Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful day to reflect on how good God is.

Diet Coke original mixed media painting commission

5" by 7" acrylic and paper collage on canvas. SOLD

Here's a commission piece I finished up a couple of days ago. It felt so good to be back in the studio! I've been doing all kinds of piddly things that go along with the holidays and some of it has even been fun.

Last day of 20% off in Etsy store and BCAA show

Net Effects after Turner by Kenny Jones. This is my husband's painting that won Best of Show in the Big Country Art Association show this weekend. It's done in ink on a 24" by 36" wood panel in ink. Be sure and click on it to see all of the layers. He is my all time favorite artist! I am so thrilled when his art get's affirmed by others. He supports us by teaching...sometimes not having enough time to do art during the semester and yet is unfailingly supportive of my art. He gives me the opportunity to paint.
Polyphonic, 24" by 36" acrylic and mixed media on canvas.

You may have seen this painting of mine earlier on the blog. I was happy to get a third place with it in the 2 dimensional category of the BCAA.

This is the last day of my 20% off special in my Etsy shop. If you enter the coupon code DEC2010 as you check out it will automatically discount it by 20%. I'll disable this code in the morning. I'm still having free shipping for USA and Canada and half price for International shipping right now. This will last until Dec 20th. If I haven't changed it to reflect this special on the listing in the store, then I will change it for you before you buy if you contact me or I will just refund it to you by Paypal after you pay. Hope that makes sense.

Winter Peppergrass original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

12" square acrylic and mixed media on gessoed masonite with raised wooded circles. You can click on the image for more details. SOLD

I'm finally done with this one. It was a day for going back to older, unfinished work and trying to resolve them. I love how the remnants of different stages show through. The image is one of a weed called peppergrass. It's an image I've used several times...just enthralled with it's form I guess. Lately the winter sun has been shining in my studio at such a low bright angle. It's entirely different from the summer sunshine. This artwork is a way for me to capture that oblique cool light.

I'm having a cyber monday deal in my Etsy shop that will last for a week. Now through Monday Dec 6th use this coupon code at checkout: DEC2010 for 20% off as well as Free USA and Canadian shipping and half off of international shipping until Dec 20th! Just convo me for a revise.

FREE USA and Canada shipping special, Salvia and Pickle Slump original mixed media paintings

6" by 6" ( SOLD) and 12" by 12" acrylic and mixed media collage on gallery wrapped canvas.SOLD

Right now I'm having a free USA and Canada shipping and half price International shipping sale. This will go on until December 20th. If you see something in my Etsy store, just shoot me an email and I will revise the listing to reflect the special.

I've been busy chopping and cooking and cleaning and getting ready for Thanksgiving. Here are a couple of pieces I've managed to work on lately too. I am so thankful to God for all the blessings we have. Also, I'm thankful for you who take the time to look at my work. Hope you all have a fantastic time with your family tomorrow!

AND THE WINNER IS....

Painted Paper!!! Laura, if you will just email me at pollyjonesart@gmail.com with your address, I will pop the pumpkin painting in the mail for you. Thanks everyone for all of your comments to enter and all of the new followers and subscribers! I will be doing this again. I really appreciate you guys for taking the time to look at what I do. It challenges me to work harder and keeps me from feeling isolated in my studio.

Painted Paper is a vibrant blog with great ideas for art projects for children written by Laura, an experienced elementary art teacher. You should definitely check it out.

That's my husband's impartial hand, not my daughter...she's still not emerged from under her covers. Kenny had a surprising amount of suggestions for how to do this, including what to put the papers in. However, I prevailed with my gorgeous little yellow teapot.

Giveaway Reminder and New Mixed Media for CCA show

"Be/Wilder" 24" by 36" original mixed media painting for the group show "Guilded" at the CCA. It opens November 13th.

Here's another reminder of my pumpkin painting giveaway. I just want to thank everyone for all your kind comments!!! You don't know how much I appreciate you guys reading my blog, much less saying such great things. The deadline to put your name in the pot is Friday. Some time on Saturday morning I'll print off names from the comment section and Facebook and get my daughter to draw a name out of a bowl. Details and place to enter here: http://pollyjones.blogspot.com/2010/10/8-square-acrylic-on-gessoed-masonite.html

Pumpkin painting Giveaway

8" square acrylic on gessoed masonite. I'm doing a giveaway! This is the painting you could win. I meant to do this sooner but have been under the weather and terribly unproductive. I plan to have the drawing in one week on Friday, November 5th. Here's how to enter for the drawing:

1. Either subscribe to this blog (from upper right sidebar subscribe box) or sign up to Follow (also at the right sidebar but further down) If you already get emails or follow, then just go to number 2.

2. After you've done that then make a comment under this post.

3. To double your chances you can also sign up for my Facebook fan page (button on my blog sidebar). I use FB for notifying people of sales etc.

4. If you have any questions let me know!

Acorns for Steve original still life painting

4" square acrylic on wood panel

I put an orange underpainting with intentions of leaving bits peaking through for warmth. I ended up heavy with the paint and had to come back on top with it. I haven't painted this small in a while...honestly it takes as much time for me to do an 8" one. Acorns are symbols of patience and in some cultures it's good luck to carry them around in your pocket.

Apartment Therapy Contest

I entered the Room For Color Contest over at Apartment Therapy a couple of weeks ago. It's a peoples choice type of contest where everyone votes for their favorite and the winner gets a trip to New York and regional winners get 15 gallons of Behr paint. My chances are pretty slim but I thought I would go ahead and share the link so you could see my living room and all the really great colorful rooms entered. The first link is to my room but you can navigate from there to see all the entries.

http://community.apartmenttherapy.com/contests/color/2010/entries/569

Blue Willow Stack original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" acrylic and mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas. On SOLD

Twice yesterday I had uploaded photos of this painting and planned on posting here only to discover when I looked at the photo on the computer that it was all wrong. Something about condensing it down helps problems show up.

For me, the bowl ended up sometimes seeming solid and clunky and sometimes atmospheric with the ship floating around. I really want that kind of tension in my work because I like paradoxes.

Late Bloomers original still life painting by Polly Jones again

Sorry, something happened and my image didn't show in the previous post. SOLD

Late Bloomers original still life painting by Polly Jones

8" square acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. On Etsy here.

I'm reduced to picking flowers from my potted vinca and a little "knockout" rose. I got this rose bush because it's easy to care for, but in my heart I long for the cantankerous to grow old fashioned cabbage roses.

Pumpkin original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

6" square acrylic and paper on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

I used the text as highlight on my pumpkin which was painted on top of a dictionary page.

Cup of Pear original still life painting by Polly Jones

6" square acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

Today I said no to housework and yes to cheesecake and painting. It was a really good day. This little blue willow painting was done last week. In the studio today I worked on some larger paintings that I'm attempting to find a way to resolve.

Pear original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

6" square acrylic and mixed media on canvas. SOLD

I'm not sure about that painting in the top picture right. I think I'm going to work on the background some more.

Birthday Cupcake painting

8" by 8" acrylic on canvas.

Here's a little memento from my daughter's birthday. My baby isn't a baby anymore.

Lazy Day Pumpkin original painting by Polly Jones

8" square acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. In my SOLD

I was too tired and lazy to do collage with this one today so just enjoyed painting with paint.

Center Stage Spoon original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" acrylic and mixed media collage painting on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

Spoon patterns conjure up a lot of memories. This one is from my mother.

Peach Study original mixed media by Polly Jones

6" acrylic mixed media on canvas. Here's the last peach for a while. SOLD

Winged Garlic original mixed media still life painting by Polly Jones

5" square acrylic and mixed media on cradled wood panel. SOLD.

A little smaller than usual.

Pepper With Uneven Cut original mixed media still life painting by Polly Jones

8" acrylic and paper on gallery wrapped canvas. On Etsy here.

One reason I combine layers of collage with painting is how it's a way to hint at how complicated and full of memory that "looking" can be. For instance, many years ago when we lived in Knoxville, I had a gig as a demonstrating artist at a KMA event. I was doing a large painting of a bell pepper and an older man came up and stood there a while just watching. He finally said, "I'm so glad someone else feels that way about bell peppers!" It was kind of funny because he seemed to be embarrassed that he was moved by the beauty of a vegetable. Now when I am cutting up peppers and looking at them, I always feel a kinship with that man. So that's one thing I think about when painting peppers. Another is how I plan to use it in a recipe later if it doesn't shrivel too much. Another influence is Edward Weston's famous black and white photographs of peppers changing the way we see them. We bring a lot to our looking and that can make it messy in a lovely way.

More Peaches original mixed media still life painting by Polly Jones

8" acrylic mixed media painting on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

I did a painting almost the same as this one a while back and then had a lovely request for a similar one. I don't mind doing this because it's such a learning experience. It forces me to analyze what I had done more spontaneously before and I bring a different kind of thinking to it. Luckily peaches are still in season so I was able to set it all up again.

Red Sugar Bowl original painting

6" square acrylic on canvas.

I've been wrestling with about three large, unruly mixed media pieces lately. It was a relief to do this small one. My intention was to not overwork it. I've been admiring Linda Hunt's work lately because of her fantastic, luscious brushwork, never overworked. You can catch her paintings here.