Painting #30 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Jumping Through Hoops" mixed media on 6 x 6 in. gallery wrapped canvas. This is the the time of year to navigate through income tax regulations, real estate taxes, your health care plan, renewing your driver's  license, home repairs, etc. etc. We are constantly jumping through hoops by trying to comply with all of it. I had some fun with it in this piece, the last of the 30 day challenge. The idea has been brewing in my head for weeks and it finally came together for today's painting. I used round objects dipped in clear acrylic polymer and stamped it on colorful magazine images. When the polymer was dry, I dissolved the paper with water and that left the hoops since the acrylic does not dissolve and it captures the ink from the paper. I also created the dots in the same way. The figures are collage. The canvas was covered with acrylic paint using a paint roller for the uneven, textural pattern. Then I glued on the paper and hoops with acrylic polymer and varnished it with a matte varnish. This is the last day. Should I keep going? Please vote for your favorite paintings by going to Facebook and liking the images. facebook.com/FlanaganFineArt

Painting #29 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Cardinal" 5 x 7 in. pastel on paper. This Cardinal was perched on my kitchen windowsill and was kind enough to wait there while I got my camera. I got two photos before I startled the poor thing and it took flight. I do not paint very many animals but when I do it seems to be birds and probably because of their wonderful color. This bird was back lit or the light source was behind it. That gave some of the feathers a translucent appearance. This is on a relatively smooth paper and my Pan Pastels quickly filled up the tooth. I'm still learning about this unique form of pastel-great fun! One more day in the challenge and I don't know what will be next.

Painting #28 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Day Challenge, "Clouds Over Oahu Mountains" 5 x 7 in. pastel on paper.  In a couple of days I will announce who won one of these 30 paintings. I will randomly pick a person from my newsletter list. That person can pick one of the daily  paintings that have not sold. There is still time to sign up. To see all of the paintings go to my web site at sueflanagan.fineartstudioonline.com. This painting was done from a photo I took on the Hawaiian Island, Oahu. I believe that the wind and these mountains are a source of a lot of rainfall. There is beautiful and lush terrain on this side of the island. In this painting and the last (Waffle Without Calories) I played with my new toy, Pan Pastels. I used them to block in large shapes of color first and then layered other pastels on top.

Painting #27 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Waffle Without Calories" 5 x 7 in. pastel on paper. My church friends requested this still life. Of course, I had to eat it and my husband was grateful for the request. I wish the two waffles I ate were without calories! Are there any other requests out there? I am actually a little sad that the 30 day challenge is almost over.

Painting #26 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days, "Waycross Stream" 5 x 7 in. oil on panel. I painted this en plein air at and Indiana Plein Air Painters paint out in Morgantown, IN. I needed a push to get back into plein air painting. We were at the Waycross convention center. The last 10 miles to this site was gravel and winding roads. This was a lovely weekend for January. We actually saw some sun on occasion and there were patches of snow along the stream that is on the edge of the property. It was cold but not brutal. This was more like an artistic retreat because we were totally isolated from the rest of the world-no internet including GPS, no phones, no TV, no radio and even clocks were rare. It was just the painters and nature. The facility was nice, food plentiful and the company great. It doesn't get any better.

I am posting two images because I was without the internet for two days! More about that tomorrow.

Painting #24 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Green Pear" 7 x 5 in. pastel on paper. This was executed using a different approach from the other pears (Two D'Anjou). It is on a smoother black surface. First, I used several colors that are not related to the green pear color and let them show through as I layered the greens on top. I used directional strokes to allow for optical blending of colors.

Painting #25 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Strolling Along the Beach," 7 x 5 in. oil on panel. This was done from a photo I took in Florida. Actually, the colors were quite different because it was raining and that is the real reason the woman needed an umbrella. However, I wanted a sunny scene so I altered it.

Painting #23 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Yellow Cluster of Flowers," 5 x 7 oil on panel. I am a member of the Morton Arboretum. There are many thousands of beautiful flower arrangements throughout the park in the spring and summer. This was a cheerful little cluster in the summer near the Visitor's Center. I love to use thick paint in paintings like this to give it a sculptural quality.

Painting #22 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Running Waters" 5 x 7 in. oil on panel. This was done from a photograph I took as we drove from the Tetons to Yellowstone. It is certainly a beautiful part of our country. I found this scene to be exciting because of the water but peaceful at the same time. Now when I look at it I can see how the landscape is changing from the lush landscape to the harsh but extremely interesting terrain of Yellowstone.

Painting #21 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Tree Shading the Beach," 5 x 7 in. oil on panel. I am not sure of this location. The photo was in my file. It just looks like a place I would like to go to during the cold Midwest winter. This was done entirely with a palette knife, no brushes.

Painting #20 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Abstract Landscape" 7 x 5 in. pastel on paper. My friend wanted me to do an abstract painting so this is the result. It is totally from my imagination. This is acrylic paper I textured with gesso. I used rubbing alcohol to manipulate the under-painting and then soft pastel on top of it all. I think painting #19 which is from life affected my bright color choices.

Painting #19 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Morning by the Path," 7 x 5 in. pastel on Pastelbord. I have a fascination with this little plot near a bike path near my home. I photographed it in different seasons, weather conditions, and times of day. This is one of my favorite times, sunrise on a summer day. Unfortunately, the trees and flowers have been cut down and this is truly a memory. I used Pastelbord and used alcohol to fix the initial layer of pastel. Then I added layers of pastel on top.

Painting #18 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Wildflowers by the Path," 7 x 5 in. pastel on paper. For some reason I struggled wit this one. These are wildflowers that grow near a bike path not far from my house. I have painted them before bu this one was altered several times. I got rid of an awkward bush at the top and replaced it with sky and decreased the size of the closest flower, the Queen Ann's Lace.

Good news. my painting, "Fall Path Through the Woods" was a final in the Jack Richeson Small Works show. So, it will be heading to the gallery in Kimberly, Wisconsin. Two others, "Japanese Lantern" and "Pear Excitement" won Meritorious status. Here they are.

Painting #17 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "White Bottle Pink Flowers" 7 x 5 in. oil on panel. Buy now through my web site. Clearly I have a looser style with oil paint than with pastel. This is a recent development. In oil paint I was trained to do very tight rendering. Lately, I have been using a palette knife and use a lot of oil paint. It is great fun but not as easy as you might think.

Painting # 16 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Clouds Over Ghost Ranch" 5 x 7 in pastel on paper. Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted. I was able to paint en plein air there (painting on location). As the day progressed it became quite cloudy and it rained on my way back to the hotel. It was a great day. This was done from a photo I took of the ranch. I used acrylic paper for this and put transparent gesso on it for some tooth to grab the pastel. An under-painting of complimentary colors was done using pastel and rubbing alcohol.

Painting #15 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Peace, It's Black and White"  8 x 8 in. collage on acrylic paper. Here is one for those who like nonrepresentational work. The meaning behind the work is obviously peace. The rectangles that are at odds are intersected at times with circles, a sign of unity. The piece is black and white because in this area of life there are no shades of gray. We either learn to respect each other and live in peace or follow the road to self destruction.Respect does not always mean we agree. We must learn to live with each other when we do.

To create this piece, I used acrylic paper for the support, rice paper, acrylic paint, stamps, stencils, salt, various brushes, a brayer, a large feather, acrylic polymer to glue the papers, and matte varnish to seal it.

Painting #14 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "First Sign of Spring", 5 x 7 in. pastel on Pastelbord. There are thousands of daffodils that bloom at the Morton Arboretum in April. There is a huge daffodil glade but daffodils are scattered throughout the west side. This is when I know that the winter is over and spring has arrived! In my pastel class at the Center, the new students were trying different pastels on different surfaces. This pastelbord was used to show how water can give pastel a watercolor effect. The resulting light green blob inspired me to develop it into this painting. The blob is actually a good part of the inside of the flower.

Painting #13 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "Just Another Apple," 5 x 7 in. pastel on paper. This is the 13th painting in the Challenge and it was a better day for me. This was a demonstration that I did in class at the Log Center for the Arts. I have 3 new students who are unfamiliar with pastel. So, they felt more comfortable seeing a demonstration first. I did about 90% in the class and came home to work mostly on the cast shadow. It was gratifying for me to see that the students saw the subtle changes in color including the reflected light. It is going to be a good 6 week session.

Painting #12 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, "It's a Great Pot" 7 x 5 in. pastel on paper. I started this painting months ago and decided to finish it. It was a clay pot of flowers that was at the Center, the place where I teach classes. The pot was probably made in one of the classes at the Log Cabin Center for the Arts. The different irregular colors in it attracted me as well as the delicate plant. This was the first day of the challenge that was not fun. I had a lot of other things to do and did not feel well. The first painting I did was awful. I spent way to much time trying to make it work. So, I turned to this one.

Painting #11 in 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, Pumpkin Latte and Grandma's Cookies, 5 x 7 pastel on paper. This is a favorite seasonal treat.

Painting #10 in 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, A River Runs Through It, 5 x 7 oil on panel. This is a place I painted en plein air. It is in the Carbondale/Aspen area. When I was there I worked in pastels so I thought I would give oil a go. It was a hazy day with very dry conditions and distant fires. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful scene and a great painting opportunity until the park sprinklers turned on.

#9 Painting in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, Remnants of Lone Star Ranch, 5 x 7 in. pastel on prepared panel. This is part of the property of what was a horse stables. This is not far from my home and the broken down abandoned buildings with the overgrown field appealed to me. I prepared archival foam core with transparent gesso and then did an acrylic wash. Latter I used more gesso to give more texture to the foreground vegetation.

#8 in 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, Vail Creek in Winter, 7 x 5 in. pastel on Pastelbord. We have beautiful winter scenes in the Midwest right now. However, we also have below zero wind chills. So, this was done from a photo taken near Vail, Colorado when I was on vacation.

Painting # 7 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, Halo Tangerine, 5 x 7 in. pastel on black sanded paper. I partially pealed one of these cuties and placed it on my black drafting table. In low light there is a reflection on the table that I wanted to include. I didn't eat this still life but the D'Anjou pear was delicious.

This is painting #6 in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. This is "Here Comes the Sun" an oil painting with an acrylic background on a 6 x 6 in. gallery wrapped canvas . We need more sun in this part of the country so here it comes. I have so much Cadmium colored oil paint on this canvas that it will take forever to dry. It was great fun and mostly done with a palette knife.

Painting #5, Snow After the Harvest, 5 x 7 in. pastel on Pastelbord. I pass this farm field on a regular basis. We finally had snow and this is how the field looks right now. You can see remnants of the harvest. I like the way the trees appear wind blown especially when they do not have leaves and you can see their naked branches. This farm will no longer appear quite like this because the Forest Preserve District of Cook County bought it to expand their grasslands.

Daily Painting #3, Two D'Anjou, 5 x 7 in. pastel on Pastelbord. Sometimes I wander the produce department for an hour. Wow, the color and shapes are great! I guess only artists and chefs get excited about produce. I recently discovered red D'Anjou pears. I loved the subtle color changes and so it had to be painted.

Painting #2, 5 x 7 in. oil on panel, Pot of Flowers. The first painting of the day was a bust so I washed off the pastel and turned to my oils. I need color in these dreary winter days.

Here is painting #1 in Leslie Saeta's challenge to do 30 paintings in 30 days starting January 1st.

"Grandma's Christmas Ornament" 7 x 5 in. soft pastel on black sanded paper.

This ornament belonged to my mother. I have fond memories of her every time I hang this on our tree. It has to be over 50 years old. Check my web site daily for my progress.