Daily Paintworks Gallery

 My Daily Paintworks Gallery is temporarily closed!  I plan to open it again in the spring.  

A recent ceramic vase I created in my Vases With Faces and Hats series.  

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

To contact me about a painting:  debzbox@earthlink.net

Fall Drawing Class 2023

 

I had a lot of fun in my fall drawing class!  These are some samples of my students work.  I threw a lot of challenges at them, the first two lessons were all about line then we moved on to values, negative space, comparative measuring, modified graphs, cropping and composition.   Our last drawing was an exercise on toned paper with two colored pencils.  They did great, didn't complain or fire me.  

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide

© by each individual artist

New Drawing Class

 

My fall virtual drawing class through Rumriver Art Center starts September 25th.  I have some fun things planned including a toned paper drawing with two colored pencils.  Toned paper is one of my favorite drawing techniques and it's also an eye opener for beginning students.  While planning the class all these ideas started keeping me awake at night on ways to incorporate the orange colored pencil in other drawings, finally I had to say stop.  Well it is fall and it's all about the beautiful fall colors right.  

You Betcha!

Oh and thank you pixabay.com for the photo reference!

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Vases With Faces and Hats

 

So this is how I've spent my summer so far!  No painting and totally consumed by my hand built ceramic class.  The workshop ended with still two pieces, tiles, yet to be fired.  Before the workshop began I planned out six pieces in color then stressed out trying to complete all of them.  The little textured vase was unplanned using up leftover scraps. Take away #1, don't give yourself unreasonable goals.   Once you have everything built, which is no small task, then you have to figure out the underglazes or glazes which ever you plan to use.  Yes there is a difference, I won't bore you with the details.  I could write a book on using underglazes.  Take away #2, the colors usually never turn out the way you planned.  I learned a ton in this eightweek workshop at the Rumriver Art Center, so eight classes in all but just as many open studio days.  While I was working on my seven pieces the other students were slamming out pots right and left and some really cool stuff.  It was overwhelming at first and it didn't help with my anxiety.  Take away #3, which I try to teach my drawing students, DON'T COMPARE, good advice for myself.  I'm super happy with my little pieces, maybe especially because they aren't perfect and highly recommend Rumriver Art Center and all their many wonderful art workshops and classes. 

https://rumriverart.com

I'll be teaching another virtual drawing class through Rumriver Art Center starting the end of September, more on that later.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Summer Buffet

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 12x16 inchesThis piece was painted awhile back for a show with a food theme.  I thought showing fair food was a clever idea, plus I painted fun fair images on two sides of the canvas such as pronto pups and cheese curds.  It didn't go over real big for the show, most of the paintings were classical food images.  Recently I pulled the painting out to rework a few areas adding admission tickets to the third side of the canvas.  I'm not sure if I posted this piece before but it works better now and will be for sale in a new show coming up in September at the Rumriver Art Center's Johansen Gallery, Anoka MN.
Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Curious Koi

 

NFS, 6x8 inches, Acrylic on a linen panel

I painted this awhile back from another pixabay.com photo reference.  Something bothered me about the painting so it was never posted.  I never planned to work on it again but one day the problem suddenly emerged, a bothersome tail.  So tail fixed and it's ready to find a home.

This has been a summer exploring hand built ceramic pottery.  Feels so good to be challenging myself in a new creative way.  That said it's also been frustrating, working with clay is a lot harder than it looks and is taking me ages to finish projects.  So I'm taking a break from painting for the moment enjoying some 3D creations.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Grandma Time

 

My niece who is now a grandmother for the first time asked me to do a grandson painting for her.  She sent a couple of photos to choose from, this reference I knew in my heart was the best but the prospect overwhelmed me.  I had to pump up my confidence and really I thought what's the worst that could happen, a ruined  panel and a bruised ego.  Been there, done that.  Making some changes from the photo reference, I pumped up the color a bit and removed some clutter from the bottom with a few other minor changes.  The photo reference was beautiful telling such a sweet story.  Sometimes you have to put your big girl pants on and move forward, I'm glad I did.

Congrats to my niece, what a blessing to hold your new little one and show him the world.

Deborah A. Kirkeeide ©

I See You

 

Click Her For More Info: $250, 9x12 inches, acrylic on watercolor paper

I have been working on and off on this painting for over a year and truth be told, working more off than on.  Something about it bothered me so it sat (the off time) until slowly, very slowly the realization was the background trees weren't working.  What to do?  Well it should have been obvious but no, so it sat for awhile longer.  I finally made the addition of more colorful leaves covering the offending trees.  You can see the first version below.  So new additions deserved a new title and Hidden Purpose became I See You.  Now the question is:  Who is seeing who?

Deborah A. Kirkeeide ©

A Piece Of Beach

 

Click Here For More Info:  $120, 6x6 inches, acrylic on 1/8" Ampersand Gessobord

I experimented painting this four times (see previous post) changing colors, adding a horizon line in some and using different background tones.  This ended up being my favorite.  The photo reference was cropped from a much larger photo from pixabay.com with a huge beach scene including two cruise ships in the background.  

I use professional artist acrylic paints in all my acrylic paintings for permanence and longevity.  Ampersand Gessobord has a professional quality acid-free acrylic ground on a wood museum series panel.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Four Square Beach Scene Exercise

 

A little experiment and exercise with color and composition.  I tried using different toned backgrounds, adding a horizon line and playing with different subject colors.  The top left was my beginning point then ended up liking it best.  It seems whenever I repeat painting the same subject, the first one is always best.  The idea is to loosen up but instead the opposite happens to me .  Funny how that works.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Conjunto

 

Click Here For More Info:  $350, 8x8 inches, acrylic on 1/8"Ampersand Gessobord

I never knew that Mariachi bands had accordion players.  There is a style of music called Conjunto that features the accordion.  Well learn something new everyday!  I found a photo of a Mariachi band on pixabay.com and cropped it to create this composition.  I love the visual interest of the accordion with all the keys, buttons and squeezebox area.  I can't imagine being able to play it.  And the happy sounds just make you want to dance.  On a fun note, my brother when young played the accordion so maybe that's why I was drawn to the photo.

I use professional artist acrylic paints in all my acrylic paintings for permanence and longevity.  Ampersand Gessobord has a professional quality acid-free acrylic ground on a wood museum series panel.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Waiting For A Breeze

 

Click Here For More Info:  $250, 8x10 inches, acrylic on 1/8" Ampersand Gessobord

Passing through pixabay.com this photo reference caught my eye.  Those long stems created all this lovely negative space which is so fun to paint.  Crazy the things that inspire me, and you, others may pass by this same photo and not give it a second glance.  Although these dandy's make a fun painting, a single breeze however will release thousands of seeds looking for a nice watered lawn.

I use professional acrylic paints in all my acrylic paintings for permanence and longevity.  Ampersand Gessobord has a professional quality acid-free acrylic ground on a wood museum series panel.

Deborah A. Kirkeeide ©

Sometimes You Need A Duck

 

Click Here For More Info:  $300, 6x6 inches, acrylic on 1/8"Ampersand Gessobord

Looking for inspiration at a local lake beach last summer I spied this little guy.  He was far away and headed for the beach so I had to click fast before someone else blocked my view or he made it out of the water.  Fortunately the photo, though blurry, turned out great.  Sometimes the simplest things can bring a lot of joy, sometimes you just need a duck and maybe for me a bit of luck.  (Couldn't help the pun.)

I use professional artist acrylic paints in all my acrylic paintings for permanence and longevity. 

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Restructured

 

There is a story behind this piece starting with a granddaughter and her challenge.  I've been painting with my granddaughter via FaceTime once a week for the past month as she lives on the west coast probably a 1000 miles from me.  She gave us a challenge of painting something nonrepresentational for our first piece.  The painting above is my answer to the challenge and as close as I could get.  It was a fun exploration to see how color issues could be solved.  Starting with a drawing, (picture my 21 yr old granddaughter rolling her eyes) because just throwing a bunch of paint on a canvas wasn't going to work for me.  Half way through the painting it was so, yawn, boring, I began searching for some interesting solutions.  Magazines, my fall back, helped me with color choices and textures.  I would cut out samples, lay them on the painting and photo.  Eventually it led me to the finished piece. 

Sort of half way point, it needed help.

The Drawing

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

  

Beach Dreaming

 

One of the drawings from the Virtual Winter drawing class I'm currently teaching.  The theme was travel and winter get aways.  We've been drawing, sail boats, palm trees, a still life of a smoothie in glass stemware with all the fun embellishments of a bar drink.  You have to order one of those when on vacation right?  It's been a fun journey with my twelve students.  I may post some student work later.

I'll be teaching a virtual spring drawing class beginning March 27th for eight weeks through Rumriver Art Center.  The bees will be buzzing, flowers blooming as we explore drawing methods and techniques such as line, shape, value, proportion and composition using a variety of pencils.  For more information here is a link to the class posting.

https://app.getoccasion.com/xp/MFCzB7PB

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©