PB & J Sandwich by Darren Maurer

30" x 30"

I finished the large PB & J this evening. I am happy with my results. I'm not sure what I am going to do with this painting yet. As I finish more larger ones in the future I might try to show them somewhere. If not, I will most likely continue marketing the pieces on eBay. I also showed the painting hanging on a wall. It isn't framed in the photo but it does give a nice idea of the scale. The painting is for sale. (Click Here to Get Purchase Details)

Progress Photo of 30" x 30" PB & J Sandwich

30" x 30"

Here is proof that I have been working the last couple of weeks. I have mentioned in my blog before about the positives of painting the miniature oil paintings. One of the main positives for me is I get to see the reaction of people to different paintings before I have spent sometimes hundreds of hours finishing the painting. This particular painting is a large version of one of the miniatures I finished earlier this year. The original 6" x 6" PB & J would be very close to getting the award for most talked about and commented on painting I have finished out of all 240 paintings so far. I had a flood of emails and it sold practically within minutes after posting it online. I am planning on painting several of the smaller more popular paintings on a larger scale. I would like to make a goal of finding two or three art galleries in successful markets and show several of the pieces. I should have this finished by early next week.

Watermelon Wedges - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

6" x 8"

Everyone loves the state they are from and their state is always the best to them for different reasons. Now here goes my soap box rant about my state. I love the fact that I was born and raised in the great state of Nebraska. I would never want to be from anywhere else. I love telling people I'm from Nebraska and all the stories from there. I'll always be a Nebraskan no matter where I live or how long I've lived there. The state was built on the work ethic of those who live there. Nowhere are there tougher or harder working people. Now before anyone gets upset and says, "We have tough hard working people too," I will say they could be just as tough and hard working, but not more. Most of my family resides in the western part of the state known as the "panhandle". (Note: A few other states have panhandles as well, but none as cool as ours.) They are all farmers and cattle ranchers. We have a family reunion "out west", as we refer to it in our house, every other year. This painting is from this year's reunion and shows a large bowl full of watermelon wedges. One of my favorite things when we all get together is the food. No catered affairs for us. Catering is for wussies. My mom and aunts coordinate the food situation as well as any of the best catering companies out there. It is always excellent. I really like how this piece worked out. The watermelon shapes create an almost abstract design in the piece but there is no mistaking freshly cut summer watermelon. I can almost smell it. This is painting 240 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Back to School - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

5" x 7"
Late this afternoon my wife ShLoe, whom is a first grade teacher, and my two daughters were all trying to get everyone's school supplies in order for tomorrow. School actually started last Thursday. Thursday and Friday were two school days that were more or less used to get readjusted to the shock of being back in school. Monday will be the day that the buckling down and getting some real serious work done will begin. This idea hit me during the flurry of activity today. It is a limited palette painting with the yellow pencil as the star of the show. I am also quite fond of the light red line used in the notebook to identify the margin. This is painting 239 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Double Stuff Oreos Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

4" x 4"
Does it get any better than double stuff Oreos? They have a look of their own. I wanted to paint these cookies and I liked how they looked stacked up from a low viewing angle. The two dark colored cookie pieces actually have a lot of reddish color in them. The package of Oreos also advertised a contest on the outside of the package. I got a laugh out of the way it was worded. It is clearly written on the package, "No purchase necessary, see side for details." So then I read the side of the package which states, "Only winning packages contain a message. If your package does not contain a Game Message, you are not a winner." Now I'm thinking, "What the ................?" Anyway it turns out you have to mail in your request to play if you don't want to buy the package. I'm very sure Nabisco is going to at least make sure the grand prize winner bought a package of cookies. This is painting 238 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Orange Lollipop - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

5" x 7"
I really like painting candy for some reason. Candy with clear plastic around it is even more fun. I multi-tasked while painting this piece. While I was working on this painting my friend Mark stopped by my studio. So I chatted with Mark for awhile and after he was on his way I had a phone conversations with my mother, my friends Brian and Pat and also my wife, ShLoe, who is away for a few days on a business trip. I also had to keep my two daughters entertained with my witty dad talk in between phone calls. I think I was talking to someone throughout the entire process of painting this piece. I can't seem to tell the difference between my paintings done while talking and the paintings done while sitting up all night all alone in my studio. This is painting 237 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

A Red Cherry Lifesaver - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

4" x 4"

I have had this vision of a single red Lifesaver candy in my head for sometime now. I am happy with the final results. It is one of those paintings that really starts to come together when the highlights are applied to the canvas. It was fun to get back into a painting that I could paint loose and use bolder brush strokes to convey my subject. This is painting 236 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Sold.

Federal Duck Stamp Entry by Darren Maurer

7" x 10"

I wasn't going to paint one of these this year. I wasn't motivated or inspired to design and paint a duck stamp for some reason. Last Thursday night my oldest daughter asked why I wasn't working on a stamp design and I didn't have an answer for her. As I sat in my studio afterwards I thought to myself, "Why aren't you painting an entry into this year's contest?" I didn't have an answer. The deadline was August 15th and I probably still had time to get something finished. I had great reference available and somehow reached down deep and became more focused on creating a winning design than ever before. I started working on this piece last Thursday night and finished it late today. After many hours of work and not a lot of sleep since then I feel like this is one of my better designs. I kept everything very simple and bright and focused on the bird. I am happy with it. It will up to the judges now. I'll FedEx this off to Washington, DC later on this week and keep my fingers crossed.