Those Banana Trees 3

Our neighbors at Sea Island have several banana trees that actually produce bananas! I have always loved these trees, and I could not resist painting them... this time in watercolor. What do you think?
Are you ready for a banana split? How about some "Bananas Foster"?

Those Banana Trees 3

8 x 10 - Watercolor

$100

A "Present" from the Past

I have just spent the most enjoyable weekend in Norcross at a painting workshop taught by Karen Appleton. She was teaching in Atlanta until she moved to Chicage seven years ago. Karen is a fabulous artist, and a wonderful teacher. It was great to reconnect with several people who were students in her classes when I was fortunate enough to take panting from her.
This painting of a "Present" is what we worked on this weekend. Karen's "Present paintings" are one thing I remember her painting here in Atlanta. If you own one, consider yourself very fortunate.
Here is my attempt at painting a present.

"A Present from the Past"

10 x 10 - Oil

Beach Club - Quiet time

I wanted to paint the quiet time at our favorite hang out at the beach. The Beach Club is a place where we love to go to swim, walk, read, drag a chair down to the beach and enjoy the breeze, catch up with friends, enjoy a seafood buffet , a strawberry dacquirit and... well, you get the idea. There is that beautiful quiet time in the morning before everyone starts to arrive. That was the inspiration for this painting. I hope you enjoy it. I had fun painting it!

Umbrellas & Agapanthus are Waiting

8 x 8 - Oil

$200

St. Simons Island May Morning

I love painting my favorite place St. Simons Island, Georgia. It never ceases to amaze me how much natural beauty is there. One morning last May, I was there, and was captivated by the vivid blue sky, and the very white clouds. The trees of the Island are always amazing in their mystery of shapes and the delicate Spanish Moss that drapes from them.

St. Simons Island May Morning

8 x 8- Oil

$200

Painting with Passion

I have just returned from a wonderful 3-day workshop in Chattanooga, Tennessee with artist Dreama Tolle Perry. In addition to having a ton of fun and meeting a neat group of like-minded painter gals, I am learning to honor and paint my passions. (Interesting to note that Steve Jobs was a huge believer in doing what you are passionalt about.) Anyway, here is one of my inspirations. I hope you enjoy the painting!

What do you mean "Get off of the Clean Laundry!"?

8 x 10 - Oil

New Items

Hi - I don't know where the summer has gone!
 I haver been painting, but not posting much. Sometimes, I find the creative process takes a detour. I have been exploring some ideas this summer, and I will be sharing more of them with you in future posts. Today, I want to share my newly printed of notecards. These are reproductions of some of my most popular paintings. There are 4 images (2 of each) for a set of 8 notecards and envelopes. They make great gifts! I hope you like them. You can purchase them on my website     valeepennpaintings.com
 Look under the category "Other Items". They measure approximately 4.5" x 5.5".

I have a new store on Etsy!

I have been working, experimenting, playing, painting and photographing- now, I have finally opened my store on Etsy. The name of the store is  ..........ArtByValee

Check it out, and see what you think. I will be adding new items often!

Thanks for stopping by!

Coastal Georgia- Great painting experience

I have just returned from a painting workshop with artist Laurel Daniel on St. Simons Island. We painted outdoors, and were blessed with some wonderful weather, beautiful scenery and the opportunity to meet and make new friends. Here is one of my favorite photos from the workshop. My friend's husband sailed his boat up the tidal creeks to check on our painting progress. I want to give a "shout out" to Guy and Linda- he a wonderful sailor and she a wonderful artist!

"Missy" in Lilly

 My cat "Missy" is constant entertainment. She is the most curious creature I have ever encountered. ( "Inquiring feline minds want to know- Now!")  I think she lives by the motto "If I fit, then I must sit". She hopped into a colorful shopping bag from the Lilly store, and was just waiting for me to take her photo. She is really a cool kitty!

 "Missy" in Lilly

5 x 7 - Oil

Wesleyan Artists' Market

I have just finished exhibiting at the Wesleyan Artists' Market. This is a great event held at the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, GA. There were a lot of wonderful artisis there, and the entertainment provided by the students was amazing!

View from the second floor

My booth at the show

My friend and her grandson

This is one of my first attempts in a long time to paint the figure. I can remember taking figure drawing in school, and feeling like all I was doing was insulting the model. I hope my friend will forgive me for painting her and her grandson, but hey, at least I gave it a shot! - and I had so much fun doing it!

Jack and GrandVan

5 x 7 - Oil

"Olive" you

This is one of my favorite shells to find when I am beach walking. It is an Olive shell, and is the state shell of South Carolina (I did not know they had state shells, but they apparently do).
My Mom and I always make a point of adding to our collection of these beauties when we are at the beach.

Olive Shell

Oil - 6 x 6

$100

Wesleyan Artist Market

I have been selected to participate this year in the upcoming Wesleyan Artist market! It will feature over 80 artists and I am really excited to be a part of it!

The event will be held at The Wesleyan School - 5405 Spalding Drive, Norcross, GA  30092

Thursday, May 2nd 7:00pm - 9 pm

Friday May 3rd 9:00 am - 7:00 pm

Saturday May 4th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

. For  more information on hours and directions, go to  www.wesleyanartistmarket.org
Please stop by and see all of the terrific items that are there (just in time for Mother's Day, Graduation, etc.).

Happy Spring & "What's up with that"?

After taking 2 months off from blogging, I am happy to be back! I spent the last couple of months doing a large commission,  attending workshops, painting, and getting ready for an upcoming show. Oh yeah, and trying to get my studio assistant to understand that paper towels are NOT evil, and that they pose NO threat! (I am still not sure she completely understands this, but I will keep trying.)

Once again, "Missy" has triumphed over the "Evil" paper towels, 

thus keeping the studio safe!

My painting has been undergoing some experimentation . I have done a series of 4 shells.

Here is the first of 4.

Shell 1

Oil - 6 x 6

$100

0

Today's Lesson

Today I spent all day painting. It was raining cats and dogs, the wind was blowing, etc. All in all, a great day to spend at the easel. So, what was finished at the end of the day? One canvas that had hosted two paintings, and had been WIPED DOWN TWICE! This left me with no painting, but with a lovely toned canvas. Frustrating? Yes!  But, I learned a good lesson. It is not what ends up on the canvas that matters. What matters is:
 1.Showing up in the studio and putting the effort and energy into creating something, even if I am the only one to see it before it gets wiped down.
2. HAVING FUN!

The value of "Value"

New year, new workshops! I just returned from an amazing workshop in St. Simons Island, GA that was all about "Value". For those of you who are not familiar with what value is, I explain it as the degree of lightness or darkness of an object.  WHITE is the lightest value (there is nothing lighter that white), and that BLACK is the darkest value (there is nothing darker than black).
A "Value Scale" has white at one end of the scale, and black at the opposite end. In the middle is a perfect "middle value" grey. Moving from this center toward white, the grey gets progressively lighter. Moving from this center toward the black, the grey gets progressively darker. Here is my "Value Painting" of two pears. There is no color, only darks and lights. It's important to know this because when you paint, if a painting has it's values correct, it looks more 3 dimensional and is more pleasing to view.

Value Study of 2 Pears

8" x 10"

Oops- I meant to post this

Well, I published the wrong photo. Go figure. Here is my first painting for 2013. Enjoy!

Soft Summer Sky 1

New Year, New Things

In this new year, one of my pledges is to paint more freely. Easier said than done, but, after cleaning the house, taking the Christmas tree down and packing everything away, I had procrastinated all I could. It was time to tackle an abstract landscape. It was like starting out on a trip with no map, but you kind of knew where you wanted to end up. Here is my first painting for 2013. I hope you enjoy it!

Soft Summer Day 1

6 x 8 - Oil

Happy New Year !

It feels great to be back in the studio after taking a break! I hope everyone had a great holiday, and that you are all off to a good start to 2013! I have some fun things lined up for this year that I will be sharing with you along the way. For now, here is my final floral for 2012. Hope you like it! In the language of flowers, this one represents "pure affection".

Deep Pink Orchid

11 x 14 - Oil
$300