November has come!

November Tree, 8x6" oil pastel on paper

© Helen Read 

 

I've just returned from a week in California for my son's wedding, so I'm a bit behind with studio work.  Until I post November's featured painting, here is something reminiscent of the past and which bespeaks the month of November. 

Hard to believe our autumn is about half done. 

A Gift from my Daughter!

After Georgia O'Keeffe, approx. 20x22" Oil on paper
painted by Wendolyn Nelson  2012 

I was given a gift!   My daughter, who is in her final year of college (art major), is studying Georgia O'Keeffe for one of her classes.  Knowing how much I enjoy the beauty of O'Keeffe's work, she gave me a study of one of her paintings which she completed in class this semester!    What a great gift! 

Thank you Wendy!   I'm excited to frame it and hang it!    The shapes and spaces are quite lovely!  Once again, I'm reminded of why I love O'Keeffe's work!   And why I'm thankful for a daughter who speaks my language of visual art!   

  

Withered beauty

Withered Beauty - sunflower, 15 x 15" Watercolor/mixed media on paper

© Helen Read 

 

Finally finished, this watercolor (with ink and acrylic touches) is finished.  I was attracted to the beauty of this sunflower bloom as it withered and dried.  What lovely shapes and angles; and quite interesting colors as well.  This one is much larger than some of the watercolors I've posted lately.  It would grace a larger space with its eye catching color and subject matter. 

  

Continuing progress

It's been a very busy week with evening obligations at work - but with small bursts of time here and there, I'm continuing to work on this painting of a dried sunflower head. More is yet needed! More is coming soon!

A work in progress

Though I'm still making my way through a very busy fall, I am continuing studio work! Here's what I'm working on now - in it's earliest stages!

This is a dried and shriveling sunflower head. It's very sculptural, and its papery thinness is visually intriguing. It reminds me of a ring of fire! This is a larger work - 15x15". At the moment I'm working in watercolor on #140 arches watercolor paper.

I'll continue to post my progress! Hopefully more in a few days!

October Feature - Epaulette

October's Featured painting!

Epaulette, 6x6" Oil on canvas,

©2012, Helen Read

ready to frame

SOLD

Where I live, here in the midwest, this is a very common sight!  Red winged blackbirds seem quite drawn to the bull rushes and cat tails, always it seems at water's edge.
This eye catching  painting can be hanging on your wall within just a few days.   It will only be featured at this price for the month of October, then if it hasn't sold, it will revert to its usual price. Act quickly before its gone! 

1 subject, 2 mediums to express it!

Once again, I'm showing a couple older works from a year ago. These show the different outcomes of working with the very same reference photo, a photo I took at Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA and working with 2 different mediums.  The outcome is recognizable as the same thing, but the overall feeling is entirely different! 

The Edge of Shadow, 9x12" colored pencil on black paper

©2011 Helen Read 

 

Green Agave, 6x6" Watercolor and Acrylic on clayboard
© Helen Read
SOLD
 

 

Last year at this time

Blossom,  8x8" colored pencil on clayboard

(Clayboard is masonite with a very smooth kaolin clay finish on which to work)

© Helen Read

 

Looking back a year to see what was happening in my studio is always an interesting exercise. 

One of my works was experimenting with clayboard and how it accepted colored pencil, graphite, or paint.  Here I have used prismacolor pencils and gotten a very nice effect. 

The reference picture is one I took just after the rain!  The foliage and the flower still held the water droplets.  All very intriguing and quite beautiful.  

At water's edge

Westwind - Water's Edge, 7x5" Oil on canvas

©Helen Read 

 
Last weekend, on an absolutely beautiful day, I went out to a nearby lake to do some plein air painting, and here is the result.   The cat tails and broken reeds gave such a beautiful texture to the scene and the colors of the green and blue of the water were truly lovely.    In our area, it is very rare not to see a small red winged blackbird clinging to a cat tail along the water's edge.
Here, though a little bit hidden, his red wing peeks out! 

Time has almost run out - but its not too late!!

The Studio Upstairs September 10, 2012

Just a few more hours remain!

That's right!   The auction time in nearly over.   Now's a great time to pick up a small still life ~ an original oil painting for nearly nothing!   On Tuesday, about mid day, the time will run out though.  Click on the images below to go to the auction site and see what might be happening!   3 Lemons, 6x6" Oil on canvas      Grapes, 5x7" Oil on canvas   Berry Bowl, 6x6" Oil on canvas   Each of these small paintings is painted with oil paint on a small stretched canvas and is ready to frame.

Thank you for your ongoing interest in art and in my studio!   I hope you will pass on this information to your friends too!   I will be in touch soon with news and new images!  Sincerely,

New Auction through September 11th

7 Day Auction through September 11th. 

3 Great paintings at Great Starting Prices!  

Decorate your kitchen or dining room with
Fruit Still Life Oil Paintings!   

 

Three Lemons, 6x6" Oil on canvas

SOLD

Green Grapes, 5x7" Oil on canvas
Ready to frame

Berry Bowl, 6x6" Oil on canvas

SOLD

September's Featured painting ~ End of the Summer

September's Featured Painting

                                                                  End of the Summer, 5x7" watercolor on Yupo

©2012, Helen Read 

Here is the finished painting!  Once again, I'm painting on Yupo and finding its qualities very interesting.  It holds the paint in a completely different way than the usual watercolor paper does - and surprisingly, texture is very easy to create as well.   In this painting, it begins to move a bit toward abstraction because of the way that the paint pools and puddles.  

Just for the month of September, this painting and its frame are featured for $30.00.   It is a one of a kind, so when it sells, it is gone.  If it does not sell by the end of September, it will revert to its usual price.   Grab it now, at its great price, for that small wall that needs color!  

 

SOLD

A work in progress

 

Work has just begun on a new watercolor painting.
As you can see - it depicts grapes, but it is also somewhat abstract.  

I'm working on Yupo again, which has some very interesting qualities. 

So... we shall see where this goes and how it develops.
In someways, it is becoming its own painting, telling me where to go as we proceed. 

The outcome will be a surprise for me too! 

Time is running out!!

Fence Line, 5x7" Oil on canvas, ©2012, Helen Read 

SOLD