Snow Bound - Day 23 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Snow Bound" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

On the Edge of Darkness - Day 21 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"On the Edge of Darkness" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

I wanted to do another painting using my favorite yellow-green, black and white combination, and became inspired to create this very bold composition after I found a small half-circle of paint I had pulled off my brayer.  This painting reminds me that sometimes we need to take a giant leap into the unknown before we can enter a new stage of life.  Do we keep playing it safe and stay with what we know?  Or do we close our eyes and leap over the precipice, floating through space to a new life journey?

Challenge Complete - Here's the 30/30 Collage for January, 2016

January, 2016 - Collage of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I am ecstatic to have completed my sixth (6th) "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge time and am happy to report two of these paintings have sold to good homes.  In the past challenges, I always worked "small" - usually 4" x 6" up to 12" x 12" but this challenge was comprised of larger canvases that were in need of a makeover.  The series was called "Reflections" and were all done on canvases/panels that had previous paintings of mine on them (some done from the late 1980's!!)

Part of my own personal challenge was creating something that corresponded with the title from the original painting.  This wasn't always easy, I assure you!  But at the end of the day, I was happy with the new work and didn't regret letting go of the old paintings one single bit.

The next step will be finishing these paintings so I can begin the marketing process.  I didn't focus on sales this time - mainly because there simply wasn't time.  Painting larger also means painting longer, and this challenge had me putting in some long studio hours. 

I'm excited to take these new works and upload them to my website in addition to marketing them to my group of designers and consultants.  Many of them will also hit an on-line shop or two, and a couple of them will remain in my personal collection until I'm ready to let them go.

Thank you again for following along - there were a lot of things going on during this challenge, but I managed to finish and for that, I'm proud of my accomplishment.  I'm also thrilled to report I wasn't alone this time - we managed to get a group of 15+ artists from the Sacramento area involved in the challenge, which means one heck of a lot of new art was made in our Capital city this month!

The next challenge begins in September, 2016 - I can't wait to do it all over again!

Day 27 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Zoom"

"Zoom" - 40" x 30" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

Still playing catchup for this challenge - here's Day 27's offering....only 3 more to go!  This pneumonia is kind of kicking my butt.  I feel better; go out for a couple of hours; then spend 8 hours paying the price with dizziness; hacking; and general feeling like pooh. 

Seems like with all this "free time" on my hands I should be able to just knock out a few more paintings, right?  But the reality is when I go to paint my head starts to throb and I get queasy or dizzy then have to lay down again.  I'm committed to finishing the 30/30 though - even if the next 3 are small pieces I have to do while laying down.  We'll see how it goes - stay tuned!

Day 26 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Splash"

"Splash" - 40" x 30" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

"Splash" is a multi-colored cityscape with numerous layers of color in the sky and water portion.  As usual, the photo doesn't do it justice!

Day 22 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Sweet Surrender"

"Sweet Surrender" - 24" x 24" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

More soft and subtle colors in this abstract painting - covering up a mid-range palette with lots of marks.   With the exception of a couple of paintings thus far, I can safely say I'm loving this new style that has been emerging from this challenge.  

Day 17 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "My Funny Little Valentine"

"My Funny Little Valentine" - 24" x 24" mixed media on 1.5" canvas

Looks like I need to get busy this Holiday weekend and get some more paintings done!  I thought I was ahead of the game when I completed this one last Friday, but yesterday wiped me out.  Long story and nothing I want to share right now, but I'm back on track now.

In an earlier post I mentioned two friends who are both fighting life-threatening diseases - one is being treated at the Mayo Clinic (fortunately she has excellent insurance) and the other just got accepted to Stanford's cancer center.  Unfortunately her insurance seems to be fighting her every step of the way, and one of her friends started a funding campaign to help with the bills.

I decided to do my share to help and am offering the following:  Any of the paintings in the collage below will be for sale at A PRICE YOU NAME (no reasonable offer refused) - and 100% of the sales will go to help my friend.  The offer is good through Monday, January 18th at midnight.  I normally charge an average of $1.00 per sq. in. of the canvas (for example, a 12" x 12" canvas would be $144 - but make me an offer I can't refuse!).  Here are more details.  Please consider helping this family in need.....cancer ain't cheap and the treatments are going to bankrupt this family.  Stage IV inoperable cancer can be treated and the Stanford oncologist team is hopeful Tammy's type of cancer responds to the treatments which start next week.  At $3500 a pop (out of pocket expenses), this isn't easy.  Send me an email with your offer and get some original art.  100% goes to Tammy - inquiries at:  jj@judyjacobsart.com

Day 7 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Get Peace of Mind"

"Get Peace of Mind" - acrylic & gouache on 24" x 18" x 1.5" canvas

I'm getting into my stack of larger canvases now and here's a reworked one called "Get Peace of Mind."
This painting has lots of texture and is painted with acrylics, gesso and powdered gouache in addition to some upcycled, torn cardboard.  The cardboard is from the wrapping around packaged light bulbs, and is a thinner version of the cardboard found from boxes.  It absorbs the paint beautifully and gives the painting an added dimension that I really like.

Once again I apologize for the quality of the photo.  It really does look a LOT better than this photo shows.  After this challenge is over, I've decided I'm going to challenge myself and learn how to use my Panasonic Lumix camera with a Leica lens.  I bought it over 3 years ago but soon found I could take decent (and easy!) photos with my iPhone, so just abandoned it.

One more thing to add to my ever-growing "to-do" list for 2016! 

Day 5 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Wherever the Wind Takes Me"

"Wherever the Wind Takes Me" - 7" x 5" acrylic & graphite on MDF panel

Many folks do not understand abstract art and think it's just the result of some crazy artist gone wild with some brushes and paint.  And some artists may very well work like that, but I find the abstract genre to be like an intricate puzzle, waiting to be solved. 

This challenge, I'm working on doing more abstracts and am painting over/reworking old paintings.  It's been ages since I've painted abstracts and I've really missed the "problem-solving" that needs to happen in order to make a successful work.

For example: I have to pay attention to shapes; colors; form and line in addition to keeping a balanced ratio of lights to darks; warm colors to cools; brights to neutrals and more.  And let's not forget composition!  Some pieces are easy to figure out while others are like those 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzles that take FOREVER to finish.   

I got a head start on this challenge by prepping 15 canvases before it started.  Right now I'm working on seven pieces but they aren't coming together quite like I'm wanting them to.  Analyzing each piece takes a long time, and I'm getting a bit stressed thinking I won't get all 30 paintings done by the end of January. 

Failure is not my strong point, so I do plan on finishing the challenge and completing 30 new abstract paintings.  Will they all be successful pieces?  Undoubtedly no.  I'm striving for 80% though and we'll see if I can finish this challenge with a passing grade.