Happy 4th of July! Old Glory 2 SOLD

oil on gallery wrap canvas 8x8 x 1 3/8 inches

ready to hang

In July we do a lot of celebrating at our house: SIX birthdays and our 4th of July party with fireworks, so I won't be posting for a few days. I painted Old Glory 2 last October. It's still available for sale and still one of my favorites. Below are some new photos. Sorry about the photo positions. I haven't figured out how to place them where I want them! Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Atomizer & Ficus Twig SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

Maybe I'm in a "dark period" with all these dark backgrounds! The thalo blue-green with dark reddish browns seemed a rich color combo to me. In terms of value pattern this is an example of large dark, medium sized mid-value and a smidgen of light.

Blue Vase -sold

oil on canvas panel 12x9 inches

click here to bid

I found this pretty little Fenton glass vase at an antique store in downtown Upland. I thought the blue was a nice foil to all the warm colors. About this painting, the question is who's the star? It's the lemon. No, wait. It's the lower right flower. No, "Blue Vase"...must be the vase, but what about the bouquet? Honestly, I thought it was all pretty so I painted it. So there.

Floral Bird

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

click here to bid

Alstromerias live a pretty long time if you keep the water fresh. Great for painting! The little ceramic bird is the bigger companion to the one seen a few posts ago. I like how he seems to be looking right at the viewer. For the charcoal and black areas I used ultramarine blue and burnt umber with the addition of cad yellow medium in the lights.

"Christmas House" Plein Air

oil on canvas panel 12x9 inches

click here to bid

Tuesday Martha and I painted in Rancho Cucamonga at "Christmas House", built in 1904 and now a Bed & Breakfast Inn. I love old houses, but what attracted me most was the lavender blooms of the jacaranda trees against the blue-green house. The palm trees made it a California scene and a nice composition. I have been having trouble with my back but painted anyway. Funny how all my aches and pains disappear when I'm painting! I kept thinking..."Gee, I'm kinda hot..." When I got in my car I found out it was 99 degrees! I had a great time talking with Martha and painting, glad the backache or heat didn't keep me home.

Peachy Bouquet

oil on canvas panel 10x10 inches

click here to bid

Trader Joe's had these alstromerias for a good price. Couldn't resist all that yummy color! I painted this one in two sessions. For me, the challenge of flowers is to get enough detail in order to capture the character of the particular flower type, but with an economy of brushstrokes and no fussing. I'm really happy with this one.

Little Bird, Big Cherry -sold

oil on canvas panel 4x6 inches

click here to bid

Sorry I went off the radar for a few days. My mom was ill, but she's doing better now. This month I've been working on cleaning out and re-organizing our house and garage ("3 car" with no room for cars!) So lately my pattern has been paint a few days, off a few days. It's not the best. Re-starting feels awkward. Above is one of my re-starts, trying to keep it simple and small. I'm loving the taupe, red, white and black color scheme lately!

Flute Commission SOLD

oil on canvas panel 10x10 inches

Here's my second flute painting for my friend Carol in Oklahoma. (Click on "flute" in labels to see the first one.) She requested red with a taupe background. When I painted the flute I had to take frequent breaks because it took so much tedious concentration. I hope I didn't burn up any brain cells...I don't have any to spare! Too bad the flute part is a bit blurry. For every commission I do, the deal is when the painting is finished the client is under no obligation to buy it. So if Carol passes, this one will be at auction on Ebay.

Cherry Cups

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

The Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week is about balance. The entries so far are towers of cups and other objects. Since I only used two cups, I hope this still qualifies. My aim here is more about dominance than balance: dominantly neutral color with a pop of saturated red, dominantly curvy shapes with a few straight lines. Barely spared from the wipe-off in the beginning, the reflective whites and shiny surfaces made it a challenging exercise in values...come to think of it, just about every painting is an exercise in values!

Cherries, Berries & Greens SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

For this painting I cut some creeping fig off a fence in our backyard. The deep reds and blues looked great on the soft green surface, but the green on green proved challenging. I stuck with it and I'm very happy with the result.

Boxed & Bowed -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

Here's my response to the current Daily Paintworks Challenge. I started with the yellow ribbon, taking my time to see all the value and color changes in each loop. Outlining just a bit here and there helped to distinguish them as loops rather than a clump of yellow stuff. The rest was surprisingly more difficult than the ribbon! It's a cheerful painting. Those up-swept ribbon ends seem to say TA-DA!

Pear & Cherries #2

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

The brilliant color against white seemed so beautiful and clean to me, but after I finished the painting I thought the white was a bit cold (even though there's yellow and orange mixed in.) Not being one to re-do when I'm finished, I left it alone and now I think I like it. The color shifts in the pear and large shadow were lots of fun.

Lean On Me -sold

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

click here to bid

So glad it's cherry painting season again. After fiddling around with half a dozen cherries in different arrangements, this pair appeared just as they are. I seldom see a deeper meaning in fruit, but to me this looks like a male and female cherry...married a long time...maybe about 35 years...the kids are grown and gone...their stems are starting to dry up...okay, somebody stop me.

Sprinkled On Blue SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

National Donut Day continued over the weekend at our house. Interestingly, Hubby was not impressed with this painting. He said it lacked a hole, and "everybody knows donuts have holes." The hole, small to begin with was full of frosting. This explanation did not satisfy. He said I should have made one up even though I couldn't see one. Humpf. Accountants. I paint 'em as I see 'em. I don't paint what "everybody knows". I still love him.

Striped & Glazed -SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

Sometimes figuring out what to paint takes a while. I fiddled around with different stuff 'till I gave up and went back to my first thought, a donut. I drove to the donut store. Maybe subconsciously I just wanted to eat one, but after I got that out of the way painting one seemed right. The striped napkin adds color, line and interest as the stripes go in and out of shadow. It just so happens that tomorrow is "National Donut Day." No kidding. Maybe another trip to the donut store!

Strawberry Cheesecake SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

I picked this up at The Local Baker in old downtown Upland. The shiny glaze on the strawberry and the white of the whipped cream really caught my eye. You can't really see it in the photo, but there's a glow of light passing through the far right edge of creamed cheese. I had lots of fun capturing that and also loosely indicating the wrapper. Hubby got to eat it. Yum!