Ah, Finished Last Painting

Not only is this the final painting for the 2012 calendar it is also a self-portrait... something I have always avoided.   But....I am more than happy that I surrendered to this challenge.   I like the way it turned out and it says so much about the importance of deep, healthy breathing and restorative poses.

RELAX

Just finished this one!     I can see my calligraphy training is seeping more and more into my paintings.  I love letter forms.   They have their own personality.   In this painting I chose mostly cool restful colors except of course for the warm orange which creates a nice balance.    I find myself breathing more deeply just looking at this painting.   :)

BE PRESENT...

This was so much fun... to begin to add a word or phrase to the image.   I love the colors and the composition worked out well.   Experimenting with and finding just the right color in these little paintings is a great practice for me.  I feel myself breaking away a little with adding letter forms.   Wasn't so sure about that idea before, but am really liking it.

Today I finished "Blackberry Yoga Man". This was a challenging painting for lots of reasons.
Firstly it was a struggle to get a facial likeness. Sometime I can capture a subject fairly well and other times it seems to allude me. However I did finally capture some of this model's unique look and expression...
The background is abstract with shapes and colors that seemed to flow out of this strengthening pose as well as reflecting the blackberries, sweet but very prickly. It seems in this town we are surrounded by huge mounds of blackberries at this time of year. Also I was working towards a masculine energy in this painting... a feeling of strength and power, yet the gentleness of the model shines through.

Blooming Lunges

Lunges are such wonderful postures to strengthen and release tightness in the hips and legs . They are energizing and stimulating. In this pose the model is revolving towards the back leg... reflecting the spiraling nature of the clematis vines and the wide open spirit of its beautiful flowers.  Really pleased with this one.

Peach Pie

This is not a calendar painting.   I just wanted to work on something else between photo shoots.
 I have entitled this one "Peach Pie".     Must have had a craving when I picked the reference image for this piece. Those peaches look pretty juicy.!!!

Sweet Peppers

These sweet peppers are like jewels and I think highlight the model in "pigeon pose", which, by the way, is a wonderful hip opener. Nichole is a beautiful model and expresses the spirit of this pose with graceful shapes.