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Slices - An Original 6 x 8 Still Life Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Slices

 With the rain and cold weather continuing outside today, I thought it best to stay inside and paint. It really wasn't a hard decision; it's much warmer in my studio. Since I still had my little still life set up mostly intact, I decided to do another one in this little series I've been working on. I really never had any intention of doing a series like this, but it's been so much fun, I'm going with it. I noticed today that quite accidentally I had made the first two still lives remarkably close in their backgrounds, so for this painting I thought I'd try to do the same thing. I love the way the three of them look together on my drying rack. I even made up this little image of them framed: 

Today's painting is the watermelon one. It was part of our breakfast this morning and I couldn't resist it. I liked that the pieces were a little tattered. This is thanks to my daughter, who's three and who likes to try to help with everything in the kitchen, including cutting up the melon.

Slices © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Let's Split - An Original 6 x 8 Still Life Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Let's Split

 Our rain continued today, so it was another day of working in the studio, which suited me just fine. After yesterday's still life, I was itching to do another one anyway. For today's painting, I choose a banana. I find setting up a banana to make an interesting composition a real challenge. It took some time to come up with this one. I started off with a whole banana peeled about a third of the way down and just went from there. You can see I ended up with about a half of banana and parts of it are peeled all the way down. At one point I thought about just eating this one and starting over. I'm really enjoying this little peeled fruit series I have going...both of them! To be honest, I'm not sure how many other fruits I can find that are peeled, but it's suppose to rain again tomorrow, so I might have to look for another one. Anyone have any suggestions?

Let's Split © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Cutie - An Original 6 x 8 Still Life Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Cutie

 It seems like I haven't painted a still life in ages. I guess I've enjoyed our Spring weather and trying to get out as much as I can before the dreaded summer heat hits. Today, though, we had rain on and off all day so it seemed like the perfect day to stay in the studio and finally work on some of those still life ideas I've been kicking around in my head for the last few weeks. This is one of those ideas. I like the simplicity of this set up. It forced me to really pay attention to the only object in the painting and try to make it as interesting as possible. It also gave me the challenge of having to peel an orange without breaking the skin, something I've never been very good at, but somehow managed to get it on the first try today! Truth be told, this is my second attempt at this painting today. The first one I had to wipe off about 30 minutes into the painting. I usually pause after my initial start in a painting and make the decision of whether or not to go on or wipe it. It's better to face that decision early in the painting than later on, I think.  Had I spent 2 or 3 hours painting before giving it a critical look, it would have been much harder to wipe it off and start over. 

Cutie © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Rail Road Bridge - An Original 8 x 6 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Rail Road Bridge

 This is the second time I've painted at this location.Tthe first time, I was standing just in front of this bridge painting the river bank on the left side of the painting. This time, I wanted to include the bridge. I love the color on the rusty sides of the bridge and how the structure seems to cut through its surroundings. Getting to a place where I could paint this proved to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I had to hike in from the other side of the river, which doesn't have very easy access. The closest place I could find to park my car was about a mile or so from where I wanted to paint, so I had to hike with all of my gear on my back along the river bank until I reached the bridge. Since this area is mostly undisturbed there's a ton of wildlife along the water. Next time I go, I've got to remember to bring my camera!

Rail Road Bridge © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Weekend Plans - An Original 6 x 8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Weekend Plans

 While our daughters spent the weekend with Grandma, my wife and I found ourselves with some free time. Having a vague recollection of what free time is, we made plans to go to a near by state park, Cedar Hills State Park, and enjoy a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I mentioned that I'd like to do a little painting and my wife agreed, bringing along a book to read while she enjoyed some sunshine. The parks main attraction is its lake, Joe Pool Lake. We spent some time driving around the lake and doing a little exploring before we came upon the spot in the painting. Normally this location would be well under water, but since the lake still hasn't fully recovered from our drought, views like this are still available to explore and paint. I loved the way the sun was striking the tall grasses surrounding the water and casting long shadows across the sanding shore line.

Weekend Plans © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Tall Grass - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Tall Grass

 We're being treated to an early spring here in Texas this year. So far this week, we've had mostly sunny days with temps getting into the 70s all week. That is perfect weather to get out and paint in and today was no exception. While I packed up my gear to head out, I ran through a possible list of locations in my head. One of them included a little lake with a feeder creek running into it not too far from our house. I've gone to this location several times to paint the tall grasses that grow where the creek and lake meet, but for one reason or another have never painted it. Right before the winter, the park district was doing some work on the lake and they had to drain almost all the water out of it. To be honest, it looked like they killed it and most of the wildlife that called this place home. Remarkably, a few short months later the lake is full of water again and the birds, ducks and white egret are all back like nothing every happened. In fact, if I didn't see the story on the news when it happened, I would have never know from my visit today!

Tall Grass © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

E Pluribus Unum - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

E Pluribus Unum

 For the last two mornings, we've woken up to fog. As an avid outdoor painter, this is one of the two best things I can wake up to. The other is snow, which is about as rare as a 3 legged frog here in Texas, so when I see fog I get excited to go out and paint. Why? Because the fog offers a new way of seeing the landscape around us and it offers wonderful new challenges in mixing subtle colors and working with (usually) soft edges, which is all very different from the sun filled days we so often have. So, as soon as I could get out of the house this morning, I grabbed my gear and went searching for something to paint. I found this scene very quickly, not even a mile from my home on the edge of a wilderness area/park. I loved the way the single older tree stood out from the background and knew I had found what I'd spend my morning painting. As quickly as I could, I blocked in the painting and tried to capture the remnants of the fog since the sun was starting to make its appearance for the day and I knew there was precious little time before my foggy morning turned into a sunny afternoon.  While painting this the phase, E Pluribus Unum  popped into my head as a possible title for the painting. For those of you who don't remember your Latin or didn't collect coins as a kid (that's how I know what it means), it's "out of many, one". 

E Pluribus Unum © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Valentine Roses - A New Original 6x8 Still Life Oil Painting George De Chiara

Valentine Roses

 Recently my wife and I went shopping at our local grocery store. On the way in, she asks if I've ever noticed that the floral section has a little area where they sell the older flowers at a heavy discount. What?!? I had no idea that existed until that moment. Since then, every time I go into the store I make it a point to pass by this section and take a look...just in case, you know. There may be something that I just can't pass up...like these roses. I couldn't believe it when I found a dozen of these pink roses for five bucks! I scooped them up and put them in the cart and away they came with me. I couldn't get a chance to paint them for a couple of days, and at their age, their beauty is fleeting. Some didn't make it very long, but I will do my best to preserve them in paint. There are a few that may make it another day or two, but that might be it. Hopefully they do, since I'd like to try at least one more painting with them if they hold up.

Valentine Roses © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Hazy Morning - A New Original 6x8 Plein Air Oil Painting and a Painting Demo by George De Chiara

Hazy Morning

 We recently went to visit my in-laws down in south Texas for a few days. On the first morning we were there, I work up to find a foggy morning had fallen upon us. I love to try to capture this effect when I get the chance, so I sprang out of bed, grabbed my painting gear and headed out the door as quickly as I could. I think I might have been the first one up that morning. That never happens in a house with my father-in-law in it! As I loaded all of my gear into the car, I noticed that the rising sun was quickly burning off the fog. If I was going to have any chance at painting this I needed to find a place quickly, which I was able to do just a few miles down the road. I like this view because it still had most of the background engulfed in fog and gave a nice distant view of the ranch. It also had a great spot to pull off the road and paint from, which is always a plus on narrow country roads. By the time I was done painting this, the sun had fully risen and burned off all the remaining fog leaving us with a beautiful sunny day to enjoy.

 If you're in the DFW area on Saturday December 8th, be sure to stop by the Dutch Art Gallery and watch my free painting demo. I'll be there from 10 - 2 PM painting. I'd love to see you there! The Dutch Art Gallery is located at 10233 E NW Hwy in Dallas.

Hazy Morning © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Gold In Them There Hills - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Gold In Them There Hills

 When I made plans to go painting with a few friends at Tandy Hills, I assumed we'd have a beautiful sunny day since that's what we've had for the most part every day this fall. Somehow, it seems like the weather knows it's time for me to paint because that rascally sun stayed mostly hidden behind the clouds most of the morning. It wasn't until I was about halfway through this painting that it started to poke out a little, and, by the time I had finished painting we had another wonderful fall day on our hands. That's part of the beauty and the challenge with plein air painting. You never know what the weather will do next. The trick is to not spend your time chasing the light, which is why I finished this painting with the same lighting it started with - kind of overcast. I liked the mood it created while looking up the golden hillside of what I think is called rabbit bush. 

Gold In Them There Hills © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Pumpkin Coffee - A New Original 6x8 Still Life Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Pumpkin Coffee

 I've been do so much plein air painting lately that I almost forgot how much fun a still life is to paint. I was in the mood to do something that represented fall to me. After trying out a few different items with my miniature pumpkin, this one turned out to be the most satisfying. With the addition of a few autumn leaves picked fresh from the maple tree behind my studio, I was all set. Here is my progress:

This image was taken after about 5 minutes of painting. While that doesn't seem like a lot of time, it is perhaps the most important 5 minutes of the painting process. It's in this stage that all the major shapes are defined and the composition is finalized. Of course, while adjustments can still be made after this stage, I prefer to have this stage be as accurate as possible before moving on. I consider this to be my block in, and, from here, I'll start working on refining these shapes and colors.

Now I can start to refine my painting and attempt to finish areas of the painting. I'm starting with my center of interest since this is the area that should be most developed. From here, I can judge what level of completion I want for the rest of it. I can also make sure that the rest of the painting doesn't compete for attention compared to this area. 

Once I'm happy with the general direction the center of interest, I can move on to the rest of the painting. My approach with this is to try to complete an area before moving on. At this point the entire right hand side of the canvas as well as most of the foreground is complete. From here, I just need to finish up the left hand side and this painting is finished.

 Pumpkin Coffee © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

River Bank - A New Original 6x8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

River Bank

 This little stream isn't very far from our home. I've painted this area a few times this year alone, and this is the lowest I've seen the water running through here. In fact, those rocks in the foreground are normally well under the normally rushing water, which now down to just a small trickle. While this offers new views of a familiar scene, it also is a stark reminder of just how little rain we've had since September. That's when we officially entered drought conditions again here in north Texas. Not that that's anything new for this area. It seems like we are always either getting out of a drought or going into one, but it still leaves an uneasy feeling in my mind when I see the river this low. Here's hoping we have a very wet winter and new year! 

 River Bank © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Trinity Hills Color - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Trinity Hills Color

This is a wonderful little park / nature area just outside of Fort Worth. In fact, if you're looking west you can get a nice view of the city's skyline set against the hills and tress of Trinity Hills. I like this spot and go there a few times a year. In the spring, the area explodes with wildflowers and all their glorious colors. In the fall, the trees and hillside turn the most wonderful fall colors we get here in Texas.  I just love the variety of trees that grow there. In the summer...well, I'll be honest. I try to avoid this place in the summer. It tends to be dry and dusty, not to mention hot! I need to remember to head there the next time we get snow so I can see what it's like in the winter.

 Trinity Hills Color © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Hint of Fall - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Hint of Fall

 When I went out to paint the other day, I didn't really have anything in particular in mind. I figured I'd just look around until something struck my fancy. So off I went from site to site checking out different possibilities for a painting. Now, I'll be the first to admit that this technique can result in a lot of driving and hiking with the chance of coming up empty at the end of the day. Usually I like have a pretty clear idea of where I'll be going and what I hope to find there. I try to also have a back up plan just in case, but on this day I was just winging it. Luckily, I ran across this tree on a small hill-side in a quiet location. I was struck by the abstract pattern the light and shadow created and knew I wanted to try to capture it. The search was off and it was time to get painting! After a few hours of painting, this is what I came up with. 

 Hint of Fall © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

White House- A New Original 6x8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

White House

 First off, let me clarify something. There isn't any hidden meaning in the title of this painting. Current election results aside, I just happened to go out and paint a house that was white. When it came time to give the painting a title, White House stuck in my mind because...well... it's a white house. Actually, this house is used by the park rangers at Cedar Hills State Park here in Texas. It's part of an old farm that the state has preserved at the park. They have all the old farm buildings (though most of them look like they've been rebuilt over the years) and a bunch of old farm equipment all on display. The way this building sits on the property it gets wonderful afternoon light. I just loved the way the porch is shadowed. It's what attracted me to paint this. I could almost image the farmer relaxing on his porch after a had day of tending to his crops and enjoying a little shade. 

 White House © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Weeping Willow - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Weeping Willow

 When I noticed this weeping willow at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, I knew I had found what I'd be painting for the next few hours. I was struck by the reflection in the water and how some of the branches barely kissed the surface below. I think this is the first time I've tried to paint a weeping willow. It's not that I have anything against them. We just don't see a lot of them here in Texas. Kind of makes me wish we had a little pond that I could plant one by. They seem to go great with water. 

Weeping Willow © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Foggy Morning - A New Original 6x8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Foggy Morning

 One of the things I like best about fall are the foggy mornings we sometimes get. As much as I enjoy painting out doors on a nice sunny day, nothing beats being able to paint in some sort of atmospheric condition, like fog. Rain is nice if I can find a dry place to paint from and snow offers a new look at the landscape, but, let's be honest, it's cold. Besides, anything more than a dusting of snow in Texas is rare. Fog, on the other hand, is usually fairly pleasant weather to paint in and offers a wonderful variety of colors and edges. I've been waiting for a good foggy day to paint in for a while. It seems like the last few we had I wasn't able to go out painting for one reason or another, but on this day all the stars lined up and out I went! This is from a little pond just down the road from where we live. I tend to go to this location a lot when I don't have a lot of time to paint before I think the conditions will change, like in fog or at sunset. I'm sure the commuters don't agree with me, but I hope we have a lot more foggy days soon!

 Foggy Morning © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Through The Rose Garden - An original 6x8 landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Through The Rose Garden

 Hmm...I'm not sure how this happened, but it's taken me almost 4 months to post this painting. It was one of the last ones I did right before I packed up my old studio and started work on the new space. I guess I just forgot about it with everything else going on. I rediscovered it while gathering up all the paintings I had in different locations around the house to dry while I was studioless.

 I painted this at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens on a beautiful sunny day. This is at the far end of the walkway and trellis that runs though the rose garden. I just love the way the light was hitting the upright supports for the trellis and the light and dark patterns it created. I also was intrigued by the distance I could see from this view. If you look closely, you will notice the fountain at the end of the path in the background. In real life, this has to be about 150 yards from where I was standing. At the gardens, it's rare to find a view that long that isn't obstructed by something. 

Through The Rose Garden © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Last Light - An original 8x6 plein air landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Last Light

A few nights ago, I went out to paint the sunset at out local park. My wife and kids came, too. While I painted at the lake, the girls played in the park. I had promised my oldest daughter, who's turning three this weekend, that she could do a painting when I was finished. Sure enough just as I was finishing up, she came by wanting to do her painting. I packed my work away and got her a fresh canvas to paint on. She picked out her brush and dove right into painting. Somehow, she managed to use most of the paint left on my palette starting with the most expensive colors first. How is it she always knows how to do this? She only had a few minutes before the sun completely set and it became too dark to continue. Of course that's when she looked at me and said "Daddy, I need more light". If you know how to explain to a three-year old that Daddy can't turn the sun back on, please let me know.

Here's my painting:

Last Light © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Here's the painting my daughter did. Sha had a much different interpretation of the sunset. Now if I can just teach her to sign her name!

Feels Like Rain - An original 6x8 landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Feels Like Rain

We had rain all weekend this last week. It was much needed rain and, thankfully, there was a lot of it. Naturally though, I had made plans to go out painting well before the rain forecast became such a certainty. After waking up Saturday to a heavy downpour, our plans got put on hold till Sunday. Well, Sunday came and the rain was still rather heavy, and things are starting to look a little muddy so.... Plans cancelled! All of the weekend's anticipation started to wear on me and  I was just itching to get some painting done. I'm looking at all my painting gear, which is packed up, and, then suddenly it hits me. I can go to the lake and paint under the large picnic pavilion, which has a nice view of the water. With such heavy rains the normally reserved area will surely have no one using it. Eureka! I got to the lake and, sure enough, no one was there. Still, even the large roof of the pavilion couldn't stop the driving wind from blowing rain inside, but it was better than being out in the elements and it kept me dry enough to paint all morning. 

Feels Like Rain © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Veggie Wraps - An original 6x8 landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Veggie Wraps

 One of the great benefits of moving my studio recently is I got to rediscover all the things I stashed away for another day and forgot about, like this little plein air painting I did in the fall of 2010 of hay bales sitting out in the field. While I was never crazy about the results of the painting, I did like the subject and the general composition of the painting so I thought I'd give it another try. I didn't want to just make a copy of the original painting. I wanted to take this opportunity to make a few adjustments to the composition and colors of the scene. I also choose to make it a little large then the original 5x7 inch plein air study. Now, if you promise not to laugh I'll show you the original study. Promise? Okay good, here it is:

While I think most of the building blocks are here, I don't like the color, the general color temperature and some of the drawing is, well, less than stellar. However, I think with a few adjustments I can make a better painting.

Since overall I like the composition I had I'm going to stick with it for the most part. You might be able to see a few faint lines of where the hay bale in the back is shifted over to the right just a bit more than in the original painting. I also turned the way it is facing so we see the other side of it. I felt seeing 2 of the hay bales in basically the same position was a little boring and by rotating the background one I'm able to give a bit more variety to the piece. One of the other things I wanted to do was to break up the tree line in the background. I'm going to try to bring this set of trees that I started with and another set of the left side a bit more forward in space then the ones behind them.

At this stage, I have most of the background finished. Notice how I have almost the same shapes as in the original painting? I think this one has a lot more interest because of the wider value range and a bit more variety in the brush work. The foreground at this point is nothing more than washes of color thinned with turpentine. In fact, I even stole a little watercolor trick and put some turps in a spray bottle and sprayed the surface. If you look closely you can see the runs that it caused. In the end very little of this made it into the final painting, but it was an interesting experiment and one I want to continue to explore. Luckily, I did this right before I took my lunch break because it took a while for the surface to dry enough to continue painting.

Below is the final painting. I'm not sure the image is the best. Might have to re-shoot it in the morning and update this, but it should give you a good idea of what the final painting looks like.

Veggie Wraps © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Reflecting on Summer - An original 8x6 landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Reflecting on Summer

Right down the road from our house is a wonderful little lake and park area. Since we discovered this area, it's become one of our daughter's favorite places. The lake hosts a tremendous number of ducks, geese, and grebes all of which love to eat bread practically out of your hands, if you let them. The park has a great slide and jungle gym. Because of this, when I want to go and paint there, my family usually comes along, which is fine with me. I love having them around. My wife will take them to the park while I paint and when I'm done we all get some time to play together. Well, on this day, my 3-year-old just couldn't wait for me to finish so she came over to watch and chat. She then declared that she wanted to paint. I had gotten everything I needed to be able to complete the painting back in my studio so I packed it up and gave her a canvas to paint on. What a thrill it was to watch her plunge the brush into a pile of color and then smear it across her canvas. I hope this is something we get to a lot of in the future! Anyway, here is my result for the day:

Reflecting on Summer © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Trumpet Vines - An original 6x8 landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Trumpet Vines

Those of you who read this blog any regularity will notice that this is my first post in a few weeks. You may recall one of my last posts where I mentioned that I was moving my studio and needed to renovate the new space first. Well, I'm happy to report that project is now done! In fact, I'm writing this post from the comfort of my new studio. While this project took much longer then I anticipated (don't they always?), I couldn't be happier with the results. I have a little more space then I use to, a lot more natural light and much better views of the outdoors. I do, unfortunately, have a roof leak that I still need to fix and a few repairs to do inside once that's fixed, but other than that my new studio is up and running now. 

 One of the first projects I wanted to tackle in my new studio was to finish up a plein air sketch I started a few weeks ago. Occasionally, I'll get a painting home and just not be satisfied with my results. That was the case with this painting. When I finished painting this on location, I thought I was done with it, but that may have been the 100+ degree sun pouring down on me that made me think that. Once I was back in the comforts of air conditioning and had some fluids in me, I knew I'd have to make some adjustments to this one. Below is my original painting, before I did anything to it in the studio.

While this effort has all of the important notes of color I need, it lacks in a few other areas. It's a little too loose for my tastes and has far too many soft edges. The background is rather plain and has a whole lot of green in it. It also lacks any interest or excitement. Even with all these issues, I think I could make this the painting I wanted to paint out there in the heat, in the coolness of my studio. 

 The first thing I did was Google a few images of Trumpet Vines to help refresh my memory. Between those images and my original painting, I felt I had enough information to begin reworking the painting. One interesting thing I discovered while looking at the images my search returned is that it can take up to 5 years to get blooms in this vine. 5 years! That's long time to just watch a vine grow, but once they bloom they really are amazing flowers to look at. I'm just not sure I have the patience to wait that long, since I get frustrated when my flower seeds don't burst into bloom as soon as they spring from the ground.

Here's the finished painting. What do you think? Is this one better to you?

Trumpet Vine © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Interlocken Wild Flowers - An original 8x6 plein air landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Interlocken Wild Flowers

I had looked at this location for a few days before I went and did this painting, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to paint when I headed out. I had planned on doing a close-up study of the wildflowers and not the grander view I wound up painting. I had a change of heart on my drive over when I noticed the wonderful clouds we had on this day. I'm a real sucker for a good sky and whenever I see one I want to include it in my paintings. I was also thinking about how the trees behind the flowers usually had a great pattern of light and shadow on them every time I went and looked at this scene. By the time I arrived I knew I was not going to do the painting I had intended and instead I'd do the view depicted in this painting. I found a nice little shady spot to set up in and got to work painting. 

PS - My posts have been a little sparse lately while I finish up the remodeling project on my new studio space and a few other rooms around the house. I can finally start to see some of the light at the end of that tunnel and hope to be posting at a more regular pace soon!

Interlocken Wild Flowers © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

A Day At El Tesoro - An Original 6x8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

A Day At El Tesoro

 A few weeks ago, I went to Camp El Tesoro to paint with some friends for the day. We had a wonderful time painting along the river and enjoying the mild spring weather. The water is crystal clear at this spot in the river and I was able to watch the fish swimming as I painted. Most of the rocks that make up the falls seem to be sand stone or lime stone, which reflect some really amazing colors in the river. I had a great time trying to capture them. 

 This is the first of two paintings I did this day. You can see the other painting here.

A Day At El Tesoro © 

 Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

"Heavy Cloud Cover" - An original 6x8 inch landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Heavy Cloud Cover

 I really enjoy painting sunsets from life. They are a challenge since sunsets visibly change quickly. In fact, it's been said that they change to the eye every 16 seconds! Try this next time you watch the sunset: Look away from it every minute, wait 30 seconds and then look at it again. It's amazing how much it changes. Now image trying to paint it. Every time I looked up from my canvas, the area I was painting looked different. When I painted this, my wife and children came with me to play in the nearby park as I painted. While I was waiting for the sun to start to set, I commented to my wife that painting sunsets is a bit like waiting to run a race. I wait around until it's time to get going and then paint as fast as I can to keep up with the changing conditions.

Heavy Cloud Cover © 

 Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

"El Tesoro Falls" - An original 8x6 inch landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

El Tesoro Falls

 This area is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to paint. Camp El Tesoro is a wonderful kid's camp that's kind enough to let us in occasionally to paint. The camp has a great river running though it that is complete with waterfall, which is what this painting depicts. The water is very clear; in fact, not only could we see the many fish in the river, we could actually see the whiskers on the catfish as they swam around. After last year's drought it was very encouraging to see so much life in the river. There had to be easily 100 fish swimming around the 40-50 foot stretch we explored looking for places to paint the falls from. Of course, we where also warned that they spotted two copperheads and a rattler in the last few days along the river and that we should "keep an eye out".  Ha! I kept them both out, just in case. 

El Tesoro Falls © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: Framing available through gallery.
Availability: Available through The Dutch Art Gallery. ($100)

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

"Wine Cups and Indian Blankets" - An original 8x6 inch landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Wine Cups and Indian Blankets

 We've been very lucky this year to have such wonderful wildflower blooms. First, we had bluebonnets as far as the eye could see and now indian blankets are popping up everywhere. It seems like there are thousands of them this year along with a great mix of wine cups, indian paintbrushes, and a whole bunch more whose names I still need to learn. I find it almost impossible to drive anywhere right now because every few feet I want to stop and paint the flowers while they are here. When I see them I know I need to act on it quickly before they are gone. For example, this painting was intended to be bluebonnets. I had found a very nice patch of them in Arlington's Interlochen area by Rush Creek, but didn't have time to paint them then. I went back a few days later and most of the bluebonnets had gone to seed already. Luckily, they where being replaced by these indian blankets and wine cups. I'm not sure what the little red flowers are in the foreground. This was the first time I've seen them. If you know what they are, please let me know. Thanks:)

Wine Cups and Indian Blankets © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: Framing available through gallery.
Availability: Available through The Dutch Art Gallery.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Running Strong - An original 6x8 landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Running Strong

 Have I mentioned that this is one of my favorite subjects to paint? I never seem to tire of painting rivers and running water. This little river is in Arlington's Interlochen area. There's a sidewalk that crosses the river just upstream from this spot that causes the water to build up and run faster as it passes through the small pipes running under it. When the water gets through the pipes, it goes over a rock washboard, causing this scene to unfold. I painted this early in the morning when the rocks where still a little wet and colorful. Once the sun heated up towards the end of my painting time, it dried out the rocks and completely changed the colors in them. I had to really be on my toes to not continually change my painting as this was happening. 

This is my first auction on Daily Paint Works. For those of you not familiar with Daily Paint Works (DPW), it's a website dedicated to just art sales and auctions. I'm excited to try this site because of this reason. I'll be listing a few more paintings with them over the next week so be sure to check back often for updates. 

Running Strong © 

 Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Incoming Storm - An original landscape oil painting by George De Chiara

Incoming Storm

This was painted during the Outdoor Painters Society paint out in Ennis (TX). Due to some other commitments, I was only able to go the paint out on one day. It just happen to be the one day that we had storms. Being ever the optimist, we headed out for the hour drive in cloudy weather thinking that the storm would blow out soon. Well, we got there and found a place to paint, but the clouds were still around. With nothing left to do, I set up my easel and hoped for the best. About 10 minutes after I started painting, the rain started coming down. I put up my umbrella and continued to paint, still thinking it was only matter of time before the storm blew out. After about 90 minutes of painting under the protection of my umbrella, the rain finally stopped. Well...I thought it stopped. About 30 minutes later another storm came in with lots of thunder and lighting. While I don't mind painting in the rain, as soon as I see lighting it's time to pack it up and that's just what we did. As quickly as I could I broke down my easel and packed up my gear. We got everything in the car just as the heavy rain started to come down. Of course as soon as we made the hour drive back home, the sun came out! That's just part of the adventure with painting outdoors.

Incoming Storm © 

 Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Click here to bid on this painting.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.