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"THIRSTY" 2006
20" x 24"

acrylic on canvas

SOLD

Cardoso Iken collection, Manassas, VA

"There are days when I feel I could paint the Sistine chapel and, then, there are days when I'm not sure I could trace a stick figure.... the only difference between those days is my state of mind"~ Jenna Millward Corkill© 

Struggling again, with the day to day stuff. Trying to digest and come to terms with my daughter and her family moving away, taking the last 3 grandkids I have living here in Tucson to Colorado Springs. My son moved there 4 years ago and I still struggle with bouts of sadness, missing him and my other 7 grandkids something fierce. 

Modern technology, facebook, skype and such, will help keep us connected over the miles, but like Marvin Gaye sang years ago "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby, ain't nothing like the real thing". I miss my kids and family!!

My daughter's potential departure has left me in a daze. I'm not mentally present when I'm painting and the canvas results reflect that. And while I am still working on several paintings, I did not get one finished this last week. I'm trying to use the "mind over matter' approach, but the matter ain't minding.

So, once again, to keep this blog visually interesting, I am posting a painting from my archives. This originally posted August 23, 2008 and features 'Shortcake, the strawberry roan' ©, taking a sip of water. 

Of the 3 paintings I'm currently working, one is a waterscape, with water vaguely similar to that found in "Thirsty". I'm hoping that swirling streaks of beautiful colors on canvas will help put these sad thoughts out of my head and let me get a painting finished.

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'Brian' 2002
20" x 24"
acrylic on canvas
private collection, Tucson, Az

In 2002 I came across a photo of Brian onstage in early 1997 opening up for 'Three Dog Night" and thought it would make a neat portrait.

Brian has been a local Tucson musician since 1969... in a variety of great bands including... Hobbitt, Aftermath, Hit and Run, Tunesmith, Trilogy, The Billy Shears Band, Raven and his current band, Still Cruisin'.

Still Cruisin' plays almost every weekend at a variety of local venues. 
Visit http://stillcruisinband.vpweb.com/  to see their upcoming event schedule and if you get a chance, come out to one of the shows. Lots of great folks gathered together in clubs, having fun, dancing, visiting, and groovin' with a pict!

I am working on several paintings right now, but none are quite ready to post on this blog so I decided to repost this portrait of Brian. The original blogpost was in 2008.  A lot of visitors don't have the time to browse my blog archives, so I will occasionally dust off one of my favorites, and feature it again.

I have been working on "Peace~Richie and Me" and making great progress. I hope to have that one done and pictures posted with in a week or two. I am also working on a new 'Tall Tree' painting as I sold "Cherry Trees" this week. And last, but not least, I have started another 'whole new style' painting, one that is really making this hard to please artist quite happy. Can't wait to share at least one of these new works with you in the next week. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this encore of my 'Brian' portrait.

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"The Girl" 2010 ©
ACRYLIC ON 22" X 28" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
This one's not for sale, but I can do a custom portrait for you.

Yippee! 'The Girl' is finally finished!

I finished it a few days ago, but couldn't post it as my camera was giving me fits, misbehaving and such, making the colors untrue and absolutely yukky while also distorting the canvas perspective.

I finally decided maybe I should read the camera's manual (just kidding). I've spent enough hours in that manual to know that this isn't the right camera for shooting these over-sized art works. It was a gift from Brian and it takes great everyday photos and videos, but isn't so great for shooting some of my artwork.

I did find a fix while reading the manual that helped with the color problems I was having. And I found a hint on Google to turn the canvas sideways to help with the distortion issue. Surprisingly, that helped, although I don't have a clue why...perhaps it was just a coincidence that I finally lined the canvas and camera up precisely correct when the canvas was sideways. Coincidence or not, I'm just glad it finally worked. I was getting quite frustrated. Someday, I will get a camera that's better suited for my needs, but for now, I will work with the one I have. I'm afraid to start the research on camera shopping and even more afraid of what a good camera will cost. Pretty sure that will be a scary number.

Happily, as I was at the absolute edge of my attention span on this painting, it took only a few more hours at the easel to complete. That included getting the sides painted black and hanging hardware installed.

If you compare photos of the 'work in progress' from last week's blog post to the completed piece, you will see subtle differences, mostly in her hair and jewelry. I also warmed her skin tones with a glaze of titanium white/speck of cadmium orange mix.

       work in progress                       completed portrait

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I am excited to add this new style to my portraiture repertoire. Just in case you may be interested in having a portrait done in this bold, modern style, I think I will have an introductory price of one like this on a 22" x 28" canvas for only $500. The first step is simple. Email me at  jennacorkill@cox.net and we'll get started.

Note: I have safely shipped completed paintings to clients all over the United States.
Client pays shipping, but that's usually less than $50. Heck, if the shipping costs more than $50, I'll cover the extra expense, so for all you folks in Maine or Florida (I'm in AZ), this deal's for you!

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"The Girl" 2010
ACRYLIC ON 22" X 28" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
not for sale

~a work in progress~

I had so hoped to have this done by now. But once again, studio time took a back seat to life's requests. So, I will finish tomorrow (in a perfect world). My goal was to get the finished painting posted this evening, but this work in progress will have to do. I also want to give this to The Girl, whom I will see tomorrow. She is an amazing subject, absolutely stunning.

It is 90% done.  Her hair is blocked in, but not finished and there are still a few things (skin, jewelry and such) that need fine tuning, but it's close enough to post as a work in progress.

I am pleased with the results of this one. Once I get her hair and skin done, she will look even better! 

This was supposed to be a one day painting, but that plan got sidetracked again by.....life.  I guess if you added up all the hours I've spent on this one, it's actually closer to a two day painting, spread out over 3 days. I've got about 12 hours into it so far and I successfully balanced hubby, friends, family and home time with painting. Yippee!

Once again, since this was a brand new style, I played around with different ideas, painting over the stuff I didn't like, which added to easel time.

I used a regular photo of the girl, playing with colors and style, trying to make it dramatic. It sort of reminds me of a comic book character. I think this might become a popular style.

I am excited to add this new style to my portraiture repertoire. 

I'm also excited my painting a day goal, though not reached, did once again get me back in the studio painting. 

So, for now, I think I will continue to be happy with a painting a week. :O)

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"Colorado Dreaming" 2010
ACRYLIC ON 8" X 8" X 1.5" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS 

SOLD
Gelson collection, Baltimore, MD
 
My very first Daily Painting. Done in a day and a half. Yippee!  

For your viewing pleasure, this brand new Daily Painting combines my love of Colorado and fall's changing leaves, with my longtime affection for old VW micro buses.  

" An artist must find peace with selfishly, sometimes, letting the fences go unmended." ~Jenna Millward Corkill ©

I once asked my friend and painter, Carl Rice Embrey, how he found time to paint. First of all, he's definitely not producing a painting a day. His masterpieces sometimes take 800 hours. I can't even wrap my head around that! For one thing, my AAADD* would never let me work on a single canvas for 80 hours, let alone 800. My head would explode! But, thank goodness, Carl can do it.

His beautiful paintings regularly sell for 5 figures. He paints rural Texas, especially in and around a little town called Hamilton. His detail is phenomenal, his paintings are amazing!

Carl told me you have to stop worrying about mending the fences. I guess what this old Texan was saying is you have to be OK with letting the chores go sometimes, to indulge your artistic nature.

 I follow a few artist's blogs that astound me with their ability to produce a painting a day. 

A painting a day! Really? How do they do it?

For one thing, they're making time to paint, and the lucky ones, who can finish a painting in just a few hours, don't struggle at all with a painting a day. For others who, like me, don't paint as quickly, we sometimes have to let a few chores, a few fences go unmended,  if we want to get a painting done start to finish in one day.

So a few days ago, I challenged myself to try a one day painting. Get in there and stay in there 'til done. "Colorado Dreaming" was the result of this challenge. OK, it took a wee bit more than a day (an extra hour on day two), but it was fun, and I finished.

So, I'm thinking this painting a day idea might be a way for me to learn how to balance studio with home. An exercise of sorts on being a bit selfish for painting's sake, on being OK with letting a few chores go unattended for a day. Finding a balance. A way to give my painting my undivided attention on a regular basis. I don't expect that I'll be finishing a painting a day, but I'm sure I'll be painting more. And who knows, I might surprise myself.

Wish me luck!

AAADD* - Age Acquired Attention Deficit Disorder :O)

" Do not take for granted, each opportunity to stop and smell a rose."
~ Jenna Millward Corkill ©


©
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"Forever Autumn"1997
Detail of 22" round Art Glass Panel
178 glass pieces...with small faceted Topaz jewels in flower's circular center.

I have fallen in love with my studio again.

Two years ago, I lost my sense of smell. Suddenly. Completely.
The cause could have been a side effect of a nasty med I had taken for a stomach issue at the time, or my chronic sinusitis. No telling, but after that first scentless year, I sadly resolved myself to the fact that it was probably gone for good.

Gone for good!? My sense of smell! The, makes food taste better and, lets you know when the dog needs a bath, sense? Forever lost, the smells that trigger a sense of well being, happiness, warm memories? Fresh coffee brewing, cookies baking, a favorite soap, a freshly bathed baby, the smell of glazing dap and paint? Yep, gone, along with all of life's other little aroma therapies I now desperately wished I hadn't taken for granted. Yep, it was gone, and after two years of not being able to smell anything, I figured, definitely gone for good.

Then, unexpectedly, about two months ago, I caught a brief whiff of my morning coffee brewing! It was fleeting, but I definitely smelled it! Delicious! Through out that week, other scents would surprise me briefly and I began to cautiously hope that maybe, just maybe, the mysterious loss of smell might just as mysteriously, be coming back.

Happily, now almost everyday, I notice a new smell that I'd thought was lost forever.

Yesterday, when I walked into my studio, one of those long lost favorite smells was waiting for me. Glazing dap! Paint! Turpentine! That unique, blended, workshop smell that an Art Glass/Painting studio developes over time. Delicious! Dizzying! Heaven!

And a perfect reason to feature one of my Art Glass panels and my studio today.

My studio is a good size, 14' x 18', with half of it occupied by my art glass... 3 work benches, several glass storage bins filled with small to good size sheets of glass, tools, light tables and such. I haven't worked on any new art glass in the last 6 years, but I can't seem to bring myself to say I'm done with that form of expression. If and when I do, I'll have a heck of a painting studio, with tons of room, but for now I'm OK with being a little cramped in here.

I simply love the smell of my cozy studio and every single time I walk back in there, I feel peaceful... and thankful, for the gift of smell, which I will never take for granted again.


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This photo shows the amazing glow that my art glass panel "Forever Autumn", produces when the afternoon sun begins to set behind it... the entire studio is filled with brilliant red, orange and gold streaks....it is truly breathtaking and one of my favorite times of day to be in my studio. If you look closely at my easel you can see I was working on 'NIGHT NIGHT LITTLE SIS' at the time I took this picture.

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"Aurora Borealis"2005
ACRYLIC ON 24" X 36" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
SOLD
Stork collection, Klamath Falls, Oregon

One of my abstract adventures. I really love the colors on this and I sure enjoyed having this one hanging around before it sold.

I could look at it for long periods of time and see different things each time.
I mostly got lost in slices of mini ocean sunsets, but sometimes I saw a colorful woven blanket, folded roman shade like.

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"Cabo San Lucas"2004
ACRYLIC ON 14" X 18" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
SOLD
Private collection, Tulsa, OK

"Nature is a revelation of God; Art a revelation of man."
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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"Peace~Richie and Me"
ACRYLIC ON 24" X 36" X 1.5" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS

~A work in progress~

My brother Richard came to visit from Durango last week. He comes down a couple of times a year and we just play and have fun the whole time he's here.

He's 9 years older than me and in 1966, when he was just 21 years old, he petitioned the courts of Dade County, Florida to become the legal guardian of both me (12 yrs old) and my little brother, Geoff (11 yrs old), rescuing us from what would probably have been many more years in Kendall, Florida's state run home for children. Our parents were hopeless alcoholics, and couldn't care for us, so the state stepped in when we were little and placed us in the dependent section of Kendall. We were there 6 years before Richie was able to get custody of us.

He's not just my brother, but a papa of sorts. I can't thank him enough for the sacrifices he made at such a young age to take on the likes of Geoff and me. We were a lot to handle and he was awesome to take on the task. I will never be able to thank him enough.

This painting is taken from an old snapshot of me sitting on his shoulders the week I turned 18 in February 1972. I'm shooting a couple of peace signs, but it sort of looks like I'm giving him rabbit ears. I am also pleased that captured for posterity will be my favorite shirt with the peace sign zipper pull, and Richard's flowered shirt. Our clothes back then were so cool! Funny, it's all back in style now.

I am once again using the Indian Yellow/Thio Violet wash technique seen in 'Tornado Road', 'View from a VW', and 'First Lesson'.

I really think most of the painting is done, except the skin tones. They are still just under- painted. I will bring out more of our features as I brighten our skin tones to the proper shades seen under full sunlight. I've also got a bit more to do on our clothes, but they're close.

I am going to leave quite a bit of this painting rough. I am liking the abstract quality of the sky and trees and although it looks unfinished, I like it. I also like how the warm washed canvas is peeking though, leaving a neat glow around my hair and our clothes. I'm not changing it. I'm thinking the rough sketched look of the background will be a neat contrast to the bit more finished look of Richie and me. We'll see. I may change my mind, but for now, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :O)

I'm hoping to find time to finish this painting next week. Let me know by a click on the 'like it' button below if you're following this one, and I'll make it a point to stay on task. I am so easily distracted by other things, but perhaps your interest will help get this finished.

Thanks for visiting!

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"Glorious Gloriosa"2006
ACRYLIC ON 24" X 30" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
Unframed, sides painted black, hanging hardware installed, ready to hang.
$900  Fall special sale- now only $475
$50 US shipping via USPS Priority Mail, delivered to your door within a week.
($100 International shipping, delivery times vary)
Contact me at jennacorkill@cox.net with any questions.
 

Wake up your walls!

Contemporary fun! Dramatic, bold! I love zooming in for a closer look at a flower's center. There's a wonderful symmetry to be found there. This oversized flower is sure to make a statement in any room and the warm fall colors are perfect for this time of year. Painted with many layers of colored glazes including rust, red, orange, gold and purple, this is a beautiful painting.

I have mixed feelings about selling this painting, as I've really enjoyed having it hanging around these last few years. It's looked great in our living room but I guess now it's time for someone else to enjoy it.