Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 5 of 30

I have five paintings lined up in my studio like a small parade and I love seeing them! We started in the imagined English countryside and have moved to New England.

Daily Painting No. 5 of 30

3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

After years of painting and critiquing I've learned I love small moments. It's a sort of mindfulness in life to notice intimacies around us all. These small paintings feel like snippets of the larger world. It's the world I love to notice. 

Daily Painting No. 5 of 30

3x3" original oil

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you tomorrow! ~kmw

Day 17 :: SIMPLE GIFTS :: September Daily Paintings

SIMPLE GIFTS
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

When I first saw the work of Wolf Kahn I was confused and wondered where the detail went. The more I have looked at and created artwork the more I have come to understand the beauty of a grand scheme of design and the play of composition, color, and simplicity. 

My mantras for the month: Do the work and Keep it simple are well-represented here. My acrylic came first. What fun until it wasn't. The fun was in the sketch and then later in the treeline and sky. What fun! The not fun: windows windows windows. Funny that, too, because the windows are what makes the subject appeal to me. 

SIMPLE GIFTS
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

The acrylic is 18x18" and large and playful because there's space to spread out. The pastel was getting bogged down with the challenge of saying what needed to be said in a 6x6" surface. When I looked at the color combination and the composition and my marks I decided it was done.

I love these! The subject is a lovely classic home in my town. This is architecture I adore.

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading! ~ kmw

Day #19 :: DOG WALKER :: January Daily Painting Challenge

DOG WALKER
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

People in paintings add scale and the personal, storytelling element to the piece. People, though, are difficult to make interesting and not too engaging to the viewer. If I paint a really great painting of my own children, what are the chances that someone else would want that painting, or that I would want to part with it? 

The saying goes that you should paint from your heart, what you know. When an artist doesn't do that, something about that comes across in the end product. With everything it seems to be about finding balance. 

The January Daily Painting Challenge for me is a chance to exercise some muscles. People aren't my strong suit. Neither are dogs. But we have two wonderful daughters and a new puppy, so it's time to insert them in my work more! 

Today's painting of our youngest walking Hunter was a challenge (appropriate during a challenge, right?) to make look painterly and interesting. At one point I almost took out our daughter which would only leave the pup. My mothering instinct prevailed and she remains a great element of scale in the painting. She also lets me use colors in painting that often just stay in the box. Turquoise! Coral! Scary bright green! Hurray! 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #18 :: COLD SHADOWS :: January Daily Painting Challenge

COLD SHADOWS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Blue is my favorite color, and it is so prevalent during winter. The shadows, the sky, and the snow all feel so blue. Tonight I went out to shovel the four inches of snow we got last night and the light flakes all sparkled with crisp white and blue. Teeny electric blips of blue. It was beautiful -- but it was still winter and shoveling, so don't get me wrong ;)

This piece looks great on my bulletin board of work from this month. Next to yesterday's piece it is around the bend from that riverbank. My neighborhood inspires yet again. 

And how does this piece read? Is the blue water? Marsh? Field? It's not up to me. What I loved about this composition was the space and the light. 

Remember how I mentioned that new set of 200 pastels I bought at the beginning of the month? It's great -- but I need more blues! The Terry Ludwig Best of the Blues set of cobalts and ultramarines should do nicely. My birthday is in March, hint hint. :) 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #17 :: RIVERBANK :: January Daily Painting Challenge

RIVERBANK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

The sixteen prior daily paintings are all lined up hanging on a bulletin board in front of my desk and it's quite something else to see an expanse of work so obviously inspired by winter -- with the exceptions of only two florals on days four and five and one rogue Swanboat painting.

Today's piece is no exception to the #embracewinter hashtag I've been using on Instagram for the past few winters. Winter and I have a difficult relationship. It's of course beautiful. White snow makes everything look clean and crisp and blue. The light is purer in winter, without the humid haze of high summer.

Funny that--we have high summer and deep winter.

Winter does me in, though. I get cranky and a bit sad. Often it seems like so much is harder. And there's little light. We wake in the dark. The girls are off the bus and it seems that darkness comes upon us so quickly.

Good therapy for embracing winter is to approach it with mindfulness, and I think painting is a perfect example of mindfulness. I have been taking time to examine the winter landscape and the light, although seemingly fleeting, and have been admiring its glory. The paintings from this month really embrace that.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #15 :: JANUARY :: January Daily Painting Challenge

JANUARY
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

For those who paint with pastels, I've been painting with a lovely complete set I purchased at the beginning of this monthly painting challenge. When looking at my work, I would guess the new set arrived for the eighth painting. The marks changed a bit and my palette broadened.

My go-to set for a while was Sennelier's plein air half stick set of 80 colors (funny how 80 color options isn't enough) because of its range of intense color and neutrals. My newest set is Gallery Mungyo Handmade soft pastels full set of 200 colors from Jerry's Artarama. If you're interested in adding to your pastel collection, take advantage of sales, coupon codes, and free shipping. Today's price is waaaaay more than what I paid, FYI.

With 200 pastel colors to select from in this set, I finally don't find myself saying "I wish I had this one color..." For this manufacturer, this is it. And so I force myself to make it work, and that is good practice!

Of course, despite the 200 (!!!) colors to choose from, I needed different blues (of course I did.)
What an important lesson that is. It took me a spell to figure out what sort of blue I wanted for the sky, the roof, the house itself, the snow, and the large evergreen. Some of that negotiation is visible in the finished product, but I am thrilled  with my result.

I'm getting good practice on painting buildings and it's obvious this monthly painting challenge is in winter --- everything is snow and cold and I have so many nocturnes. It's been SUCH FUN! For those in my neighborhood, this is the wonderful antique home on the corner of Miller and Myrtle streets. The candles in the window are still up and they make me happy each time I drive by.

All my posts end with a thank you, but, goodness! It's day fifteen and I have to thank all who have read, commented, liked, and encouraged me along the way. I appreciate your support more than I have words to express.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #10 :: LIT WINDOWS :: January Daily Painting Challenge

LIT WINDOWS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Nocturnes are some of my favorite paintings. I am captivated by the way artists are able to capture the subtle colors of night. I wrote of this in September's painting challenge about my painting Blue Moon. Since the creation of the camera, it seems that night paintings are some of the most authentic ways for an artist to really insinuate themselves into a painting. Cameras take photos of any scene but night paintings say more than a night photo often can.

I'm in need of practice for nocturnes. The color palette isn't what I'm used to at all. The marks I made, too, are different for structures rather than features in nature. With practice I'll improve, and that right there is the nugget that makes these #30in30 painting challenges worth their weight in gold!

Off to watch Downton which started 40 minutes ago.

Oh! I haven't forgotten about my new pastels. I'll post about them hopefully tomorrow. They are still being tested. and so far, so good!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #9 :: HUNTER :: January Daily Painting Challenge

HUNTER
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Each day I place my pastel on the scanner bed and hit 'preview' and wait. The machine buzzes and whirs and I always cringe as I wait for the image to appear. Each day I am tense with questions. And so it goes....

Artists are like this, I think. We always second-guess what we make and how we feel about it. This back-and-forth effort may be why I'm so tired after painting. The conversations in  my head are intense deliberations of color and shape and mark. Back and forth. During the process there are intense highs (the beginning) and the yucks (the middle) and hopefully the whole mood elevates again as the piece progresses to the end. Of course there are the times you don't leave the yuck period, but there is always something to learn and so off to the next!

If it's not the apprehension of success in painting-making, then I have oodles of stress for the scanning and optimizing. UGH! Despite having had tons of practice, Photoshop and I have a fickle relationship. I do my best, heck, that's my life's motto!

Here is our puppy, Hunter (obviously). He's a hoot. I've always  been a dog person (although cats can be cool, too) and now we are the caretakers of this little stocky fellow. He's a great dog and we've been training each other on how to be owner and puppy. We go on walks in the conservation land in the neighborhood.

We are both in our element in this field. I find wild cranberries. He finds entrails from a coyote kill the night prior. I discover Fibonacci's sequence in the frost-kissed Sweet Woodruff and he delights on the frozen streams and chomps on chunks of ice. Of course it was only a matter of time before he'd show up in a painting. And look how small I made him!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #6 :: PATH AT DUSK :: January Daily Painting Challenge

PATH AT DUSK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6

$125 + $8 shipping

Today's painting was completed at dusk, which this time of year is like around 4pm -- too early! 

The girls were playing and I sneaked into my studio for some quiet time to think and paint and be on artistic auto-pilot.

My last two pieces, the Bright Bouquet and the Enamel Pitcher, were using a different brain for me. This painting today was back to my old painting brain but I was flexing my color muscle. I wanted to tweak the colors to read like that odd chilly light that is so very January. 

I think I communicated that light pretty well ;)

Thanks for reading!  ~kmw

Day 35 :: SHEEP :: original pastel, 6x6"

SHEEP
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Today is the day I almost stopped daily painting. I added another pastel to the small stack of failed figurative pieces and struggled through this one. No excuses, that is how painting goes.

The greens in this painting were fun spring tones. The deeper notes are blues from cobalt to Prussian. I painted this on an underpainting of ochres. My color relationships are analogous, and I don't think I paint in that scheme too often.

The kids have been in school for a month and I'm the last to be dealing with this cold. I'm going to bed nice and early, thinking of better experiences in the studio tomorrow.

Open Studio is this Friday and Saturday, October 9th from 5-8pm and 10th from 10am-2pm. I can't wait to welcome people into my small creative space! If you're in the area, I do hope you try to come visit!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day 34 :: FLOWER FARM :: original pastel, 6x6"

FLOWER FARM
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

While in New Hampshire yesterday we went apple picking and stopped in at a farm. Who can think about leaf-peeping when there are these beauties in bloom? Goodness! Sunflowers everywhere. And in the land of pick-your-own, these could NOT be picked. The travesty! They were selling little bouquets of them inside, but I decided instead to paint them.

It was a day with overcast clouds, and I think that just made these flowers more vibrant in their yellow, orange, and green glory.

My September monthly painting challenge ended last week, but I do love having this discipline to my days -- even if I'm a bit run down with a blah cold. We celebrated the 10th birthday of my eldest nephew tonight. No more single digits for him! Time zooms by. Be present. Use your talents. Share them. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading! -kmw