Rectangle Grapes SOLD

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

Wow. What a blast I had with this one! Daily Paintworks posed the challenge to paint rectangles, mixing a new color for each rectangle. The rectangles can vary in size and orientation. The only liberty I took was overlapping my rectangles. Though still quite representational, this one is about as abstract as I've ever painted. SO fun!

See other artists' rectangle challenges here.

Three Cokes -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches

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The glass and bottle caps are my favorite parts of this one. For the dark coke color I'm using alizarin permanent, ultramarine blue and cad red medium. What a fun combo. Love the deep color variations you can get.

Backlit Coke SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x4 inches

private collection Louisville, Kentucky

Coke is celebrating its 125 year anniversary, and has put out these classic little glass bottles. The color intrigued me most. I quickly found out the unique shape, especially viewed from above was VERY difficult to draw accurately. (Try it.) A very recognizable shape like the human body, if something was a little off even an accountant (Hubby) could tell. The painting was finished, and I liked it. But I decided he was right. Dang those accountants! I tried to fix it, wiped off in a huff, and started over, measuring, drawing, wiping, measuring, drawing, wiping, etc. It's a curious thing: the painting can be rough and loose, but the shape has to be accurate. I do like the result, but it's still about the color.

Lucy & Ethel-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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These two hens posed for a nanosecond atop a tractor at the Gold King Mine in Jerome, Arizona. Lucy and Ethel are not their real names, (if they have names) but their attitudes seemed similar to me. That red-headed one looks pretty wild and the white one's just trying to figure out what's going on. Just like Lucy and Ethel. Painting this was free and fun.

Heads-Up Sunflowers -sold

oil 8x8 inches
private collection La Quinta, California

Sometimes it's difficult to find sunflowers that are not drooping their heads. I picked these up at the same farmer's market where I got the tomatillos. Turns out the orange one had been dyed, as the water in the vase turned pink. Pretty, but kinda unnatural. I was going for drama with the dark brown drapery. Let me tell you, there is a lot of paint on this panel! Laying it on thick in the focal areas was a lot of fun. For once I was "painting like a rich person" as they say.

Tomatillos Cinco SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

This is the last of my tomatillo paintings. They were fun to paint, but I still think they are weird looking little things, especially the one in the center. Thanks to all of you who shared info on how to eat them. I'll have to taste tomatillo stuff somewhere else, cause these are gonners after being under my spotlight for three paintings!

Blue Door Balboa SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches

Yesterday four artist friends and I ventured down to Balboa Island to paint for the day. Everywhere you turn there are interesting things to paint. This house caught my eye. I loved the blues against the natural dark woods. The flowers were the icing on the cake! We ate dinner at Newport Landing overlooking the bay...a perfect day of sunshine, paint and friendship.

Tres Tomatillos

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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The little tomatillos are holding up pretty well. Anybody remember The Flying Nun?

Dos Tomatillos -sold

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

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The other day I happened upon a great farmer's market at a local hospital. I guess they're trying to get us to eat more fruits and veggies and keep us out of their hospital. :-) These tiny tomatillos caught my eye with their yellow-green and violet color. Painting them seemed similar to painting small pumpkins. I haven't a clue as to how you eat them.

Washed Up-sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

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And now, for something different...from Jerome, Arizona.

Chuckleberry Jam

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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On our trip we learned that the northwest is huckleberry territory. Near Flathead Lake, Montana cherry orchards are everywhere. We stopped at a one-person roadside stand where a friendly lady was selling fresh cherries and her own chuckleberry jam (cherry+huckleberry). "A chuckle a day keeps the blues away" the tag reads. She had lots of customers. We ate rainiers as we drove, throwing the pits and stems out the windows. Wish we'd bought more jam!

Lantana Jar SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

This one may be more about the jar than the flowers. I don't know. I like the little fallen bits the best. Painted after 12 days of almost no painting, I felt awkward. Pretty much always I paint the objects first and then the surface and background. On this one I wiped out the surface and backgound and did a do-over. You would think that if one can paint flowers, leaves and a jar, the flat surface and background would be easy....but noooooo! I don't get that. Keeps me humble.

Tea & Lemon -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Here's my submission to the "paint your favorite mug" challenge on Daily Paintworks. I have several favorites, but this one with the flattened sides is unusual. The flower makes it fit right in with all the yellow and blue I've been painting lately.

Home Grown

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

not for sale

The night before we left on our trip, my friend Angie came by to pick up my little Malte-Poo and gave us these beautiful tomatoes. Each one seemed to glow with color not seen in grocery store tomatoes. I packed for the trip, then stayed up to paint the tomatoes.

Sorry my posts have been few lately. For a variety of reasons I've been dragging...just no energy. Hope to get back into the paint-'n-post routine next week.

Twigs & Wedges SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Tonight I'm posting from St. George, Utah on our way home. It's been a fantastic trip with beautiful sights and a great visit with family in Meridian, Idaho. I'm very ready to get home and back to painting. For the painting above (done before I left) I clipped branches hanging over from our neighbor's yard and used the last bits of my garage sale lemons. Can't wait to get back into my paint cave!

Bug Jar

Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

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shipping available after Aug. 9

Tonight I'm posting from beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Though I've had no time to paint, we're having a great time. We went on a long hike yesterday in GlacierNP on Trail of the Cedars to Avalanche Lake. The scenery was breathtaking, the hike challenging and so worth it! The painting posted is the last of my finger puppet paintings and my favorite.

Greetings from Glacier National Park! For the last three days we've been doing a LOT of driving, but with some of the prettiest scenery I've ever seen. This photo is from the top of Logan Pass on a road called "Going To The Sun." At about 6600 ft elevation we walked behind the visitor's center out onto the snow. Large patches of little yellow flowers grew where the snow had melted. It was so amazingly beautiful, I got choked up!

I did get to paint today, but the light changed so drastically and suddenly I'll finish in the studio from my photos.

We're staying in Whitefish, 23 miles outside the park. (more driving!) The wi-fi is terrible, so it may be a few days before I can post again.

Glacier is amazing and well worth all the driving! Hope I can paint again tomorrow.