Hat on Hattie - 198

"Hat on Hattie", 6"x6", oil on gessoboard, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

SOLD

I received a lovely hat block signed by milliner and fashion icon, Hattie Carnegie (who my daughter is named after), from my husband for Christmas.

I was so excited and happy it brought tears to my eyes.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

No. 197

"Beauty Secrets", 5" x 7", oil on gessoboard, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

I might get to number 200 this year. It all depends on how painting goes this week.

No. 196 - SOLD

"Milling Around", 5"x5", oil on gessoboard, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett
SOLD

No. 195 - SOLD

"Quarter Cuts", 4"x4", oil on gessoboard, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

It's been pretty quiet over here. I've been busy in the studio AND getting paintings ready to ship! Black Friday went really well over on ebay. Yeah! Thank you all so much for your support!

Cyber Monday Sale at Scarlet Shoes Studio

Visit Scarlet Shoes Studio on Etsy and receive 30% off today through Wednesday.

Coupon code cmon30 at checkout.

I'm a little behind on adding stuff, so check back throughout the day for prints, original paintings, and digital downloads!

No. 194 - SOLD

“Cream and Sugar”, 5″x7″, oil on gessopanel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Only six more to go and I’ll be at 200 paintings!

Don’t forget to grab some great stocking stuffers from my ebay shop!

No. 193

“Flora”, 6″x6″, oil on gessoboard, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett
SOLD

Gotta’ do some baking and house cleaning today. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Hopefully, I’ll have time to fit a painting in. This will be added to my etsy shop later today.

Scarlet Shoes Studio

I’m slowly getting paintings into my newly re-opened Etsy shop, Scarlet Shoes Studio. I will be carrying my alla prima paintings along with prints of my original paintings.

No. 192

"Vintage Flair", 5"x5", oil on gessoboard, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Last week I think I mentioned that I was a bit disappointed in my paintings. So, it was time to make some changes to the process.

For this painting I first did an initial drawing and then transferred the drawing to my painting surface, which is a gesso panel (I decided to stay with panels for now). By doing this I hoped to get a little more detail in my drawing, but I hope it doesn't make the painting too stiff. I’m really not going for photo realism, just an impression of my subject, but an accurate impression.

What I love about painting with oils is seeing brushstrokes. So, I’m trying to make those more visible.

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by my ebay shop, here’s a painting that is currently available. It’s one of my favorites!

"Liquorice Trio No. 2", 6"x6", oil on hardboard, ©2011 Heather Hingst Bennett

No. 191

"The Discussion", 5"x7", oil on carton panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Only 9 more paintings until I reach 200!

Black Friday on Ebay

My ebay shop is being loaded up with $1 paintings for Black Friday! I’ll be adding items ALL DAY! Check back often to see if I added your favorite…

P.S. My little paintings would make great stocking stuffers.

No. 189 & 190

No. 190

First of all I have to say that I am not pleased with my latest paintings. For some reason I have had a hard time painting this year. For every one painting that I feel is OK, I wipe at lease 5...or more.

This week I have been trying to apply less paint and working more in layers. We shall see what happens!

The paintings to the left are from last week. No. 189 was a wipe and No. 190 was ALMOST a wipe, but for some reason I decided to keep it. Maybe just to have at least one painting completed for the week.

No. 189 - wiped

The Pumpkin 10 Minute Challenge

It's time to start painting again! To get warmed up I thought it would be good to do some 10 minute paintings. This is an exercise I learned when I attend the Carol Marine Workshop back in May.

For this challenge you divide your surface into small sections (mine are 3"x3"). You then choose a single object to paint for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes are over you can rearrange your subject, paint it at a different angle, or change your light source.

The top row I did on Saturday and the bottom row I did today. I think you can see some real improvements with almost each 10 minute painting. When I finish one 10 minute painting I analyze it and give myself a little improvement goal.

The colors on my palette are: titanium white, hansa yellow, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red, cobalt blue, and burnt umber.

I also apologize for the state my blog is in currently. I took an online Blogger CSS class and I'm trying to implement what I learned on my blog...and I'm moving very slow with it!

Many Creative Projects on the Horizon

His and her orange bikes in New York City

I haven’t had much luck painting this week. To tell you the truth…I’m super distracted. I’m itching to try a few new things and finish up some old projects, so for the next 3 weeks I’m on a still life painting break. I will have some other fun creative projects to share with you!

While I’m on break, I’ll be putting past paintings up for auction on ebay. Here is a list of what is currently up now:

• DOROTHY
• THE THREE PEARS - SOLD
• BLUE PLATE AND TEA BAG
• FROM THE TOP
• FACE OFF

Click here if you are interested in bidding.

Since I can’t write a post without including a picture, the photo above is from our trip to New York City last year. I’m ready to go back any time!

No. 188

"Drama Queen", 5"x7", oil on carton panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Just in case you were watching "Dorothy" finally made it up on ebay last night.

This is "Drama Queen", which is how I feel when I paint these shoes. They are much more complicated than an apple, lime, flower or cup! I have actually had to do some preliminary sketches, but I'm happy with how they turned out.

Getting pretty close to 200 paintings...maybe I'll have a giveaway. :)

No. 187

“Dorothy”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett
SOLD

My friend, Gail, thought these shoes looked like Dorothy’s from the Wizard of OZ. I was thinking the same thing. Dorothy is finally dry and will be headed to ebay this evening.

One Dollar Wednesday

It's Wednesday and I just listed these two skirt paintings on ebay. I'll be really focusing in my studio Monday! For sure...I keep saying that, but this time it's true!! :)

No. 186 - SOLD

“Coy”, 8″x6″, oil on stretched canvas, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

For this months painting challenge our painting group decided to paint our…unmentionables. Not to sound weird, but it’s really fun to paint underwear. You’ll probably see more!

I’ll have these up on eBay tonight.

Thanks for stopping by!

No. 181 - 185

I am just a little bit behind posting my alla prima paintings over here. I was going to post them all separately on their original date, but that was getting a bit tedious. So, here's what I have been busy painting...

No. 181

“Campbell’s Soup”, 6″x6″x3/4″, oil on cradled wood panel

Originally painted on August 6, 2012, Andy Warhol's birthday.

No. 182 - SOLD

“Blue Monday”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas panel

Originally painted on August 13, 2012.

No. 183 - SOLD

“The Daisy Bunch”, 5″x7″, oil on carton panel

Originally painted August 14, 2012.

No. 184 - SOLD

“Pink Spot”, 5″x7″, oil on carton paper

Originally painted on August 21, 2012.

No. 185 - SOLD

“Three Left”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas panel

Originally painted September 10, 2012.

It feels good to be all caught up! Thanks for stopping by. :)

No. 180 - SOLD

“Hissy Fit”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

A hissy fit is exactly what I was having when I painted this. So, I decided to just play around with shapes and colors, so I’m hoping it seems a little more abstract then some of my past paintings.

Spent another day at the pool. Now it’s time to do a little painting.

Have a wonderful weekend!

No. 179 - SOLD

“Happy Daisy”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Just trying to get as much swimming in before my son goes back to school!

One Dollar Wednesday - SOLD

On Wednesdays I find one of my older paintings and list it on eBay at a starting bid of $1. This week I thought I would offer 2 of my favorite cupcake paintings.

Happy bidding!

No. 178 - SOLD

"Pink Shock"

4"x4"x1", oil on cradled hardboard

© 2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Well, I bet you weren't expecting to see me around here so soon!!

Yes! I got a painting done today! I thought about it last night and knew I had to paint today. I saw this nail polish while running errands and knew it was going to be my model today! I just knew it! :)

As you can see in the pictures, I am using a 1″ cradled hardboard panel. It’s really nice and won’t even need to be framed. I think this is the way I’m going with my paintings in the future.

My husband keeps telling me I should sometimes sell the item that I paint along with my painting. What do you think of that? Want to buy an original painting with a bottle of nail polish?

One Dollar Wednesday - SOLD

On Wednesdays I find one of my older paintings and list it on eBay at a starting bid of $1. Since I missed a few weeks I have 4 paintings at auction. AND I just think they all look really cute together. You can check them out here.

I'm going to be focusing on quilting/sewing for the remainder of the summer. You can see what I'm up to over here. I've also started doing a little watercolor illustration and you can check that out here.

I'm trying to keep this blog dedicated to still life painting. I'll be back here for One Dollar Wednesday and when the urge to paint with oil strikes me again.

One Dollar Wednesday

It's Wednesday again and time for another 1 $ deal. On Wednesdays I find one of my older paintings and list it on eBay at a starting bid of $1. This week I have "Cat Eye" available. It was originally painted on March 4, 2011.

Happy Bidding!

No. 177 - SOLD

“Taste of Summer”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

I was a bad daughter and didn’t go visit my dad today for Father’s Day. Instead I painted. That’s me…always working!

My dad loves to eat his watermelon with salt. So, I think tomorrow I’ll add a little salt shaker to the composition and that one will be for him.

One Dollar Wednesday - SOLD

On Wednesdays I find one of my older paintings and list it on eBay at a starting bid of $1. I forgot One Dollar Wednesday last week. This week I have "Atomic Pink" available. This was originally painted on May 10, 2010. Just love that pink color!

Have you read any good books lately? I've been reading White Oleander by Janet Fitch. I highly recommend it, if you haven't already read it. It's about 12 years old by now. I'm a bit behind...

Anyway...today was a paint wiping day. Many tries, but nothing kept. Oh well...

No. 176 - SOLD

“Stripes Peas”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas board, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Sorry for the bad photo. I’ll scan it in a few days.

The remainder of last week was a wiper. I didn’t like anything I put down. I kept trying all sorts of scenarios with this stripe fabric. Maybe I should have eliminated the fabric and went on with something else, but I didn’t. Finally yesterday I finished this.

I did have and encounter with an opossum. I was on my early morning walk and found this a opossum mother with babies on her back by my trail. I actually got a picture.



She was on the other side of the fence when I first saw her and crawled under the fence while I was watcher her. Which scrapped all her babies off her back. Now worries, they climbed right back on.



Here’s a cropped picture. I call here mini van mama.

No. 175 - SOLD

“Nestled”, 8″x8″, oil on canvas board, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Much anxiety went into this painting. I really challenged myself with the ellipse openings. Still needs some work, but I’m pretty please with the overall painting. I’ll add this one to eBay once it drys and I can get it scanned. I’m having problems getting the exact colors with my camera.

Thanks for stopping by!

No. 174 - SOLD

"Seedless", 6"(h)x8"(w), oil on carton panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Watermelon always reminds me of summer. Especially when I was about 6 or 7 hanging out in my best friend Tonya’s basement eating watermelon after spending the day at the swimming pool. We always thought that if you ate a seed, you were going to grow a watermelon in your stomach.

No. 173 - Sold

"Odd Limes", 8"x8", oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

My son named this one. I had a name for it while I was painting and didn't write it down, so it's lost.

But, hey, it's Friday!

One Dollar Wednesday - Sold

"Cake No. 4", 8"x8", oil on hardboard, ©2010 Heather Hingst Bennett

Welcome to my first One Dollar Wednesday on this blog. On Wednesdays I find one of my older paintings and list it on eBay at a starting bid of $1.

I have another polka-dot painting in the works. I'll show it to you tomorrow.

No. 171 & No. 172

Just two apple studies I’ve finished the past few days. There have been more but these are the best.

No. 171

No. 172

No. 170

"Welcome Home - Polka-Dot Version", 8"x8", oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett
SOLD

The challenge this week over at Daily Paint Works is "Polka-Dots". I love polka dots and a challenge, so I just couldn't resist this one. It could be my theme for the week. We'll see...

No. 169 - SOLD

"Welcome Home", 8"x8", oil on canvas panel, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

I haven’t completed an entire still life in such a long time I thought I had forgot how.

No. 168

"Lime Study No. 2", 4.5"x4", oil on canvas, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

Here is another pre-workshop study.

I'm happy to report that my heart rate is back to normal and painting is going a lot smoother. I think I'm actually going to try a composition today.

Yesterday was my sons last day of 3rd grade. I have no idea where the time went! Now I have to find ways to keep him busy...

No. 167

"Tomato Study No. 2", 4.5"x4", oil on canvas, ©2012 Heather Hingst Bennett

I did some painting yesterday, but nothing seemed right. I know too much now! I actually had a racing heart and I think I had an anxiety attack. So, I really need to get my I don't give a *@#% attitude going and just paint and not over think it all.

Could ignorance really be bliss? Anyway...

I went back to my very first painting and counted them all and here is where I am No. 167. My goal for this year is to have a total 350 painting completed...but I'm already behind.

A Daily Demo

We started each morning of the workshop with a demo painting by Carol. Most days I sat mesmerized, glued to my seat watching her paint. My camera of no use to me. Finally, on the last day I took some photos. We had the pleasure of watching Carol paint eggs the last day of our workshop.

The still life set-up

Egg painting by Carol Marine

Palette aftermath

I finally have my studio area unpacked and I'm ready to get busy. Maybe I'll have some of my own art to show you in a few days.

Thanks for stopping by!