TWO PEARS by Dottie Martz, dottiefromvirginia

Original Miniature oil on 5x5 canvas panel                website:  http://dottiemartz.com

ORANGE POTPORRI by Dottie Martz

Original oil on  12x16  linen panel.          website:  dottiemartz.com

Silver, Sunflower and Persimmons by Dottie Martz

Original oil on 9x12 linen panel.   website:  dottiemartz.com

Fresh as a Daisy by Dottie Martz

Original Oil on 9x12 canvas.  Website:  dottiemartz.com

Gloria J Zucaro's "Wishful Thinking"

8"H x 8"W  Original Oil on Panel

Unframed $75.00/ $7.00 S&H

It has turned completely frigid and prospects of 4 to 8 inches of snow loom ahead.  Although I love to have cool sleeping conditions and love the four seasons, it is usually around this time of year that I really appreciate the thought of 70 degree temperatures with a slight warm breeze and sunny skies.  I saw these flowers near a weathered chair and vintage rusted car in Door County Wisconsin last July.  Take me there oh my imagination!  This is my Paint Party Friday entry for this week.  Happy PPF!

Gloria J Zucaro's "Pokey's Pals"

8"H x 8"W Original oil on Panel

$75.00 Unframed/ $90.00 Framed

Unframed/Framed

Option 1-Unframed $75.00 USD Option 2-Framed $90.00 USD

I had a lot of fun with this Daily Paintworks challenge because as you may have noticed, I love the color orange!  Apparently the designers have designated "Tangerine Tango" as the color of the year.  Our challenge was to paint a picture with the color of the year predominant.    My friend Ann Feldman beat me to the orange vegetables, so I raided my grandsons' toy box in my basement.  I kept calling "Pokey" " Gumby", until someone reminded me that "Gumby" is a little green rubber man, and this is his horse" Pokey"!  The fire truck is broken with its' ladder missing, but "what the hey"!  I like the weird little cross-eyed ball, too.


Below is a photo of "the beginning", my value study and start of putting in color.

Gloria J Zucaro's "Green Plate & Ham"

6"H x 8"W Original Oil on Stretched Canvas

$75.00  Staple-free sides painted black.  May be hung with or without frame.

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The Daily Paintworks Challenge for the week of January 8- 14 is to paint a picture of your breakfast.  Well, this was not my breakfast because I couldn't cook in the studio!  I actually had 2 slices of bacon, two fried eggs, and a healthy juiced fruit and vegetable combo that was made from 1 beet, 1 carrot, 1 apple, 1 orange and a one inch square of fresh ginger.  Oh, not to forget the large cup of Colombian coffee  "straight"! I haven't posted for a week because my children celebrated Christmas with me on the 7th. of January.  I was busy last week with some extra shopping and wrapping, and preparing or picking up food for the weekend.  So the ham in this picture is part of a Honeybaked ham we had.  I still have too much leftover, even though they each took some home.  Ham anybody?! I painted this over a previously used canvas.  I have photos of the canvas and my value study on my blog         www.gloriajzucaro.blogspot.com 

Gloria J Zucaro's "Making Lemonade"

8"H x 8"W  Original Oil on Stretched Canvas

$65. Unframed/ $90. Framed in Black Floater Frame.

Unframed/Framed

Option 1-Unframed $65.00 USD Option 2-Framed $90.00 USD

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Here are some more of my 5 lbs. of lemons from Costco!  I am almost done with them, gradually using them for other things besides a cup of tea.  They have been good sports about lining up for me to paint them.  

Gloria J Zucaro's "Abstract Favorites"

20"H x 10"W  Original Oil on Stretched Canvas

$175.00 Framed in black floater frame ready to hang. See frame at bottom of this listing.

 I am proud to say that I had four paintings accepted into the Randy Higbee 6 Inch Squared National Juried show in Costa Mesa, Ca.

I tried something a little different here.  As I sat watching television, I drew on my canvas different things I like or enjoy.  A heart, fish(in a pond!), a cup of coffee, the telephone,my green tile kitchen counter,trees with the leaves drawn in house shapes, a rose, the wind, a rainbow and the star with various triangle and circles.  As I drew each one, I turned the canvas 1/4 of the way around to the right.  I hope you enjoy some of these things, too.  This can be hung either vertically or horizontally.  See below.  This is in the black frame,against my natural oak floor.  The colors in this bottom pix don't seem as accurate, I think I took this picture in a different place and at a different time of day.

Gloria J Zucaro's "Elephant Story"

12"H x 9"W  Original Oil on Board

$125.00 Unframed/ $150.00 Framed

Unframed/Framed

Option 1-Unframed $125.00 USD Option 2-Framed $150.00 USD                 SOLD

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Today's painting was done from life, but not an alive elephant at Cabela's in Hoffman Estates, IL.  I arrived at 7:40AM, twenty minutes ahead of schedule with all my paraphernalia.  Even though what I considered a rush hour time of day, it only took me twenty minutes from my home in Lake Zurich.  So I tilted my seat back and listened to the radio.  It was a cold 30% morning and the sun had a mist around it.  I was trying to decide how I would paint the sky if I were doing Plein air.  But I digress. 


None of the other artists had arrived as far as I could see.  I had noticed employees arriving in those twenty minutes.  At eight I went to the front door.  There was a maintenance man there and he told me to go to the staff entrance because the store didn't open until 9AM and the front door was locked.  So I went, it was locked, so I knocked on the window with my sun glasses because no one had come when I knocked with my knuckles!  At last!  A young woman opened it and I told her I was one of the painters who were to go to the second floor.  She called someone on her walkie-talkie(is that what they are called now???) and said" The painters are here for the second floor".  I said "OH! We are not wall painters we are artists here to paint the animals."  So then she called another person who said I should go to the conference room.  After asking where it was I took the elevator up to the second floor. 


HOW COOL!  A rocky mountain with waterfalls and with life-size bears, deer, coyote, turkey, moose, elk, fox, mountain goats,eagle,etc.,etc.   I put down all my painting stuff and started taking pictures.  At the far end I discovered the safari animals.  Wow!  So neat...Lions, Gazelle,Rhino Elephant,Water Buffalo, and so on.  More picture taking.  All the animals had labels and a couple of facts about them.  By this time a staff member walked by and told me that even though Cabela's is a sportsmen's store, they are also considered a museum and do tours for groups large and small.  He told me there was a tunnel through the mountain with fish tanks holding local types of freshwater fish.  After he left I called one of my artists friends and found out that since the store didn't actually open until 9AM and they hadn't been able to get in, they had gone for coffee and would see me soon.  I decided to go downstairs and see the fish.  As I walked by all the staff members who were getting their morning update, a woman stopped me to inquire who I was.  It turns out they shouldn't have let me in.  But all was explained and I was setting up and ready to paint by the time the other six artists arrived.  I took my time drawing my elephant, painted til lunch, then finished up early afternoon. 

I am so glad to find out about Cabela's as I had missed going there with another group of artists earlier this year.

Gloria J Zucaro's "Diamonds are..."

11"H x 14"W Original oil on Canvas

$75.00 plus S&H 

Another really fun challenge from the Daily Paintworks site.  Carol Marine listed a photo of a young girl with a very busy background.  She said to do what we would with the photo in making our own background.  I don't know why, but I immediately thought of the young girl leaving Tiffany's with her bag filled with and her body covered in diamonds.  My Blog