Red Cabbage Patch, Art Tip #18 Thumbnail Sketch

" Red Cabbages "

Oil (in process)

24"x24"

Here is the current painting I am working on. I like to use acrylic Yellow Oxide to tone gessoed canvas or linen. The background is completed and some of the cabbage leaves are roughed in. You can see my premixed palette in use (I posted it a few days ago before I started painting. The colors across the top are straight from the tube colors, not part of the painting, just hanging out ready to remix more color if needed.

I use Liquin as a medium, also for mixing glazes. My current favorite brushes are Robert Simmons Titanium. For the small 6x6 panels I will do the entire painting with a #4 Bright.

Art Tip #18: Thumbnail sketch...a tiny little sketch, 3"x 4" or so, of my idea for a painting. I try several to see basic shapes/line/form/value....it's a necessary plan, step one in composing a painting. You need a "road map" or "plan" to see where you are going..otherwise you'll be making changes when you get into the painting process..one change leads to another and pretty soon you have a "mess" and most likely a weak painting. Start with a simple plan...a strong base on which to later/lastly put some details, if needed.

Succulents III, Art Tip # 17

" Succulents III "

Oil

30"x30"

Available

This is number three in this succulent series. The first two were painted in 1985! I love this subject because it has many contrasting elements. The soft blue greens/warm yellow greens. Softly mottled leaves (or are they pettles?) constrast with sharp pointy tips. Red with green. This plant is in a terra cotta chicken planter..I think being contained created more "chicks". The ones in my gardern seem to have more "Hens" next to each other with fewer "chicks".

Art Tip #17: I hope I'm not repeating myself here: For a great brush holder for oil painters. Take a large, deep, plastic container (like the ones dried dates come in) about 8" in diameter. Fill it with those round, little black beans (Azuki?). Stand your wet brushes in this holder as you paint. I don't know if watercolorists or acrylic painters can do this, as the water would run down into the ferrule.

Going Places, Farm Geese, Zebras, White Rhino

"Going Places"

Oil

20"x35"

Available

Finally...here is the completed painting that I posted in stages a month or more ago. I will add the image back on the last of the posted stages so you can see the process step by step.

Hope your summer is going well..we are having sunny weather after weeks of record rains.

My trip to Florida was fabulous..here's a couple of the photos taken from the back of an open pick up..9 amazing White Rhinos! I signed up for a private photo session..just me and two gamekeepers. The outside of all their vehicles are well dented! I could have reached out and touched them, they were that close. The baby rhino was 6 months old. I now have some wonderful reference photos for zebra paintings, too. I have done many zebra paintings in the past when I was sprecializing in batik on silk. Email me if you would like information on this game park.

Mangoes on Glass, Art Tip #16 Glass Palettes II

" Mangoes on Glass "

Oil

8"x10"

Available

My 130th Daily Painting, much larger than the usual 6x6 or 6x8 I usually paint. Part of a larger series of objects painted on thick plate glass. I love the blue-greens the edges have, nice simple compliment of the reds.

Below are photos of the glass palettes with gray value scales or gray paper I shared about in my last post. Tomorrow I'll add an image of how my paint looks. Click on each image to enlarge.

Masterson Palette Box

Open Box M Palette (Plein air)


Table-top palette

Red Mary Janes, Baby Shoes III, Art Tip #15 Glass palettes

" Baby Shoes III Little Red Mary Janes"

Oil

Sold

Special pricing for all three baby shoe paintings: $600 unframed ($825 framed + Free shipping)

Payment by PayPal or you can purchase directly from my web site: Click here

Number three in the baby shoe series. These are vintage baby shoes that I found on eBay. I love searching for still life props on ebay...treasure hunting at its best. I have found some really good deals because I'm not interested in collector quality, just the intrigue of the objects. For instance I found a Fiestaware teapot for under $10, with cracks and a few chips. I like to search garage sales, too. Last week I found a vintage graniteware teapot and a coffee pot..$3.00 each. They'll eventually show up in one of my still life paintings.

Art tip # 15: For a terrific palette get a piece of heavy glass, a large as you like (mine is around 20x24) and lay a middle value gray paper underneath it( I actually made a large value scale that lies under my palette, you might even just have three values..light, middle and dark. In my Open Box M plein air palette I cut a piece of glass to fit and put middle value gray paper underneath (besure to add a little tape-tab on one edge so you can ift it out to clean now and then. Lastly, I also have a glass palette in each of my Masterson air-tight palette boxes (again, middle value gray paper underneath or value scale). It is hard to judge values when you mix on a white palette.

Baby Shoes II, Mary Janes

" Baby Shoes II "

Oil

6"x8"

Sold

Here is number two in my baby shoe series, sweet little white patent leather Mary Jane's. There is something wonderful that happens when you paint baby shoes. I found myself reminiscing about my own childhood, recalling shoes that I could remember. In grade school I wore tan and brown saddle shoes, ( I didn't like the black and white ones) and mostly loafers in high school. I remember spending a huge amount of money on a pair of red shoes...$15 in the 1960's. At 25-35 cents an hour baby sitting that was quite a bit of money..but hey, they were red shoes that I lusted after!
Marc Hanson's recent accomplishment of 120 small paintings in 30 days has certainly raised the bar in the Daily Painting arena! Check out his blog to see these remarkable paintings. Sounds like he's having withdrawels!

Daffodils for Mother's Day, Art Tip #14

" Daffodils for Mother's Day "

Oil

6"x6"
Sold

Our mornings are still in the twenties so my daffodils are just starting to bloom. Flowers are quite a challenge for me especially painting directly. I wanted to quit and let these daffodils dry then go back with overpainting. But, one of the challenges of a painting a day is to complete a painting in one sitting. I'm glad I stuck it out as I like the finished result.

Art Tip #14 When painting flowers alla prima/direct/wet n wet..I find it works best to lay in the flower colors first. It's easier to add darker color around the clear flower colors. It is nearly impossible to lay clean, bright colors over darker wet paint...you'll end up with mud.

Still Life: Vintage Mary Janes, Art Tip #13

" Mary Janes "

Oil

6"x8"

SOLD

Vintage baby shoes that I found on eBay..they came with the original box dated 1915! Real patent leather made in the good old USA. "Baby Beaver" shoes, size 0. A piece of leather stiffened the bottom of the box and they were sold at W.T. Grant stores, a mass marketing chain. I looked the store up on Wikipedia..the store went out of business in the 1970's. I grew up in Spokane and remember a W. T. Grant store there. They were a "5 & Dime" store and fun to visit if you just had a dime or two in your pocket!

Art Tip #13: Place a clear piece of glass over black paper for a wonder reflective surface to set a still life on. "Mary Janes" was set up this way, black wall on left and back, piece of pink paper off to the right that reflects onto the shoes.

Still Life with Yellow Warbler, Art Tip #12

" Still Life with Yellow Warbler "

Oil

25" x 38"

Available

Wow, I can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post. It has been a bit of everything that has kept me away; family, procrastination, working on large paintings for summer shows, etc. But mostly it has been procrastination and perfectionism! I fight these two devils daily but some more than others. A bit of each is good and gives one time to reflect/work on other things. A quote I put in my April e-newsletter by Mark Twain "Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow" makes me smile. I also mentioned that Leonardo DaVinci was a procrastinator. He created wonderful drawings of inventions while other work awaited his attention. I think it is human nature to procrastinate...might even be an inate self-preservation tactic.

The oil painting I posted here is several years old and still one of my favorite. I used information from several photos to created the design. It was fun to paint..I love the patterned fabric, old bakelite flatware and china plate.

Art tip # 12: This is helping my procrastinating: I bought my husband a new boom box (he listens to books on tape/CD) and now I have his old one that I can set next to me at my easel. I find that I can paint and follow the story just fine. When I tried to listen to books on tapes on my main stereo system (with great quad speakers placed in all four corners) I couldn't follow the story, I was too removed from the sound source. Now I get hooked on the story and it gets me to the studio and painting sooner and I stay longer, working through any rough spots in the painting process. I do listen to music, too, but getting into the story is what seems to be working for me now. I am thinking that one of the main reasons I am able to follow the story and paint is that I premix my colors for a large painting..those decisions are made ahead of time so I'm not constantly making color/value decisions as I paint.

If anyone is interested to learn more about premixing let me know and I'd be happy to elaborate.

Tomorrow I'll address perfectionism...if I can find the perfect words!

Cheetahs, Batik, Newsletter, Fine Art Studios Online

Cheetahs Rest

Batik/Acrylic on Silk

20"x24"

I have just launched my first email newsletter! I'm very excited to be able to have contact with collectors, friends, family and other artists through a monthly newsletter. If you would like to sign up click here which takes you to the sign-up page on my web site.

I've been distracted by other important family obligations over the past few weeks so am posting

this batik I did in the some time ago. Work continues on "Going Places" and I promise the completed painting will be posted very soon!

If you are considering your own web site please take a few moments to look

at Fine Art Studios Online

You can have a free trial period while you design your site. It's very easy, affordable and you can keep it updated yourself! You can easily customize yours to look exactly as you want. Their support experts are tops, very friendly and helpful. I'm no tech wizard..if I can do it anyone can!

My newsletter is easily implimented as is my email list. It's all automatic. My old web site was beautiful but updating was very costly so it was never very current.

Toulouse Geese, Chinese Geese, Tag

"Going Places"

Oil

20"x35"

I have to laugh at myself...posting a painting in progress sets me up for failure as far as a time table! Here it is July 8..four months after beginning the posts on this painting! Guess my proclivity for procrastination over rides any pressure! Actually, the real pressure isn't my art blog, though maybe it should be. Having a show that opens Friday July 10th is what kick's my rear into gear!

" Going Places "

Oil on Linen

Day 5

The last goose is roughed in and tomorrow I can begin to pull it all together. I always think this won't take long...I've learned that it takes what it takes. Must paint faster!

I've been tagged by Nancy Elstad an oil painter from Texas. Tagged artists must reveal 5 things about themselves, then tag 5 other artists. It's a fun way to see what other art bloggers are doing. So here goes.

1. I'm a bird watcher (we've had two Red Breasted Nuthatches at the feeder for an entire year! Love these little guys. Three female/one male Red Crossbills last week!

2. I love peanut butter and dill pickle together. OK, what's so weird about that? What's weird is using mustard instead of mayo in tuna..yuck!

3. I'm hooked on Sudoku puzzles, it's the abstract reasoning thing, cute little squares that need filling in

4. I married my ski instructor 36 years ago, he's still teaching and I'm still learning (how to live with someone who loves longgggggg, coldddddd winters!

5. Paul Gauguin is my favorite painter, then Eduard Manet and I recently found George Tooker and then there is Lucien Freud...shocking yet wonderful

That's it.

Now here are five more wonderful artists you can visit:

Paul Brown

Deborah Paris

Brooke Olivares

Neil Hollingsworth

Mark Hanson Check out Mark's new workshop schedule. Wish I lived closer to take one! He's posting images of a frame he's made from scratch and guilding it, too.

Going Places Day 4, Leonard Wolfe

" Going Places "

Day 4

Not much time for painting today. One more goose left to block in. My paints have dried somewhat so remixed fresh colors that I needed today. I hope to get the last goose roughed in and begin the grass areas tomorrow, refine the shadows falling on the geese. Right now I want the grey goose on the left to be the center of interest. However, I won't know for certain until I have the last goose painted. It may need to be one of the white ones because of the high contrast.

No tips today. How about a favorite quote?

I've mentioned it before but I can never say it to myself often enough!

Cure for procrastination:

"You can't edit a blank page" Leonard Wolfe

Oh, and I did come across a post-it note that I have in my easel area:"

" Paint Faster!!! "

Farm Geese, Toulouse Geese, Art tip # 11

" Going Places "

Day 3

Oil

Before I comment on the progress of this oil I wanted to mention that my new web site is launched! I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit and please sign up for my monthly email newsletter if you like. If you are an artist considering your own web site I highly recommend Fine Art Studios Online. I can now keep my web site updated easily myself! You can test drive your own site during a free trial period. Let me know what you think!

Now, this painting. Seven geese down and two to go. Once all the geese are blocked in and the grassy foreground is completed I will go over the geese again, softening some to keep the main focus on the Toulouse, gray goose, you see here, maybe some glazing and scumbling to unify the overall lights and darks. In the lower right corner of the photo you can see one of my Canada Geese giclee in the print bin. In the past a majority of my subjects were birds, zebras and fish. I really wanted to be doing still life, too, but no time. Now I do mostly still life and long to do birds again. These farm geese will be a start!

Art tip # 11: When I know I won't be able to complete a painting in one day, at the end of the painting session, I soften any hard edges on areas that still need work. To do this I take a blending type brush or actually any old bristle brush will do. Lightly and quickly roughin up the edges. You can always create hard edges again, but it isn't easy to cover up a hard edge that has dried (I use Liquin, a medium that speeds the drying of oils). If you click on the painting you can see where I roughed up the edges of the gray goose. I can tighten things up again later.

Farm Geese, Art Tip # 10

" Going Places "

Day 2

Oil

I sure felt rusty today, getting back to painting. But, like always, I just needed to focus and it didn't take long to make some progress. At least I completed the rough in of the two geese in shadow.

You can see my premixed palette. The oils were just fine after being ignored for these past few days while I recovered from a head cold. Tomorrow I hope to have all the geese blocked in!

Art Tip # 10: Nine out of ten paintings usually reach a mid point where I always have the feeling it isn't going to work and I begin to doubt myself. I call this "the ugly stage" because experience has taught me that it only means the painting isn't done and I need to keep going. Usually it doesn't take too much more to bring it to a completion. Now, I have also experienced getting to "the ugly stage" and can't think what to do next or I've lost interest. That's when I put the painting aside and come back later, sometimes weeks or months or even years later with a fresh eye. Oh, by the way, the 10% that I do finish without doubting mysef painted themselves..someone recently gave credit for this phenomenon to the "paint fairies". I always say the paint just fell off the brush and landed in all the right spots!

Farm Geese, Toulouse Geese, Art tip #9

" Going Places"

Day 1

Oil on linen

Here's a painting I began yesterday with a general rough-in around the birds. Everything is pretty soft so far, I didn't want to leave any hard edges until I get the geese roughed in. I am using a pre-mixed palette. I had some fun comments the last time I posted the stages of a painting. Usually I don't like to show a painting until its finished. But here in the art blog world there are so many artists who love to see how other artists work. I know I do. Stay tuned.

Art tip #9: This I learned from Daniel Greene. Instead of using the terms warm and cool to describe a color use "blue-ish" or "yellow-ish". This makes total sense. If a color is hard to identify, usually a very grayed, dull color ask yourself if it is "more bluish or more yellowish". Then you'll know how to start mixing it. I've heard some artists call Ultramarine Blue a warm blue..I've always considered it a cool blue because it is more "bluish" than "yellowish". To me Cerulean and thalo are warmer because they are going towards the yellow side of the color wheel. Ultramarine is a blue-violet. I'd like to know your thoughts on this topic. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Crow, Oil Workshop Students, Art tip #8

" Still Life with Iron Crow "

20"x24"

Oil

Private Collection

Vickie & Carol with their beautiful color studies in oil

This past week has been fun having two very enthusiastic students. I felt more like a coach than a teacher. Vickie and Carol both have intuitive color and design sense. Vickie has been painting for some time, mostly using photo reference. During this workshop she worked only from life using a basic palette and learned how much more color there is to see than what a photo shows. Carol is a beginner who naturally applies lots of paint. Usually its hard to get beginners to load their brushes. Most want to conserve paint and the end results are flat and lifeless. It's called painting for a reason... don't be afraid to use lots of paint.

Tip #8: Put plenty of paint out at the beginning of a paint session. Nothing breaks your flow like running out of a color and having to get more or worse (especially when painting outdoors) to make-do with some other color or mixture just 'cause its on your palette. I teach a basic palette of 7 colors plus white, black and three value grays to dull color with.

Succulents, Allied Artists of America, Artist tip # 7

" Succulents II "

Oil

42"x42"

Artist's Collection

Available

Back in 1985 I took some time from my batik paintings to do a few oils. This one I entered in the annual Allied Artists of America show in NYC. It won the Gilmore/Romans award for oil. I decided I couldn't part with it so it has hung in my home all these years! I still love it, but if someone is interested in purchasing it please contact me. I find as I get older I'm not as attached to things as I once was. I'm also getting geared up in my head to continue this succulent series. I posted another one some time ago.

Artist tip #7: I always tone my canvas and panels. You now have a mid-value surface to judge color against and it gives overall harmony..especially if you lift off color. On Succulents II I used cadmium yellow light oil thinned with turp. In the last 10 years I haven't used any turpentine in my studio..too toxic. Instead I clean brushes with mineral spirits or Turpenoid natural. Current favorite colors to tone with: yellow oxide or raw sienna...acrylic..it dries fast.

Artichokes, Artist Statement, Art tips #6

" Artichokes on Blue "

Oil

12"x12"

Private Collection

Giclee Open Edition $60

Artichokes are such a beautiful plant, perfect complimentary colors of greens and reds. This little painting was purchased by a good friend. His family is in the artichoke business, so I'm glad this painting ended up with him.

Tip for seeing color: punch a little hole in a 2"x3" cardboard. Use it to "isolate" color areas in your still life set-up or plein air view. Mix and paint that color. Do this for every main shape/area of your painting. You will mix incredible colors..no more mud. Carry this little "spot screen" with you on a walk. Ask yourself; what color is that building? road? mountian? car? Especially look at shadows. Now use the spot screen on the same objects. Wow! Paint what you see, not what you know.

Tuxedo Cat, Oil Pastel, Art tips #5

" Bustafur Jones "

Oil Pastel

Private Collection

A painting from the past! I rarely paint cats probably because I don't have one. My husband is allergic to them.

I thought I would post the artists statement I wrote last summer for a specific show. This show wanted a statement to be more about the process. In reviewing "I'd Rather Be in My Studio" I realized I needed to edit it further, trying for the two paragraphs Alyson Stanfield recommends. It was actually pretty easy this go-around. My attitude was slash, slash, slash. Felt great and I think this one will work for my new web site. Would love your feedback if you care to comment.

Jennifer Bellinger
Artist Statement 2008

Thank you for taking time today to visit my exhibit!

I have been a professional artist for nearly 40 years, living and working in my Ketchum home and studio since 1978 with husband Gary, son Corey and pug dog Jack

My current direction is painting the still life in oils. I use traditional oil painting techniques on canvas, linen or gesso board. Craftsmanship is very important to me. I use only the best materials in time honored ways that will assure my work stays true to form. Small paintings are given the same careful attention as larger work.

My still lifes are about finding the beauty in everyday objects. I am especially drawn to vintage objects that have had a previous life.

The most interesting part of painting to me is the composition or design phase. The beauty of still life is that I am the conductor; I get to move the objects around until I see an arrangement that is pleasing and dynamic to my eye. I look for relationships of shapes, color, contrasts of light & dark and, of course, what is to be the center of interest. I employ these same elements of design to landscape or animal paintings, too.

Because my paintings are strong in design and color they bring life and energy to a room.

Fellow artist, Elizabeth Floyd said “I like the way Jennifer’s paintings seem to tell a story, as if we are getting a glimpse of someone’s daily life, with an action about to take place that will alter the vignette we have just been privileged to witness.”

In the summer and fall I enjoy teaching workshops and sharing my artistic process with others.

Here's the new, shorter version:

Jennifer Bellinger
Artist Statement 2009

"The current direction of my art is painting the still life in oils. My still life paintings are about finding the beauty in everyday objects. I am especially drawn to vintage objects that have had a previous life.

The most interesting part of the painting process to me is the composition or design phase. The beauty of still life is that I am the conductor. I get to move the objects around until I see an arrangement that is pleasing and dynamic to the eye. I look for relationships of shape, color, contrasts of light & dark and what is to be the center of interest. Because my paintings are strong in design and color they bring life and energy to a room.

A fellow artist said “I like the way Jennifer’s paintings seem to tell a story, as if we are getting a glimpse of someone’s daily life, with an action about to take place that will alter the vignette we have just been privileged to witness.”

(note: for Elizabeth..I didn't use your name on the quote for second version. Alyson recommends not referring to other people which could take focus away. Maybe I should drop the quote all together...but I love it, so there it is." Thanks, again E.

Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley, Chicago Cows, Labrador Retreiver, New Mexico Painted Ponies

Wood River Pet Lab

Oil on Fiberglass

40"x28"

Private Collection

Detail

PeeWee the Guinnea Pig

Detail

Our Pug Jack

Corey's Sweetie Rat
All image copyright J.Bellinger

I need to get back in the studio and paint! Prepping images for my new web site is taking tons of time. My oil painting workshop is going well, day 3 of a 4 day class completed. My students are coming over to the studio this Saturday.
I decided to post images of "Wood River Pet Lab". Our local animal shelter has used these fiberglass lab forms for big fund raisers. The event was patterned after the Chicago Cows, New Mexico's Painted Ponies, etc. Artists are commissioned to paint them and then they are auctioned. I have completed three of them to date. It is something to see 40 or more together on one large room. Artists are so creative. My approach is pretty traditional. One of my favorites was covered entirely with coffee beans. The artist even covered a base with the burlap coffee sack and the dog is holding a coffee cup/saucer in his mouth! It now resides in a local coffee shop called Zaney's.
Lots of money raised for our local no-kill shelter.

Corgi dog portrait, Leonard Wolfe, Art tip #4

"Buckie"

Oil

6"x8"

Private Collection

Buckie runs my friends Melinda & Dicks ranch. As I was speaking with Melinda yesterday I could hear Buckie next to her, vying for attention, much like a two year old does when mom gets on the phone. Anyway, I thought I would post this today and hopefully bring a smile to Melinda's face when she opens her email.

My thoughts are too scattered today to post a tip but I promise to do so tomorrow. I've been resizing digital images to post on my new web site. My computer crashed a couple of weeks ago and my computer man installed Picasa. I finally found the cd for the program I am used to..thank God. I don't have to learn a new way!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

"You can't edit a blank page" by Leonard Wolfe. I post this on my big easel.

Visit my art blog friend, Mary Sheehan Winn to see a super fun YouTube video she posted today.

Lemons & Mandarins, Artist's Statement, Art tip #3

"Lemons & Mandarins"

Oil

11"x14"

Private Collection

Yesterday Karen Hargett wanted to hear a few tips on writing an Artist's Statement.

Like most artists I procrastinated (detested is more like it) updating mine. Using the step by step actions in I'd Rather Be in the Studio put me on the right path. Author,Alyson Stanfield really calls you to take action with specific exercises. Here are a few tips that got me going:

1. Learning what is an artist's statement and what isn't

Big news for me: it isn't a brief Bio. It's about your current work & direction. Alyson says "Above all, your statement should compel readers to look at your art. If it doesn't do that, it hasn't done its job."

2. "Keep it in the first person" and "Keep it short"

( I need to go back now and really hone mine again, its too long)

There is so much help in her book. One thing that appealed to me was to take all the ideas I had written down, cut them out (scraps of my thoughts). She suggested putting them in a shoebox. While this is tidy, I know I could easily forget where the box it. I taped them to a large poster board..kind of like creating a story board and kept it where it could get my attention.Then when I had time I would edit them and put them in order that made sense. It was easy to see where I'd repeated something or got too heavy. Just the physical act of pulling that scrap off the board and tossing it made me feel like I was getting somewhere.

To sum up for this post...it takes time to write an artist's statement. It is well worth the effort. I have just scratched the surface here..hoping to lead you to the wealth of knowledge and help in Alyson's book. Get it, read it, do the work. If there is one thing I can pass along to artists who want to be self supporting (and I know you don't want to hear this, I can feel you cringe!) Your art is a business. You must do what it takes to run that business, the rewards are many. It isn't hard..consistency is the key.

Make a plan, take an action.

Apricots, Oil Painting Workshop, Art Tips

" Idaho Apricots "

Oil

6"x8"

Private Collection

I painted this oil outside in bright sunshine (no, not today.. during the summer). I wanted to show it today because I have been talking to the students in my oil painting workshop about highlights. Highlights are often the lightest part of an object and attract our eye. Highlights need to be accurate in order to describe the texture of that object. For example here on the apricots the highlights are very, very subtle..no hard edges, because that is what I observed. Apricots and peaches are fuzzy. If you observe your object carefully and paint what you see not what you know it will be correct.

I was reviewing my Artist Statement today. One of the shows I exhibited in last summer required one. I had been putting off updating mine for years! I'd recently purchased Alyson Stanfield's excellent art marketing book. I'd Rather Be in the Studio The section on writing artist statements took the fear right out of the entire process. She goes beyond telling you how to do something with specific examples of what to do. If any of you are interested in how I took her tips and wrote my own statement, let me know and I will do a post on that topic.

Still Life with Three Lemons, Red Check Tablecloth

" Lemons & Check Cloth "

12"x12"

Giclee

Open Edition $60

This is an archival giclee reproduction (giclee is French for ink spot. A high quality digital image of the original painting is printed on a large ink jet printer. Archival inks and quality canvas or papers are used.) I have a wonderful publisher here in Idaho that has produced my work for many years. If you visit my main web site you can see many more giclees of still life ( 3 other 12"x12" images that go with the Lemons) and animals. The original painting was an oil and is in a private collection.

Giclee ( soft g gee-clay)

Please email me if you have any questions or want to place an order

A Craving for Crab Cookbook, seafood, shellfish

A Craving for Crab

Cookbook

Author: Christine Quinn

Illustrated by Jennifer Bellinger

This is a cookbook that my sister-in-law and I collaborated on in 2005. It began as a little booklet of recipes to be sold with a hand-crafted Crab Cracker. The Crab Crackers are available here and are created out of beautiful hardwoods by a master boat builder from Port Townsend, Wa.

The booklet quicky grew into a full fleged primer cookbook of all things crab! My grandmother's coleslaw is included, the best! Christine has since formed her own cooking school. Check out Bainbridge Island Cooking School to see what she is currently up to. You may purchase a cookbook through my eBay Store which describes how all inclusive this crab cookbook is. Recipes for crabs from the East coast and West coast are thoroughly represented. Yum! Yum! She even explains how to throw a crab feast and how and where to catch your own crabs!

Thanks for visiting today!

Still Life with Meyer Lemons

" Meyer Lemons on Striped Cloth "

Oil

6"x6

Available

Favorite fabric, favorite lemons! Meyer lemons are so beautiful, so delicate. They make Sunkist lemons look like "tough guys".

Tip of the day: A super brush holder to keep brushes at hand while you paint. Fill a plastic tub 8" wide by 6" deep (dried dates come in these) 2/3 full with dried black beans or other small dried beans maybe even popcorn. Stand your oil painting brushes, end down. Keeps them separate and in view, no brushes rolling around. I don't know if this would be good for acrylics because the water in the brush might damage the ferrule. I have used this "bean pot brush holder for years. It holds many brushes. After cleaning brushes for the day I lay them flat to dry.

Oil Painting tips, Art tips #1

" Summer Annuals "

Oil

6"x8"

Private Collection

I wanted to share a few tips today that I've learned over the many years on my painting journey. So, here goes in a rambling sort of way:

1. First things first: a strong composition is the most important, then value and finally color.

Take the time to do a small or several small thumbnail/value sketches, choose the strongest one. You now have a plan, have worked the basics out in your mind. If you are plein air painting it will become a reference for the shadow patterns which helps you keep to your original idea as the light changes.

For composition a great help is to take acetate and trace the outline shapes of paintings I like (I keep a scrap book of paintings I've clipped from art magazines). Darken in the darks, lightly cross-hatch the mid values. Study the arrangement of the major shapes/patterns to see how the composition is put together.

2. Premixing the major colors you are seeing can create more harmony in your paintings. You have made your plan/choices. Then you are free to apply the premixed colors, covering the canvas quickly. Then make any further additions/corrections. Whistler required his students to premix their palette. He said that if the colors look good together on your palette they'll look good on your painting...or maybe it was more like..If the colors don't look good on your palette putting them on the canvas won't help! I find that I stay more true to my original idea when I premix. Even on my little 6x6 daily paintings I premix. It helps to sharpen your observation skills.

3. Need to make a big color change in a painting but don't know if it will work? Lay acetate over the painting (should be dry to the touch). Paint the new color on the acetate. For small areas I will cut out the shape I'm thinking of changing and paint it the new color then hold it over the painting..tape it on if the painting is dry to the touch so you can step back and look. This works great, too, if you are trying to decide where to put/add a new element that wasn't in your sketch.

Cherries, Buffalo China, Simple Simon

" Simple Simon Met a Pieman "

Oil

6"x6"

SOLD

"Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair". I knew what I would paint when I saw this little vintage Buffalo China bowl. Maybe it's a child's bowl from a set at any rate I love it and I'm sure will use it in many future paintings.

Limes, Buffalo China Bowls, Striped Cloth

" Stack of Vintage Buffalo China Bowls "

Oil

6"x6"

Sold

I liked the simplicity of the striped cloth with the stack of white bowls and two little limes. I found these old restaurante bowls on eBay. If there are any fresh cherries in the market today I will get a few to put in another little bowl I recently found. I imagine at our grocery store which locals have called the most expensive in the USA that the cherries will be $10 a pound. I only need a few, and I don't want to wait til summer to paint what I have in mind. I will also look for some well shaped lemons. Seems I have become the queen of daily paintings of lemons. Paint in a series, paint what you know!

Limes, Buffalo China

" Little Limes in Buffalo China Bowl "

Oil

6"x6"
Sold

Once again, here is my favorite fabric. I found some great vintage Buffalo China bowls on eBay and will be using them in future paintings.

Now that the holidays are over I can focus on painting again. I am not one who can easily have house guests and get my work done in the studio. I want to sit and visit, play games, cook...It's more about focusing on one thing at a time and with my son home and friends around, that's how I like to spend my time. The paintings will get done eventually.