Paintings by Mary T. Scandurro

On the Move

2010-06-19T18:28:00.001-05:00

SOLD

This painting was done from a photo taken at a local festival. I titled this "Sunglasses" as I am sure he either bought or won them on the fair grounds. This shows how fickled the spring weather can be here in Southeast Lousiana. As he probably started out early in the morning wearing his coat and by mid afternoon it was so hot he had to sling it over his shoulder. I enjoy painting people in movement with lots of shadows. I toned down the background of this painting with a tinted glaze to insure the focus of the painting was the young man. Done on smooth canvas board measuring 10" X 14". I hope you enjoy viewing.

Painting on Claybord

2010-06-09T19:59:00.001-05:00

SOLD

This is the first painting I have done on any type of primed board vs canvas. My first try painting on this medium felt like I was sliding around on ice. I prefer painting people on a rigid surface, however some canvas panels can be rough on details, unless a lot of prep is done to smooth the canvas. When I have "time" I want to be painting not preparing canvases. So I gave it another shot on some Ampersand Claybord I found if I used a lighter touch the brush flowed beautifully over the surface with no drag and the paint layed down wonderfully. In fact I did this painting in one night as it was one of those moments when everything came together and I did not want to stop painting. I had already decided to do this particular painting in black and white then added a touch of lavender to soften the grays. The only color are in the signs and the halo of the lights. The painting was done using a loose technique. This is a small version 5"x7" of a larger painting I am planning. Titled "Resting" it is of an older italian woman sitting outside of Brocato's Ice Cream shop in New Orleans this is from another era. So we shall see if gessoed masonite or Claybord becomes my surface of choice for all my people paintings. Please check out my ebay auctions as I will be posting new painting in the next few days. And as promised I will be posting some of my new red shoe series shortly.

Daily paintings

2010-04-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

Click to see my paintings on etsy

I cannot believe how time speeds by I did not realize how long it had been since I posted to my blog. I resolve to do better. I have just opened a shop at etsy.com under the name casluve. On my last blog many months ago I was working on my Red Shoe Series which is still a work in progress I have completed some and others are in varying stages. I will be posting more of my Red Shoe paintings. As I mentioned on my first blog I started these daily paintings last year to help me in disciplining myself to painting every day. These are mostly done from fruits and veggies, I picked up while at a local produce market. The plus to that is you can eat them after you finish your painting. I also have a couple of small abstract paintings listed on etsy which I call my end of day paintings. I find I really enjoy abtract painting but would like to incorporate some realism into them. My goals for this year are to learn to say no to the things that are not important to allow more time for my painting. And to keep on keeping on...

Red High Heels Continued

2009-12-30T17:51:00.001-06:00

SOLD

This painting is 6" x 12" on canvas board in acrylics. I do paint on stretched canvas and will be posting a larger painting of my red shoe series done on stretched canvas but I still have to glaze. The reason I prefer canvas board to stretched canvas is the rigidity of the panels I usually sketch out the painting and the stretched canvas can sometimes have too much give I have tried clayboard but still like the feel of canvas. The painting I have in the works right now is red shoes lying on a wet pavement. The holidays have caused a hiatus in my painting but am anxious to get started again. I never put deadlines on myself when I am painting, when I tried it has been a disaster. Although I sometimes get very intense when I paint (just ask my family) I feel destressed (if that's not a word it should be) when I finish. I would love to be, but am not a painter who can work with alot of outside interruptions so I have to choose times when I will not be interrupted and sometimes those snippets of time are very hard to come by. And the beat goes on....

Red High Heel Series

2009-12-13T14:18:00.002-06:00

SOLD

I decided to do this series of paintings while getting ready for a show in November. I had taken numerous photographs of the young woman in the red high heels. At the time I was trying to discipline myself by doing daily paintings of still life objects. I was also at the point I wanted to paint everything I saw. So to keep myself disciplined I decided the best way to do that was to paint a series of a subject I loved working on. When I would take a break from painting I would sketch from these photographs. This is a journey for me to see how this series will evolve and what twist and turns it will take. I love non traditional backgrounds and would like to try to incorporate some of these in my upcoming paintings. I enjoy working with texture and a knife so I am coming up with ideas to incorporate these techniques in this series. After the holidays I will be working on my website and setting up my gallery in C.J.s Antiques & Collectibles in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. At present you can view some of my works on ebay. Happy Holidays to all.