Paintings from Bisbee.. numero cinco

Sand hill crane sanctuary

oil on canvas

12"x25"

Click on painting to view larger and in more detail.

So yesterday I spent my afternoon at the Whitewater Draw Wildlife area. I love the place. It is where the Sand hill cranes migrate to spend the winter in this sky island. I had been one time before more in the morning but there was only a handful of cranes compared to yesterday when there were thousands of them. When I was finished with the painting and packing up I started to hear a noise like thunder and all the cranes were swooping around huge circles in the sky squawking away. The sound and visual was tremendous and was an experience I will never forget. What a lovely day! Here are some pictures from the day:

Paintings from Bisbee.. numero cuatro

Hung out to dry

oil on canvas

9"x12"

Click on painting to view larger and in more detail.

Paintings from Bisbee.. numero tres

Afternoon Cacti

oil on canvas

5 1/2"x5 1/2"

Click on painting to view larger and in more detail.

Still warm in Bisbee, its November and the afternoons are sunny and delightful. I prepared a lamb loin (from the farmers market) today in the crockpot with chillis tomatoes red wine basil onion and rosemary. It has been slow cooking all day awaiting the arrival of ASMA. This here is just a small painting but it was fun to do and great for practice of all the flora in my new surroundings. Not sure the name of the cactus... but there is some prickly pear peeking in the background.

Paintings from Bisbee.. numero dos

Century plant in autumn

oil on canvas

16"x20"

Click on painting to view larger and in more detail.

I'm trying to get back into action. I did this today standing out in my backyard. I love these century plants and they are all around. This time of year though you see some fallen and others losing color as they die off. The weather has been really nice these last couple of days. Really nice and sunny warm during the day and then cooling off at night.

Yesterday it was my pleasure to visit the University of Arizona's art museum. There was lots to see and I loved looking at Brian Stauffer's work which happened to be on display. Very inspiring to stand amongst 13th and 14th century paintings too...

http://artmuseum.arizona.edu/exhibitions

/index.shtml

http://www.brianstauffer.com/

Paintings from Bisbee.. numero uno

Tombstone Canyon homes

oil on canvas
16"x20"

Click on painting to view larger and in more detail.

So finally the maddness of moving our lives to Bisbee AZ has subsided. I really feel like I am settling in nicely here in our new habitat. I also finally have the first piece done to the start of my Bisbee and Cochise County collection. It is such a beautiful area out here. The mountains in the landscape are lovely and grounding. The warm colors and sunny afternoons can be just delightful. I just love doing the laundry outside, keeping warm by the fire and doing the dishes in the sunlight of the morning, these are all things on my happy list. There is so much beautiful scenery to paint and enjoy. I look forward to the painting more.. until then au revoir.

New paintings from Elfrida AZ

Elfrida mountain scene

oil on canvas
9"x12"

Church by Elfrida park

acrylic on canvas
5"x7"

Portrait of Dave with his painting

acrylic on panel
4"x6"

So while I was out I did only a couple of paintings as we had the task at hand to find a place to live, which was quite successful. Here are the three paintings I manage to do.

Two more paintings sold!

Fruit Still Life

acrylic on canvas
16"x20"

Raccoon Creek State Park Getaway

oil on canvas
30"x40"


So far have sold 3 of the paintings I hung at the cafe/restaurant Out of the Fire Cafe... If you haven't been there, the food is definitely worth the visit! They specialize in smoked salmon and other goodness... also located near Falling Waters.. I am very happy to have sold 3 already and hope to continue to sell more! I am not sure how long the paintings will be there as we are leaving them for a least a month or so I would say. We have a week to go in Pittsburgh and we will be hitting the road on our way to Bisbee AZ! Very excited as we have our house reserved for us to move right into! Finally have a garden again and half indoor/ outdoor space to have my art studio! We also discovered we have a pomengranate tree in our yard which is very exciting. Upon landing back in Pittsburgh today from my visit I realized how cold it is here and how allergic to the cold I am. Very very excited to migrate southwest :)


Oh yes here is the other painting that was sold last week:

Bliss above Butterbean Mountain

acrylic on canvas
8"x17"

Paintings on the wall at Out of the Fire Cafe, Donegal, PA

* This picture is pretty dark but the one on the bottom with the mountains is SOLD.

Here are the photos of the paintings on the wall at Out of the Fire Cafe. If you want to go visit them you should and feel free to buy one. I have already sold one that is from the Big Ego Series with the man flying with the birds above the mountains. Thanks to Mason for letting me hang the paintings and Out of the Fire for promoting my work. I have been in Elfrida for the past couple of days in which I have done a couple new paintings and we had our very first art class with the kids here at ASMA's camp. I will be posting pictures soon of the paintings everyone is doing. ASMA did a nice camel painting yesterday and the kids also did some interesting paintings too. Today we are taking them out to do some plein air painting so that should be fun. ASMA and I already found a new home in Bisbee for us and the cats. We are very excited as it is everything we were looking for.

Three Sisters

Three Sisters

acrylic on wooden room divider

So it has been a long time since I have posted but I have been doing some painting. I did this room divider for my Ma. She found this image online and I recreated it for her so I am not taking credit for the image. This however is not being sold and it will probably be a while before it even moves from the 3rd story of the house in which it dwells.

In other news, I hung up 18 paintings at a Out of the Fire Cafe. I will be posting about this next. One of the paintings the owner didn't like and had to come down.. which was muffin the gentle yak... if you are familiar with this painting. All others are still up and they are most of the plein air and some still life paintings I have done. So if you miss me or you just want to see my art, you should go visit the cafe and maybe even take home a piece ;)

Leaving for AZ very soon for 9 days which I will be off finding a place for me and ASMA to live so blog posts will not be flowing. However once we get settled into Bisbee I will be a' paintin' away. I look forward to when that day arrives. Mayhem has struck Pittsburgh with the G20 summit and I have a flight on Friday morning right in the middle of it. The good news though is I will get to see my ASMA after only seeing him for 11 hours in the past 16 weeks, and it will be his birthday on top of that. We are to spend the day in Tucson together then to Elfrida and Bisbee from there.
Good times.. hate to leave the cats behind but we will hit the road soon enough.

I'm in the Laurel Highlands; I'm dreaming of sky...

Ohiopyle waterfall scene

oil on canvas

An ode to the flying spaghetti monster

acrylic on panel

Crafts N'AT & Labor Day Weekend

Had a very busy weekend. Saturday I was at Crafts N'At at The Union Project in Pittsburgh. I had most of my new paintings there... didn't sell any paintings.. but did get some inquires. If you are interested in buying any of the art off of my blog please email me at srbridget@gmail.com.

We attended a pig roast on sunday in erie, pa in honor of labor day. This was my first proper pig roast and I was amazed at the sight of a whole roasted pig... I decided to do a painting of the pig towards the end of the party after it had been mauled by the humans. I guess I am embracing the morbid side of life with this one. It was hard for me to stop looking at this and it is interesting that we do this sort of thing. I hope you take interest in this one as well.. and enjoy if possible.

Labor Day Pig Roast

10"x16"

acrylic on wood panel

... way behind on the quota

Who's counting anyways? Even if people do follow this blog they remain largely unknown. So I had to take a couple vacation days/sick days and I'm behind on my 253 by so and so date. I am thinking that this was an unrealistic goal anyhow.. really I need to give myself a break for weekends - also it is official that ASMA, the cats and me are moving to Arizona in a month which will be even more time off to pack and drive across country and establish ourselves there. So anyways.. here are two new paintings from today. Maybe I'll figure out how many paintings I need with weekend breaks.

Panhandle Trail Refuge

12"x12"

oil on canvas

Abstract of Thor

6"x6"

acrylic + oil on canvas

While I was out...

Hello everyone! I am back to the blogosphere after a pleasant trip out west. I did manage to do a handful of paintings. I hope you enjoy...

Surprise Valley

20"x24"

oil on canvas

Garden scene

8"x10"?

oil on panel

House in Elk where I once lived and tried to fly

8"x10"

oil on panel

Poison Oak in the yard

6"x6"

acrylic on canvas

Vista view in the backyard

9"x12"... I think?

oil on canvas

Mendo Beach scene

8"x6"

open acrylic on canvas

Housetops peeking through in Elk

12"x16"... I think...?

oil on canvas

Belle the wonder dog

5"X7"?

acrylic on canvas

(gift to aunt & uncle)

Surfer Inspired

6"x6"

acrylic on canvas

(gift to Gina)

Hello Giraffe

6"x6"

acrylic on canvas

Paint bottles

6"x6"

acrylic on canvas

I'm off until the 27th...

Very sorry to inform that I will not be able to post paintings for awhile. By the time I get back I need to have 13 paintings. I probably could have done a painting today but it would have been too much considering all the happenings.

I met my new friend today, a nameless kitten from ASMA's workplace. It is sooooooooooooooo cute... I held it all the way home in the backseat of Dan's car. I want to name it Montgomery if it is a boy and ASM wants to name it Ian.. but with the Scottish spelling. It also might be a girl as it's nether regions where a rather sensitive place to examine at first - as it has the dreaded monkey butt. We cleaned it off with the hose, then later I gave it a rinse down with some warm water in the bath. The little guy definitley needs some medicine so ASM will take it to the vet tommorow and be in charge of the integration of it with current cats.

Dan came to fetch ASMA with me due to me locking the keys in the house by me. Which has been the first time at this place and I have to do it at least once per place to figure out how good security is. We did however have a nice meal with the folks KP and CDP.

Tommorow we leave to go to Oakland, SF, Mendocino, Gualala, Point Arena, Elk, & Comptche.

Painting with PShan in Elk, 2008

Surprise Valley Comptche CA

Standing on Salt Lake: August 13th painting

Standing on salt lake

8"x17"

acrylic on canvas

We found this photo packed away in storage. The photos was taken by CDP I believe back the early 90s when we made our trek from Gualala, CA to come live in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The location is Salt Lake City, UT, my birth state. Utah is beautiful! If you click on the picture you will be able to see more detail. I had the grand pleasure of painting with my dear friend Preetha this evening. We had a nice time as we painted for hours. I was inspired by Shan to take a herbal bath today, which I did as well. I definitley reccomend this as it was interesting and very relaxing. I'm all about creating mini spa experiences in your own bathroom :)

herbal bath time

My older sister : August 12th painting

My older sister
8"x10"
acrylic on panel

Another long day has passed. Summer is the best season for me but it sure does wear you out! Its good to be worn out after hibernating in PA for 6 months or so. Dropped off the ASM for his quest at 7 this morning. Long drive back and forth, back and forth, what a terrible drive ASMA has to deal with. I feel for him that's why its nice to be able to offer my company on the drive when I can. Spent the morning with KP + CDP. We went to fill up for spring water and took a small hike to pick some goldenrod which KP might use in her upcoming soap making project. On our drive back to Pittsburgh we encountered monsoon rainfall and of course a semi was on my rear what seemed like the whole time. HANSHAN* came over after a nice dinner with the family to paint with me, so I could complete my painting for the day. As I was tired we managed to get in the spirit of painting. We decided to do portraits of one another.

Also it is nice to push yourself, as from this painting I get the satisfaction of doing something well even though I was tired and not wanting to do the exercise.

Here are some photos from the evening:





*HANSHAN with upside down paintings Painting setup, volcano acrylics, wooden easel from PShan


*Older sister's pen name

Money Tree: August 11th painting

Money Tree
5"x7"
oil on canvas

So this is totally not what I expected to come out of the painting a day exercise. This morning I woke up at 5 am to shower and drive with ASMA to Franklin. I was in a kayak for 4 hours from 10am to 2pm on the river with KP & CDPTitus (they were in a canoe which I continually tboned.) Needless to say we were all a bit spent after our morning/afternoon excursion on the river. After a skype conference call with JPMorgan, TDawg & Nell... I decided that I have to do my painting. So I sat in KP's backyard and felt very uninspired. I started to paint some blackeyed susans then decided this wasn't working out and switched to paint this money tree. It turned out to be kind of abstract but it gets the job done for a small painting. It also gave me a chance to experiment more with oils which can be tricky sometimes especially after getting used to acrylics. I got cut short on the amount of time I was going to spend on this painting as a vicious thunderstorm rolled in. I hope you enjoy!!