RearrangedDesign

Here's an image of a large painting in our house that I did last year. The ping pong table is usually not so empty. Right now it has wood scraps and the makings of a catapult that my daughter is making for her physics class. They will be launching small pumpkins with them. I just know that she is going to be asking for one of my little pumpkins to test it out. Later today I plan to post another pumpkin painting when I solve a certain problem area and can get a good photo.

Our house was featured on Rearranged Design, a wonderful design blog. There are more images of our house here. If you are curious like me and love to see inside other peoples houses you should definitely check out all of Ana's house tours.

Three Bananas original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" by 8" acrylic and collage on cradled wood panel, ready to hang with no frame necessary. On Etsy here.

Thinking about my micro/macro world while painting another little still life.

I've always been grateful for the fact that in our family of three we are perfectly coordinated to like every stage of the ripening banana. My daughter loves only the very green bananas, I like them when they have just stopped being green, and my husband will eat them from ripe to overripe.

Sweet Sweet Life blog

Flickr is such an incredible place for inspiration.. There are some amazing images and sense of community. Recently I put some photos of our home up and connected with Amy from the fabulous Sweet Sweet Life blog. She just did a feature on our house right here. Amy is a young mom with loads of creativity and energy. I love her sense of color. The top picture is one of her mixed media art works. Below that is a photo that came from her Flickr stream.

la la lovely

Just wanted to tell you about a wonderful lifestyle blog with the byline of "the everyday should be fun" Isn't that great! It is written by Trina McNeilly. I'm thrilled to have my work featured on la la lovely right here.

Two Little Pumpkins original painting by Polly Jones

8" square acrylic on 3/8 inch thick gessoed masonite.

Here's one I painted last week. My favorite part is the little triangle of light between the two pumpkins. I love it when light becomes more intense around the edges of objects. That's something I started noticing when I looked at Duane Keiser's still life work.

September Flowers original contemporary still life painting by Polly Jones

16" by 20" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas with 1 and 3/8" profile. This is wired and ready to hang without a frame. On Etsy here.

These three flowers in my yard made me think of the song "If We Make It To September" that my parents sing to each other jokingly when times get tough. The zinnias were not quite as fresh and big as the first bloomers but they survived a lot of heat and sporadic watering; I quite admire them.

Little Striped Pumpkin original contemporary still life painting by Polly Jones

8" square acrylic original painting on 3/8" thick masonite panel, unframed. SOLD

I am so excited that it's pumpkin time. I loved painting this small one with loose brush strokes and strong color.

Laura's Peppers original contemporary still life painting

8" square acrylic painting on gessoed masonite, unframed. For sale on Etsy here.

My sister brought me these peppers that she grew in her own garden. I loved how they posed, especially the front one that has a diva like presence.

"Surviving" collaboration at The Center for Contemporary Arts

Thought I would post a photo from the opening last night. It was a wonderful night with several shows opening at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Abilene . This is the collaboration piece that Kerry DiGioia and I did as part of the challenge at CCA of matching up a board member and an artist to create something together. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and getting to know Kerry. We brought together images of a cancer cell, tulips, collage elements of her daughter's paintings, collage elements of crowns, flowers, and insects. We were amazed when color choices and patterns I had begun on canvas synchronized with the paintings Kerry brought of her daughters on our first meeting.

Friday night opening at The Center for Contemporary Art

Friday, September 18th at 6:30 will be the opening reception at The Center for Contemporary Arts for several exhibits. Gallery 3 (upstairs) will have a collaborative exhibit called "Get on Board" the center's Artist and Board Members. I had the pleasure of collaborating on a mixed media painting with board member Kerry DiGioia. I can't wait to see the other collaborations. We'll be there tomorrow night, hope to see you there!

Thirsty

8" square mixed media painting on gessoed masonite. SOLD

I've a fascination for spoons in glasses and have done several paintings involving that little drama. (I am easily amused) With this one, I was thinking about the idea of seeing the glass half empty or half full. Some days it's so hard to see the half full one. The map page from a vintage golden book encyclopedia of India was actually not an intentional association but a more random pick. Hope it's not too heavy handed, but I like the reference.

Limes in Blue Willow 3 original painting by Polly Jones

6" square acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

I did this by request for someone. Don't know why I still have so much fun with this same set up of limes and my familiar blue willow bowl. I just really like trying to capture the affects of light on these particular objects.

Blueberries, One at a Time original painting by Polly Jones

6" by 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas SOLD

Loving blueberry season. With all the good press blueberries get I feel virtuous when I eat them.

12" by 12" acrylic on canvas. This is a larger version of another painting I'd done a while back. It was by request of a lovely collector. I enjoy doing paintings people ask me to do. In order to not freeze up while doing them, though, I let them know ahead of time that if they don't like the result they don't have to buy it. Otherwise I get stage fright.

More Limes in Blue Willow original painting by Polly Jones

12 inches by 12 inches acrylic on canvas. SOLD

Here's a larger version of an earlier painting. It was by request from a lovely collector.

Free shipping and progress shot

I spend a lot of time looking at my pictures upside down. It's the best way to figure out drawing problems as it forces me to look at what's really going on with ellipses and symmetry without getting caught up in what they are depicting.

I thought I would let you know that I'm having a free world wide shipping special in my Etsy store right now. You can read more about it at my shop announcement HERE.

Blue Garlic original painting by Polly Jones

6 inches square acrylic on canvas. SOLD

I did this one completely with my new Interactive acrylics. Still getting used to them. I can't predict their drying time very well and am having a time of it dragging up underlayers with top brushwork. It's exciting to be able to reanimate the paint though.

I have another garlic painting as one of the images in an article in the Etsy blog, The Storque. The article is about a vampire series on HBO called "True Blood" We don't get cable so I haven't watched it or heard of it. I'm excited to have an image on the Etsy blog, they get tons and tons of viewers. Click here to see the article.

Tomato Party original painting by Polly Jones

6 inches square gallery wrapped chunky canvas. SOLD

I did this one a while back in regular acrylics of a few of the cherry tomatoes we rescued before the squirrels, birds and yes, even the dog got at them. Since receiving a wonderful present of Interactive Acrylics by Chroma from my dear husband, I decided to experiment with them on top of this piece I wasn't very happy with. I'm happier with it now. The paints are bizarre. They have a longer "open" time which just means they don't dry as fast as regular acrylics and are supposed to have more of an oil paint feel to them. You can even mist them if they dry up a bit and it makes them wet again. This is quite astonishing if you are used to acrylics which is a do or die type situation. I'm still in the experimenting stage with them as I have a lot of acrylic type habits. Anyone out there tried these yet?

Original Dawn original painting by Polly Jones

acrylic and collage on 11 inches by 14 inches cradled wooden artists panel

I like using glass to look through at ordinary items like dawn dish washing soap and other stuff I see around my house. This one is set up on a favorite Vera Neuman red and white scarf. I painted it on my birthday. The map circles are related to sunlight ratios which I related to the idea of "original dawn" At my Etsy store.

Sunflower in a Blue Bottle original painting

8 inches square on canvas. SOLD
The colors on this top picture are more accurate than the lower one which is too dark on the yellow. This painting was from a volunteer sunflower in the backyard...one of those tall ones with branches and smallish flowers. I had a lot of fun with thick paint and texture.

I've been struggling lately with anything I thought worth posting, working on larger work that is still unfinished.

Peach Puzzle original contemporary still life painting by Polly Jones

8" by 8" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas with 1.5" profile. SOLD

I loved how the colors of the peach looked inside this old blue willow bowl. This favorite bowl has taken on a delicious patina as it has aged. Maybe I will paint these little cherry tomatoes that grew on the $10 plant I had bought. I had such great plans for this tomato plant! It's so hot that the flowers are just wilting and not doing what they're supposed to do. Do I sound bitter? It is 105 degrees outside as I write this.

Pink and Garlic original painting

6 inch square acrylic on canvas SOLD

We've been away for a lovely visit with family in South Carolina. I was wishing for a painting set up to do some beach scenes, though it was probably too windy for that. This week I'm ready to work on some unfinished paintings that are driving me crazy. There must be a half dozen in unfinished states in varying sizes. I also have several more blank 6 inch canvases that are staring at me. I never dreamed at my age I would still get so excited about possibilities. You know that feeling of trying to go to sleep the night before you go on a vacation?

This Lime That Lemon

acrylic on gallery wrapped 16" by 20" canvas SOLD

I had cut these lemons to go with some fish we were having, and noticed how beautifully the curves lay together in the red bowl. Luckily no one disturbed them and I was able to begin painting them a few days ago. A lot of times some of my best still life possibilities get eaten.

Cherry Jubilee original small still life painting by Polly Jones

6 inch square on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

I haven't done 6 inch sized work in a while and somehow was thinking it would take less time to do this smaller size. That's not the case so far, in fact I think it took longer than a larger one. I kept going through a love/hate relationship with this painting. Finally I was able to resolve it by faking the color of the cherries a bit, making them a warmer red characteristic of the less ripe ones. I just don't like that dark red that a ripe cherry turns.

I love how cherries are special because they're one of the few fruits left that are seasonal in their availability. I know I don't have many chances to eat them and that seems to make them taste a little sweeter.

Of Pieridae and the Language of Flowers

18 inches by 24 inches acrylic and mixed media collage on cradled wooden artist panel.

I had posted this one, almost finished, about a month ago here. The ellipse of the middle vase was driving me crazy and I wasn't happy with the circle grid yet. Sometimes it really helps to let a piece sit for a while.

I have used a variety of images in order to express the delight I find in exploring ideas about transcendence through the humble still life. Here I've juxtaposed an iris and daffodil from the back yard with a painted tray, circles from a reproduction of Giotto paintings from the life of Jesus and moth and butterfly imagery. I wanted my use of color to express a joy and something like awe that is part of this process. (for me) Pieridae is one of the wing patterns for distinguishing different families of moths and butterflies.