Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sheep

6" x 4" original watercolor $200.00
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

I do not know much about sheep, except that
I enjoy the way they look. This one was pretty
woolly. There was a yellow tag in its ear. After
I painted it I thought I should have left it off
but it was to late to change it.
I simply wanted to paint something
totally different for today.

I painted... I went back and put another two hours
into the large painting I thought I finished yesterday.
When I looked at it this morning I could see where
I needed to spend a little more time. Then I
worked on this sheep.

We have been having a lot of questions about pricing
on the mini paintings and
some confusion about what
happens when they do not sell. So Linda laid out
every one and pulled out some that we do not want
to put out on the show stand. Over the next few days
these will be put on eBay at
a very low opening price,
which is a super good deal for you. And Linda feels good
about cleaning out the studio! After that she checked
every blog entry and updated it, adding sold or the
current price. So there is now a price on everything rather
than have you contact us to ask. Hopefully this clears things
up. She was glued to the computer all day.

Jason had a family dinner with us and then we took him
back to Hershey School. He was bored and wanted to go
a few days early. Hopefully next year he will stay all
summer. He is moving into a new group home and his house
parents seem very nice. We hope he has a good year.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Lily

5" x 5" original watercolor
SOLD

This painting is another study for a large
painting I have planned. It goes with the
blog from 7/17, on this one you see the upper
part of a window. Here you see the corner of
the same window with a bright orange flower.
I need to clarify the premise of offering my Painting A
Day painting on ebay is to offer a chance for people
to win a painting at a special price. To allow you a chance
at owning an original painting. This is a one time offer, I
always hope it sells for more than the opening bid! If the painting
does not sell on eBay, I frame it right away and put it out
with my other paintings. If you look on my website under
originals you will get a better idea of
my normal prices.

Again, I painted all day. I did the blog painting and I finished the
first landscape that goes into the gold frame. I will show them to
you when the frames get here. Linda and I went to Yoga tonight.
And I plan to work a little bit yet tonight.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Heron #2

5" x 5" original watercolor $225.00

My client took the other Heron so I am
using this one to put on eBay. Scroll down
and you can see more info about it.

I rode my bike at 5:30am and did 25 miles. After that
was breakfast, check on my Mom and then I pretty
much spent the day painting. 9 to 5, so I worked about 8
straight hours. Linda finally ordered my four gold frames
and they will be here in about 10 days so I have 2 of the
paintings started but there is still a lot of work to do
on them. They are going to be landscapes. Hopefully they
will add a little zip to my show stand. Linda had a 9am meeting
and then she was
at her desk all day, mumbling about
needing more hours in her day...
Oh, we went to see Mamma Mia
last night and we both
liked it. I have been humming Abba songs all day, I can't

get "Waterloo" out of my head.!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sunday

I am writing this blog early because I am taking
Linda to see Mamma Mia tonight.
My day was spent with my brother, we had a
family meeting to bring him up to speed about
our mother.

My show yesterday went ok. A lot of old clients and
friends stopped out so my booth was packed all day.
I tried to demonstrate but spent more time chatting.
Sales were so-so, not like past years but I did not
bomb out! Also I took 2nd place watercolor!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Friday update...

I had no time to paint a blog piece today.
A client stopped in at 9am and then it was time
to get myself together for the kids! I ended up with
two sets of 10 each. Much better to handle.
They came for a tour of my studio and a demonstration.
The first set came at 10AM and another set at 1PM.
I mowed the lawn in between.
We had a drawing for the paintings I did for them and the
winner got to take it home. They are my future collectors...
Of course I realized by the time they are out of college
I will be in my 70's... that was a shock to figure out.
But with no retirement I guess I will be painting until
I can no longer hold a brush!!

I spent my evening setting up my tents and display in
the park. Easy show for me since I am a block away
but it still all needed to get there. Lititz is a really cute
town with shops and several cafes and the show has
a really good selection of art. So you may want to consider
a road trip, gas here was $3.89 today...

Show:
Lititz Art Show
Rt 501 held in the Lititz Springs Park

Space: #B 154 in front of the pavilions
Saturday from 9am-5pm
Rain, shine or heat!! Free admittance

for show info: http://www.lititzart.com
for info about my town: http://venturelititz.com

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Heron #2

5" x 5" original watercolor $225.00
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

This is my second Heron. I have a client
who wanted one and I wanted to give him
a choice of two different poses. I painted a
lot of wildlife when I first started painting.
Over the years I just do a few because I enjoy
it. I am not a wildlife artist, not every feather
is correct, I go for more of an overall feel.

I painted all morning while Linda was busy with
my Mom. In the afternoon we ran a few errands,
went on another hunt for a gold frame, and volunteered
at the food bank in the evening. I am finishing
my blog and then need to prepare for tomorrow.
Somehow Linda roped me into having 30 kids
(1st to 4th graders) stop into the studio for a tour.
They are scheduled for an hour...an hour.
They are from a local summer camp and are walking
here. My studio is not that large, or very exciting to a
7 year old... I thought about having them paint something
but could not make that work so I am thinking of a
quick demonstration piece I can do that will keep their
attention and still take up time. Don't get me wrong, I love
kids and will have a fun time. If your looking for a little
excitement stop in at 10am!! After that I need to pack
the van. Its almost not worth packing because the show
is a block away from the house. Saturday is the Lititz Art
show. Its free so consider a visit to Lititz.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Heron

4" x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

This is the 1st of 2 heron paintings I am
working on. I am not offering it for sale
at this time. I am working on them as a
commission for a client and he has first
rights of refusal. Which ever one he does
not take will go on eBay later.

It was a usual busy day here. We volunteered
a bit this morning at the food bank. Ran a few
errands. Worked with a wholesale client and
I painted. Suddenly you look up and its 9:30!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Marbles in Sunlight

4" x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

This cabinet sets inside my front door and
some days there is this wonderful morning
light that floods in. I keep experimenting with
different objects and watch how the light changes.
This antique jar is full of old marbles. Normally
the marbles are full of color but with light across
them they get more translucent. I was not sure
I could get the feeling I wanted using watercolor
paints however I am pretty happy with this one.

We spent a lot of the day experimenting with
chairs and bed rails with my Mother today. The new
chair we got yesterday did not work but the bed rail is
great. Everything takes so much time. I did get to
paint all afternoon and went with Linda to Yoga for
an hour. I still have a bit of framing to get squeezed
in tonight before bed!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Portrait #6

4" x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

I went with a portrait today. Another from
my Liberian subjects. I was drawn to the
peacefulness of her face. She has an aura of
inner calm. She is singing with closed eyes.
I do these to please myself. I used a satin
polymer over the top which gives it an oil
painting look.

Busy running some errands today. My Mom
fell again last week and we are trying to make
a few changes to make it easier for her. We went
on a hunt for a chair she can use to get dressed
and for a bed rail. We also were on the hunt for

a gold frame that Linda will know is just the right
one when she sees it! I am painting a set of four
landscapes that we want to frame in a more
contemporary frame. I ordered a new banner for
the tent and colored business cards. Going for class...
but under it all its still me!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Window Study #12

6" x 4" original watercolor
SOLD
I like painting parts of a whole. So here I
have just a small part of an old window with
pealing white paint. But its the sunlight creating
wonderful shadows inside the window that
moved me. The bowl offers a spot of color.
I used a satin polymer over the top. I have
every intention of painting this larger, showing
more of the window.

I have been away from my blog for quite a while.
My last show had me on the road for a week and
as it always happens it rained on my last day, making
it necessary to set everything up in my yard to dry off.
And since we have everything up we (Linda) decided
we might as well scrub it till it sparkles! While not
blogging, I have still been painting larger works, so go
to my website under originals and check them out.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Tuesday checkin...

So much to share... where do I start...

1) Announcing....my new website
Linda and our webman just launched my newly
designed website. Go check it out and feel free to comment!
www.andysmithartist.com

If you need a webman let me know and I will give you
our guys info. He was easy to work with and Linda
uses him all the time.


2) We are again packed and ready to leave in the morning.
Off to State College, yes the big Penn State show.

The Show:
CENTRAL PA FESTIVAL of the ARTS (Penn State)
Date: JULY 10th to the 13th
Space: # A01 on Allen Street
Thurs. Fri. & Sat. 10-8 and Sun. 12-5
http://www.arts-festival.com/2008_festival_home.html


3) With all the rising costs, I realize I am selling an item few
of you really need! So to help a little...
Andy's stimulus discount...

15% off any purchase of an Andy Smith painting
or print either at a show, at the studio or on line!
You need to print out this offer to use it!
Offer good until August 31, 2008

4) I was totally wrapped up in finishing two larger
paintings I had been working on and there was
no time to paint a blog piece. And with my show schedule
lately I just could not get to it. But I will share the
new originals with you. I still have the windmill half finished.

Storm King View
framed 29X25











Untitled...
I need to ponder it!
framed 17X24

Friday, July 4, 2008

Waterlily #4

6" x 4" original watercolor $225.00
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

I was lucky to get to see a waterlily from
directly over top of it. Last week a friend took
Linda and I to see the Cuyahoga Valley National
Park and they had a boardwalk out over the water
and you could look down over the waterlilies.
It was filled with beautiful while lilies with yellow
centers. Notice the water drops on the leaves.

I can be found in Lewes, DE this Saturday.
Show:
JULY 5 ST. PETER'S ART SHOW
Held in Historic Lewes, DE
Space #114 on Market Street
in front of the Hotel Rodney
9am to 4pm free!! rain or shine!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

1949 Packard Custom Eight

6" x 4" original watercolor $300.
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

I wanted a challenge today. Something I could
sink my brushes into and get lost in. I have a
client who attends auto shows and sends me photos
with odd angles that I enjoy. So here is the hood
of a 1949 Packard, I fell in love with the swan,
notice its reflection in the paint. I also enjoyed the
gleam of the sun reflecting the warmth of the day.
While this painting is realism when you pull it apart
like a puzzle it is very abstract.

Linda picked up a nasty cold over the weekend and
I somehow convinced her to rest most of the day.
No easy feat! So I was left to my own devices!
It is only 9PM so I am going to work on my windmill
painting for a little while.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Windmill

5" x 5" original watercolor $225.00
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

I painted this as a study sketch for a larger
painting. I needed to figure out the upper
part of the windmill. Study the sky against the
dark treetops. To get a better feel for the painting.
I also did a sketch in my sketch book.

Below is the large painting. I used this one as my
demo painting at my show in Ohio this past weekend.
You can see the pencil lines. For the blue sky, I wet
the area I wanted blue and then added color, let it
dry and added more blue. I will go back to that later.

I am painting around the clouds, saving the white paper.
I then painted an under painting of yellow ochre which
you can no longer see, covering the trees. On top of the
yellow I started layering my green. The size is about
20x23. I will share more on this piece as I get more
accomplished.

My past weekend was wet. It was a good quality show
and I did ok. Not great but ok. Every time it started to
get momentum, it stormed. Water is just laying
everywhere in that part of Ohio. I had to unpack
everything today to dry it out. Tents, camper, painting...