Grapes & Granny -a still life painting in oil

oil 8x8 inches magnify/purchase info Here's a demo I did on the 10th for Associated Artists' Fall Show. I'm a big fan of taupe. It sets off the greens and reds nicely don't you think? (Cad Red M, Cad Yellow L, Ult Blue + white) The white adds value contrast and line. I enjoy painting while people watch. It's not about being in the limelight but just the validation that someone else is interested in what I'm doing, and I really enjoy sharing approaches and techniques with other painters. Thank you to those of you who stopped by!

Winter Arrangement II -a still life painting in oil -SOLD

oil 10x10 inches magnify/purchase info I love having a contrast of textures in my arrangements: the shiny hammered silver versus the pinecone and dried little pomegranates for example. My sister-in-law gave me this plant at Thanksgiving, and the crisp white flowers were a lot of fun to paint. How do you paint something so complicated? First I block in the dark green foliage amid and around the flowers. Then a few warmer, slightly lighter greens within the darks. Next, I painted the shadow sides of the flowers, indicating the petal shapes with brushwork. Then I painted the light, warm sides of the flowers, using brushwork again to convey shape and form. Last, I added a few bright green and yellow-white accents and the yellow orange centers. I'm not sure I'll be able to post again before Christmas, so MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY belated HANUKKAH to everyone!

Apple Of His Eye -a still life painting in oil -SOLD

oil 8x6 inches magnify/purchase info A short painting session called for a small canvas and simple subject. Looking at the one simple apple in my hand, a Bible verse came to mind: "Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings." It's a prayer, actually. Psalm 17:8 I deliberately formed a cross with my brushes. So here we have what might be considered a "religious" painting without looking "religious." It's more about a relationship, really.

Party Fruit -a still life painting in oil

oil 6x6 inches magnify/purchase info I love painting color in and out of shadow, so the napkin's pattern in and out was extra fun.

Fall Still Life

oil 9x12 inches Click for purchase info and magnifier I love the colors of Fall. For this painting I grabbed a pumpkin off our front porch, and some leaves from our neighbor's yard. The 1920's silver water pitcher was a great find at a flea market. I left it tarnished, cause that's the way I like it! This is actually the second painting I did from the subject. On the first go-around I did not take my own advice that design is the most important thing, and if the design drawn on your canvas doesn't look good, no amount of excellent painting will improve it. Lesson learned (again!) The more I paint, the more need to learn...and re-learn.

Natural Snack 2 -SOLD

oil 6x8 inches click for purchase information and zoom I had this "landscape cotton" panel with me at the fair. A rougher texture than I usually work on, I thought it would lend some texture to another "natural snack" painting. The fair is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I just enjoyed two much needed days at home to catch up on things. On Monday laundry, and I took two naps! Just like a baby, one in the morning and one in the afternoon! Guess I was tired. Today I took advantage of our temps in the high 80's (instead of 100's) while I beat back the backyard jungle, planted more jungle, killed some ants and periodically jumped into the pool. Now I'm high on vitamin D and fresh smoggy air and ready to paint at the fair again tomorrow. This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA

Fancy Fuji

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase information I painted this dish two years ago, but with a pear inside. I liked the subtle greens with the rich reds. Here's the one with the pear. Interesting to think about how my work has changed since then.

Still Life With Cork -sold

oil 10x10 inches click for purchase information Here's a low key painting for sure. My intent was to create a strong sense of controlled light. I placed objects half in shadow with their edges disappearing into darkness. Does your eye go right for the green on that apple? For me, the hammered copper mug almost steals the show. I may have to make it the star of a sequel.

Reflecting Red -sold

oil 6x6 inches Click to Purchase

It's The Pit -sold

oil 6x6 inches Click to Purchase I'm having a great time at the Fair. I'm in a big room with a few fellow painters and have hours and hours to paint. Perfect! Again, the color in this one is a lot more subtle in real life. It's like my camera ate Wheaties or something.

Gala & Grapes -SOLD

oil 6x6 inches Click to Purchase I had a good week, but alas, not much time for painting. I managed to paint this one before I went to bed last night. Tomorrow I'm off to the Pasadena Museum of California Art to attend the symposium on Edgar Payne. Yay! The LA County Fair opens a week from today. Preparations are still under way in the Millard Sheets Gallery, but the "Art Store" within is ready and full of beautiful work from paintings, to art glass, sculpture, ceramics and jewelry. Elizabeth Carr is graciously sharing her gallery space with me. We hung some pieces yesterday and our booth is looking fabulous! I'll try to post some pictures and specific demo times soon.

Baby Gala

oil on Raymar canvas panel 4x4 inches

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I've been getting really fussy lately, so I thought why not paint a single object on a little canvas with a big brush? And why not do a series of these? An apple makes a good start. It's still a bit fussy, but with a colorful gala like this I can't stop myself. Maybe I can stop myself on the next one.

Tomorrow I'll take a one day plein air workshop in Murietta with Lisa McDill. I hope I have a good painting to post, but mostly it will be fun and instructive for sure!

Tomorrow is the Opening Reception for the Ontario Open Art Exhibition at the Museum of History and Art. Two of my daily paintings are in the show. The reception is from 5:00-7:30 and the exhibit runs through June 19th.

The Usual Suspects

Tomorrow I'll be out at the third annual Chino Art Festival. For you locals, it's at City Hall from 10am 'till 4pm. Come out and enjoy the amazing performances, art and lots of crafts. I'll be working on my painting for the day while showing (and hopefully selling!) my oils and watercolors. My friend, Laura Barnes will be demonstrating linoleum cutting and have her block prints and acrylic paintings on display. The festival is put on by the Chino Cultural Center Corporation, a non-profit dedicated to building a Cultural Arts Center in Chino. If you live in the area, I hope you'll come out just for the fun of it, and also to show your support for the arts in our community.

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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Apple, Grapes and Greens

There's a lot of color appeal in this one for me. I'm pretty sure it would be considered a double (?) split complementary, but I used instinct more than theory. I just like those yellow greens with the deep purples and the blue with red. That's a shriveled up asparagus spear, in case you're wondering.

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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Apple Outnumbered

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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This painting reminds me of the Sesame Street song: "One of these things is not like the other..."

The tangelo points to the answer. I really enjoyed the color of this one, especially the subtle color shifts in the Myer lemon.

One Serious Apple -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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It might seem the teacher in me emerged and painted this one! Actually, the rich color scheme was my first motivation. Then the set-up interested me in so many ways: reflections in the deep shadow side of the apple, the print receding in space, and the shadows imposed on the printed fabric. It does look teacher-ish....maybe it would make a nice gift for a teacher.

One-A-Day-SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
sold
One year ago today I launched my blog. Carol Marine is responsible for getting me started, so I owe her a big big THANK YOU! I feel SO grateful to be part of a large supportive community of daily painters. Thank you, thank you, thank you... to everyone who visits my blog. I appreciate your comments so much...and your purchases...well, it helps me buy more paint! I hope you enjoy the above celebratory painting...the apple is for Carol Marine.

Quality Edge

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
The next in my series of practicing whites. While painting I consider my edge quality, hard or soft, and this is one of my Cutco knives...so the title plays with both those ideas. I liked the crisp contrast of whites with the dark handle and shadows. This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA

Candy, Caramel, Apple -sold

oil on canvas panel 4x6 inches
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Similar to yesterday's, but with caramels added...my husband's idea. They were hard to pull off. Maybe his best idea was to eat the caramels.

Candy, Apple SOLD

oil on canvas panel 4x6 inches

This was my first painting on canvas this small. It was lots of fun, especially the candy corn coming in and out of shadow. The apple is a braeburn and it really was this bright red.

I have good news! The Tustin Art Walk and Plein Air Contest was a great event. Very well organized, and the visitors were plenty, nice and friendly. I sold a few paintings which is always helpful! The best news is I received a Third Place award for my painting "Warm Inside"!!! This is my first time competing with other plein air painters (35). On top of that, the painting was purchased on the spot! With the week of rain and all the excitement I neglected to take a good photo of the painting. (Go to my post on Oct. 20th to see the lousy photo!) I really enjoyed painting outside and hope to do much more of it in the future.