Three Pomegranates

oil 6x12 inches magnify/purchase A fellow artist brought in a branch from her pomegranate bush. The variations of color made this one especially fun. I used thalo red rose mixed in for some of those bright hot pinky reds. We're off to go camping for a few days at the beach. I'm looking forward to some rest and ocean air! Be back in a few days.

Sanctuary

oil 12x9 inches click for purchase information and zoom This is the last of the four pieces painted from my photos of Mission San Antonio de Padua. The mission is located within the perimeters of an Army Base. On Sunday morning it was great to see service men and women arriving for mass. Inside the chapel a patriotic bunting is always kept over one of the front pews in honor of fallen soldiers. The day I visited, light was coming in onto that pew.

Mission Courtyard

oil 12x9 inches click for purchase information and zoom Just five days remain of the Los Angeles County Fair. So far I've completed twenty paintings. Talking with the general public who come to see what I'm doing has been rewarding and interesting. Visitors have lots of compliments and questions too. Questions about my materials, and of course, how "long does it take you to do that?" Well, "five hours and eight years of study and practice." And there are stories about their aunt, or dad or grandma who paints. On Sunday I got the most insulting question ever, which I refused to answer, and won't repeat here. But soon after, a family from Upland came by. Ten year old Jordan has been following my blog and came to meet me. She found my blog a while back by searching "artist". Surprised and delighted, I shook her hand, we talked briefly and they were off to enjoy the rest of the fair. Wish I'd taken a picture! So here's a shout out to Jordan from Upland: Thank you for finding me! It was a delight to meet you, and you made my day!!!

Mission Sunrise

oil 9x12 inches click for purchase information and zoom Last spring while visiting the Mission San Antonio de Padua I stood in this damp field early one morning and painted. I also took some great shots of the light just beginning to strike the buildings. I used one of those shots as my photo reference for this painting. I loved the light and shadow of course, but also how the dew on the grasses turned them a dusty blue green. In my photo of the painting the greens are soft like I painted them, but when I post it to Blogger they look yellow and garish. As usual, better in person.

Mission Hallway

oil 8x8 inches This is the first of four paintings from reference photos taken at the Mission San Antonio de Padua. I visited there last spring with fifty fellow members of the California Art Club. I'm holding onto this little painting to use it for painting a larger version. I might put it up for sale at a later date.

Solvang Windmill

8x10 inches click for purchase information and zoom While painting at the Fair I have time to draw from my backlog of resource photos. In my travels last spring I found this sunlit windmill early one morning. The little town of Solvang was just waking up and the smell of cheese danish was in the air.

Still Life With Amber Bottle -SOLD

oil 6x12 inches click for purchase information and zoom Another still life "landscape." This little amber bottle has starred in a few of my paintings. In this set up, I loved the muted tones in the apple sitting in the shadow of the amber bottle.

Still Life With Baby Shoes

6x12 inches click for purchase information and zoom I like the idea of a still life with objects lined up. This wide format is perfect. Think of it as a still life landscape, if you will. I painted these baby shoes once before, a few years ago. It was even more fun this time. I'm very happy with how this one turned out. This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA

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

Sill Life With Doll

oil 12x9 inches click here for purchase information and zoom These objects made a nice muted green and violet color scheme. I also liked the contrasting textures of metal, ceramic and fabric. The doll's small face was difficult. My first two attempts were pretty scary looking. I thought it was funny how just teeny tiny touches of paint could make a mouth or eye go from wrong to scary, to deformed, then finally right. Pardon the glare around the cup handle.

Pleasant Valley Oranges

oil 10x10 In the Gallery Store at the Fair we have beautiful citrus crate labels for sale. I borrowed one for the backdrop to these oranges. Since I didn't include the Pleasant Valley text at the top of the label, I knew it might read as a window, or who knows what. Painted on an oil primed Gessobord, the surface was not what I was used to, so this one was a fun experiment.

Still LIfe With Sunflower

oil 8x16 inches In three and a half days of the Fair I have done five paintings. This is the largest and my favorite. I love the neutral greens and browns possible when I mix transparent red oxide, cad yellow medium and ultramarine blue. Don't know if I'll put this one up for sale or not.

Mom's Cup

oil 6x12 inches click for purchase info and zoom Just a quick post. Here's my first day effort at the Fair.

Natural Snack

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase information and zoom I love the Granny Smith green with the red grapes. Leaving them on my wood cutting board gave it a natural look that I really like. All the color is muted just a bit which helps too. Today I'm off to Opening Day at the LA COUNTY FAIR. Lots of painting time ahead, as the fair runs the entire month of September. Last year resulted in 22 paintings! My days there are long, so I'll have to sneak in a post when I can. For all of you locals, come and hang out! Look for the Millard Sheets Gallery. It's cool inside, and there's a huge variety of art to see.

Apple-A-Day

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase information and zoom As for the title, I've been trying to develop the habit of eating an apple a day. Gotta keep those doctors away! This apple went down great with Cookie Butter from Trader Joe's. Don't tell the doctor. About the painting, Robert Genn, in his Twice Weekly Letters recently proposed 37 minute paintings once in a while to keep a painter fresh and on her toes. Here's my attempt, but to be honest, I went 50 minutes. I couldn't help myself.

Bazooka

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase information and zoom Somehow I ended up with this lone piece of bubblegum, and saved it for painting. It brought back memories. Mom would take us to a little barber shop behind Walker's Market in Santa Ana where my little brother would get a haircut. They always gave us a piece of bubblegum. I tried different background colors, but funny how only this bubble gum color seemed right. I had some fun with thicker paint on this one.

Cold Perch

oil 10x8 inches, framed. With my booth at the fair partially hung, I sat back a while to look it over. Though finished and framed months ago, this painting stood out to me. It seemed dark and dismal. As I sat, I knew exactly the small changes I wanted to make. I carefully re-hung it wet the next day. The painting is from a photo I took in Sausalito after we had ridden our bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was very cold, but the sun was trying to break through. I still love how the yellow ties the scene together. The first version is below for comparison, if you like. It's always a temptation for me when working from photos to be a slave to the photo. Perhaps going back much later without the photo reference in mind is a way to take necessary liberties.

Nostalgia and the LA County Fair

oil 16x20 Here's "Nostalgia" hanging in my booth in the Millard Sheets Gallery at the LA County Fair. Rarely do I go back into a dry painting and make changes, but this time I did. I "finished" the painting in January, but friends in my painting group brought to my attention that a few of the objects did not read right. So last night I addressed the problems. Once I got into it, it was a lot of fun to just make subtle changes here and there: define the glass knob and tag hanging from it. Change the temperature of the window frame shadow, and add some highlights to the flowers, etc. I played with it. The January version is below. (Click on image to enlarge and compare.) Also below, I love the statues in front of the gallery, so thought I would share this pic with you. It's all hustle and bustle on the fairgrounds. Opening day is August 30th!

Mo's, Pismo Beach

oil 8x8 inches click for purchase information and zoom In April we unexpectedly bought a small RV. Whooppeee! I've been dreaming about RVing and painting for years. On August 9th we took off on our first kinda-long trip. We drove north to Pismo Beach, up majestic Highway 1 to Big Sur, then on the way home stayed in Solvang. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip. I took all my oil painting gear, but I quickly found out I wasn't able to get it to where I wanted to be. From our various campsites we needed to bike a few miles to the "points of interest". Okay, this is getting long. Bottom line: I should have taken my watercolor sketching stuff. Anyway....I took lots of pictures, including this sign I just fell in love with. Later, we fell in love with their BBQ and homemade potato chips. Yum! Around the corner was Old West Cinnamon Rolls. Oh my gosh. (It's all about the food!!!) Good thing we were riding and hiking! Okay, back to the painting. After the BBQ we biked back to our campsite where I painted this outside from my laptop. I love signs, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Below are some shots I thought you might enjoy.

Top to Bottom: Looking south along Big Sur, painting at our site in Oceano(eeeewww, camp hair!), near Pismo Dunes

Balboa Candy -sold

oil 12x9 inches click for purchase information and zoom I'm finally posting the second painting I did at Balboa. We just returned from a camping trip north where I had no internet or slow internet. More about our trip on the next post. I was attracted to this scene by the shadows under the windows and on the canopy. UPCOMING EVENTS: I'll be exhibiting my work and demonstrating every day at the LA County Fair. The fair starts on August 30 and is open Wednesday through Sunday. Come visit me in the Millard Sheets Gallery. It's nice and cool inside, and filled with artwork of all kinds. Check the fair website for fair hours.