Small Joys

oil 6x6 inches not for sale. I was able to squeeze in one more painting before 2014 arrives. A vintage choir boy candle with tiny pomegranates, pine cone and a sprig cut from our Christmas tree. The candle and his companions are my most favorite decorations. Growing up, they were on our mantle every year sitting in a most wonderful spun angel hair. I don't think they make that angel hair any more. Mom is 93 and enjoys seeing them on our mantle now. A friend, Mary Jo, surprised me with these teeny little pomegranates. We were talking about gifts and she said, "The best gifts are the ones you don't expect." So true. Happy New Year everyone! May the year ahead be full of unexpected blessings!

Van Gogh Self Portrait

oil 5x5 gallery wrap canvas I've been getting ready for Christmas. No painting going on here, but plenty of other stuff! Here's a little piece I did last week as a gift for a friend. I'm pretty sure I'll get back to my easel next year. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! I hope your celebrations are full of love and laughter.

Evening At Graber Olive House

oil 6x8 inches magnifier SOLD The Graber Family has produced delicious tree ripened olives since 1894. On the property are two great gift shops and this little museum. The sun had set while I was shopping and the glow from inside the museum made for a good nocturne. I really enjoyed painting this little scene, first in watercolor and then in oil a few days later. I've been using thicker oil paint lately, which is fun too.

watercolor approx. 8x8 inches Purchase Information and Magnifier

Big Sun & Little Blues

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase information and magnifier I managed to squeeze one more sunflower painting in before they started looking sickly. This one is similar to Sunflower With Twig, but with more focus on the center, and the small ones a cornflower blue. A nice combo with the warm yellows. I have it under my drying lamp, so if anybody wants it for a Christmas gift, you'd have it in plenty of time!

Small Fruit & Flower

oil 8x10 inches click for purchase info and magnifier These are little tiny apples with a big big price. Good thing I only bought a few for painting. It remains to be seen which will die first, the sunflowers or my desire to paint them.

Sunflowers & Eucalyptus

oil 16x12 inches click for purchase information and magnifier Some grocery store sunflowers with eucalyptus clippings. Out on old dairy land I found some huge unattended eucalyptus right by the side of the road. I love the variety of greens with the yellow sunflowers. Tomorrow night the 6 Squared show opens at the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the great little works and meeting fellow artists!

Pomegranate Field Study

oil 8x10 inches click for purchase info and magnifier Dianne and Joe Wheatley own a little gem of a parcel in Chino where they grow pomegranates. They graciously invited me to paint there, and gave me a tour of their house built in the late 1800's. What a pleasantly quiet time it was...the sun trying to come out, chickens roaming and a cat playing with a potato bug. I forgot I was just four miles from home. Can't wait to go back. Below are some shots of my new plein air equipment cart. In case you're looking for a way to carry your stuff, you might want to consider this one from thecontainerstore.com. Main compartment holds tripod, paper towels, umbrella mount and still has extra room. Two side pockets will hold paint tubes, small sketch book, water bottle, wipes, brush washer, apron, bug spray, sunscreen. Back pocket holds umbrella and pole. Panel carriers drape over handle and Coulter Plein Air Box slides down handle too. The cart is very lightweight, moves well in dirt and gravel, folds up, and has a large cooler pouch inside the main compartment. I did a lot of looking before I purchased, and I'm really happy with this cart.

Leaf & Persimmon 2

oil 6x8 inches click for purchase info and magnifier The last of my short persimmon series, as the persimmons have gone to mush. This might be my favorite. I like that linear stem going behind the persimmon.

Leaf & Persimmon -sold

oil 6x8 inches click for purchase information and magnifier This is the second in my persimmon series. I'd better hurry up and post these Fall pieces because it's already time to get out the Christmas decorations! Good news! Thanks to Daily Paintworks, I have a "Buy It Now" feature for this piece. So if you don't want to bother with an auction you don't have to. Quick and easy purchase, and fast shipping too. Click on the link above to check it out.

Persimmons & Leaf

oil 6x8 inches click for purchase info and magnifier Ahhh, the power of the three primaries! Painted with just red, yellow and blue, plus white. Specifically, cad red light, cad yellow medium and ultramarine blue. I like painting these fall leaves, mixing the paint on the canvas with overlapping brushstrokes. Thanks to my daughter, Shelly who shared these perfect for painting persimmons. And while I'm at it, I THANK YOU ALL who follow my blog, leave comments and purchase my paintings. I feel so grateful to be painting nearly every day, and I appreciate you all very much!

Fall In Line

oil 6x12 inches click for purchase information and magnifier Here's a Fall "landscape". Hope you're having a great weekend!

Sunflower & Blossoms -sold

oil 6x12 inches click for purchase information and magnifier Same subject, wide format version.

Sunflower & Twig -SOLD

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase information and magnifier Purple, and hanging over the fence it was. Perfect with a yellow, yellow sunflower. I snipped it off and made this cheerful painting. Wouldn't it look great hanging on your wall? It doesn't even have to match the couch.

Chapel Light

oil 10x8 inches click for purchase information and magnifier "We'll leave the (green) light on." It's not every day you see a church painted mauve, and with a green light too. I couldn't resist the color or the shadow patterns either. This little chapel is somewhere in the old part of Chino. I was driving around town a while back just looking for stuff.

Wildflowers

oil 8x8 inches magnifier I painted this back in September while demonstrating at the fair. A new friend, Weezer Scarborough, who also happens to be a fabulous photographer, gave me free reign to use any of her photos. Thank you, Weezer! This one caught my eye over all the beautiful vistas she had captured elsewhere. Here we have life and beauty springing up in spite of rocky circumstances, or maybe because of them. I really loved painting this, and I'm pleased with the result. Tomorrow I'm off to Idaho to visit my son and family. I'll post again when I get back.

Pumpkins & Leaves

oil 8x8 inches click for purchase information and magnifier More leaves from my neighbor's liquid amber tree.

White Pumpkin

oil 6x6 inches click for purchase info and magnifier

Happy Little Pumpkin -SOLD

oil 6x6 inches WHAT? It's November already??? This happy little pumpkin is a day late in wishing everyone "Happy Halloween!" Hope it was all fun. And just for fun, the bidding for this painting starts at just ONE DOLLAR with $5 shipping within U.S.) Wouldn't it look cute as part of your Halloween decor next year? Just place it in a small decorative easel on a table. To join the bidding fun, click here.

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.

Fall Bouquet -SOLD

oil 12x9 inches click for more accurate color and magnify feature Another painting from the same grocery store bunch. I loved working with all the subtle variations of greens. Greens can be tricky. I don't use any tube greens. I mix all my greens with combinations of ultramarine blue, cad yellow medium, and cad yellow light. For a brighter green I use thalo blue instead. But I almost always add cad red light. Somebody told me once, "Every good green has some red in it." I think it's true. Of course sometimes a careful touch of T white is needed.