"Angled Up in Blue"
20 X 20" oil/canvas

"Angled Up in Blue" is one of my recent still life paintings in a series I call "Contemplation." Like so many Americans, the presidential election has had me on edge for months. Setting up a still life and painting allowed me to focus as much on the "ground" as all the objects that have appeared there. The practice has literally grounded me in the Present Moment where there's peace no matter who wins or loses.

If you'd like to comment on the work or simply know more about the painting, including availability and price, please send me an email. Thanks for viewing!

Muscadines
12" x 16"
oil on canvas

This month I've switched gears from landscape to still life painting. Actually, to me a still life is more or less a landscape without wind. All paintings are really abstract designs on a two-dimensional surface. Much of the time we identify with the forms represented in that design and say the painting is "of a tree" or "of a pretty flower arangement" or whatever. With "Muscadines" I deliberately arranged the various elements, including the creases in the silk fabric, to create the abstract design of round shapes on a field of color. Of course, one always has to contend with the fact that there are actual objects on the table. In the case of this painting, the delicious fragrance of these particularly plump, ripe grapes -- a sure sign of Autumn in Georgia -- had me eating them before I finished the painting. I was forced to the local fruit stand to purchase more of them; these were promptly eated as well and I had to complete the work from memory. To learn more about this painting, including price and availability, contact me at eharold@aol.com.

On the Dune Early Afternoon

20" x 20" oil/canvas

Until last year I'd never been to Michigan, but when I finally got there I fell in love. The friend who introduced me lives a hop, skip and jump from the Vasa Trail, a cross-country ski venue in the winter, a labyrinth of walking and biking paths in the summer. While I didn't paint there on my first visit, I did spy a meadow I promised myself I would paint one day. This August I spent many fine hours there. Doing one of my first pieces, a strip of light at the top of meadow intrigued me. Following the path I'd been painting I discovered this dune. I first did a 12" x 12" study beginning around 1:00 p.m. Usually not my favorite time for plein air work, I found a patch of shade that gave me a great vantage point. I loved the study and headed back with a large canvas a week later. around the same time. A somewhat autumnal day, wonderful clouds scudded across the sky. This dune "blowout" on the Vasa Trail whet my appetite for what was to come -- the Sleeping Bear Dunes -- left behind by the glaciers that covered Michigan and points north many thousands of years ago.

Evening on the Bitterrot
16 x 16"
oil on canvas

This painting was created recently amidst a swarm of mosquitoes near Stevensville, Montana. Newly arrived around 7 in the evening, this was my first opportunity to paint a landscape in a part of the country where I lived many years ago. Those giant skeeters posed quite a challenge, however. (Abundant insect life must be one of the reasons the Bitterroot River makes for great fishing.) Fortunately, I had a small amount of bug spray in my backpack and sufficient attraction to the oval shapes formed by the branches of these cottonwood trees to not hold back. It was almost 9:00 p.m. when I completed the piece . The sky was still a deep blue and the sunlight on the trees only just beginning to fade.The mosquitoes were just getting going.

To let me know what you think, or for more information about the painting, including availability and price, visit www.EllieHarold.com.

Dunescape Martha's Vineyard
oil on canvas
30" x 40"
$2100

My First Painting of 2008

Happy New Year!

I love getting back to work after the holidays, especially when the work is making Art. As I was preparing for the Goal-Setting for Artists workshop this past weekend, it became crystal clear to me that for artists to be satisfied in life, they must Do Art. If I am to find meaning in Life, I must not simply talk about painting (as enjoyable as that is) I must also paint.

So, here is my first offering to the Painting God for 2008: a large, sunny dunescape. I've been envisioning this scene ever since painting a small study at Lambert's Cove Beach on Martha's Vineyard one afternoon last September. The effect of the large painting is that you feel you're at the beach and it's possible to walk up the path to those warmly-lit trees on the other side of the dune.

I'll be heading back down to Vieques. Siddhia Hutchinson called right after to Christmas to let me know she'd sold 4 of my paintings. Then she called a couple of days later to say she'd sold 3 more. These are really my first substantial gallery sales and I'm very pleased! I'll be painting to replenish my inventory down there and dipping my toes in the water occasionally, I'm sure.

Before I go, however, there's a show at the Marietta-Cobb Museum this Saturday evening to which I'd like to invite you if you're in the area. It's called "Reflections: Celebrating Georgia Women Artists." This is a juried show and I'm pleased to report that of 279 submissions, with 80 selected for the show, 3 are mine! The reception is from 6-8p.m. and there is a $5 admission for non-members. The Museum is housed in the old Library where I used to go to homework (and other things) when I was in high school. It will be fun to show you my work if you turn up!

I hope you're off to a fresh start doing your Art -- whatever that may be!