into creative mode.

 I did finish a few new things too.

The watercolor was from a few weeks ago and I just could not decided whether it was finished until now.

"Dig it" oil on 24 x 36 inch canvas

 I have really been wanting to do a blendy, feminine abstract after so many florals and I finished this one on Friday night. You may have seen it if you follow me on Instagram. Not sure where this will end up.

"Alight" oil on 16 x 20 canvas

I also did a knife painting, ala my friend Sally Kelly, who mixes color on her canvas with palette knives. It will be on Etsy as soon as it dries.

"Miserlou" 30 x 40 mixed media on canvas

I put a priority on some larger canvases this weekend so that crate building could happen this week.

"Les Parapluies" 36 x 48 oil on canvas

"Les Parapluies", or the umbrellas, is my favorite of the bunch.

What did you do this weekend?

Like Design du Monde on Facebook for blog updates

Like Kerry Steele Art on Facebook to see my latest artwork

Follow me on Instagram to see paintings in progress

House tour updates

Yesterday I updated the House Tour page here on the blog. Keeping current photos at the top of a consecutive list gets difficult to organize after awhile. The current ones are at the top but then there might be several old dining room photos followed by a current family room photo and I thought it was visually confusing. I think I organized it a bit better.

You might notice some new Louis chairs. I only have that photo at the moment. More comprehensive photos are a few days away. It seems we have the post vacation/back-to-school cold to contend with first. A certain little girl just told me in her best Southern drawl, "I have a lot of sneezin' to do!"

This is a somewhat new painting "Boxed in" that I neglected to post. 

I am knee deep in commissions so I only have one other canvas going and its a self-commission but it will be here as soon as I am done.

New and exciting around here

.

I just bought the CB2 oversized equator pendant for my breakfast room and I could not be more pleased. It is huge and that is why I like it. It takes a hum-drum drum light and super sizes it for oomph.

Let me illustrate.

this photo from above shows its scale in relation to my table and also my urgent need for different chairs...damn you French country look!

 I don't even want to show the pathetic before. It was my most hated builder light in this house.

I had been lusting after other fixtures, especially variations of a Sputnik, but my commitment to budget and my litmus test won out. The test is to ask myself whether or not I am sure that I will still like it in five years . This fixture was only $200.

In other news, Kerry Steele art is the newest independent artist to become a part of The Nearby.

The Nearby hand-selects the best local boutiques and designers selling women’s clothing, jewelry, art and home accents. You can download the app for free from the App Store and shop Kerry Steele Art from your iPhone!

Once you download and register, the app will bring up all the best local stores and designers surrounding you, based on your proximity. Follow Kerry Steele Art and photos of our current merchandise will appear in your feed. When you see a photo of something that interests you, you can “like,” comment, or even click the “Buy/Chat” button to text directly with an associate at the store to help you purchase the item, put it on hold, or just get more info.

Download The Nearby for FREE from the App Store here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-nearby/id578248659?mt=8

This app has a connection to some pretty choice stores, galleries and designers and I am thrilled to be in such good company.
What's new with you?

2 new paintings

Jumping someone else's train  30 x 40 oil on linen by Kerry Steele

I finished two paintings last week that took until today to photograph properly.

I use the word properly rather loosely because the most pale colors, where there is a variety of subtle color, do not show up. This is just the nature of things.

In the first painting, "Jumping someone else's train" the areas that appear white are actually "linen gray" and "gray green" Charvin colors.

I know someone will want an explanation of the title. I was listening to The Cure's first album Boys don't cry. It just worked for me.

"Relatively chronic" 36 x 36 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

In "Relatively chronic" I used white, vulcan gray, green gray and linen gray as the background which appears to white. The blacks are actually four different colors too. Payne's gray, sepia, mars black and vulcan gray. 

 Using an old gift card to apply the paint and gain a bit of different texture was a new thing for me.

I am kind of enjoying these color studies that appear to involve just two colors until you look more closely.

These two need another week or two to dry before they go in the shop.

New work

I haven't really posted much new work lately mostly because I have so many canvases in progress and this week was not art friendly. If it weren't such a gloomy November August, I would be able to get more photos taken properly. Where is the freakin' sun?

This is my newest completed work on linen.

"Style canoeing" 24 x 30 oil and charcoal on linen by Kerry Steele

Paintings that are very light with subtle color changes are very hard to photograph. This one is white and cream with a little sepia and cobalt. The cream and white are hard to differentiate in the photo but they add quite a bit to the composition.

This is an iphone shot of "In deep" but it won't be on the website or FB until I get enough sun to photograph it properly. I got some new tubes of Charvin oils and had fun with this one.

The colors are complex pastel mixes and I could mix my own but to have absolute consistency ver time, I need them in tube form. With acrylics I just mix a bunch in a little plastic container and work with that but its a little harder to store the oil colors.

I can't wait to share more of the things I have been working on.
Stay tuned.

Scenes from my studio

Here is a quick round up of newly completed and in progress work in my studio.

This is a painting I am making for myself that is not yet complete but I am loving the direction it going.

"Sweet tea" oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

"Bar" oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

The two above are recently completed pieces that are popular on Pinterest and are in my Shop

Two canvases at different stages of completion.

A completed commission awaiting its partner painting to be complete.

"Frankly" oil and charcoal on linen by Kerry Steele

I got a box of 30 x 40 linen canvases last week and this is the first of those to be completed.

As you can see, I have been painting a lot.

New paintings

"Here is better than there" 18 x 24 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

I finished two small paintings this week, which felt like quite a victory. The funny part is that my oldest daughter was grounded and that meant I got some work out of the lovestruck, lazy girl, freeing up my time to paint.

"Say, Momma" oil and acrylic on 16 x 20 canvas by Kerry Steele

They are both still wet. The thing with oils is that they do not "dry" they cure. This is a fact that is making me a little crazy right now. I posted a painting several weeks ago, "Bluestocking babe" that is still "wet"

"Bluestocking babe"  18 x 24 oil and charcoal on linen

Its not just a little wet, either. I read that heat can speed up the oxidation process and help them "dry" faster so this one is hanging in my garage.

I am going to try not adding so much extra linseed oil. I have four canvases in progress and I am going to start another today and use an additive called Liquin to remedy this problem.

I also bought over 100 new tubes of paint this week. That was a fun box to unpack especially since it had more than a few shades that I have never used before. It was just like being a kid on Christmas morning. I didn't know which to play with first.

A new project and a new blog

I recently sold this painting to a local customer and reader of my blog. The painting was one of my first forays into expressionism. I was really excited to see an email from her yesterday sharing her new blog, Pursuing Vintage. Check it out.

I am just starting a piece of art work that will either be really awesome or an epic fail.

I stretched hot pink silk on a stretcher frame with the intention of using clear gesso and painting in oils. Luckily, the smart me took over and tried the clear gesso on a sample of the silk first. Yuck. It looked gross and took away the vibrance of the color. I sparyed it with fixative (for stiffness) and sketched my figure in  charcoal and got out my acrylics.

I did five preliminary sketches of different poses before settling on this one.

Here she is, half done.

There is much more to be done but I honestly haven't decided on all the colors yet.
Oh yeah, anyone want to do a guest post?
I have so much on my plate currently but I don't want to just disappear from blogworld so I am looking for guest posters.

B-day wishlist

Today I turn 45. It sounds like such a ridiculous age because I am really 27 in my head. 

(Be quiet, Mom)

Here is a bit of a wishlist that will not come to be, for this birthday at least.

Hiroshi Matsumoto

*sigh* The name Hiroshi Matsumoto alone, is romantic sounding, but his work is very consistent and beyond beautiful. I was going to ask for one but I peeked at his Etsy shop and the one one above is long gone and any that I sort of want is over budget, Boo hoo. I will bide my time and have one for sure someday.

The 4 x 4 inch paintings aren't crazy expensive but I want a larger piece.

 

Jack Rogers sandals

 If you know me, you would be surprised to know that I do not own a single pair of Jack Rogers sandals. They are preppy girl de rigueur footwear. I was the IT consultant for a Lilly Pulitzer boutique about 10 years ago and I wore Lilly everyday but just never got around to the "must have sandal"

Still want those damn thangs!

Also on my wishlist is a light fixture that would make other design bloggers slap their mom and say, SHUTUP!!!"

Right?!

 

Actually this was quite "tongue in cheek", I treated myself rather generously yesterday.

 Thank you Etsy buyers! I have the cutest skirt two sizes smaller than a few months ago to wear to the First Friday opening at my new co-op gallery.

That member/ownership is the most fantastic birthday to me. I am meeting new artists that are local far and  more savvy, talented and educated than I envisioned... 

and I get to be included... my fondest wish ever!

 

 

shut up.. don't make me cry

I'm in and other news

.

"Elemental memory" 24 x 30 oil on canvas

I recently applied to a member owned gallery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It is a very established gallery and was Fredericksburg's first artist' cooperative. The process is similar to any gallery submission with a CD of images, resume and artist statement. These are considered by a membership jury and if accepted an interview is scheduled with the board of directors.

My interview was Tuesday evening and I was surprised by how well it went. I got a call yesterday to tell me that I was accepted. 

Hooray.

In the future, my work can be viewed there every month.

Art First Gallery

824 Caroline Street

Fredericksburg, Virginia

I have been having a little fun with olioboard lately too.

I love designing virtual rooms with no budget.

I also entered the Zatista picture perfect contest with the board below.

In my haste, I mistype the title "The collector's salon" and it reads "colletor" like I am dumb or something. I feel the need to point out that I know the difference.

Anyhoo, vote for me HERE if you feel so inclined.

fun things lately...

My Spoonflower fabric arrived in record time. It is so gratifying to be able to keep a painting I made and sell it too. This was done using the image of the painting in a mirror repeat creating a kaleidoscope effect.

Pillows coming soon.

"Wet words" 24 x 30 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

I have been working on a large commission but there are times with any painting that I need to put it aside for drying or to refocus. I often use those times to paint other things. "Wet words" is one of those.

 I started this a few days ago using a new glazing medium to spread the yellow on the canvas. It seemed to nearly paint itself and I loved the effect. While it made one layer go on nicely it made it nearly impossible to put on another color without it all blending together. I was a little frustrated. Yesterday, I picked up some Liquin impasto. It is a gel that you mix with the oil color to allow fairly quick drying texture to your painting and it stretches the paint. I was able to do some knife painting over the glaze with it and parts of the glaze had dried enough for brush work. The two products are new to my work and have counterparts for acrylic painting that I have used but they behave so very differently.

In other news, I am no longer married to a butcher. *gasp*

Its still the same old guy but he changed stores and departments and is now bringing home all manner of unusual produce.

Last night we had fiddleheads. They are baby ferns and I had eaten them pickled before but never fresh.

I sauteed them with olive oil, butter, salt, and garlic for about 5 minutes. I took them off the heat and tossed in a about a tablespoon of minced fresh thyme and basil. We topped them with a bit of parmesan.

Totally yummy!