Grapes, Apple, Tangerines -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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More fun with fruit. If I ate as much fruit as I paint, I'd be healthier. It's all about color...that's why fruit is so a-peeling. (Sorry, I couldn't resist a little pun.)

Mug With Grapes -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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My intent here was to use a more subdued green surface with the same holiday grapes. This mug, created by Claremont ceramic artist Crispin Gonzales has several colors of glaze that went with the grapes very nicely. I'm quite happy with the color scheme and loose brushwork.

Grapes & Tangerine

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
Another tangerine...I have lots, thanks to friends with a tree! These are "holiday" grapes, so the grocery store said. They are really big and have lots of color. I love painting grapes because of their translucence and that dusty matte finish you see in places on dark grapes.

Tangerine Mug

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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This one was barely spared from the wipe off. The tangled and dried leaves were difficult...their shape and form being not the norm. Anyway, I liked the mug so I did what I tell my watercolor students to do--just keep going.

Head Study

oil on linen panel 12x9 inches
Here's my study from Tuesday night's figure painting class. The head scarf and long earrings added interesting elements to the pose. Behind her were shelves with various objects. With only about 2 1/2 hours painting time, I included just a couple of the objects so I could use my time to bring the face to a fairly finished state. Still feeling my way through color mixtures, this time I tried using burnt sienna and altered it as I saw shifts in value, color and temperature.

Pepper Trio -SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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More peppers. The stems and shadows were my focus here. This may not be the best photo, as I ran out of daylight today. I'll try to replace it tomorrow.

This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA

Pea Pods & Peppers

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Color is the attraction here. Deliberate strokes and some soft edges give it the fresh look I was hoping for. I love the yellow-orange and red against the thalo blue. In the foreground I warmed up the thalo and white with some cad yellow medium.

Old Thingamajig -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

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Out at the Galleano Winery today this red thingy caught my eye. The big eucalyptus cast an interesting shadow on the window and side of the barn. The wiggly wires and slight lean seemed to add something too. I had never tried to paint eucalyptus bark before...it has so many subtle colors it could be a painting in itself! So today I painted something, but I don't know what it is!

Head Study

oil on linen panel 12x9 inches

Three weeks ago I began studying figure painting again with Joseph Todorovitch on Tuesday nights. Up until now I had used only the Zorn palette: yellow orchre, black, cad red medium and T. white. Exploring new color mixtures was a big challenge...to be honest, I felt lost! Most important is a clear depiction of light and shadow, so I gave special attention to the large shapes of light and shadow.

Primarily Paint -sold

oil on linen panel 6x6 inches
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The title came to me first with the idea of using the three primaries. A neutral gray might show off the pure color bands, but how to tone the canvas? I thought if all three primaries were peeking through the gray, that would be cool...so below is a shot of my beginning. It's an interesting approach that I might try again.

Paint Tubes -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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What do you do when you don't feel like painting? Paint anyway. Keep it loose, not laborious. Yesterday's painting was a bit laborious. I had fun with this one.

Tangerines With Jug -SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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I used natural daylight for this set-up. I like the softer light quality, but I'm learning that I have to start early enough and have a large enough block of time to finish. This is the second time I've painted the jug, and it was still difficult. The reflections on the top are from the nearby window.

Galleano Winery Plein Air

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
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The Galleano Winery is about 5 miles from my house in Mira Loma. This was my first visit, and it's a gold mine of plein air subject matter! I can't wait to go back! When I found this old gas pump the morning light was hitting those horseshoes and the blue made a nice foil to all the warm reds and oranges. Please forgive the glare in the upper left corner. At least it's not gnats like yesterday's painting! Three fellow artists were there with me...thanks, Ellen for shooting pics, Mary Jo for showing me what my camera can do, and May for our interesting discussion on greens. Just now I noticed I forgot the tail on the pegasus! I'll add it tonight. One of the Winery owners pronounced my painting "Damn good!". That's a first!

Plein Air Chino Hills

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

This morning I painted on a Chino Hills hillside with my plein air partner, Lisa. Plein air is not my forte (yet...but I'm making progress), so I approach every outdoor session as practice. On this one I practiced getting atmospheric perspective: distance, middle ground and foreground. The grasses in the foreground were problematic. They were almost white--as light in value as the distant snow and sky. I never did solve that problem, but it was a great day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, a nearby hawk kept an eye on us while flying from tree to tree. Three gnats came home with me stuck in the painting--(upper left). I felt so thankful to be out there painting.

Studio Flowers

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
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I placed this grocery store bunch next to the north facing window in my new space. Thought I'd try painting by natural light indoors. I liked the red and white flowers against the neutral walls behind. Usually florals tend to be high key paintings, so perhaps this is an unconventional approach, but there's something about it I like. It looks better in person...the red violet flowers are really beautiful...not blackish! I don't know what my camera does to my darks!

Pear & Cherries SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
This is the second painting done in my new little 10x11ft upstairs-former kid's-bedroom- studio. It feels odd painting in there...seems like a boy should still be playing legos in there. The walls were a yellowish white which gave everything in the room a yellow glow--not good for painting! So I found a neutral made by Behr called "Gallery Taupe", and it's perfect! My work will look good on the walls, and the wall color doesn't influence color judgement. Lighting has been an issue, but I have daylight lampstands on order. Next will be shelving and a rug. My family says my art has taken over the "whole house". I just smile. At least now we can all eat in the dining room.

Notions

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
not for sale

Back in the days when I sewed, thread, buttons, elastic and the like were called "notions." I guess they still are. Our daughter made this pin cushion while learning to sew. It has seen better days, but I still love it. The painting was quite a challenge. I almost wiped it off several times, but I'm glad I didn't. The details on the tape measure were painted with a Silver Bristlon Flat #4. I love these brushes! The edge is so cleanly formed I was able to "stamp" the lines and hint at the numbers with the corner of the same brush.

Cherry Baby Granny SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
I'm running out of titles for paintings that are nothing but fruit! I put the lavender under these fruits and said WOW!...red with violet--yum! Yellow-green with violet--yum! Red and green too! Whoopee!!! It's a fruity paradise of saturated color.

Cherries On Silver -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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I cooked up this painting in my kitchen. Really, there's fabulous lighting in the kitchen, plus a huge window. I felt energetic and ready to tackle reflections on silver. The cherry on the left has an upturned stem. Can you see it? Getting that to read right was tricky. I tried not to overwork the silver plate...not sure I succeeded. There's thalo blue in the lightest parts of the silver...so yummy with the dark red, that's my favorite aspect of this one.

Cherry Trio

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Happy New Year, Everyone! I've been blogging for almost a year, so it's a good time to sincerely thank everyone who visits regularly and those of you who take time to comment on my work. A special thank you also to those who have purchased my paintings. I love to paint, but when others enjoy my work and say so it really makes me feel that what I'm doing is worthwhile. You help keep me going! Thank you all so much! May your year ahead be filled with love, joy and peace.