"Montana de Oro, Spring" ©

Donation for ECOSLO

$95.
5x7" Oil on Canvas

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Click "Place Bid" or you can Purchase it now for $95. by sending me an e-mail, fayrene@charter.net. Either way the entire purchase price will go to the Environmental Center For San Luis Obispo County (ECOSLO).

Montana de Oro is a California State Park. It's name means 'mountain of gold', and was so named by the early Spanish explorers because in the springtime its hills (which roll down to the Pacific Ocean, are covered with wild mustard plants, as in this painting, and sometimes California Poppies. When I did this painting, I was waist deep in wild mustard. Beautiful!
Your purchase payment of this piece will be donated to the Environmental Center for San Luis Obispo. You can go to their website by clicking on their link to the left in the listing "Non-Profit Organizations I contribute to".

"Spring Things" ©

$175. 18x20" (approx.)
Watercolor

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Watercolor somehow relates in my mind with warm summer weather...which we're enjoying early right now. It should be in the 80's this afternoon. The tulips are almost all asleep for the season, so I paint them to enjoy until next Spring.

"Water Bridge" ©

This is a fine Spring Day at Crystal Cove in Pt. Lobos, Monterey, California. I sketched it there, and finished in my studio. It sold two weeks ago thru "Judith
Hale Gallery in Los Olivos. 11x14" framed oil ($1,000.)
It's rendered entirely with the palette knife.

My daily blog painting has fallen far behind with a lot of outside things. I still paint everyday, but have not been able to get to my 'daily blog paintings'. I will resume soon.
Thanks for your understanding and continued support. fayrene
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"Road Home" ©

Oil, 9x12
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Another piece for the "Go Native Show", this Sunday, May 6, at the Atascadero Lake Pavilion, 1 pm. Information at: www.atascderonativetree.org, or www.slopepainters.com/newevents.html
40% of all sales will go to the Atascadero Native Tree Assosciation.
Some musings on trees: “...for the tree of the field is man’s life”. Deuteronomy 20:19
As a child growing up in California, tree’s were certainly a very big part of my life. We climbed them, sat in them (pretending to be big birds), and swung in them - remember the old tire swings?
As an adult I value trees for their steadfastness; they are rooted in the earth; they provide our planet with oxygen, shelter and food to all the creatures
including us humans. And not least of all, for the beauty with which they enrich our lives.
Hope you can make the show.

"Story Teller" ©

$400.
High Fired Clay
12" tall x 9"
Hollow Built
No Armature Used

Before computers, before television, before radios, before telephones, before newspapers, and before the written word, there were "Story Tellers". They were the source for all history and the tribes knowledge of previous happenings. I've chosen to use a Chumash Story Teller here to symbolize the ancient method of passing on history. The Chumash are the Native American People of the California Central Coast.
I built this using my "Hollow Built" method with high fire clay. No armature was used.

"Oak Leafs" ©

$95. Oil on C/B
5x7"

I was standing under a big oak tree trying to look closely at the wildflowers and their beautiful individuality when I realized they were surrounded with all these wonderful leafs from last year. They're still beautiful and full of stories.

"Spooner Cove II" ©

$150. Oil on Stretched Canvas, 9x12"

This is the finished 'demo' that I did at "Ladies First" sponsored by Judith Hale Galleries in Los Olivos. The rocks are filled in now and the shore break completed. This nice, low price represents the fact that it's unframed and sold only here.

"Fiume Moro" ©

18" Tall Indiana Limestone on Marble

Purchase at Gallerie Amsterdam, Carmel, Ca.

This is one of the pieces of sculpture I was delivering to Carmel.
It's hand carved with a little electrical power used for polishing. Indiana Limestone is highly prized by sculptors because of it's even grain. Limestone is the result of billions of tiny water creature skeletons collecting at the bottom of a body of water and being compressed over eons of time. It's truly a marvelous and noble stone, rich in the earth's history. I'm very proud to say this piece was in one of the California Art Club's Gold Medal Shows. Purchase at Gallerie Amsterdam in Carmel.

"Iris-Poppy Pond" ©

$100. 11x14" Oil on Canvas Board

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This beautiful Iris pond bordered by California Poppies was too hard to resist. I finished the painting quickly - about 45 minutes because it's in a commercial nursery. I painted this about 2 years ago at the Iris Farm in Santa Margarita, again along the El Camino Real.

"Mission San Miguel Archangel" ©

$95.
Oil on Canvas Board
Sale to be donated
to Mission San Miguel

Mission San Miguel Archangel is just north of Paso Robles. The devasting earthquake a few years ago caused major damage. It's a beautiful mission steeped in Central Coast history.
This gate enters the north side of their walled cemetery. Click on the 'history' button at their website www.missionsanmiguel.org for an interesting tour.

"Full of Joy"©

$95.
5x7" Oil on Canvas Board

100% of sale to be donated
to Woods Humane

"Shelby" our Alaskan Malamute mix running full out at the beach....racing to meet what ever life has to offer and 'full of joy'.(100% of this purchase price will be donated to Woods Humane Society from whence we adopted Shelby 5 years ago. She had been in and out of Woods so many times in her first 5 years of life that they had trained her to be a 'care giver' - traveling to hospitals and children's wards.)

"Avila Ridge" ©

$95.
5x7" oil on canvas board

Avila Ridge is between us and the ocean. My husband Ted Parrish took the beautiful
photograph from which I did this painting.

Basic Color Palette & Brushes

Here's the 'basic color' palette I use for both land and seascapes. From the bottom, (left to right) is raw and burnt umber;
raw and burnt sienna; and then reading straight up - cadmium medium yellow; cadmium medium red - the two blended for orange; alizarin crimson; ultramarine blue deep - the two blended to make black - with white added for a purple; sap green; permanent green medium; and white. Use the best grade of oils you can. I've found it very important to be consistent with the same brand. Brands do have a variance in their colors and permanency once in a great while, but by being consistant with a brand, a color variance is noticeable immediately. I use Rembrandt oils. Winsor Newton is also excellent. My white is Permalba brand. It's a fluffy mix of zinc oxide and titanium white.
The brushes I prefer are bristle 'Silver Grand Prix' brights, ...using the biggest sizes I can - and for the finer work, 'Silver Renaissance' sables. I have positioned the #8 bright next to the #8 flat to show the actual bristle length difference. I like the flats for work that needs a more flexible 'hand' in laying down the paint. I hope this is useful. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have fun with it.

"Ladies First"...Judith Hale Gallery, Los Olivos

This past weekend was the Judith Hale Gallery's annual "Ladies First" event in Santa Inez Valley. Artists are spread throughout the gallery's sculpture garden demonstrating their medium, music plays and fine food and wine is served.
It's a wonderful time and the artists get to catch up with their collectors and friends. I was demonstrating palette knife painting.

Here's the layout of the demo showing the knives - two 1-1/4" knives and one 2" knife. I've laid in the sky and ocean with my knives, and brushed in the rock and shore area with a bristle #10 bright. My next step is to put in the details of rocks and shore water with the knives.
My next blog will show the basic palette layout of paints and the brushes I use.

"Pipers"©

$95.
11 3/4 x 4", 260/350
Hand pulled etching
on 100% rag paper.
(Price includes copper
etching plate)

This is the last piece to be pulled from this plate and the last remaining piece in the edition. I like to sell the plate with the last piece in the edition. They look great framed together with different matt openings. Because copper etching plates are quite soft and will not hold up for a larger size edition, I plate them with stainless steel. This is a true intaglio etching. My March 11 post,"A Garden is..." is an embossed relief etching. That's my smallest palette knife in the second photo. I use it for my small oils

"Winter Jewels"©

$95.
5 x 7" Oil on Canvas Board

Stately Sycamores follow the creek that meanders through our canyon. They treat us to beautiful colors every winter and help chase the grey days. We’ve had a lot of welcome rain the last couple of weeks, and it’s washed the last leafs from the trees. These lovely little, jeweled ‘leaf boats’ were floating on a puddle the other morning. The colors flashed and I quickly tried to capture them on canvas.

"Sunset Kiss"

$95.
5 7" Oil on Canvas Board

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The sun is just about to set at Avila Beach. It rained yesterday and we’re expecting a storm tomorrow, but yesterday afternoon was full of color and salt-fresh air. The horizon wa filled with ‘lumps’ testifying to the storms aftermath and new approach several miles off shore.

"Salt Spring Sunset"©

$95.
5 x 7", oil on canvas board

It rained here on the Central Coast yesterday, so I took out my photo file and came across a shot that has a lot memories.
We were fortunate to be able to cruise the San Juan and Gulf Islands while living in the Northwest. I’d carry my paints and sketchbook aboard to use when we were anchored or hiking about. Salt Spring Island is home to many wonderful artist. It's mostly rural, quiet, beautiful and sits just off the eastern shore of Vancouver Island. It was our last trip to BC before returning to California, and we’re heading home. The sun setting over Salt Spring Island was one of those great photo opportunities. I’ve painted it here as a ‘postcard’ size memory of our wonderful times there.

"Santa Margarita-Mid Winter" ©

5x7” on canvas Board, $95.

Santa Margarita is a lovely, small town on the old El Camino Real (“The Kings Highway”), and it still retains it’s western motif. It's nestled at the northern base of the Cuesta Grade. We're looking West at 3 pm. The densely forested hills (mostly coastal and valley Oaks) flow West about 18 miles from here to Morro Bay. As I stand there painting, it’s easy to slip back in time and imagine donkeys and wagons moving along the El Camino Real between Mexico and San Francisco. You can almost hear their gear rattling and small talk amongst the travelers.

"Passing Storm" ©

$95.
5x7", oil on canvas board

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It’s almost 8 am and there’s a storm passing at sea. It’s about 15 miles out and reaches from North of San Simeon to the South, near Pt. Conception. It’s balmy and clear here with a light off shore breeze. My palette knife is busy and our dog Shelby - a big black and copper Alaskan Malamute, is off running down the beach chasing puddles and cranky gulls. I’m counting my blessings and thinking how lucky to be living in paradise.