PEARLS

6x6, pastel

I set this little still life up with the idea of playing with odd composition.  I pushed things center and to the left to see if I could handle the open space to the right.  After struggling for a while with my medium, which  is pastel on this one, I finally gave in and went and got a pair of pearl earrings.   Putting them on the bottom right seemed to work.  Besides all that these little pearls are special.  I wore them on my wedding day oh so long ago.  They don't get out of the jewelry box much anymore, as my taste and age has given me privilege to where funky metals and larger earrings.  I knew that I wanted them in this little painting which gave me a reason, not that I needed one, to take them out and hold them.  I am always amazed at my response to touch and how it floods the senses :)

HOME GROWN

9x12, oil, sold

We have 2 Valencia orange trees in our yard.  Most of the time these trees are bounitful.  For years at Christmas we would put our christmas tree in the bay window and take photos of our boys standing in front of it.  Always in the background just outside the window hung branches burdened down with fruit.  Loved sending those photos oof to family and friends in the midwest and east coast to share.

SOMETHING TO BRIGHTEN ANY DAY

12x12, oil, $180.00

Color color color...so much fun.  This painting just brightens my fireplace mantle.  that is where all my painting sit to be looked at and looked at some more.  This one makes me happy.

GATHER AROUND

6x6, oil, $80.00

This was a second still life that I just could not pass up painting.  The play of color in the glass lent itself to a calligraphy for fun brushwork.  I loved the colors working together.  Cherries are very fun with the myriad of reds. 

A BIT OF CITRUS

8x8, oil, $100.00

Yesterday was a fun painting day.  I love setting up still lifes.  So on most Fridays I have the opportunity to set up a few still lifes for a wonderful group of painters and then I get to paint.  The hardest thing is deciding which one to do.  On a very good day I have done three of varying degrees of my abilities.  This meaning that I hope to have one that feels complete.  That does not always happen, but I learn lots about my focus.  It is so important to ask myself questions and to stay on task.  Art is a discipline.  As an artist I study all the time.   I read and look at lots of work.  Each painting I do reflects something I am working toward.  This one reflects brushwork, color, form and shape.   Now there are things in this painting that disturb me, but for the most part I am happy enough to post it here for all to see.  And for the disturbing things, I know what I need to work on. 

"FIRST OF THE SEASON"

6x6, raymar panel, $75.00

This perfect little tomato is the first for the season in my small garden of hierlooms.  They say he is an "Avalanche" tomato.  I expected a really big guy to flavor up a few sandwiches.  Instead he was just a bit.

"THREE PART HARMONY"

6x6, raymar panel, sold

Here is another of the paintings completed on the Dewberry/Cooper Paint A Thon day.  I was so happy to push my colors beyond my comfort.  Love days like this.

"WALL FLOWER"

6X6, oil on canvas panel, $70.00

This little flower was pushed to the wall which was a box that kept moving.  I was sort of taken with the light on the glass reflecting in the water.

"TWO OF A KIND"

8x6, oil on canvas panel, $85.00 + $12.00 S /H

Still enjoying my daisy purchase.  Love working with glass and flat and bright brushes.  Just loving the color.

"CASTING A SHADOW"

10x8, oil, canvas board, $120.00 + $12.00 S/H

Went to Trader Joe's yesterday and found  they had orange daisy's.  They just struck me and I had to have them.  I brought them home and place each of them in their own vase.  

I really liked working in the same color and just splashing the green in on the stem and in the shadow.  The green in the shadow photographed much brighter than it is.  Oh my photograph wains at times.

Florals on Display!

Just a Moment 6x6 oil

sold!

A still life is set up for just a little while, a moment in a way. It is assembled for the pure task of painting a "still life". There is an organizing to the process. It is not easy and I have great admiration for those who set up and paint multiple objects. What is under the surface, is a compositional plan. A little like a map that gives the viewer direction without them knowing.

This little painting was done with last weeks daisies in my head. I played a lot with mixing paint and colors like red. I made the red in this intense in the process of discovery. My plan was to paint this 3 times and get bigger as I went a long. I got to #2 and the flowers started to die. I found myself overworking the second painting and I scraped section of the painting many times. Comparing the two I found that I like this one best. It was done first and feels more spontaneous. Next I will post the second 8x8 and you can decide. I want to paint larger and I need to figure out how to keep it fresh.