I've done it! Finished the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Actually I painted 19 absolutely new paintings and slipped in a few painted earlier in the summer...but who's counting? Feeling very good about it...that it is over, and about my new works. Slowing they are getting framed for the selling and exhibiting season. 

This year I wrote a blog post for each of these paintings and made sure they posted to social media. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. I hope to continue this good habit at least a few times a week. Now I need to go plan the next series of paintings.

I have painted this subject twice before with a different assortment of chickens. They are so fun to paint with their plumb bodies and different colored feathers. Not to mention their facial expressions! Each painting was larger and now this one is larger still. Another aspect of my job is deciding what size to paint. I don't have hard facts to help me with this, so I looked at what I've been painting lately and wanted a larger painting in the mix.

Day 30. 30 paintings in 30 days. This is the FINAL day. I must say YAY! Suddenly it is over and yet the journey uphill seemed quite daunting. I missed several days this week...but doesn't this painting count as 3??? I am very pleased with what I have turned out and will have a nice array of new paintings for the season. Two or three paintings from the batch are still unfinished, but all in all quite a feat.

I have been wrestling with this guy for days and he is still unfinished. That is what I get when I use a terrible resource. Since I tend to paint what I see, what I was seeing was terrible. I have since altered it from what I was seeing, but I'm not finished yet. 

I love the ears pointing straight out from the sides, which was why I wanted to paint it. I hope I get to a point of liking it. We shall see. 

Day 26. 30in30 painting challenge. The pressure of a painting a day has caught up with me. My exhibiting life has slowing been taking over, and pushing this daily painting aside. If I wasn't frustrated with this particular painting, my output would probably be different. Just a few more days of commitment to the challenge. 

This is a similar painting to another Palm I did in this 30in30 painting challenge. I am participating in a local fundraising activity for Broward Art Guild, of which I am a member. Both of these paintings will be in this 6x6" Fundraising Event. This is an opportunity to purchase one of my pieces at a very affordable price and help support the Guild at the same time. Read about the 6x6" event and how it works. Yes, there is a process to acquiring any of the 6x6" pieces and a lot of fun.

Day 23. 30in30 painting challenge. Since I am posting this a day later, I have definitely slipped behind. Another painting awaits in the wings however and I hope to post it later today, putting me back on track. A week to go of the challenge alongside preparing for delivery of paintings to an exhibit and a Fall Festival this coming Saturday. Printed merchandise featuring my art has also begun to arrive requiring sorting, labeling, and packing for shows.

If you haven't subscribed to my newsletter, and especially if you are local, please do so to keep up with new work and where I will be exhibiting and showing. This fall, I will have original artworks with me as well as printed merchandise, so there is an opportunity for affordable gifts for everyone.

Another of my 6x6" watercolors. I paint small often partly to test out a subject. Then, there are times when I think a painting would work as a larger piece and I will paint it large. I love these small paintings gracing my condo. They stand so easily anywhere on the furniture. They can also be hung, but that is not how I use them. Because I do shows they are often hung at those venues. And they are so easy for me to pack and transport. However, these days, I have many larger paintings than 6x6".

Day 21. 30in30 painting challenge. Actually this painting is a cheat. I painted it right after the February challenge, so it didn't get into that challenge and I have not finished my latest painting for today. So I thought I'd post this one instead. I think he'll stand out in the crowd!

I have mentioned before that I volunteer on a sea turtle program with the South Florida Audubon Society, rescuing hatchling sea turtles during the nesting and hatchling season. My love of the outdoors, nature and wildlife, coupled with a sense of conservation and purpose, make this a rewarding activity for me.

People LOVE sea turtles! Which make them quite the subject matter of many of my paintings. Living along the coast, it is very evident during much of the season (March - October) the presence of turtles. And as a volunteer with a permit to rescue these little guys, I get to see and save hundreds of hatchlings. 

Day 20. 30in30 painting challenge. Ten more days of painting everyday. Luckily most of my daily schedule has been allowing me to keep up. However, if it hadn't been for my careful planning ahead of time, I would have faltered by now. In the next day or so, I will have to put in extra time to do some more preparation for the last series of painting. I am very please so far and if I stopped now, I'd still give myself a star.

Manatee. I hope it is recognizable as such! My wish was to knock it out and get to the next painting. Didn't happen. And as I write, I am still critiquing it. Once I finish futzing, I have to scan it, which requires that the painting be dry. This means this post will go live later in the morning.

Day 19. 30in30 painting challenge. I keep talking about framing these paintings and not so much recently about getting the next sketches done. The framing feels monumental. While I purchase frames, they don't always come with mats, and so I have to cut the mats myself, especially for any odd sized paintings. I have thus far planned the frames for 15 of the paintings and next step will be to cut mats. My husband is already thrilled with the 6' table gracing our living room covered with paints and frames. He knew what he was getting into...

Christmas. My favorite holiday running neck and neck with Halloween. It's still too early in the year for me to talk much about Christmas, even for this post. But the usual descriptors of Christmas come to mind...magical and white.  The play of light on Christmas decorations help create the magic as does the play of light on white snow. I love snow, but since moving south in 1976, I have given it up, even when I have literally chased it by visiting places that were supposed to have snow. Winter in Vermont or Christmas in Montreal, or winter in upstate New York. It seems I was not going to enjoy it anymore, like it didn't exist. I hear people reading this rolling their eyes, as there has been tons of snow in recent years! I've only been able to imagine it.

Day 18. 30in30 painting challenge. What an array of paintings I have to frame. I began laying them out last night, planning the frames. Now that it is day 18 it really does feel like we are going down hill, picking up speed. Now it feels scary that time is running out or moving too fast to accomplish the task. Like a roller coaster, it was a push uphill to day 15, and now we are flying to the finish trying to keep up.

I fell in love with the colors of the reference I used for this painting which I feel I captured. Such delicate creatures! I have painted several other hummingbirds in the past and hope to do more.

Day 17. 30in30 painting challenge. I wonder if the challenge is getting the better of me. I may be coming down with something, my headache a possible indicator. My husband was hit bad this weekend, and while I rarely catch anyone else's 'cold,' I'll admit I am feeling less energetic.

Much on my mind is all I need to do to prepare for upcoming shows.  Today I pulled out a table and set up all these new paintings and sample frames so that I can start making decisions on what frames I need. My framing department, my husband, will have his hands full real soon!

A bit of color fun with this one. Maybe even a slight feel of autumn in the air...as much as South Florida has autumn. Autumn is my favorite season. The light has changed, which I can often detect in August, and I get excited and a bit sad at the same time. It is still an energizing feeling as I prepare for a busy season ahead...not only holiday but my big outdoor show season through April.

Day 16 in the 30in30 painting challenge and I am being challenged to prepare another set of sketches. Deciding on what subjects is the hardest part for me. I'm not only painting for myself, though ultimately that is probably the deciding factor, but I take into consideration what my buying public will be attracted to at the shows. And I never really know. Sometimes, maybe most times, I am surprised.