Chinese Mulberry Tree

From my mother's yard...oil on canvas, 5x7"
Collection of Mary Lois Jacobs

New Exhibit and reception

My exhibit is still up at Ross Gallery at CPCC. I believe the hours are 11-3 Monday through Friday. The show runs through August 24, with the reception on August 22, 4-6pm. I hope to see everyone there :-)

Trio of Peppers, oil on canvas, 8x10"

Hmmmm....I like the green pepper and the bottle of
liquin in the back. But the yellow pepper...not so much.

Cannas from my Garden, oil on canvas, 8x10"

I had forgotten how much fun it is to paint glass....

Beautiful Tomato, oil on panel, 5x7"

Beautiful because it's the first one of the season....

Missing Mountains

I just got this book about mountain top removal in Kentucky....wow!

It features writing about the mountains by Appalachian writers such as Wendell Barry. I will post more when I've read the book.

For more info, or to order the book, go to:

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth at http://kftc.org/ It's full of info that will blow your mind.

Busy living

I had the pleasure of company last week and have only stepped into the studio to hide things I didn't know what to do with :-)

But I did convince my nieces to sit for me briefly so I could try out some new Rembrandt pastels....unfortunately when I went outside to take the slides, the lens on my camera fogged up and the images are not very sharp.

They are both such beautiful girls, and I didn't do them justice in the time I had. Lindsay's (three quarter view) is delicate and I like the sketchiness of it, but I think her face is a bit more angular. Gracyn's is like a mug shot! We laughed about this, but as a model, she was a bit unwilling to let her personality come through. Or perhaps the artist is just limited :-) However, there is a likeness there.

Oh my, but I do love those Rembrandt soft pastels! I have never really worked a lot with pastels, but these will make me change my mind...they are like butter, blending so softly and grabbing the paper beautifully. This is a perfect example of how using better and more expensive materials really can make a difference. I have always tended toward materials in the mid-price range because I don't want the materials to become so precious I feel inhibited and unwilling to explore. But, I think I will invest in more and better pastels in the future.

The third picture is an oil sketch (about an hour or so) done several months ago, though I just took a slide.

There really is nothing like the feeling of pushing paint around canvas for me. It has an immediacy that no other medium has...and....I just love the smell.