With his Back to the Window - Part 4

I'm a lightweight...in so, so many ways. Case in point, tonight. The little guy, Dave, and I went to Schlotzky's for dinner. Each of them had cokes with their meal and then afterward they each had an ooey, gooey cinnamon roll. I looked at the roll with a longing rooted way in my past. Before I knew what had happened I'd taken a pinch of the little guy's roll and popped it in my mouth. It was a swirl of cinnamon sugar deliciousness. Then I took a small bit of Dave's. And then I took a ride on the sugar rush express.

Mmmmmm...it was worth every second.


I finished this painting. I loved being introduced to Max Beckmann's life story and his work. I enjoyed creating this piece with my own vibe inspired by his painting.

"With his Back to the Window"

I did a yellow wash over much of the painting.

I worked on the details of his face.
I struggled a lot with his right eyebrow, his nose,
and his mouth. Teeth are hard!

I added some reddish tinting here and there.
And before the final stage, I reworked his right eye,
his ear, and his hairline. I decided I liked the
unfinished look of his arms and hands. It
worked for me to leave them less finished
as it made his face pop as the most important
part of the painting.

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With his Back to the Window - Part 3

Gifts are lovely. Well, almost all the time they're lovely.

When are they not lovely? When they come in the form of a very large dead rat. Our little cat, Tommy, was so excited, too. I looked at him as he pranced by me, presenting it so proudly, and then I turned my back on him. 

Somehow I don't think I've managed to discourage him one little bit.

I continued working on this painting (and on my mystery commissioned painting as well). I'm really liking the darker tones with this one.

I started adding some red tones.

I worked a bit more on the shape of his face.
I'm wanting him to look more harsh
than I'm managing to do.

Working on his hairline and his eyebrows
seems to have helped a lot. I still want
more harshness, though.

I darkened the black areas and added
some dark details here and there.

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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With his Back to the Window - Part 2

Sometimes things come full circle. Tonight my little guy and I were walking through a parking lot. I started to step off the curb and he, having seen a car approaching, put his arm in front of me. Mind you, I was in no danger, but how lovely was it that his protective instincts kicked into gear. Particularly considering that whenever I put my arm out to protect him he thinks I'm being ridiculous. I kept my mouth shut and just relished in the lovely moment, of course.

Me: "I love you, kiddo." (Except for that...I couldn't help but say that.)


I continued working on this painting. It's going to look like slow progress as I'm also spending time working on a commissioned piece. I'm not able to post anything on the commissioned piece until it's given away during the holidays. It's kind of fun doing something on the down low.

I began adding some color. I also decided
that his left arm was too high. You can
see the beginnings of my moving it.

I added some dark shades and
continued working on that arm.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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With his Back to the Window - Part 1

I went to my first Zumba class in a couple of years last night.


Little guy: "You looked ridiculous, mom."

Me: "Was it just me or did everyone look ridiculous?"

Little guy: "Everyone looked ridiculous."

Me: "OK, then I was doing just fine."


Whew! Good thing that as I get older I don't take the things my kids so so seriously without digging just a tad deeper.



I started working on a new piece. The artist we're studying in the class I'm taking is Max Beckmann. I'd never heard of him, but his story is incredibly compelling. He did a number of self portraits and I'm working on a looser impression of one of his self portraits. My goal with this one is not to work on matching his painting stroke and technique-wise, rather to explore the emotions being conveyed and explored.

I watched a couple of hours of coursework this evening before beginning this, so I don't have a lot to show...yet.

The last few paintings I've done (this one included) have been on canvases given to me by my mother recently. She is an amazing artist and painted a lot during my childhood. It was with mixed emotion that I accepted these canvases. This girl always loves some free art supplies, but accepting these also symbolized an end of my mother's painting. I hope she enjoys what I'm doing with them.

I started by doing a quick charcoal sketch.
There's a lot that will be "corrected" during
the painting stage.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Orange Burst - Part 2

I like surprises. And today I got one. I went to the cupboard to get a glass for some water and right there with the glasses was a milk carton.


Me: "Um, there's milk in the cupboard."

Little guy: "Oh, did I put that in there? My bad."

Me: "No problem. It's still cold."


Glad to know I'm not the only one to "put things away" in funny places.


And I finished "Orange Burst". Here's the finished painting and below are the last few stages.

"Orange Burst"

I added more details to the background and the flowers.

I worked on the jar hopefully making it look like glass.

I decided it needed one more flower at the top
and the spot on the bottom right needed to be
a flower rather than a sun spot.

We hope you'll go check out our show this month! Details are here.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

I'm running a big sale on my paintings through the end of August. Almost everything in my gallery is 60% off. I'm only keeping my most current work (paintings on page 1) at the listed prices. If there's something you'd like, please let me know by message or comment so I can manually adjust the price. Thanks!!! http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/kali-parsons-3935/artwork

Following Directions

I'm feeling so proud of my husband. 

He's the kind of guy who is likely to say, "I don't need no stinkin' directions," whenever we're installing something.  He likes to just figure it out as he goes and, by golly, he manages to guess correctly most every time.

But even he knows better than to try that with something from IKEA.  Yup, that awesome dude of mine worked through the assembly of our new dining table and chairs step by step with those crazy picture directions. 


Me:  "Need any help?"

Dave:  "I don't need no stinkin' help."


Works for me!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Feeling all Grown-up and Stuff

So the big guy delayed his move-out date by a month.  You know, saving more money.  It's a good thing.  It's just what you want to hear your responsible kid say.  Mostly...until I get all self-absorbed and all, that is.  

Course I had my itch to do some furniture moving going strong.  And there I was, left with all itchiness and no scratchiness.  A couple days went by and then my genius husband said, "Let's rearrange our bedroom."  I think maybe he was feeling the itch, too.

Well, super excited I was!  And a little sceptical.  Our bedroom, in spite of the fact that it's the "master" bedroom, is quite small.  And our bed, in spite of the fact that both Dave and I are on the small side, is a king size.  Our bedroom is, quite literally, a "bed" room.  Well, a bed, two chests of drawers, two tiny bedside tables, a small chest for holding a very small blanket, a chair, a dirty clothes hamper, and a shoe rack (our closet is so small that we can't even keep our shoes in there).  Between my side of the bed and my chest of drawers there was no more than an eight inch gap to walk through. I did it sideways.  Hence my excitement.

So given the challenge of rearranging our things we dragged out the tape measure to see if it was even possible.  It looked to be so...so the bed was swiveled 90 degrees.  The chests of drawers moved.  The bedside tables repositioned.  The hamper relocated.  The shoe rack found a new home.  The tiny chest ended up in a perfect little hide-away spot.  And the chair was given the boot to the living room (where it's fabulous, by the way!).

And I tell you what, I feel like an actual grown-up.  I have solid twenty inches to walk on my side of the bed.  I can even open my drawers all the way. 

At forty-six I'm livin' large and livin' the good life, people!


...and waiting only two-and-a-half months till the big guy moves out to his fabulous grown-up place.

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Watching

I was trying to figure out what time it was today...was scanning the room looking for a clock, and someone came up and pulled their phone out to let me know.  And then I realized that I was wearing my watch.  Guess I'm still not used to having it on as I never, ever wear it during the summer, evenings, or on the weekends.  During all those times I, too, use my phone as a clock.

But, for some reason, I can't stand using my phone as a clock when I'm at work (I teach three- and four-year-olds with disabilities...it's a great gig).  The thing is, I figure kids in general are likely surrounded by adults constantly checking their phones for email, facebook, phone calls, texting, weather, and for the time of day.  I just don't want to be another one of those adults in their lives distracted by such a gadget.

Course now that I've written this I realize that I'm doing a better job of teaching than parenting as my own children see plenty of me looking at my phone for all sorts of things.

And, I'd better get a grip on this dumb blond thing of wearing a watch and still not being able to figure out what time it is. 

I see improvement potential in my future.

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