A bit of Progress, WIP Continues, Strategy for Heart of Florida Paint Out, Meatballs in Cranberry Sauce

Night Palms Series

Last Light
4x6 inches
gouache on acid free mat board

40.00
2.00 shipping

WIP Stage II

I have adjusted some of the contrast featuring the light areas against dark. A bit of detail and clean up on the color too. Tomorrow I will work more on the tree canopies. I am happy with the three dark anchors for the Notan elements in the painting. The two dark trees and the palm make a good balance for the soft, fairly neutral tree masses in the background. I wanted to get play of values against each other. Bringing the limb in front of the dark tree on the right gives me a chance to play a little, changing the value from light neutral to dark as it goes out of the dark tree plane. I like that and it is a bit fun. I love to do paintings from my travels after I have gotten settled back into the studio, when the place is still fresh in my mind.


Yesterday was one of those non-glamorous studio days that deflate the idea that professional painters have fun painting all day. I finished up the inventory for my studio sale at the book shop and stacked all of those paintings together. I started framing paintings for the garden party and putting unframed painting in the clear plastic sleeves so that they will go in the browse bins for the party. I packed up about 40 miniatures to go to one of my galleries where they are selling well.




My Strategy for Heart Of Florida


I toned about three dozen panels for the Heart of Florida Paint Out. I like to pre-toned panels for paint outs because it saves time to do so. When you are painting alla prima, you don't want to have to worry about covering every little spot of the canvas with paint. Of course the undertone also created harmony in the palette as well. I am using a variety of tones, like light Naples yellow, red iron oxide, FUB. cad red light and alizarin. I will be able to pick and choose the best tone for each day and subject. I've decided to use 5x7,6x8,8x10,12x16,14x18, and I have one canvas 18x24. I'm using those sizes because those frames are in the studio. Yippee! I won't have to buy any frames for this paint out. I'm glad I bought paint, brushes,panels and frames before Wekiva. Now I can just pack it all up and go. I have about 8 paintings already framed for the Heat of Florida. Since I have painted in that area for years, I have several paintings to start with, which will take the pressure off me for production. I will be able to take my time, doing a start each morning and rotating through them as the week goes by. I can plug in 5x7's, 6x8's and 8x10's between the work on larger paintings. I would like to do two paintings a day, but we'll see.


From what I have been told, there is alot more time spent with visitors at this event than most, so it will probably slow down my production. My strategy for that is to work very early in the morning for a couple of hours before people start to come out for the event. Then I can just pick at the paintings while we talk. That is what I do at Epcot and it works out well. My other thought is that I must find places to paint that are not knee deep in painters. Since this is my first year, most of them will have painted in Evinston over the last year or so. They will want to paint the Orange Lake overlook and the architecture in McIntosh. I have been painting at Orange Lake for a long time, so I will use the paintings already done there and I will paint in Evinston much of the time. I am guessing that there will be fewer artists in that area.


I finished up the day working on my WIP and that was a great reward. Last night I did my painting of the day in gouache so I felt tired after a very long productive day. My friend Sarah Carey suggested that I take my dog for a couple of walks each day to help him sleep better at night. Happily, she was right. My dog and I go for two walks a day, one at 5 PM an one between 11:00 PM and Midnight. We are both sleeping pretty well now.

Today's Recipe:

I found this recipe recently. It's great for a coctail party.

Meatballs in Cranberry and Pinot Noir Sauce
2 pounds lean ground beef

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon pepperPinot Noir Sauce (see recipe below)
2 (1-pound) bags frozen cocktail-size meatballs (about 64 meatballs) may be substituted.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly oil a large shallow baking dish or pan.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, celery, onion, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, and pepper: mix well.

Shape into 24 (1 1/2-inch) balls. Place in one layer in prepared baking dish.
Prepare Pinot Noir Sauce.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Pour prepared Pinot Noir Sauce over the meatballs; bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove from oven to a heated chafing dish or a slow cooker and keep warm while serving.

Serve with appetizer toothpicks.
Makes 24 small meatballs.

Pinot Noir Sauce:

1 (16-ounce) can whole cranberry sauce

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Pinot Noir wine

2 teaspoons hot Chinese mustard
In a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, add cranberry sauce, brown sugar, pinot noir wine, and Chinese mustard; stir to combine.

Let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Remove from heat; set aside.
Any red wine may be substituted.