The Balcony, figurative painting, woman in art, beach, female figure, contemporary women artists

The Balcony, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30"
SOLD to a collector in Massachusetts

Email: marie@mariefox.com

Here's my earlier study of a woman standing serenely on one leg. I love the pose because the body must be perfectly centered in order to achieve balance. No part is quite at rest, yet the figure appears relaxed and casual. The photo colors seem off so: dress is dark purple, water dark turquoise, skirt hem bright pink, hairband and town rust red, skin warm dark and the tile dark yellow, its shadows like Dijon mustard - well, this is France!

Green Towel, figurative painting, paintings of women, woman at beach, figuration, female figures, figures in art, women paintings, Marie Fox, figurative oil paintings, contemporary artist, women in art

The Green Towel, 24" x 18", acrylic on canvas
SOLD to a collector in California
Email: marie@mariefox.com

I enjoyed painting this big girl by the beach. I like the figure's solidity and her pose with arms and legs at different angles. I'm going to keep this one for awhile so I can learn from it.

Art High in The Sistine Chapel, study Michelangelo, figurative painting, woman, women artists, the figure, contemporary figurative artists

Art High in the Sisine Chapel, 30" X 24", oil on canvas
$1000 plus $30 Shipping in US  SOLD
Email: marie@mariefox.com

Yes, this is about being intoxicated by an up close view of Michelangelo's exquisite fresco. An art history enthusiast has climbed precariously high on her ladder to check out a Renaissance guy and his family at home in a lunette on the Sistine ceiling.  ~  I started this painting last year but could not complete it. The scene was painted but I could not get the girl to come to life. A few weeks ago, I began again. I painted her bigger and curvier to balance the intricacies of the fresco figures. I love the colors here - of the reds against the grays. And it was a true treat to learn from the Master by copying his fresco.

By The Brook, figurative painting, figurative art, paintings of women, woman in art, female figures, women paintings, Marie Fox, daily painter, large figure painting, original oil painting, contemporary painter, women in art, water, stream

By The Brook, 20" x 20", oil on canvas
SOLD to a collector in Alberta, Canada
Email: marie@mariefox.com

I loved painting this figure in a limited color range of rust-reds, grays and a bit of blue - and in a setting that's a bit mysterious and austere. At the very end, I thought to add some tiny flowers near the water and noticed that her big hand was the perfect shape to hold one of them. Hence the story. But really, it's the sturdy and serene woman here who is the story.

The Doorway, Marie Fox, oil on canvas, figurative painting, art of women, figure drawing, painting women, figurative art, woman in bathing suit,

The Doorway, oil on canvas, 18" x 24"
$450 plus $19 US shipping
Email: marie@mariefox.com
SOLD to a collector in Oklahoma

I started by drawing in the figure with a deep purple color and eventually added blues, red and cream to describe the flesh. So there's a bit of all these colors still present. I wanted to create some interesting grays. As my artist friend Raymond Logan says: "Gray is your friend". Check out how he dazzles the eye with his clever use of grays, and warm/cool combinations.

On The Sea Wall, sailboats, ocean, beach art, figurative painting, figure drawing, figurative art, paintings of women, woman in bathing suit, sailing

On The Sea Wall, 18" x 24", oil on canvas
$430 plus $15 US Shipping SOLD

Email: marie@mariefox.com

I found this pose intriguing because of the twist in the body and the overall X- shape it created. Again, a woman by the ocean. Having lived on sailboats and grown up in a seacoast town, the ocean and boats are natural subject matter for me. The ocean has always given me a sense of 'beyond' so perhaps that's why I enjoy perching my women at the border of land and sea.

The Striped Towel, Woman on beach, figurative art, woman reading, female figure art, figurative painters

The Striped Towel, 18" x 24", oil on stretched canvas
$500 plus Free Shipping in US. International shipping available.
Marie@mariefox.com  SOLD

One lesson I learned from the fabulous Matisse exhibit I saw in NYC a few years ago is to use a pose more than once. On display were multiple versions of a single pose done as drawings and paintings. I decided to try this with the girl in my Diving Board painting.

Girl in Orange, figurative oil painting, figure painting, paintings of women, beach, contemporary figurative art

Girl in Orange, oil on canvas, 20" x 20"  SOLD 
Email: marie@mariefox.com

I really like this painting and am especially pleased with the sculptural feeling of the bathing suit area and the legs. The colors were an experiment for me too. (What reads in this photo as blue is actually a greenish gray.) I think I'm getting back to my love of sculpture, and my student studies of it. In the end, I found the materials (marble and wood) cumbersome because of size and weight although I loved shaping them with hammer and chisel. Paintings are more portable. And tomorrow I'll transport myself to NYC to see the Matisse show. Whee!!

The Santa Monica Pier, ocean waves, ocean, surf, beach art, figurative painting, figure drawing, figurative art, paintings of women, woman in bathing

The Santa Monica Pier, 24" x 18", oil on canvas SOLD
Email: marie@mariefox.com

Just trying to imagine myself back to Santa Monica, California. (The colors of my photo seem off. The suit is persimmon, beach gold, sky light grey-green and wall a warm gray.) I do like the solid feel of her body.

The Blue Suit, oil on canvas, figurative painting, art of women, figure drawing, painting women, figurative art, woman in bathing suit,

The Blue Suit, oil on canvas, 20" x 20"
SOLD to a collector in Oklahoma
Email: marie@mariefox.com

An experiment with odd colors but I do like it. Any excuse to paint a figure.

At The Beach, ocean waves, ocean, surf, beach art, figurative painting, figurative art, paintings of women, woman in bathing suit

At The Beach, oil on canvas, 20" x 20" 
SOLD sold to a collector in Massachusetts
Email: marie@mariefox.com

The colors of this figuratie painting showing a woman sitting at the beach are gold, turquoise, dark blue and a light slightly pink skin. My hope is to build more abstract paintings of the female form based on the anatomy I'm getting to know.

The Diving Board, figurative painting, female figure, woman, pool, figurative art, paintings of women, contemporary figurative painter

The Diving Board, 30" x 40", oil on canvas
$1900 SOLD to a collector in Massachusetts

I've finally started experimenting with space in my compositions, and am happy that this figure feels as if she has lots of air around her, not to mention water below. (I began this painting during some especially humid summer days - a bit of wish fulfillment!) At the conclusion of a painting, especially a big project like this, I find that I have to allow time for the bits and pieces to become a whole. Eventually I also reach that moment when I actually enjoy the painting, when it gives something back to me after weeks of work. And a big painting is really work - but I love confronting the canvas with my whole body. I'm tall so painting big is really fun. As is painting big, strong women.

Email: marie@mariefox.com

The Siren's Day Off, 24 x 30 Oil Painting, figurative, woman at beach, sailboat, figure painting, ocean

The Siren's Day Off, Oil on Canvas, 24" x 30" $1200 SOLD to a collector in Vermont

Happily I've returned to painting after the stuff of life forced me to put my art aside. I'm quite pleased with this one as I can see I have a better understanding of anatomy. I love the voluptuousness of the body, and the twists and angles of the pose. When starting a painting, I always find the pose first, then create a story to support it. It seemed a fun idea to show a mythological Siren on a day off, not at her weekday work of luring sailors into the rocks. Lucky fellows sailing by!

Oil Painting Challenge "Striped Socks" figurative and still life

"Socks First", Oil on Canvas, 24" x 18"
SOLD to a collector in Massachusetts

This painting was inspired by my group challenge of "Striped Socks". Instead of depicting simply a pair of socks, I chose to create a figurative work. The socks provided the story.

Her New Necklace, figurative oil painting, woman at mirror, oil on canvas, 18 x 24, female figure bedroom, contemporary art life drawing, original art

Her New Necklace, oil on canvas, 24" x 18"
SOLD to a collector in Massachusetts
Email: marie@mariefox.com

This painting started as a drawing - a study in composition and values. Usually I just begin painting, hoping the lights and darks will work themselves out in a pleasing and balanced way. I've been drawing a lot recently so I decided to work out this composition in pencil before starting the painting. I found it difficult to maintain control of the values because color kept seducing me to pay more attention to it. But I managed to stick to my original value drawing and am happy with this effort. As always, I love painting the female form and telling a tale about the imagined woman. Like me, this one loves her necklaces! (The actual colors in the painting (versus online) are: leotard is dark purple, mirror is dark turqoiuse-blue, bedding is light turqoiuse blue-gray, her hair orange-red.