Owner: Debi McSwain Daily Paintings URL:http://www.debimcswain.blogspot.com Join Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:19:01 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A daily painting with a short discussion of my work. Each week a new artist is featured and gives interesting information about themselves. Site statistics:Click here
Storm Warning 2008-03-04 21:10:00 Here is a fast loose seascape. I had to take Gpa to the Dr. today for an MRI. They wanted to check his brain for stroke damage to rule out Alzheimers. I guess if it's alzheimers they can give a medication now to slow it down for two years. He got in there and they put some hood or helmet on him and he got scared and furious and told them to take it off and he wasn't having the test. Oh well. I don't blame him. Read more:Storm
Seahorse 2008-03-03 10:37:00 A whimsical piece painted this morning with a palette knife using one of my sketches from earlier in the week. This isn't for the Glory of Horses project. That one is a little more ambitious on a 20" x 16" I felt like warming up this morning on a 5" x 7" canvas panel. These palette knife pieces take a long time to dry but I've noticed that they look better and better as they dry.
I've Been Sketching this Week 2008-03-02 20:36:00 I've been sketching instead of painting this week. Here is one of the sketches that I'm working on for the Glory of Horses Project companion piece. Dan today took a very nice photo of my black colt and I. We are starting to work together now and it's a lot of fun. Not as scary anymore. Read more:Sketching
Tribal Sun - Tony's Collection 2008-03-02 01:38:00 I haven't painted this week. Too many errands to run and Grandpa is getting bored and restless and had to go to the doctor for his blood pressure and knee. He got a shot of cortisone and different blood pressure medicine and is doing better now. He had is 90 th birthday today. Here is a painting that I did last year for a friend of mine in San Francisco. It was a series of three. His web site: Faster Barnacle - He's got a fascinating story. I hope you check it out. Read more:Tribal
Beach Day 2008-02-26 19:22:00 Gpa and I went to the beach today. I am trying to fit my colt with his very own saddle and I had to return a few to a shop in Del Mar. We drove over to watch the waves and then had a nice lunch at The Beach
House in Cardiff where you can sit practically on the waves and eat. This picture was taken at the little park at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach. He said he hadn't been to the beach in years, so it was fun! The news said the waves were huge yesterday. They have gotten smaller today, but there was a continuous swell.
Stoic 2008-02-25 12:49:00 I'm very happy with today' painting. It shows that stoic quality found so often in the retriever breeds. 5" x 7" oil on canvas panel. $45 includes shipping
Happy Birthday Mom! 2008-02-24 15:48:00 It's my mom's birthday, so I'm sending her these two paintings. The floral is a large 36" x 18" and the other is a little 6" x 8" that I took the time to make a funky metal frame for. I patinaed the metal and then rubbed on three different colors of acrylic paint to make it look kind of grungy. I hope she likes it. After all she says she's my number one fan. No new painting today because I made the frame and am getting these ready for shipping along with a belated birthday present for my sister. HappyBirthday
Mom. Happy Sunday to everyone else! Read more:Happy Birthday
Ready 2008-02-23 11:57:00 I took a photo of the paint colt the other day because I liked the way he looked alert down in the paddock. I tried to capture that look of alertness and his ready to go attitude. This is a very textured fun little 5" x 7" painting. The top photo shows the changes I made today. It's very cloudy, so the photo has glare, but I will probably change this some more tomorrow.
A Horse of a Different Color 2008-02-22 13:41:00 See! Maybe that collaging/mixed media stuff is helping my painting. I'm pleased with this one today. It's a large piece 36" x 12" with gallery wrapped canvas 2" deep. The model for this one is my black colt Fierte. He's a 4 year old and we are currently both learning dressage from Jo Moran. Monday is going to be his first trailer ride over to my trainer's ranch. $250 includes shipping Read more:Horse
, Color
Trailblazer 2008-02-21 14:24:00 Today I got a chance to work with another mixed-media piece. This one was made using acrylic paints, thin copper sheeting, a stamp and a word cut from a magazine. I call it trailblazer. I don't know what I think of the collage pieces, but I do think it may help me in my painting, but I'm not sure yet. I changed this today (2/24) - I can't keep my hands off of this piece. It's better now. This is the new photo.
New Online Marketing 2008-02-19 18:04:00 O.K. Here is my update with new online marketing news:I'm trying an auction on - see my donkey painting.I signed up with an auction on ArtByUs: I did this the other day (the quail)I signed up for FineArtAmericaLastly I signed up for EEBSQart, but don't have my artist's site for that one yet. Read more:Marketing
A Day of Marketing 2008-02-19 11:46:00 I'm putting on my professional face today and will be spending the morning working on online marketing. I'm told that I can't just paint all the time. I have to spend time on the computer marketing. O.K. Point taken.Everything is going great with Gpa. We have a 1:00 T-time to play 9 holes of golf today, but it is drizzling, so we may have to postpone. I'm going back to work now. Read more:Marketing
Lazy Sunday 2008-02-17 20:48:00 It was a lazy Sunday
and I painted a small picture of a daisy, but didn't finish it. I got busy with something else and will finish it in the a.m. before tomorrow's painting. If I even get to a painting because all of the neighbors are off for the holiday and they want to go on a group trail ride around 10:00 or 10:30 and my coach comes at 3:30, so a busy day. Gpa's knee is swollen. He over did it this week I guess, but at dinner I asked him if we could play the 9 hole course about a mile down the road and he said if I wanted to try it, he was up for it. We'll keep an eye on the knee. The neighbors do have a golf cart. That should help.
Wonderful Assemblage Pieces 2008-02-16 21:15:00 I picked up these funky assembled pieces on Etsy. I've got an old rusty square wild wiggly antique car springs thingy that I found on the trail and I'm going to hang them from it. I've been trying to dabble in assembled pieces myself, but it takes so much time because I'm not used to it. I keep falling back on painting. Oh well. Check this artist's Etsy store. Read more:Wonderful
I've Got a Message for You 2008-02-16 11:43:00 My little dog Maggie is becoming very important around the house now that Joshie is gone. She keeps Grandpa entertained and curls up next to him on the sofa. She also politely puts her paws up onto our legs and looks intently into our eyes. Grandpa asks her "Have you got a message for us? " - Cracks me up! I'm going on a quick trail ride with a neighbor in about a half an hour and then going to the driving range with Gpa and then at 2:00 I'm going to a horse message demonstration at another neighbor's ranch. Big day. Grandpa's blood pressure is down to a less dangerous level. Maybe he likes it here! Read more:Message
Mrs. Bess McSwain 2008-02-15 16:22:00 I took Grandpa McSwain over to the driving range and we hit a bucket of balls. I'm not a golfer but he's a good teacher. He's been golfing for about 74 years. He started caddying during the depression when he was 13. I'm having some anxiety. It's a big responsibility having him here and he still asks to be taken to his home in Palm Springs. I have to distract him. Lucky his short term memory is gone. Soon he forgets that he wanted to go home and we have a snack or ice cream or he falls asleep sitting up in the chair. I guess I'll get used to him in a short while. Yesterday it snowed all day, but didn't stick on the ground so we couldn't go outside at all. We took him out for Valentine's Day last night and then to Dan's office. I think he enjoyed it, but his memory is very spotty. This mo
Mr. Ralph McSwain 2008-02-14 13:34:00 A large portrait of Dan's Grandfather. I asked him if I could paint his picture today and told him I'd take a photograph of him so that he wouldn't have to be bored stiff while I painted him. I included the round breakfast table in the portrait. He looks a little sad here, but that's to be expected because he just lost his wife of 71 years. I may darken the background a little later. Large stretched canvas size 24" x 30" oil paint. Read more:Ralph
California Quail 2008-02-13 14:42:00 Last night was the board meeting for the Friend's of Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve I decided that once a month I would paint a subject relevant to the preserve and donate the proceeds to the organization. Currently we are campaigning to raise funds to add land so there is more room for wildlife and native habitat and more trails for hikers and horseback rider. Please investigate their web site and feel free to purchase this painting. 100% of the funds will go to the Friends of Hellhole Canyon organization. Thank you. Oil on masonite panel 8" x 10" $48.50 - includes shipping. Read more:California
, Quail
The Third Bag 2008-02-13 00:23:00 Sorry about the bad lighting in this photo. This is the very latest that I have ever photographed and posted. Here is the third of the three planned iris bags (See Dec. 30 and Feb. 4 posts). I'm glad to have them finished. I picked up Grandpa McSwain today and it went way better than I had expected. He is relieved and happy to be here. We went out for a hamburger on our way home and stopped at the grocery store. With packing him up and unpacking him and going to my Friends of Hellhole Canyon Board meeting tonight, amazingly I still had time to finish this bag this morning and to ride two horses this afternoon. I'm pleased. Two of the bags are already spoken for and I may be selling the third on etsy, but I have to see which one my neighbor chooses, then one of the other two will be sent t
Problems of Abundance 2008-02-11 14:19:00 Another attempt at mixed media. Did you ever really think about your problems and notice that many of them are from having too much stuff, too many interests, too many people in your life? I said I was getting tired of the blank white tidy canvas. I wanted to make something more rustic. Here is the cardboard blue jay painting from last week. I cut out the bird and used acrylic gel medium to attach it to a piece of barnwood that I found on the trail. I added a driftwood branch with a bell dangling from it, a little mirror trimmed in copper tape with a seed pod and sunflower seeds attached to it, lots of little glass "rocks", a sunflower seed pile and another seed pod hanging from the bird's mouth. What else could a little bird possibly need? $40 Approx. 13" x 5" includes shipping Read more:Abundance
Finishing Some Things 2008-02-11 14:14:00 Yesterday's mixed media dried a little better than when it was wet. I touched it up a little with prussian blue and I'm moving on. mixed media 5" x 7" $30This oil on cardboard never seemed finished, so I stacked it onto two more sheets of cardboard and painted it and when it dries I'm going to make a metal frame for it. I love to paint on cardboard, but it just seems so unfinished. Today I found a good use for my cardboard paintings.
RUN for the roses. 2008-02-10 17:21:00 I don't think today was exactly the right day to try some new techniques, but I woke up like I was on crack or had a severe case of ADHA. So many ideas, so little time and all this craziness. I decided to drink some coffee because don't they give kids uppers that have ADD? Anyway this is my first attempt at collage/mixed media. Canvas panel 5" x 7" - It's not dry yet so it may change tomorrow and I may change it when I come to my senses. I didn't get a fourth of the things done today that I wanted to do. I haven't even ridden any horses yet and it's 3:25. Oh well. Outside I go. Better late than never. We do what we do and that's all we can do. This piece consists of: Oil paint, acrylic paint, paper, lace fabric, crayon and colored pencil. Ha! No price yet because I don't know if it's fini
I Don't Know If I Can Paint Today 2008-02-09 17:53:00 We went to visit Dan's 90 year old Grandpa today in the "home" and he said he wants to come and live with us at our little ranch. We said o.k. and are going to pick him up Tuesday. Dan and I really feel that he is so much more with it and active than everyone else there. He said he is miserable and bored from the monotony of the place. I still have to do my horse chores today, so I don't know if I will get to the painting. There is Grandpa McSwain on the right after Grandma's funeral two weeks ago tomorrow. Debi Read more:Paint
, Today
Things That Go Bump in the Night 2008-02-08 13:09:00 I had a sleepless night. My big Hanoverian colt was so maniacal yesterday. I felt he was being quite dangerous with his antics of trying to get his own way. I woke up at two a.m. with anxiety, and then I remembered my little dog is gone and it started to snowball. I got up and had a cup of tea and connected with people via the internet and things got better. I'm grateful that my trainer is coming today. She gives me helpful advice and can see from the ground what is happening. "Things That Go Bump" is 6" x 8" oil on canvas panel. $40 includes shipping. Read more:Night
Is He Cold? 2008-03-12 18:58:00 This painting is called Is he cold? It's about my little dog Joshie and his trip to Paris. When we went to the rotisserie chicken store to buy our dinner, the dog would shake his whole body from head to tail. One evening the man asked "Est-ce qu'il a froid?" and I replied" Non. Il a faim." Is he cold? No. He's hungry. That's what's written in french on the painting. It's very large. 36" x 48" Painted in 2000. I finally got my inventory site pages together. I'm so happy about that. There are nearly 100 paintings available for sale. Not all of the prices and sizes are complete, but I'm publishing it today anyway. I hope people start buying my paintings now that they can see everything that is available. I need $1,200 towards Fierte's new saddle. Thanks in advance.Debi
The Following 2008-03-11 13:44:00 I made a few little changes to this one. I added some human footprints and some water reflections on the horses and changed the color of the orange horse. I like it better now. My black colt is the right age to fit him for a new saddle. The one I really need and want is $2,200, but Dan doesn't want me to spend that much. I will have this saddle for years and years, so I need a good one. If I raise about $1,200 from selling my paintings, I'll feel better about buying it, so I'll be working on a web page where I will inventory every one of my available paintings. I hope this gets my sales going again. Read more:Following
Glory of Horses 2008-03-09 13:47:00 Today's painting I finished with the Glory of Horses
project in mind, but I'm not that excited about his painting. I did an underpainting with brushes and then went over it with a palette knife. It's 20" x 16" inches on gallery wrapped canvas.A crop shot of the horses in the rear. The painting I finished today reminds me of this painting (bottom) that I did of horses on my trip to Montana. This is a large piece that my neighbor now owns. I think it is about 40" x 18"
Shipwreck 2008-03-14 11:55:00 A fast and loose piece because I have to ride, get to a horse show in Del Mar and then get back and ride another colt before dark. I dropped this canvas and got paint on the carpet. See what happens when we get in a hurry? 8 x 10" oil on canvas panel. Read more:Shipwreck
Dancing Monk 2008-03-27 12:06:00 Well my sister pointed out to me the other day that I haven't painted since March 14. It's true. I've sat down to paint a few times and nothing came to me. I just felt blank. Yesterday I worked with my collage materials. I never made anything or glued or painted anything, but a few arrangements intrigued me especially an Asian looking lady with an oversized upside down butterfly on her head for a sort of cap. I sat down to paint today and the dancing monk came out. It's very large 4 feet by 2 feet. Oil on canvas with a limited palette - orange, yellow, green, and brown. Now off to the doctor with Gpa. Read more:Dancing
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