January 31 Bamboo in a Bowl

The 31st painting and the end of the first month of 2010. It's been a good challenge, so far, and definitely will continue. Even though it was a busy weekend, on the road to take in live theatre and spend time with family, I managed to paint yesterday morning and painted this one after returning home tonight. I didn't have to travel with paints.

11" x 14" $310

January 30 Turkish Coffee

Let's celebrate almost one month of daily paintings and have a little cup of Turkish coffee. Most everyone knows how much I like coffee. I have a variety of coffee "makers" from the daily Proctor Silex to a French press, ceramic tea pot type coffee pot and the Turkish set. It's a collection. I've even roasted green coffee beans and though it was a fun experiment, I generally leave the roasting to the experts.

I work with Mark Turner at the Five Wings Arts Council. Mark likes coffee dark and strong. So do I. He surprised me when he said that one of the best cups of coffee in the area can be had at Burger King. It surprised me because I'd made the same discovery some years ago.

8" x 10" $300

January 29 Lunacy

lunacy \'lu-ne-se\n pl -cies [lunatic] (1541) 1 a:INSANITY b: intermittent insanity once believed to be related to phases of the moon 2: wild foolishness: extravagant folly 3: a foolish act

In honor of the nearly full moon, I painted the negative image of last night's painting, or the positive of the real thing. And in a moment of lunacy, I pressed my index finger tips into the paint in a halo around the moon.

This will be the painting, that when found at a garage sale in 2095, someone will be excited because they knew a Leasman painting existed that had the finger prints of the artist. It was created during that challenge back in twenty-ten, when the artist painted one painting every day of the whole year. Remember? And that painting has been lost for decades and here it's surfaced and is worth a bejillion dollars!

On sale now, for only $290.

8" x 10"

January 28 Grape in the Cosmos

A little about process: two palettes of half dried paint, a small "canvas," a large brush. Sweep a mixture of dark colors in broad strokes around the perimeter of the "canvas." Moving toward the center, switch to lighter colors and convert from strokes to stippling. Repeat again and again, adjusting the colors and layering the textures until I was satisfied with the effect.

The center called for a focal point of some kind. A grape. Where do ideas come from? A grape. Switch brushes and swirl in a mixture of red, blue, white and green. Adjust the colors until it looked right. Think about a grape in the cosmos. Realize that I was influenced by the bright full moon in a dark sky and this is a negative of that: a dark moon in a light sky. Or, a grape in the cosmos.

8" x 10" $280

January 27 Winter Twilight

I was driving home today, just as the sun was setting. It did lovely smoky lavendar and saffron things to the clouds. I had my camera along, but didn't stop to photograph the landscape. I should have, it would only have taken a minute. Instead, I've relied on my memory and created the third winter scene in a row. It's a little larger than some. I hope you like it.

20" x 16" $270

January 26 Bales

This scene is on the land just north of here. It's where the sandhill cranes gather before their autumn migration. The grove of trees didn't lose all of the leaves, nor were the bales picked up before the snow came.

8" x 10" $260

January 25 Winter Tree

It was another very busy day. I'd set today as my deadline to get the photos for the vinegary book to the publisher. It takes longer than you'd think to name, caption and put "a lot" of photos in files and send them via e-mail. Of course there were other items on my work agenda and I think, at 8:30 p.m., I can call it a day.

We've had some nice winter days recently. But today was cold and blustery. With winter dominating my feelings, a relatively simple winter scene was a necessity as time waned and fatigue set in. But, I think it works. I never sign a painting if I'm not satisfied with it.

11" x 14" $250