July 8/30. Oyster. Acrylic and gold leaf on Masonite. 5 x 5 1/2

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July 7 Portrait Exchange. My 7/30 painting. 15 x 22 pen&ink and watercolor on archival paper. Decided to push my sketchbook technique to a larger scale for this session. Fun. Fun.

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And there was two birthday cakes, so Happy Birthday to me was sung twice!! And, it’s not my birthday yet! It’s good to have good friends. Love you guys.

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Another great painting session. Portrait Exchange #3.

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Birthday week sunflowers. Sketchbook. It is portrait exchange day, and I will posting my portrait as 7/30 painting.

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Sunflowers. 9x9 pen ink and watercolor. Had a little it of a stressful day. But, did buy myself some sunflowers for my birthday week. Decided to unwind with a stress free watercolor sketch. 6/30 July paintings.

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Oyster. 12x9 acrylic on yupo. Number 5/30 for July.

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Oyster shells. The other side.

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Oops. I just missed doing this. Free my heart! There’s just no way I’m not sketching in my sketchbook. There’s just something freeing about doing something just for me that isn’t up for sale. Red white and blue freedom. We are so lucky. Sketchbook.

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Love you.

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Good Lord! Would you look at the beautiful color of this years bounce! Yes. I’m sneaking a bit early.

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Not sure what to call this. 9x9 acrylic on yupo. I enjoyed the process of the scratching and over painting of the acrylic. Looking forward to doing an oyster. 4/30 July paintings.

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Garden Inspiration. Plants are loving the everyday rain.

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New Orleans building. 6x6 oil on canvas. $50. 3/30 sketch for July. Decided to use up oils from yesterdays oyster painting and paint a little New Orleans architecture scene.

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July 2. Oyster 2. $50. 9 x 12 Oil and gold leaf on yupo paper. This is palette knife and will take some time to dry. Well folks. I got one of my wishes come true with the painting of the very first oyster. My brain clicked on and I was up all night tossing and turning with images flipping through my brain. Inspiration has started. I got up and did some quick thumbnails of all the different images as quickly as I could so I don’t lose them. I am now asking for a third birthday wish, and that is that I get a good nights sleep along with inspiration, so I physically have energy to carry them out. I actually had a deep dream (which I like) about painting a huge oyster and that’s where these sketches come in. I worked extensively with gold leaf at the lamp studio @mclementstudio and have always wanted to try to incorporate it into some paintings.

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July 1 - Oyster. $50 9x12 pen and ink on yupo paper. It is my birthday month. And, for my birthday I am seeking inspiration and a rebirth of my art. To switch things up a bit, I’ve decided to sketch outside my sketchbook for the month of July and offer them up for sale. I was inspired by @sgclarkart and his daily postings this past month. Thanks Sean! I finally cleaned my oyster shells and my July 1 sketch is one of these shells painted in pen and ink and watercolor (what I use in my sketchbook) but, is painted on yupo paper. My first attempt on yupo. It was different. It was fun. And, I was pleasantly surprised at unexpected marks. Let’s see where this takes me!

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Finally got around to cleaning these oyster shells. The colors are gorgeous. Wondering if the green will disappear as they dry out. What next?

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Portrait Exchange. Week 2. Fun was had by all. I was the model this week. Working real hard on keeping my mouth shut as a model. It’s a tough thing to do for 3 hours straight.

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Portrait Exchange day! And, it’s my turn to model. So, I started the day off with a kind of crazy self portrait. Was thinking about wearing Leia style buns, but I think I look kind of devilish. So, maybe not. Sketchbook.

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Found a box of Charvin Paris watercolor pastels and decided to give it a try. Sketchbook.

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