SARA GRAY
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Day 10

9/10/2018

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Picture
Value/Color Study
Owls Head, ME
​2017
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Day 9

9/9/2018

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Picture
Apple Tree
Cumberland, ME
6" x 6"
 I went back to the same spot h oping for some sun this morning. It was in and out the entire time but did get some glimpses of sunlight so tried to go for that option!  I am short on boards so I tried one I had that I was never a fan of because the surface is so smooth and shiny. I sanded it down and still I had very little control especially with the palette knife. A bit messy but you get the idea. Headed to Rockland Maine tomorrow to do a four day workshop with Lori Putnam loriputnam.com . I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be painting everyday don't know if I'll get the 6x6's done but I'll have something to show each day!
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DAY 8

9/8/2018

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Picture
Apple Tree
Cumberland, ME
6" x 6" Oil on Panel
Today was the hardest day to date to get out and paint. It was a day full of errands, getting paintings in the mail that are going to new homes an playing catch up after being in VT for the week. It was supposed to be a sunny day and turned out being overcast all day. I could see the line of clouds and blue sky just north of us so as sunset time was nearing I headed out and went North just a bit hoping to find some sun. I had painted this orchard in the winter and thought it was definitely worth a drive by. So glad I did. The sun was out when I arrived but quickly disappeared. I really loved painting here and hoping to go back tomorrow. If I wasn't partaking in the challenge I wouldn't have gone outside to paint and I would've missed this opportunity. 
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DAY 7

9/7/2018

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Picture

Rocks & Suf
Two Lights State Park
Cape Elizabeth, ME
6" x 6" Oil on Panel
​

It wasn't planned but I ended up at Two Lights again. It was a day of everything taking longer than planned so I headed for Kettle Cove which is right around the corner from Two Lightsbut it was jam packed with kids, dogs, picnickers, swimmers..... I felt Two Lights would be easier with my dog Maury. I stopped at this spot because the tide was extremely low today and the rocks that were visible were covered in barnacles and seemed to be glowing in the afternoon sun. I loved the blue of the ocean,  sky and tidal pools against the yellow rocks. 
Picture
Maury
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DAY 6

9/6/2018

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Picture

Two Lights State Park
Cape Elizabeth, ME
​6" x 6" Oil on Panel

It's been a couple of months since I have been to Two Lights. today was spectacular. It was incredibly hot and humid inland and when I arrived it was 6 degrees cooler, clear skies and a nice breeze. I was able to get two small paintings done before the storms rolled in. In my haste to pack up and get to the car before it started raining one painting ended up upside down in the dirt. I am hoping that after it dries a bit I will be able to wipe most of the dirt off.

Here is the link to the Challenge:
www.saetastudio.com/september-2018-30-in-30-paintings
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My Best Brella served multiple purposes today!
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Picture
It was definitely a different day when I left from when I arrived!
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30 Paintings in 30 Days

9/6/2018

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As evident from my last post 1 1/2 years ago it is official I am not a blogger. I had a great year. I took some great workshops with Mark Boedges, Tim Horn and Jon Redmond. They were all really great generous instructors, and I took away a  little something from all three that I still think about to this day when I paint. 

I was also accepted into several juried shows and made some sales form these, and have taken part in a couple Plein Air events.

I am currently in an online 6 month mentorship with Lori Putnam. I will be taking a workshop with her in Rockland, ME next week so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work with her in person. 

I am currently participating in a 30 paintings in 30 day challenge that Leslie Saeta hosts. I had begun last year and made it to day 8. I just completed day 6 and so far so good. The only goal I made for myself in addition to painting everyday is that I paint from life. I am usually painting form a photo either on my phone or computer, sometimes a printed piece, but I really find it limiting. It is very convenient and sometimes the only way I am able to paint when I have other commitments but I am really trying to make the effort to make it happen for the month of september. I still care for my mother part time so it is difficult to go out and paint landscapes so I will probably do more still lives which I have really enjoyed doing again. I'll post what I paint here so some will be failures, some will be unfinished, but each will be my commitment to finding the time to paint, to challenge myself, to try some new things and to have fun with it. Most if not all will be small 6" x 6" panels.

Here are the first five paintings. I discovered still lives again and had fun with a palette knife! I like being able to put more paint on the panel and make different marks, but it is easy to get carried away with all the paint and start making a mess. this happened more than once!

Day 1
​Stowe, VT
​From my mothers deck overlooking the Green Mountains

Picture
Day 2
Zinnias
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Day 3
​Zinnia Detail
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DAY 4
​Sunflowers
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DAY 5
Farmer's Market Bouquet
Picture

Of these five paintings, the one I am happiest with is the detail of the Zinnias. I love the colors and I felt like I had success working with the palette knife and working in layers to create some depth. Jon Redmond does a lot of constructing and deconstructing. using transparent darks and more opaque lights, scraping, applying paint, scraping...... This has always been really uncomfortable for me to scrape away something that may be working to create another layer and some happy surprises. When it works it is magical, When it doesn't it's frustrating, but then you scrape again!

I was most proud of myself for the sunflower painting. I was driving home from VT and my plan had been to stop along the way and paint a plain air painting. My car had different plans. It died on the side of I-93 in Concord NH. I did get it going again and my mechanic thought it might make it home, at least I may make it the 11 miles to be within the AAA 100 mile distance! I made it driving backroads the entire way. But it was getting late and I didn't want to risk stopping to paint and then having car issues in the dark. So I got home,exhausted and managed to paint the sunflowers!
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    SARA GRAY

    After spending over 20 years photographing professionally I thought it was time to explore something new and experience my world with paint and a brush.

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  • Home
  • ABOUT
  • Paintings
    • ARCHIVED
  • 6" x 6" PAINTINGS
    • STILL LIFE
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • CHALLENGES
    • STRADA JANUARY 2020
    • 30 in 30
    • Strada 31
    • Putnam 30 Day Challenge
  • Events