Before the Day Begins

Before the Day Begins

10 x 5, oil on panel 

Bob and I stayed at a B&B at Leed's Castle last week. It is a stunning castel and grounds that is very parklike and romantic. Being there after hours made it that much more magical to us. A nice bottle of champagne in the evening in the stunning gardens overlooking the lake full of swans and other bird foul made the evening perfect.  

The next day Bobby went and played 9 holes while I did some plein air painting. I am generally  not pulled to paint the obvious scene of a noted location. In this painting I painted a little tunnel that is at the base of the castle and the mote around it where they store the gondola's overnight. The painting was moving right along when.... they moved the gondola to get it ready for the visitors of the day. Luckily I had gotten enough information to finish the painting off in my studio.

This may be my last plein air piece before I move back to the states. 

There are lots of mixed feelings I have about moving back but, I am leaving a place with many, many posititve memories cemented into my head and coming back to my home with high anticipation of great things to come.

Willow Ablaze

Willow Ablaze

8 x 10

oil on panel

You can't see the pond next to this but it is there. Occasionally in a painting I choose to go way beyond the local colour. I plan on doing more and more of it too. Usually when I do this it is on a studio piece but this time I tried it out in the field. My mind had to keep stopping and going through a reassignment of colour over and over again yet staying relatively true to the values. Kinda fun actually.

My New Website

Happy Dog

Happy Me

Yes, you have seen this painting before. You will see it again if you visit my brand new website: www.eileenmcconkeyfineart.com . It is a simple site all about the work. Let me know what you think.

I have been wanting to make a new site for a long time because my other website is all about the space paintings that I was doing (www.eileenmcconkey.com). I am keeping that one up and running too for it is still a part of me and is so different from my current work and I want it to stay alive on the web.

On another note - I am heading HOME. USA here I come! Just about 3 1/2 more weeks to go. I have been loving living in England but have also missed family, friends and other things about the US that just aren't here.  England will stay in my heart strongly for the rest of my life. Bob and I have been blessed for the opportunity and have become richer because of it. My work has changed and grown. My world view has become more realistic and appreciative. We are happy that we came.

So this means that I will be seeing lots of you who are following this blog. Can't wait.  I really appreciate your support. 

In the mean time, there are still paintings to paint whilst I am still here so stay tuned. ooxx

Dreaming of Italy

Dreaming of Italy

10 x 5

Oil on panel

SOLD

It is not often that I use other people's photos for my paintings but I did for this one. It was an opportunity I took advantage of as Leslie Saeta is traveling in Italy. This painting will be posted on her blog and of course at any other of my sites - My Facebook fan page, my regular timeline on facebook  (lots of links huh!)

I usually shy away from building because they conjure up nasty memories of doing VERY detailed house portraits years ago that were more like architectural drawings. Today I would do a house portrait soooo differently. 

So - this painting was actually quite fun as I started with a red-orange underpainting so it gave the whole thing a warm glow right off the bat. I  haven't done underpainting colour fields all that much lately but I think you will be seeing it more and more often as I go along.

By the way - I am heading home form England soon. Time to get on with the rest of our lives. Stay tuned.