"Recycle, Repurpose, Revisit and Renew"

I think it would be great to start the year with the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.  I'll be joining  Leslie Saeta's January challenge.  I know I'm crazy but I find this is the best way for me to give time to my art.

For this month's challenge, I'm thinking I'll name it "Recycle, Repurpose, Revisit and Renew".  I have a lot (lots and lots!) of failed paintings, paintings I've started that I haven't finished (I'm very good at that!) and (huge amount of) materials that I'm planning to recycle as art.  I'm not sure if I'm going to be successful with this plan but in my mind just trying will already be a success for me.

Orchidarium #1

Digital Painting with Paper and Pencil by 53 

I'll work on a theme for each week just like what I did during the September challenge but this time the themes will be "Recycle", "Repurpose", "Revisit" and "Renew".  It's going to be a new adventure for me and just planning and going through all materials will take a lot of time (remember I have lots of failed paintings!).  I'm sure there will be lots of surprises (I don't like surprises) but with your support again in this journey I'm sure I will survive.

Stay tuned!

"Citrus" for a November Art Exhibit

I was so inspired by the glow of sun shining through the oranges that I created another variation of my "Oranges" painting.  Here's "Citrus", my entry to the Northstar Watermedia Society Member's Exhibition.

Citrus

Watercolor on Paper

11" x 10"

$250.00 USD Available
Click here to purchase

Northstar Watermedia Society Members' Exhibition will be held from Nov 1-3, 2013 during the Art Attack, an annual open studio and gallery crawl at the Northrup King Building which is in the heart of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.  There will be over 200 artists showing their art from painting and drawing, sculpture, photography, custom furniture, fiber arts, metal, ceramics, glass, hand-crafted and custom jewelry, mixed media, mosaics, textiles, and more.

Please come and see "Citrus" and artworks from Minnesota artists.

Day Thirty - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Day 30. Wow! I did it. Well almost did 30 paintings in 30 days.  I know I'm missing 10 paintings but I'm still proud of myself to have painted 20 out of 30.  That's more paintings than I did in the past year.  I owe a great part of this achievement on your support, all the likes and comments. They kept me going. Thank you!

There were times when I said to myself I should just quit.  This is not normal.  This is crazy.  I don't like most of the paintings I've done but I'm not supposed to like each and every painting I did. That's giving myself a break.  It's just normal that I should struggle to learn and help me improve and progress in my art.  I'd like to  think of myself as a professional student.  Always learning, always looking for ways to learn.  There were definitely ups and downs.  There were good and bad paintings but I just pressed on and that's the greatest lesson I learned during the challenge. 

I will surely miss the pressure of finishing my painting everyday.  Or pressure to get time to paint. I know my travels and work were in the way of painting but I know I don't have to choose one over the other.  I just need to continue creating. This day should not be the end. It should be the start of my new way of working for my art. As Chuck Close has said- “Every idea occurs while you are working. If you are sitting around waiting for inspiration, you could sit there forever.”

Thanks to Leslie Saeta for creating the forum for artists to get to paint everyday.  I will definitely join her again next year.

Thank you so much for your support and to my new art patrons and friends for giving my paintings new homes.  I will continue to paint and share them with you.   

  

Here's my Day Thirty Painting. It's from a photo I took during my Toronto trip last weekend at the Niagara Falls.

Guarding the Falls

Watercolor on Paper

11" x 15"

$150.00 USD Available

Click here to Purchase

Remainder of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days

It's only 2 days before the end of the challenge but I'm still 5 paintings away from completing my part.  For the remainder of the challenge, I'm thinking of either doing landscape and/or finishing paintings I've started but have abandoned for a long time. Hopefully they are still worth finishing. Stay tuned.  

In the meantime, I'd like to share some photos from my Toronto trip. It was fun spending time with good friends that I haven't seen in years.

Day Twenty-five - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Another day of painting fruits. For today I painted a bunch of watermelons.  This is from a photo from our local market in the Philippines.

Here's Day twenty-five.

 

Watermelon

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30.00 USD Available

Click here to Purchase

Day Twenty-four - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I started painting a little late but I've decided to finish one painting today.  It's been great painting everyday.   Even if I don't feel like painting as soon as I start there's no stopping me.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. 

In one of my market days in Manila, I noticed these bunch of purple and reddish fruits with accent of yellow and green.  They looked interesting and they taste good too.  For my Day Twenty-four painting, here's my tribute to the purple fruits.

Mangosteen

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30.00 USD Available

Click here to Purchase

Day Twenty-three - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I'm so way behind but I still feel good.  I'm painting and it's been great to have your support throughout
the challenge.  That's what kept me going!

Ok since I'm behind, I will call this painting Day Twenty-three.

Oranges

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30 USD
Click here to Purchase

Another Painting Sold! Floating Floral #2

One of my Floating Floral painting - Floating Floral #2 has sold.  I'm one lucky artist with the support of friends and art patrons.  Thanks Lorie for your interest in my art and for the purchase.

Floating Floral #2 - SOLD

Watercolor on Paper

6" x 6"

Vintage Car Series - SOLD!

I woke up this morning with a surprise!  My Vintage Car Series has sold and will now have a new home!  I'm so excited.  Thanks Ed and Owen for your interest in my art and for the purchase.

Day Twenty - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

This is day twenty for me but the challenge is already day 22.  Need some catching up again. 

For this week's series, I'll be painting fruits, tropical fruits or food depends on my collection of reference photos.  We'll see.

I love "buko" juice or coconut water from young coconuts.  Very refreshing.  So it would be just appropriate to have coconut as my first painting for the series.

Here's my Day Twenty painting.

Buko

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

NFS

Day Nineteen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days - SOLD

Just completed my Day Nineteen painting.  I was painting while watching a movie which is not very inspiring for painting.  I think when I complete day twenty then we're almost two thirds done.  I'm excited to get to the finish line which is the start of my one painting a day adventure.

This painting is the last of my vintage car series,  I'm still deciding on what my next series will be. Got to get started going through my reference photos and start sketching.

Ok, enough talk.  Here's my Day Nineteen painting.

Vintage Car #4

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30.00 USD Available

Click here to Purchase

Day Eighteen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days - SOLD

I'm trying to catch-up so I painted two vintage cars today- Days Seventeen and Eighteen.  I'm happy with my progress and I hope to continue painting one a day.  That's my goal for the year.

Here's another vintage car impression- my Day Eighteen painting.

Vintage Car #3

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30.00 USD Available

Click here to Purchase

Day Seventeen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days - SOLD

Last night while waiting for my iPhone's iOS7 update to finish, I was able to finish 3 drawings of vintage cars. What a great way to spend time waiting and a good update too Apple.

I'm glad I chose this subject because painting these vintage cars are so fun.

Here's my Day Seventeen painting.
 

 

Vintage Car Yellow

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30.00 USD Available

Click here to Purchase

Day Sixteen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days - SOLD

I'm shifting my subject now to a fun series.  At one of Eagan Market Fest day, the city sponsored a vintage cars show where I took my reference photos.

I love vintage cars even though I don't know their make and model.  It's not a big deal to me. I just love to watch them and their owners who really took great care of them and made all efforts to make them shine.

For the first of this series, I'd like to paint my impression a vintage yellow car (anybody knows the make and model?)

Here's my Day Sixteen painting.

Vintage Car Yellow

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 8"

$30.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Day Fifteen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I can't believe I'm half way through the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.  I know I have missed some days  and will  I'll try to catch up when I can but I'm happy with my progress.

This will be the last of my floating floral series.  I thought painting small will be much easier but found out that it's not.  I found myself putting in more details as you've probably noticed.

Lesson for the week from doing this series- I can't ignore the effort being put in painting small paintings compared to larger ones.  They could be more time consuming as my other bigger pieces but painting both sizes are fun and a great way to learn.

Here's my Day Fifteen painting.

Floating Floral #4

Watercolor on Paper

6" x 6"

$30.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

I created a page on how to buy a painting if you're interested and wondering how. 

Day Fourteen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I'm excited to say that heat gun is the best invention since sliced bread!  It's a breeze to dry a wash so I can continue painting and not waste time watching paint dries.  I love it.  Thanks Paul Jackson!

Ok, after that excitement back to my challenge experiences.  Here's another picture of a floating floral arrangement.  It's from the same clubhouse near where I will build my future studio.

I love the jade colored vat with yellow and white flowers.

Here's my impression of the floral arrangement, my Day Fourteen painting

Floating Floral #3

Watercolor on Paper

6" x 6"

$30.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Day Thirteen - 30 Paintings in 30 Days - SOLD

Here's one of the vats at the clubhouse that I'd like to paint.  It's a tan colored vat with a tint of blue at the rim.

After a short break, I started painting again around 9PM and was able to finish before midnight.  I was hoping I can catch-up and paint my 4 backlog paintings but two paintings are all I can do last night.

Here's my Day Thirteen Painting

Floating Floral #2

Watercolor on Paper

6" x 6"

$30.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Day Twelve - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Wow! I'm so way behind.  We're now on Day 12 and I'm behind 4 paintings- 2 for last week and 2 this week.  I'll try to catch up, promise to myself.

While I was in a very short vacation in Manila, somehow we still managed to visit my future studio site (I wish!).  At the club house they have these big vats filled with floating flowers.  Interesting combination of colors and texture.

For this week I'd like to paint my impressions of these floating flowers.  I started planning and sketching what I'd like to paint for the week and that helped me a lot.  Lesson learned this week is that planning is the key to being organized and inspired to paint.  Also a good heat gun makes the life of a watercolor artist easy while trying to catch-up with 400 artists :)

I'll try to paint my backlog paintings after I take a little break.  In the meantime, here's my Day Twelve painting

Floating Floral #1

Watercolor on Paper

6" x 6"

$30.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Day Nine - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

My trusted hair dryer gave up on me last night. There's just  too much drying and he can't take it anymore. I can still smell burnt wires. So sad. I went to Home Depot to get a heat gun.  That should do it!

When I started painting last night I already have a feeling that I won't be able to finish and true to form it happened.  Lesson learned, I should always have an open mind, positive thoughts and just enjoy the process. Because if not then I'm already beaten even before I even started. 

Here's my Day Nine painting. A little delayed but I tried. 

Floral Study #2

Watercolor Mixed Media on Paper

10" x 6"

NFS

Day Eight - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I was able to paint right after the US Open Tennis Women's Finals but it's really tough to keep inspired after such a tiring game.

I think I chose a difficult subject to paint today but I just kept on painting.  Because completing the challenge is a personal goal for me so even if I find it really hard to complete, I kept on going, just enjoyed the process and put my best effort to complete it.

Painting is such a mysterious activity, you wouldn't know what you'll get at the end of the process so it's best that you just enjoy the journey.

Here's my Day Eight painting.  Hope you'll enjoy it as much I enjoyed painting it.

Floral Study #1

Watercolor on Paper

10" x 6"

$50.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Thanks again for your daily support!

Day Seven - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

A few years ago, my artist friends and I took Paul Jackson's workshop at Peninsula School of Arts at Fish Creek, WI.  After class we drove around for dinner, shopping and photo shoots.   I took this photo of a restaurant window at Fish Creek, WI.  I find the color contrast interesting and of course it says pizza, my favorite.

Now as a tribute to my favorite pizza, here's my Day Seven painting.  

Ode to Pizza

Watercolor Mixed Media on Paper

11" x 15"

$100.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Thank you! I'm not sure I'll survive the week without your support and encouragement.

Now back to my easel to complete my seven paintings for the week.

Day 6 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

It's getting to be a real challenge catching up with the Leslie Saeta and all the 420 artists doing the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I wanted so much to be able to post my paintings in Leslie's blog everyday so I painted day 5 yesterday, day 6 this morning and plan to paint day 7 this afternoon.  Then I'll go back and paint days 3 and 4 (I know Star! You didn't miss a blog post :).

For Day 6, I painted my impression of this lovely house in Savannah, GA.  It was taken many years back with an SLR camera and printed on a photo paper.  I've wanted to paint this picture as I've seen it that day but everytime I do the painting just didn't feel right.

For the challenge, I thought I'd try again.  I think with this attempt I've captured some of its essence.  I may try to paint it again someday.

Here's my Day 6 painting.

Welcome Home

Watercolor on Paper

9" x 11"

$75.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Day Five - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

While day 3 and day 4 paintings are cooking, I'd like to post my Day 5 painting so I can catch-up.

I'm excited that finally I was able to paint this picture which I took when I was assigned as consultant for a company in Hamburg, Germany.  I find the sign on the window very interesting of course because I don't know what it says.  Now with Google translate it's easy.


Here's my Day 5 painting.

Room for Rent

Watercolor Mixed Media on Paper

11" x 15"

$100.00 USD

Click here to Purchase

Day Two Painting - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

While vacationing in Florida this arch window caught my attention.  It's just a simple architecture but somehow it gave me the impression of being in a Spanish villa.

When I took the picture there were birds flying around and they left shadows on the building facade.  I wish I can remember the exact location but unfortunately not.

I've tried many times to paint this picture and each attempt I consider a failure.  I haven't captured the essence of the scene.  Hopefully with this attempt I was able to do so.

Here's my impression of the Spanish Arch Window.  My Day Two painting.

Looking Through the Arch

Watercolor on Paper

11" x 15"

$100.00 USDAvailable

Click here to Purchase

Oh my! I'm Painting Like Crazy

It's already day 4 and I only have 2 paintings completed. I already posted day 1 and just finished day 2 (whew!) I'll take a picture tonight and will post.

To catch up, I need to paint day 3 today and wish to also finish day 4. If not day 4 and 5 tomorrow. 

Wish me luck!!  

                   

Day One Painting - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

When my brother and his wife visited Manila, my mom, my siblings and their families and I went along for a ride when they went to Bicol which is my father and sister-in-law's home town.  

Bicol is a place south of Manila where the famous perfect coned Mayon Volcano is located.

We went on a tour of the ruins caused by Mayon Volcano's eruption in 1849. Below is a photo of bell tower what was left of Cagsawa Church. 

On the way to Bicol we passed by a small town in Quezon and I saw this very old house. It's a Filipino house typical of the Spanish era.  It has a big staircase going up the main entrance of the house.  Lots of big windows that have panels made of capiz. 

With modernization these houses are now a rare sight but some places like Vigan have done a good job of preserving and restoring these beautiful architecture.

I love windows and doors and for Day One, I'd like to show my impression of an old Capiz window. 

Sorry for the delay.  As a good friend always says "Life happens".  Here's my Day One Painting.  

Looking Through Capiz

Watercolor on Paper

8" x 10"

$150.00 USDAvailable 
Click to Purchase

I entered this painting at the Eagan Art House Harvest of Art.  So if you want to see the original you may visit it at the Harvest of Art event on September 8.

Enjoy!

On to Day Two and Three! 

Haneda to Seattle to the Twin Cities Adventure

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted my first painting. I promise to share tomorrow.  Hopefully my painting will arrive on time from Seattle. I painted it in Manila and checked it in with my painting supplies.

After having spent a few hours of good dinner and watching Eagles concert with my niece and her lovely husband,  I took the train from Asakusa to Haneda.  It was a full hour train ride.  Then at 12 midnight took the flight from Haneda to Seattle.

Haneda is a nice and huge airport.  Very busy processing late night and early morning flights. 

 

While waiting for my flight I walked around and found these interesting pay phones.  Love the color.  They also have a mobile phone charging station but I wasn't able to take a pic.

Right now, I'm waiting for my flight to the Twin Cities and making full use of time updating my blog.  I wish I didn't check-in my painting supplies.  I could have completed my second painting.  I'm not too worried, I'll catch up.

Still on the Road

I'm still on the road so I haven't posted my first painting.

Arrived in Tokyo a few hours ago then had dinner with my niece and her husband.

Right now we're watching an Eagles concert at their beautiful house. Relaxing and getting ready for my next journey.  I'll be taking the train to Haneda airport to take a flight back to the US. 

Will post when I get home. 

Day One - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

The time has come. This is the first day (technically 12hours ago was 1Sep here :) and I'm all excited to paint!  I've done a few sketches and one will be my reference for my "Day One" painting. 

 Leslie Saeta 

http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/2013/08/getting-ready-for-30-paintings-in-30.html

I'm heading back home in a few hours. Will be on the road/air again and offline  for a good part of my travel.  

I'll see you on day 2 from the other side of the world. 

Are you ready?