Fall Demo

 

Fall Demo  6x8 inches  oil

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I cautiously held in person workshops in September and October.  It seems so long ago now!  Time has seemed to drag on with staying home so much.  I have had more time to focus on painting, so I'm thankful for that, but like everyone else, I'm hoping for a better year ahead.  I'm very fond of this little demo I did for my September workshop.  It's the design and color palette that I love.  Can you see the acorn in the front?  The other little round shapes are tiny dried pomagranates given to me by my friend, Mary Jo.  They find their way into many of my paintings. 

 HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! 

 Thank you for following my work, and for purchasing. 

 I just shipped two paintings out today!

Below are some other little studies from my September workshop.

Lemon Juice

 

Lemon Juice  6x8 oil 

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This is my next attempt at undermixing paint and imperfect brushwork using a scruffy hog bristle.  In the upper right background shape you can easily see the striations of color within a brush stroke.  This is what I'm after with this approach.  I see some energy and movement back there rather than just a monotonous plane of color.

Tomato Drama

 

Tomato Drama  oil 6x8 inches

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I'm finally up to my September paintings with my posts!  Here we have home grown tomatos (and one brave lemon).  They posed under backlighting while I slathered on some undermixed paint with a scruffy hog bristle...not my usual modus operandi.  Experimentation is important to me.  Looking at this painting again brings to mind a statement I heard just today on a podcast: "A painting is not a drawing.  It's a mosaic of shapes."  Michael Chamberlain

Pistachio Pair -SOLD

 

Pistachio Pair   oil 9x12 inches

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From my series of Converse Allstars, I thank my friend Juli for loaning these from her converse collection.  

Gallery Arrangement

 

Gallery Arrangement  oil 12x12 inches

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On a day when I was working at Mission Fine Art in San Juan Capistrano, I brought my paints and these still life elements with me.  The background color made for a nice harmonious color scheme, and the shadow shapes added interest.  I love this mustardy yellow or yellow ochre in a painting.  

Lumpy Lemons And Exciting News

 

Lumpy Lemons  oil 10x10  

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What to do when life gives you not only lemons, but lumpy lemons?  Add a sunflower and paint a still life!  What a challenging year this has been to say the least.  I have family members and friends now with COVID, and thankfully they are managable cases.  I hope you're well and looking forward to a better year ahead.  

IN OTHER NEWS:  Recently I was granted Signature Membership of the American Impressionist Society.  This means I have been juried into 4 AIS National Juried Exhibitions.  My work has been included in AIS shows in Wisconsin, Michigan, New York City, Texas and Utah!  Signature Membership also means I can sign AIS with my name on my work.  I'm grateful to AIS for this honor.

Here's another lemon painting currently available at Vanessa Rothe Fine Art in Laguna Beach.  Call 949-280-1555 to inquire.  She does ship.   Lemon & Delft oil 10x8 inches

 

Summer Tomatoes

 

Summer Tomatoes   oil 10x10 inches

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We had a nice crop of tomatoes last summer.  Our favorites are cherry tomatoes called "Sweet 100's."  One plant gives us enough to share with others.  The yellow fruit is a tiny lime.  Surprisingly,  when the limes ripen they turn yellow and fall off the tree.  Good thing, because the tree is so thorny, you'd tear your arm up trying to pick them.  We get hundreds for making limeade or margarita mix.  

Merry Marbles

 

Merry Marbles  oil 6x6

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These are my Maine marbles.  My friend, Rachel grew up in Maine and brought them back for me after a visit.  Maine looks wonderful on the show Maine Cabin Masters.  I don't watch much TV, but I do enjoy that show.  I'd love to visit Maine one day.  I have included marbles in quite a few paintings over the years.  They add a pop of fun color, variety of size and always a little highlight.  For those of you who have heard about the design principle of unequal measures, this is a good example.  

Cherry In The Gap

 

Cherry In The Gap  oil 10x10 inches

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What is it about backlighting that adds so much interest?  It could be the shadow shapes that get bigger as they come toward the viewer.  This painting was a lot of fun.  It's a strong design that I might use again with other objects.  

                                                                                     

Garden Decor -a plein air painting from my garden

 

Garden Decor  oil 14x11 inches

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Another remembrance of Spring here.  "Garden Decor" is a little bit more civilized name for "yard crap", which is what a friend of mine calls this stuff!  lol.  Do you like this kind of stuff in your yard?  I do.  

Berries & Branches

 

Berries & Branches   oil 10x10 inches

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Since the strawberries were still perky, they took part in this, my next painting.  Here I was going for an organic, botanical feel, with the hand thrown bowl and branches cut from our still bare apple tree.  This bowl has made it into quite a few paintings.  The outer glaze is so dark, it makes for some subtle reflections.  This was a complicated painting, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Berries & Blue

 

Berries & Blue   oil 6x12

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Juicy spring strawberries!