Still Life with Lemons I

" Still Life with Lemons I "

Oil

42"x44"

I don't know where the summer has gone! But, here it is nearly September and I haven't posted many daily paintings. I thought I would post a few of my larger works until I get the daily thing going again. Just sent my son off to college, a junior this year. It was wonderful having him at home, working locally as a bike mechanic in a local sports shop.

This oil sold at the first of two summer shows to a collector who lives in Florida and grows oranges. I painted it a few years ago and I will miss having it in my studio. You can see that I love fabrics. This one is my interpretation of a vintage William Morris tapestry. The tapestry was green and golds, but I changed the colors because I felt the blue violet worked with the lemons and mandarins.

Private Collection

The Girl with the Watering Can, Lemons, tea pot, tulips

" Girl with the Watering Can "

Oil

34" x 34"

Available

Finally finished this still life. I will also post it with the earlier post showing the progression of this painting. I am pleased with the painting. I was considering changing the blue background to something else but the blue worked best, tying in the china bowl, cup & saucer. A good example of the human shape taking center stage, no matter the other strong contrasts that might be going on. I have another show this week and feel ready, lots of new work, just a few more to frame.

Raspberry Jumble, glass plate, summer fruit, red

" Raspberry Jumble "

Oil

6"x6"

My first intention was to have the berries very large on the picture plane. But, I love this old clear glass plate and got carried away wanting to show more of it. Now the painting is more about the dark/light contrast of berries against the white napkin and the strong diagonal line of cloth and table top. Second time I've painted raspberries. What I've learned is that it takes patience to keep layering the various reds and a very light touch with sable brushes to lay wet over wet. And lastly, going back and redefining the edges of each berry. I wasn't nit-picky about each berry's little bumps, just a suggestion of them...not enough room or patience to do that. A scientific illustrator I'm not.

SOLD

"Raspberry Delight", berries in Buffalo China bowl

" Rasberry Delight "

Oil

6" x 6
It was a delight and a challenge to paint these raspberries. A new subject for me. I want to do a single blow up of one so that I can really get in the detail of the translucence, like painting a grape. That translucence is a warm orange-red about a value 7. So much information to interpret. After the single large detailed study I would then venture to try a more abstract approach.

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Squash Blossoms, zuchinni squash

" Squash Blossoms "

Oil

6"x8"

Last Monday I had a very nice group of 10 women (whose husbands are members of the NSSGA (National Stone Sand Gravel Assoc. & here for a conference at Sun Valley Resort) visit my studio to see what a "Day in the Life of a Working Artist" was like. I did a demo painting in my garden so they could see what Plein Air painting was all about. I don't have distant views of the surrounding mountains because our conifers are 70' tall surrounding our property. So, this view of zuchinni squash is what I painted.

This spring I planted my son's Flexi Flyer red wagon with a tomato plant and the zuchinni. I pull it around the yard where ever the sun is. I built a box about 16" high inside the wagon to hold the soil. Works great. Nice reminder, too, of all the fun my son had with this wagon that his godparents gave him at age 3 (he'll be 20 next month!) For many years I used it to haul my garden tools in, too.

SOLD

Chorus Line, cherries in oil

" Chorus Line "

Oil

6"x8"

Idaho cherries were in the store this week and most of the cherries were in groups of two or three which makes for nice stem action.

These five reminded me of a chorus line. I'm usually not very good at titles but sometimes the paintings name themselves.

$475 framed

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Arrangement with Orange & Lemon, oil on canvas

" Arrangement with Orange & Lemon "

Oil

24" x 24"

I like this size canvas and as I've said before the square format is becoming my favorite. This painting is very symetrical except for the strong shadow shapes and the fruit ( while round are different in color). I did a little 6x6 of this design some time ago with the intention of painting it larger, too. I used size 8 & 10 brights for most of the painting.

$4,000

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Summer Berries, oil on gessoboard

" Summer Berries "

Oil

6"x6"

This little painting "painted itself". Every now and then a painting is effortless, it just flows. I took time this week to drive 80 miles to a stawberry farm. Eight gallons of berries later..10 batches of freezer jam and freezing whole berries for smoothies and all the fresh berries my son could eat! That's enough domestic bliss for the summer for me. Back to painting...

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Bing-A-Ling, oil on gessoboard

" Bing-A-Ling "

Oil

6"x6"

I really like how this little painting came out. I wanted a very simple set-up, no fabric like I usually do. The surface the cherries are on is corrogated cardboard, with red paper lining the right wall and green on the back wall to reflect color. I hope to post at least three little guys over the next week.

Thanks for looking today!

$425 framed

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" My Favorate Things "

Oil

9"x12"

Finally had time yesterday to finish this little self-portrait through still life. I really enjoyed doing this painting. It triggered many memories as I painted each object given to me by my loved ones. Painting the black and white photo gave me fits because of its angle and slight curved. I don't have many tiny brushes and finally gave myself permission to say "good enough", more of an impression than accurate. The painting is mine, not to be in an exhibit or at least not for sale. I will try another in the near future. The process was fun. I have thought many times of taking time to do a self-portrait but never get around to it.

NFS

Self-Portrait with favorite things

Betty's painting completed! I love this. Please click on it so you can see the subtle details in her smaller elements. A terrific self-portrait through still life.

Betty's painting in progress

Betty selected objects that have special meaning for her. Her son's favorite toy, husband's gardening glove, etc. I will try to post her finished painting soon. There is a photo of her, as a teenager, with surfboard off to the left, too.

So far..I will post the finished painting tomorrow night.

Sorry these are in reverse order.

Sketch on gessoed board

Thumb-nail sketch

Self-Portrait Still Life...the set-up

This is what I worked on today. I have had a private student this week in my studio. Betty is the high school art teacher here and she wanted to learn more about still life painting for her advanced students. We thought it would be fun to incorporate meaningfull objects that tell something about the artist. Betty began her self portrait yesterday and with her permission I will post her finished painting tomorrow. Today I set up my own objects. It was fun to go around the house and see what caught my eye. I chose the black and white photo of me..it was taken when I was 42 for art marketing purposes, so it marks that time in my career. I am wearing a "treasure necklace" I made of charms from family and friends. The Beanie Bear was a gift from my son when he was 7. The Talavera pottery vase a gift from my Mom..the little leaded glass box with shells a gift from my husband and the birding book for my love of birdwatching... a little ceramic Pug Dog for our dog Jack..and a few tubes of paint and brushes to round out the composition.

"The Girl with the Watering Can"

Oil

34" x 34"

Detail

Day 5 & 6

More progress, mostly on the fabric adding more detail, softening colors/edges, glazing. Detail of pattern added to Singapore Bird china and I scumbled some grayed green over the background on the left. I'm still not happy with the background colors yet, easy enough to change when the right color hits me. I did lay a sheet of acetate over the painting last night and painted on that to try some different colors. Tomorrow I will work at getting the tea pot and the vase more to a finish. It is at this stage that I want to put it aside and start something new! No no no...I really need to focus and finish this. Hopefully, posting the progression here on my blog will keep me on task.

Progress after day 3

As I was setting up this still life I needed to find something to put in the forground to calm all the caos going on, something plain and thought a book might fill the bill. I found this very old art book of Childrens' Portraits from the National Gallery in my art book collection...loved copying Renoir's Girl with the Watering Can.

Today, Day 4
I was hoping to get more done, but phone calls, errands, etc. seemed to seep in and eat up the day. Tomorrow I'll get a very early start, no interruptions.........already I'm thinking I'll need to rethink the background colors. The lemons are molding!

I want to thank Elizabeth Floyd for writing about my art on her blog. Once a week she is highlighting the work of an artist who has influenced her own work in some way.

Through my art blog I have met so many wonderful artists who enjoy sharing their work with others. Thank you one and all!

Protrait of the Artist!

Photo by Jake Provonsha

My friends Jake and Patti came by the studio on Sunday. He had a new camera and started taking pictures of this painting on my easel. I was trying to be funny by sticking my head in. Then we decided it really tells the whole story and we took a few more. I'm pretty camera shy so this was my cup of tea! Get it? As my little "Daily Paintings" aren't coming off the easel on a regular basis lately, I'll post a few more of this painting in process. That's my premixed palette and I use Liquin for the medium. As you can see, the tulips in the set-up are spent, but I took a photo of the set-up and use that for reference. There is a light to the left of the set-up and I let some filtered day light fall on the set-up as well. This is day two of actual painting (I start with a toned canvas, yellow oxide acrylic)
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Cherry Jumble, bing cherries, vintage glass

" Bing Cherry Jumble "

Oil on Canvas

25" x 32"

I loved this design from the inception but it took me over two years of having it sit around in a nearly finished state before I took the time to complete it. I usually have many paintings going is various stages. Unless it is a commission with a deadline or a show I tend to let them sit around awhile...I seem to bring a painting to a certain point then get excited to begin new work. Need I say it is easier to start a painting then finish one? Me, the great procrastinator! When I get down to business I always find it doesn't take much to complete it. I am more accepting now then ever that this is my process. I love the antique glass dish in this painting, it was my grandmother's...maybe that is why I'm reluctant to call this done. I would have to finish it, then frame and exhibit it and that means it might sell and it would no longer be in my life. I usually don't become too attatched to my paintings once they are done and I can send them out into the world.

Available $5,200

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PS Yes, these cherries were brilliant red, unusual for Bings..couldn't resist them. I apologize for the image quality, some glare on the upper left. The table top is very dark green, almost black. While I have a good set up for photographing the little oils I have my large work professionally done which means waiting til I have about 8 or so paintings completed to make the session reasonable.

Pears of a Different Stripe, oil on gessoboard

" Pears of a Different Stripe "

Oil

8" x 10 "

Favorite fruit on favorite stripe cloth. I finished this painting last week, one of a series of pear paintings. I learn something new each time painting pears.

If you haven't seen Carol Marine's painting video demo it is well worth the visit: CLICK HERE Be sure to scroll down a ways to find the demo. I loved seeing her brush strokes and I picked up a couple of tips that I've tried on a large still life with tulips, which I will post as soon as it's finished.

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Still Life with Little Red Knife, oil on Gessoboard

" Still Life with Little Red Knife "

Oil

12" x 12"

This is one of the paintings I just finished for my summer show. I have used this large vintage Homer Laughlin plate many times. I may still do some glazing in the shadow shapes. It's nice to have the luxury of time to consider a work. I have several 24x24 paintings underway based on earlier Daily Paintings. My first go on these pears, there was no knife. It needed a spark, more color and the knife fit nicely. I do love the square format.

Oh, more cherries in the market, too, so I'm excited to continue a series of them. I finished a large painting of bing cherries that I began a couple of years ago. Will post it soon, too.

Thanks for visiting!

Painting is available

Unframed: $850 Custom Framed $945 Free Shipping

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The Line-up, Oil on gessoboard

" The Line Up "

Oil

6" x 6"

Four sweet cherries...the first I've seen in our market...$9.99 a pound! I bought 10 to design with and hand-carried them home! The Idaho cherries will be here soon. I used several reds: alizarin, thalo red rose, rose madder, cadmium red light and medium. I couldn't find my cad red deep which I rarely use. However, next time I paint cherries I will tone the gesso board red or maybe ultramarine. It was difficult to get the darks dark enough because the dark reds are transparent, I added ultramarine and that helped. Fun experimenting as always.

SOLD

Click on the image to see enlarged view

Thanks for visiting!

Still Life with Stawberries I, oil on gessoboard

" Still Life with Strawberries I "

Oil

6"x6"

I have been working on larger paintings for two summer shows and neglecting my dailies! I miss the good feeling I get from finishing a little 6x6 and writing a post. What I enjoyed most about the strawberries was studying how they are structured..the surface pits, each with a seed...and how to capture that in paint without getting too knit-picky! I used a "wipe-out" tool to lift paint here and there, a very fast way to achieve some detail. I actually painted this in less time, too.

SOLD

You can enlarge the image by clicking on it.

Lemons II, oil on gessoboard

" Lemons II "

Oil

6" x 6"

Available

I've been working on large paintings this week and have missed painting the little guys. So, today's post was fun to do. It's the second in a series featuring this vintage clear glass plate. I mentioned to my friend, Judy, who is a writer how good it feels to complete a painting a day and how frustrating larger paintings are that can take weeks or months to complete. She equated it to poetry and prose. Poems can be written in a short time, prose can take years. At any rate, I will shoot for 3 dailies a week. I enjoyed seeing the large painting that Frank Gardner completed. It was one of those that was hanging around waiting to be finished. Some unfinished paintings just need to be ignored. I am so excited to start a painting. Half way through I'm often discouraged or wondering "what was I thinking?" But, I have learned it is at just this stage that I must keep going, it takes what it takes, whether layering, scaping, glazing, scumbling, etc. Funny, that it usually doesn't need much more to bring it to a finish. Weird business we are in!

Front & Center, oil on gessoboard

" Honey Tangerines "

Oil

6" x 6"

Available

This is my 100th painting for my Daily Painting Blog! I am amazed and so happy! I began this journey in late October '07 and though I did not complete one a day this is still huge accomplishment for me. I have seen great improvements in my painting that I'm surAe would not have happened in the same way working only on large oils. It's an amazing process. I want to thank all the artists and my collectors who have been following along and taken the time to comment. Your support is so appreciated.

Now for the second 100! I do have two summer shows to paint for but will post the large paintings here as they are finished.

Honey Tangerines, oil on gessoboard

" Honey Tangerines "

Oil

6" x 6"

I really enjoyed painting these tangerines. The skins were very smooth not rough like an orange, and they were quite shiney. I wanted something very colorful, so decided on a high key color scheme. Tomorrow I will paint them again on a stripe fabric. I like repeating a subject to see if I can work out the problems I had the first go. The tangerines have dull green mottling which gave me fits. As usual, a simple arrangement is often more difficult to paint than a more complex one.

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Orange Reflections, salt & pepper, stripes

" Orange Reflections "

Oil

6" x 6"

My husband keeps reaching for the stove top S&P shakers, only to find them gone. I keep reminding him they are in use in the studio. Seems that half our kitchen stuff is in my studio since beginning the Daily Paintings! This is number 98!

$425 framed

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Little Limes

" Limes III "

Oil

6" x 6"

I was out of town for 4 days, Mom's Weekend at my son's college. We had a great time. He has wonderful friends, but then he's a wonderful young man! Went to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"..one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Lots of male nudity...payback time all you guys out there! There was an older man sitting behind my son and whenever there was a nude scene he'd say outloud "that's not necessary!"

Now, about my painting: I wanted an Italian feeling to this painting and so used the colors of the Italian flag. I like the results, the clear plate with bright highlights add sparkle and my favorite tea towel. The stripes on this towel are so perfect for arranging folds, wide stripe and little narrow ones.

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" Garden Still Life with Red Chair "

Oil

6" x 8"

Available

I began this little painting last summer during my Plein Air workshop. I always feel guilty taking time to do my own work during a workshop, hence didn't finish it. I will demonstrate with beginning plein air students but generally I want them to have the time to begin their own painting during the best light in the morning. This day we were in an incredible perennial garden. While my students went for the flowers I am usually attracted to the off-beat stuff like this old red chair in a potting shed, with the push mower and super cast shadow on the shake siding. I find the main gardens overwhelming and not intimate enough...go figure! I added the hanging vine because the little holly hock coming up out of the gravel just didn't look so lonely and I needed to repeat the green somewhere.

" Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rocks "

Oil

6" x 6"

The second in a series of "Chicken" paintings. This week I was down at my friends ranch photographing the month old baby pigs. Sooooooooo cute, all rusty red with black spots. They are a Community Supported Agriculture ranch. All livestock are pastured, the pigs are Berkshires, a heritage breed. Everything is raised humanely and organically.

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" Lemon with Salt & Pepper "

Oil

6" x 6"

I wanted to paint something metalllic and was attracted to my stove top salt and pepper shakers. Then I looked for color that would reflect, choosing my favorite dish towel and a single lemon. It took patience to really look and see all the little reflections that gave depth to the painting. I had green paper lining the right wall so that bounced some complimentary color into the set-up. I like the results. I purposely did very little blending, instead letting the eye do most of the work.

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" Pink Rose II "

Oil

6" x 6"

Available

I liked both of these rose in the jar compositions and it was fun to paint them one after the other making subtle changes to this one. I made the diagonal line on the right the same pink as in the rose, to repeat that color and it does draw the eye there, too. I will plant a few of my large containers with roses this spring, can't wait! They are hard to winter over here, we are a zone 3, even with protection. We've had a very mangy looking racoon in the yard this week. His tail looks like a rat's tail with little fur on it. I hope it isn't sick. Someone must be feeding it.

" Lemons on Blue Willow Plate "

Oil

6" x 6"

Available

My friend, Janie, has a large collection of Blue Willow dishes. I love the solid look of the bright lemons against the delicate pattern of the old Blue Willow plate.

" Pink Rose in Old Mason Jar "

Oil

6" x 6"

Available

Painting # 91! I can't believe it. While I haven't met my goal of one a day, this is huge for me...it feels great. Now, about the rose. Roses are not easy for me to paint..and I see that on the next one I will try a different attack. I think maybe what made this one difficult is the light pink. Next time I will try a rose that has less contrast, say a deep red. I loved painting the jar. I have a collection of these Ball Mason jars that I use for canisters lined up on an open shelf in my kitchen.

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