Baby Lemon & Blues SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

This one is more sensible than my last post. I loved the lemon yellow and deep blue color combination. The creamy yellow surface gives the painting a soothing feel. Custard maybe...with blueberries and lemon and a mint leaf garnish!

"Vegemina" -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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A bit of whimsy on this Friday afternoon--Vegemina is here to remind us to eat our vegetables. (Salsa counts.) As with all my subjects, she looks better in person.

Demo At Artists of the High Desert

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
Here's my demonstration painting for High Desert Artists--a friendly bunch who share a pot-luck lunch before their demonstrations. My kind of people! Food is good. Not wanting to venture into uncharted territory in front of people, I chose subject matter I've been working with for the last few days. It was too much fun painting and talking at the same time...my two favorite things to do!

Viki the orchid loving artist won the raffle, and chose "Three Little Orchids". Thanks, High Desert Artists, for your warm hospitality.

Blueberries & Peach-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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I love how this painting turned out. A long time ago I read on Qiang Huang's blog that a good design has lines, dots and areas. Blueberries are deep blue dots just as they are, so I added the mint leaves counting on a few veins for lines. Even the peach has a line, so I made it evident. The viewer's eye moves all over the painting, enjoying the shapes and fresh color.
Tomorrow I'll be demonstrating for Artists of the High Desert, 16930 Main St. Suite 3 in Hesperia. If you're in the area, come out and join us. Potluck and meeting begins at 11:00 and demonstration follows.

Peaches-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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These peaches are yummy to paint and to eat--big and juicy. The edges of the napkin made a nice linear contrast to the round shapes. I especially liked the little upturned frayed corner and resulting shadow.

African Violets -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
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Last night's Fontana Arts Festival was fantastic---a well organized event with awesome musical performances and a variety of visual arts on display. The best part for me was painting and interacting with curious onlookers. You can see my subject on the table in the next photo below. As the sun set the foliage was more and more backlit. I stuck with the black tablecloth for my background, letting my pink ground peek through in places. I finished just before the sun went down. Whew!




I had two tables loaded with my daily paintings in oil, my print rack with prints and original watercolors, and framed pieces hanging at the back. My hubby helped me throughout---thanks, honey! It was a wonderful artsy evening.

Patio Cactus II

watercolor on paper 7x10 inches

Here's the same subject matter as the previous post done in watercolor from a photo reference. The vantage point is more from above. The rust and blue are so yummy, and that little bit of Peacock Blue (by Holbein) on the rim really makes me happy.

Patio Cactus

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
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Equipped with my trusty viewcatcher, I went into my backyard late yesterday afternoon itching to find a painting there. This favorite little potted cactus garden made the nicest shadow...perfect! I stood in the shade, enjoying the breeze and chirping birds...plein air just a few feet from my back door!

Summershine-SOLD

oil on linen panel 6x6 inches
sold
Red and orange are so juicy together! Compositionally, if the objects were stepping stones, you'd step on the strawberry and follow the path to the steel ring.

Jasmine In Crystal-sold

oil on linen panel 6x6 inches
Yesterday was busy busy, so my only painting time was after dark. I'm still having some lighting issues, so judging values was difficult. My set-up was subtle, sparkly and elegant, so it was exciting and challenging.


I'm very excited to take part in the upcoming Fontana Arts Festival. If you're in the area, come and enjoy the festivities. Stop by my booth and say hi! I'll have my small daily paintings, and some watercolors.

In 'N Out Cherries SOLD

oil on linen panel 6x6 inches
sold
This composition has an interesting affect. Your eye goes from cherry to cherry, around in a circle, in and out of the jar...hence the title.

"Alaska" SOLD

watercolor on paper 10x14 inches

While visiting San Diego a few years ago I took lots of boat pictures, one of which was used as a reference for this painting. The complementary pair rust and blue was the first attraction, but the contrast of the white vessel against the grays really makes the painting. I used just four colors, mostly my old standbys: quinacrodone burnt orange and ultramarine blue.

Strawberries In Blue SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Our local strawberry season is winding down. It's the best time to get dark sweet berries. The dark blue mug reflected them nicely.

Rooty-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
SOLD
These especially stringy radishes are from a local fruit stand. Painting fruits or veggies that are bunched together (like grapes) appeals to me...it's the edges where they meet each other, the shadows cast on each other, and the dark little crevices in between.
I've missed painting and posting the last few days: Saturday was traffic school all day (I learned my lesson and have slowed down!), Sunday I was in a bad mood about turning a year older and had to wipe out my bad mood painting! But yesterday a friend and I spent the day at the Laguna Beach Art Festival. Fabulous! If you're within driving distance, don't miss it!

Amber & Lemon -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
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I love painting this little amber bottle. The golden glow makes me think of honey. That's a baby lemon, so the bottle really is small.

Hot Color -sold

oil on Gessoboard 8x8 inches
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Well this one is really different for me. The objects were placed on a bright red napkin. It's so saturated it almost hurts to look at it! Because of the black cup, I decided I needed a black ground. I just happened to have an 8x8 Gessoboard I had coated with black Gesso. Long ago I wanted to try this, an approach Karin Jurick uses. When finished I hemmed and hawed about toning down the red, then decided to just go on to the next painting. Sometimes it's best to keep moving forward. I think I like it after all...very powerful.

Birthday Cheesecake -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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Keeping with the red and blue scheme, I placed a light blue cloth under the glass plate. (It's more blue than seen here.) The shadows and fork were the most difficult. I was really excited to get the color of the glass rim. That's still my favorite part. Never mind the cheesecake! Isn't it funny how oftentimes we love one small aspect more than the subject itself?

Red Floral

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
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Here's my little dining room centerpiece for 4th of July. The crimson reds with the blue-green jar looked so luscious I had to paint it. Even the wall behind my set-up happened to be blue-green. It's the Munsell color wheel at work again...the opposite of red being a warm blue instead of green.

Tool Time-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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This one is obviously cruciform. The rusty metal and translucent plastic made it especially fun. The objects are arranged in a way that makes each negative space a different size and shape.

Cherries & Shakers SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
Recently a fellow painter mentioned Edgar Payne's list of landscape designs, and in particular the "cross" or "cruciform" format. Watercolor master Milford Zornes used it all the time. Surprisingly, in Payne's book he states that it is not that useful for landscapes. Go figure. Well anyway, a good vertical gives stability and a horizontal tranquility...a nice combination, so I've been toying with the idea for still life. The above is loosely cruciform. To see my first one, go to "Oranges & Cherries" posted June 16th.

Ball & Pocket

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
not for sale
A pair of my hubby's jeans plopped down with a beat-up baseball on top. Last night as I contemplated my next painting, he was watching baseball on TV, no doubt adding data to the baseball encyclopedia in his head. Today is his birthday, so we have a little celebratory painting.
No, I did not ask him to take his pants off so I could paint them. Painting texture was the "funnest" part of this one...and finally a painting my hubby really likes.