Beach Paradise, Oil Painting on Canvas Panel, 9x6 Seascape Daily Painting by Carmen Beecher

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I'm running out of titles for these beach scenes. How many ways can you describe such a beautiful place? I worked on this while getting windows installed and pavers put down in the driveway. My easel was really the only place I could be out of the way, so the drills were drilling and the saws were sawing, and I pretended I was back on North Captiva Island listening to the sound of the Laughing Gulls.

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Sunrise on the Dunes, 6x8 Original Oil Painting, Seascape with Sunrise by Carmen Beecher

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Florida sunrises are amazing, and seem even more so during thunderstorm season. We get all sorts of weather phenomena this time of year, and the rain is a welcome relief from the awful heat. Our pool was 90 degrees the other day, but after the rains it is 80 degrees. A big difference!

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River Dock, Study for Mural, 8x6 Oil on Canvas Panel by Carmen Beecher

This is a study for a mural that I will be painting soon. 

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Honeycrisp, 2x2 Oil on Canvas, Miniature Painting by Carmen Beecher

So I guess we'll be having Waldorf Salad this weekend. I have also discovered that a sandwich made of sliced apple, cream cheese and walnuts is quite good. The 905 Cafe in Melbourne, Florida has a delicious Walnut Brie Apple Melt, which gave me the idea.

I'm going to take a break from painting for a bit and start decluttering my house based on some of the principles in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I'm starting with my art supplies. I must learn to be ruthless, and know that I don't need that many magazines for my collages, or those old worn brushes or those plastic containers or those paintings I should have scraped...I know you artists can relate. After all, when I need some odd thing I can't find it anyway among the other odd things. Ms Kondo says to only keep things that spark joy, and that's what I'm going for.

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Rainier Meadow, 10x8 Landscape Oil Painting, Pacific Northwest by Carmen Beecher

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The Pacific Northwest is so beautiful, and so different from my home state of Florida, which is flat as a flitter and doesn't have gigantic trees. Our country has as diverse a landscape as could be imagined, and it's one of the things I love about it. Being in this meadow made me want to burst into the opening song in Sound of Music, but I don't like to embarrass my husband.

Pink Hibiscus, 18x24 Original OIl Painting of Tropical Flower

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Everyone seems to have plenty of roses to paint, but I have hibiscus. This is a typical flower here, and I enjoyed painting it large, as Georgia O'Keeffe would have.

The Kiss, 5x7 Original Oil Seascape Painting by Carmen Beecher, Contemporary Fine Artist

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What could be better than the beach and kissing? I wonder if they were on their honeymoon? I love catching a moment in time like this, especially a romantic one.

Seascapes fascinate me. Every time I go to the beach, I see different colors, different formations of waves, different skies and interesting people. That's why I enjoy being a seascape painter.

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Orange Blossom Special, Original OIl Painting by Carmen Beecher

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I grew up in Central Florida, where the sweet smell of orange blossoms filled the air. This original oil painting is on the cover of the memoir I am working on about growing up in the small town of Dundee. After living many different places in the world, I settled on the coast of Florida, two hours from where I was born. In the days of my childhood, Dundee was all about oranges, so choosing a cover theme was easy.

The Kayakers, 16x20 Original Oil Painting on Canvas by Carmen Beecher

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This is a completed commission. I took a few photos as I went along, and put them together as a very brief little slideshow. Check it out on Facebook. In retrospect I wish I had cropped the photos; I had some misguided idea that it would look very much "in progress" if a little of the easel showed. 

On to the next commission, then on Monday I am challenging my painting group Pieces of 8 to do a painting in only 37 minutes. The idea came from Robert Genn, who did this exercise in his workshops. It is an agonizing exercise, and I hope we will all still be friends after it's over! 

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Castaway Point, 6x8 Original Oil Painting by Carmen Beecher

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My painting group, Pieces of 8, is doing weekly challenges and the challenge for this week was to paint en plein air, using four tubes of paint only. We were at a beautiful spot called Castaway Point, and there were so many lovely views. It is surprising how many colors can be made with three colors and white. Makes me wonder why I have so many different colors in my paint box. I do notice that my painting is a bit softer than usual, and I am not sure if it was because of the paint colors, the bright sunshine, or my canvas being in the shade. 

Rooftop Flowers, 8x10 Original Floral Oil Painting by Carmen Beecher

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The flowers of Mexico are beautiful, and I actually have the same ones here in Florida, but all husbands hate bougainvilleas because they grow fast and have big thorns. I love them because they are gorgeous, tropical, and easy to grow. 

My sympathy to those up North who keep having a Winter Replay. I hope you will be rewarded with a beautiful summer, you have earned it.

Copper Pot with Apple, 10x8 Original Oil Still Life Daily Painting by Carmen Beecher

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Taking a break from my San Miguel series to post a still life. This one was started in the Qiang Huang workshop in Melbourne. I have been so pleased to get thank-you notes from some of the people attending the class. Learning from Qiang is a very enriching experience, and some people came from a long distance and were glad they did. It's so gratifying when all the effort to put on a workshop is appreciated.

Blue Pots, 8x6 Original Oil Painting by Carmen Beecher

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I love the colors of Mexico. This is Number Five in my series of paintings of San Miguel de Allende, and it almost has a Florida Gators orange-and-blue look (but not quite). Spanish style houses are my favorites, especially if they have beautiful courtyards. In San Miguel there are no front yards or sweeping lawns, but the casas' openness and courtyards make it feel as if you are very comfortably living outdoors.

Sunflower, 8x10 Original Oil Daily Painting by Carmen Beecher

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I have finished up a couple of still life paintings that I did in the Qiang Huang workshop last month. I hated to stop my San Miguel series, but just didn't have the time to start anything new today. I will start it up again next week.

My new exercise program is Weedobics. I went into my yard and it's a jungle out there. Weedobics consists of bend, pull weed, discard, and repeat until exhausted or weeds are gone, whichever comes first. I am working my way gradually around the property. It's Florida, so by the time I get to the end it will be time to start at the beginning again.

Tiny Dancer, 8x10 Oil on Canvas, Figurative Painting by Carmen Beecher

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While in San Miguel de Allende I got to witness a big Aztec festival, with scores of people in bright costumes and huge feather headdresses. They were dancing in the streets, celebrating their conversion to Christianity. So many people dancing in unison, wearing bright colors and glittering outfits presented quite a wonderful sight, but this little girl was my favorite, trying to keep up with the grownups.

Here are some of the adults in their costumes. I was so lucky to be town that day!

Everything's Better With Garlic, 7x5 Original Oil Daily Painting by Carmen Beecher

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I like everything about garlic: the look, the taste, the smell. My grandmother was Italian, yet she cooked very few Italian dishes, and I never saw garlic cloves in our house. When she and my grandfather became pioneers in Florida she became a Southern cook and learned to fry everything. He was from Spain, so I wonder what he thought about that? The other non-traditional thing for an Italian woman was that she didn't like to cook. Bad luck for us.

Yellow Roses, 8x6 Oil Painting on Canvas by Carmen Beecher

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Wouldn't this be a romantic Valentine's Day gift? Flowers and candy are nice, but they don't last. Diamonds and oil paintings are forever.

I painted this twice. I was not satisfied with it the first time, but I learned a few things from my mistakes. The second time I was able to get what I wanted, and did it much faster.

You Lookin' At Me? Oil on Canvas by Carmen Beecher

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Pelicans are pretty cute when they are floating in the water, and quite beautiful when flying, but waddling around strips them of their dignity. This guy was at Port Canaveral having a relaxing day, just as my painting group was. 

I just renewed my passport and I must say, the new one is beautiful, with illustrations of America from sea to shining sea. It has wonderful quotations too, like this one:

The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class--it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity. - Anna Julia Cooper

Someone call Congress. They are apparently unaware of this. 

I admit I was not familiar with Anna Julia Cooper, so I Googled her (of course) and learned she was born into slavery, but became a prominent African-American author, educator and speaker.

And that's my lesson for today.

Radish Bouquet, 6x8 Oil on Canvas by Carmen Beecher

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Don't you think radishes have a personality? They are striking in color and nice little calligraphic roots at the bottoms to enhance a painting. It is a pleasure to paint radishes.

I was reading the latest post from Robert Genn's website, this one written by his daughter Sara. Robert is a talented and successful artist who is suffering from cancer. Many of us artists have followed his writings for many years. His daughter Sara is writing quite a bit in his place, and this week she wrote about 11 Steps for an artist, which struck a chord with me. Here is the link: http://clicks.robertgenn.com/eleven-steps.php

White Hydrangeas, 6x8 Oil Painting by Carmen Beecher

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These flowers always remind me of my grandmother, who could grow anything. She was completely in sync with nature, unbothered by the snake in the garden. She was surrounded by flowers, birds and butterflies. She was like a heroine in a Disney movie, with beautiful things fluttering around her. I really miss being able to get her advice about how to grow a certain plant. I quoted her so often that when I lived in Bermuda, one of my neighbors asked me, "What does your grandmother say about planting this tree?" I replied, "Don't put a ten-dollar plant in a five-dollar hole."

My friend Qiang Huang had a quotable line on his blog the other day: "There is no shortcut in art. You just have to paint more." To all you Daily Painters: Rock On!