1129 Things Are Looking Up

 This is a spur of the moment painting without a lot of thought beforehand.  The tree is located in Peninsula State Park in Door County, one of my favorite places to visit and enjoy nature.  I'm happy with how the painting turned out and thought of naming it "The Height of Optimism" until I googled the phrase--- and discovered it is used cynically for one liner jokes. Nope.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1129-things-are-looking-up/974395

1128 Freshly Squeezed

 The little lemon juicer was a gift from friends many years ago who visited Italy.  Having visited Italy and Sicily since then, I discovered that lemons are a very big deal there, and the lemon motif is everywhere.  I saw the same little bird on many different ceramics.  I think it looks cute with the flower arrangement.  The painting was started during the summer, and the flowers were from my rooftop garden.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1128-freshly-squeezed/973962

1127 Mother Nature's Masterpiece

 I love trees and I love the way the light hits them, sometimes haphazardly.  No two are alike, and I think of them as Mother Nature's sculptures. It is sometimes a challenge to paint them with many shades of green, but I am getting more comfortable doing so.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1127-mother-natures-masterpiece/972609

1126. 14 Karat View

 By NO stretch of anyone's imagination am I a technical illustrator.  I know my limitations.  My husband and I were driving home at precisely "the golden hour" that all artists live for, and as many artists do, I look east, when everyone else is looking at the beautiful sun in the west.  (Sunsets are lovely, but the effect on objects in the east is fascinating.)  So!  This was a challenge, but I had to attempt it.  I'm pretty happy with it.  

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1126-14-karat-view/971481

1125 Stop and Linger

 

You may remember me mentioning the Chicago Botanic Gardens as a favorite place of mine to visit.  The water lily gardens are always filled with wide-eyed photographers, both professional and amateurs like me.  We just can't get enough of the many beautiful varieties of water lilies.  There are lily pads of all colors and sizes, even one variety with pads two feet in diameter.  

Water lilies are not easy to paint.  Make a mistake and you've painted pac man.  

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1125-stop-and-linger/969591

1124 Ruby's Slippers

 I've never painted sneakers before.  Drawing them was difficult, but painting was fun.  Did you know that The Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers were created as athletic shoes in 1917 during the middle of the Spanish Flu epidemic?  Since basketball became a sport in 1891, the shoes were well received by all the Massachusetts teams in the area.  The name Chuck Taylor wasn't put on the sneakers until several years later.  The company is currently owned by Nike, purchased in 2003 for $305M.

I myself have never owned a pair because the shoes make me look like I'm all feet!

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1124-rubys-slippers/968747

1048-R Across the Zig Zag Bridge

 You are correct if you think this looks familiar to you.  I originally painted it a few months ago, but wasn't completely happy with it.  The flowers were too big for the scene, and when you look at something long enough, sometimes you figure out the problem.  Working from photos, while very enjoyable to me, presents the tendency to get too detailed without painting the essence of a scene.  The inclination is to paint every detail,  but Chicago painter and teacher extraordinaire, Steve Puttrich reminds us that " it's a poem, not a police report, !"  

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1048-r-across-the-zig-zag-bridge/968142

1123 A Toast to the New Year

Happy New Year!  I hope this new year will bring new opportunities for growth in all of us, and with every new day bringing us closer to an end to this pandemic.  

 I have no idea what this cocktail is called, but it was imbibed at our house during the holiday.  I love the color, so rich and vibrant.  I had lots of reds left over on my palette from the poinsettia painting, put to good use in this one.  

Wishing you many blessings.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1123-a-toast-to-the-new-year/967197