"Summer Serenade" original oil painting by Nancy Laliberte

"Summer Serenade"

© Nancy Laliberte

6" x 6" oil on panel
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After a couple of painting sessions mixing soft and subtle "whites," I had to let loose and get some COLOR out of my system.  : )  With this piece, my intention was to capture the personalities of the flowers as they turned toward the sun with their curling and wispy petals. It was as though they were saying farewell to the season, not really wanting it to leave. 

Ironically, the day after I painted these in my garden, the sunflowers were gone. Just the stems remained of their good-bye song. A four-legged critter had come along and had it for breakfast. 

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"Endless Summer" original oil painting by Nancy Laliberte 3/30

"Endless Summer"

© Nancy Laliberte

6" x 6" oil on panel

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This is painted from life from a still life set up in my studio using hydrangeas from my dear neighbor Sarah's garden. I did not realize that hydrangeas have a sweet, spicy scent. I love it! My challenge with this painting was all about mixing whites and grays. Loved that, too.

And the 30 paintings challenge continues! I started two more today, but did not finish them. (Insert ringing school bell here.) With the start of school this week, I am quickly realizing how important and precious it is to make the most of daytime studio time. (Actually, I already knew that, but let's just say that the awareness has been acutely heightened.) The day goes by pretty fast and then it's Mom-mode time. ; )

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's 2013 Birds in Art show kicks off this evening. It runs until November 10th. If you can get to Wausau to see it, I highly recommend you do. It is top-notch every year.

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See more artwork at Nancy Laliberte Fine Art
Give yourself a Creative Time Out with a workshop or class
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It's a Wonderful Life

Apple Pair

© Nancy Laliberte

oil on panel

In my last post, I mentioned I was headed to Door County, WI, for a painting workshop with Carol Marine. WOW what a workshop! would be the best way to summarize it. Carol is an amazing teacher. Somehow in the way she explains concepts, she knows the right analogies that work for my brain. I had A LOT of aha! moments. Now, I need a few months for my hand and eye to catch up with my brain and I am actually very excited about that-- The Process! WooHoo! Thanks, Carol!

Apple Pair is the first painting I did at the workshop. It was all about incorporating shapes, saturated color, highlights, shadows, edges, transitions, and about 500 other things you need to remember in painting. I think Carol was going easy on us as she wanted to make sure we would come back the next day. ;-) 

Time(d) for Apples

© Nancy Laliberte

oil on panel

A timed painting exercise in getting the essence of our subject in one or two strokes per color. Not as easy as you may think, but really fun and challenging. 

Genius at Work

Carol's Completed Demo Painting

Note the handy panel holder the painting sits on--check out Carol's blog on how to get one of those. It really makes working on a 6 x 6 surface so much easier. 

I will include more about the workshop in my next post--which will be this month yet. I think my summer travels are over. It's been a sweet time filled with family and art!

Pretty in Pink

"Pretty in Pink"

© Nancy Laliberte

6" x 6" oil on panel
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Early last week I was able to join my artist friend Val B at her cabin on Lake Superior for a mini-charrette. The scenery around there is beautiful, but rather than be sacrificial bodies for the mosquitoes and flies, we opted to paint indoors. Roaming their property, I found one last peony still blooming. For this painting I used a limited palette of water-soluble oil colors in cad yellow light, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, permanent green deep and titanium white. 

Distractions

"Watermelon Wedge"

© Nancy Laliberte

6" x 6" oil on panel

While cutting up watermelon for my family's lunch one day, I was struck by the lighting and colors of the watermelon. The impulsive, artistic urge struck (oops, distraction) and lunch became postponed while I set up a watermelon still life and proceeded to paint. Sometimes a distraction can work in your favor. 

Welcome Home!

"Summer Home"

© Nancy Laliberte

6" x 6" oil on panel

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I recently returned from a lengthy, "mostly unplugged," summer vacation with my family. We had a great time swimming, building sand castles, enjoying a concert at a winery (fun!), taking in a museum or two or three and even squeezed in a college tour (Drake University in Des Moines, IA) for my daughter who will be a high school senior this fall. While vacationing, I told myself to keep my painting expectations low, but a painter HAS to paint or they will go crazy. At least that is how it is for me.

This scene is from a golf resort we stayed at in Iowa. My husband took me for a golf cart ride (how romantic, right?!) after he had spent the whole day golfing--45 holes total. I am not kidding. This scene was from the fourth hole of the Lake Panorama National Golf Course. 


Edit: "Mostly unplugged " meaning I only checked email 2x over the course of 16 days. :-)