Apricots and Vase

"Apricots and Vase"
4" X 5"
Oil on Hardboard

I saw these sweet little apricots at the grocery store and knew they were going to be the stars of my next painting.  And then when I got home, I found this beautiful little vase in my mailbox sent from an artist friend.  A match made in heaven!  Very fun to paint.  I hadn't planned on painting today but this combination got me so excited I changed those plans!

For my artist friends:

I have been thinking lately about the importance of keeping balance in our lives.  Whether we are artists, stay at home moms, or have any other life calling we have to find a way to keep it going.


  I have noticed around the web some artists who are showing signs of "burning out".  It seems that their art is running their lives instead of them running their art career.  And I am NOT judging anyone.  How easy would it be to become "famous" and then have to live up to the demands of that title every single day?  


And then there are people like James Gourney of Gourney Journey who seem to get SO much accomplished and stay "alive" and fresh day after day.  What is their secret?


I watched THIS VIDEO and thought it had some good thoughts.  


How do you stay on top of your work/life?  Do you have any "secrets"?

Here is how it might look framed.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢. 

Dried Gourd

"Dried Gourd"
5 X 7
Oil on Hardboard

I have had this dried gourd in my studio for quite a while.  I'm not sure what kind it is.  I call them Birdhouse gourds.   I was waiting for the perfect craft to come up to use it.  Or the perfect subject for a painting!


For my artist friends:

I saw this over at Seth Godin's Blog and thought it was worth meditating on.

"Where's The Heat?

Is that your goal? To find the next hot thing? Do you want to buy it, sell it, use it, eat it?

In every industry where there's fashion (which is every industry), people spend an enormous amount of time looking for heat. It defines the cutting edge, determines what's in or out, what's hot or not.

Two things worth considering:

a. the hot thing isn't always the thing that's aligned with your goals. Sure, sometimes the most profitable item is also the hot item of the moment, but for many companies, market share or profitability or utility has not a lot to do with being on the cutting edge of fashion. And as a user, the hot item of the moment isn't necessarily the thing that will create value or even identify you as truly hip.

b. The cycle of hot keeps getting shorter.

You can chase this, but it's not free, and it might not get you where you want to go."

Here is how it might look framed.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢.

It's Official - I'm a Dot Com

"Red Onion"
5 X 7
Oil on Hardboard

This red onion with it's outer skin peeling away just captured my eye.  As I got down to painting I started noticing all of the variety of colors it had.  I loved the gray/blues.

It's now official.  I have set up a web-site gallery to feature my art and I have secured my domain name.  karlauphoff.com.  I hope you will take a peek and give me your feed-back!

For my artist friends:

I photographed this outside.  Trying to capture it on the wall was proving to be frustrating as I was struggling with reflected light.  Finally I just laid it on a card table and shot it.  This worked really well.  By using outside light I was able to raise the resolution by 3 times what I can get indoors.

Also, Julia Lundman has a very concise article about the different approaches to drawing that is worth reading.  You can read it HERE>

Here is how it might look framed.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢. 

Pecking

"Pecking"
10" X 20"
Oil on Hardboard

I saw this photo over at Renee Lammers blog and wrote and asked her if she cared  if I painted it.  She graciously said I could.  I will be attending Renee's art retreat in  three weeks.  I am really looking forward to it.


For my art friends:

I saw this blog post at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle and thought it had cross-over appeal.  It seems I am always struggling with photographing my art.  I want it to be as close to reality as I can.  i.e., this painting is showing up  more yellow than the painting is in real life.  I bought a painting recently that was VERY different than what showed on the monitor.  The color saturation seemed to have been "jacked up" on the computer.  To say the least I was very disappointed in the painting.  While it was still a nice painting I had been drawn to it for the "color".  I considered returning it.  And I did contact the artist.  She seemed to think it was my computer.  I seriously don't think so.  Needless to say I will not be buying any more of her art.  But the good news is I have bought several paintings now, and I have to say I am THRILLED with most of them.  They were professionally presented, professionally wrapped, and the best part, they were even MORE beautiful in person.  So I won't let one disappointing experience keep me from buying more!

So anyway, I thought  these tips were worth trying out.  My big camera won't download pictures to the computer anymore.  :(  I think it was affected by a lightening storm.  It was attached to the computer at the time.


Here is something I am trying.  I have decided to try and use outdoor lighting for my pictures.  One of the problems I have is having to lean the painting because it is usually still wet when I photograph it.  This leaning causes distortions and I am always trying to match the lean angle with the camera angle.

This morning I made a picture holder that I can hang on the side of the house.  It is on a north facing porch so there is no direct sunlight.

Here is what I made.

I made sure to use a level to make sure it was square with the world.  I did not use a tripod but I think that would help.  I would be able to line it up center.  There is some distortion in this photo.

First off, the color is much more true.  Second, because I'm using outdoor light, that is more intense even though it was early morning on a cloudy day, I got a much higher resolution.  That is important if I ever want to make prints of any of my paintings.  I will continue to play with this.  I think it is going to help.

 If you have any photo tips, I 'd love to hear them.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢.

Blueberries and Yellow Rose

"Blueberries and Yellow Rose"
4" X 5"
Oil on Hardboard

I have been waiting for blueberries to go on sale and they finally did this week.  The yellow rose is picked from our garden.  We must have tried five times to get a start of this rose to take and it finally did last year.  We call them the Yellow Rose of Texas, but I don't know if that is the real name.  We had them at our last house and they are the most delicious smelling rose I have ever smelled.

Speaking of smells..... I bought some clove oil to help slow the drying of my paints when they are not in use. Someone recently (sorry I forgot who) suggested adding a couple drops to a sponge in your palette and not mix the oil directly with the paint.  Well, I am trying it, and I have to tell you, I think it works!  I left the paints in a cigar box with a small corner of a sponge with some clove oil on it and when I came back almost a week later the paints were still as fresh as when they came out of the tube.  The initial smell of the clove oil was pretty strong though and I think it gave me a head-ache.  So I will have to add the oil and then leave the room.   After it has sat for a couple of days the smell didn't bother me.

Here is how it might look framed.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢.

I have several more containers lined up to use with the blueberries.  I hope I don't run out of steam before I get them all painted.

Three Blueberries

"Three Blueberries"
4 X 5
Oil on Hardboard

I played with the composition for this.  I wanted to get the blueberries up at eye level.  I especially like how this one looks framed.

Campanelli Tomato

"Campanelli Tomato"
4 X 5
Oil on Hardboard

These little tomatoes are the closest thing I have found in the store to a home-grown tomato.  They have a rich tomato flavor.

I am loving the effects I can get from a simple top light.  It makes for wonderful shadow effects.

Here is how it might look framed.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢.

Single Strawberry

"Single Strawberry"
4 x 5
Oil on Hardboard

Because of our extra mild winter and early spring, the strawberries are about 3 weeks earlier than usual.  Some area growers lost their crop due to a sudden freeze.  Fortunately for us, our strawberry patch is small and I was able to lay blankets on them to keep them from freezing.  Is it just me, or does everything taste better when it is home-grown?

Here is how it might look framed.

Contact me if you are interested in this painting.  You can also see more of my available paintings HERE. Or, to see other paintings available at auction simply search Karla Uphoff in Art on eBay.   Auctions start at just 1¢