"Early Tulips" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

I've been working like made lately on these tulips to get as much wear out of them as I can. I wanted to put emphasis on the shadow that the tulips are creating in this painting. You know how you can see the finished piece in your mind.....but you cannot quite make it a reality? Well, I want to try this again with the shadow on the right side and really make it pop out more as a dominant shape. This time I see the shadow and tulips are almost a mirror shape of each other. And I don't think that is a good thing.

"Pinks" 6" x 6" oil on gessobord

Same tulips, the next day. First, I think my picture is a little out of focus. I like thinks to look a little out of focus in the painting, but this was a mistake. I like do things unfocused as a technique. Thus, I don't wear my glasses when I paint. If I can't see it, it's not there. Great way to clean the house, too! Like my new little etsy teapot?

"Tulips and Lemons" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

This is my last chance with these tulips, for they are spent from the hot lights. I added the lemons to this composition for a change and I haven't painted lemons in a while. I love it when the light shines through a cut piece of lemon.

"Grapefruit and honey" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

I continue to paint every day. Good thing the weather is too bad to be outdoors cleaning up. I have been meaning to repaint certain paintings on a new board. Especially if I realize what went wrong, and just to try and confirm my hunch. The next painting I want to try again today, "Early Tulips". I really wanted more shadow to show with more blues.

"Early Tulips" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

"Just Before Lunch" 12" x 12" oil on gessobord

I enjoyed working on this painting, for this time I used a lot of thick and juicy paint. I think I need to get away from the apple obsession I have, but practice makes perfect. Right?

 I'm learning to take more time in mixing colors on my palette and to work primarily with a clean palette. Still, my composition issue is ever present and that I work on every day. This painting is listed in my etsy shop here.

"Juicing" 12" x 12" oil on gessobord

Well, I'm gonna try to get out of my whining stage of how difficult it is to set up a still life and being stuck. I'm turning my cupboards inside out to find something new with which to work. And voila, this little green bottle appeared and I worked with it several times. I had fun painting the knife with the reflection of the bottle.

"Party Time For the Red Apples" 12" x 12" oil 

This, actually, was my first attempt with the green bottle and I do like the way it turned out better. I'm trying to get the hang of painting in those necessary reflections. I'm working with some more bottles today, which I will post tomorrow. 

"First Pick" 12' x 12" oil on gessoboard

I am finally getting back to the daily painting, much to the expense of other business, but this is the way it needs to be. These daffodils were on the way out, so I really wanted to paint them. I was originally trying to make the flowers a darker value, with highlights on the ends of the blooms....to create more of a 3-D effect. Then, when standing back, I realized I had overworked the blooms and lost the darker value. I'm here to post the good, bad and the ugly. Well, perhaps not the ugly. But you can see that my painting days are by no means perfect. I may go back today and rework the upper area of the painting. Too much green, also, in the stems.

"4 Apples" oil on gessobord

Well, the slump I was in seems to be at bay for awhile. So I'm painting as much as time allows. I still love to paint those green apples!

"The Great Escape" oil on gessobord

And in march the eggs. I'm thinking that with my new inspiration I shouldn't push it to much with the wild compositions, not that I paint wild things anyway. I really love the shape of eggs and the way different light falls on every point of the surface. I actually had fun painting this set up and decided not to worry about my reason for justifying each brush stroke. I just liked the light.

"Blue Egg Cup" oil on gessobord

no comment. Just trying to enjoy the process again.

"As American As"

A doctor friend of mine has this wonderful eagle on his desk and I've been wanting to paint it for years. So I finally got up the nerve to ask if I could borrow it for awhile. Well, yesterday, I knew, was its' last day in my studio, so I had to do something with it. The rose is not too rosey nor the apples red enough, but the eagle does preside over this image. I tried not to get too hung up on the details of the wings and globe it is sitting on.. So in an hour I did manage to capture a certain feel I was after. I would like my paintings to go more in the direction of muted colors, greyed colors, in fact. I did this painting in one hour and said what I wanted to say without moving to a larger surface to catch more of the details. Now, if only tomorrow can be as inspiring between shoveling what, I've heard, is more snow on the way. I have many ideas brewing as subjects to paint. Food prep is one of them.

"Lemon Tea Bag"

Well, I have been away from my blogging for almost 3 months now. Nor have I been painting much during this time. I've hit a real block on what to paint. Putting a still life together to paint is such a difficult task for me. I have painted a few still life pieces, but have been so disappointed with the outcome. I was doing other things during this time, like making quilts and listing in my shop on etsy for the Holidays. But I was afraid to paint. So I figured that I needed a big break in my routine, to focus on other things, and return to painting when I was excited about something to paint. Today I was excited about painting and it didn't matter what was in front of me. This is the last piece I did several months ago.

"Kissing Eggs"

And then my inspiration light went out.

"Mummy's Apples" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

I appear to be working a lot with apples these days, but I really wanted to get to know the apple well. And how to better understand than to draw or paint. I love the shape of apples and how different varieties are rounder than others. The Red Delicious are not round at all, but have odd angles and bumps on the bottoms and tops. The Granny Smith's, which I have painted here, are nice and round with a wonderful hue of green throughout the skin. These mums have been in bloom for me for over 2 weeks and I should have painted them with more frequency. As the Holidays are approaching, I'm trying to come up with some new and different things to paint. Perhaps I should focus more on color rather than object.

"Red and Greens" 8" x 8' oil on gessobord

Sometimes during the Holiday Season I will paint a candy cane. Like the mercury balls, why not take advantage of using these unusual objects as my subject for a few weeks out of the year. Though the candy cane is front and center, I did not want to make the painting scream Christmas. Hard not to, huh? Anyway I enjoyed the process, especially with it submerged in clear glass. 

"Opposing Teams" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

Here we are at that time of the year where all the teams come out wearing opposing colored shirts. I picked blue and gold with a magenta referee. I always think these Christmas balls are going to be a cinch to paint and I'm not sure if it's best to see each ball as a solid value and keep all the colors of that ball one value....or to go outside the predominant value. I will keep trying with these. I cannot draw a circle, but I can paint one. Why is that?

"Unscrambled" 8" x 8"

Once again, I'm painting eggs. I usually go back to eggs when I cannot get any other composition to work. The fork, I meant, to come more forward. I guess the way to do that is to make the end larger...foreshortening!

"Almost to the Top"

Well, this has been an interesting week. So many people have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy hitting New England. My area has had much flooding, trees down and power lost, but mostly things are OK. No water, electricity, flush, heat, so I have done no painting. But I do have some pieces I have yet to post. Stacking up the cups again and working on the rose here. 

"And Then She Blew Her Top"

Not much to say here but that I tried unsuccessfully to peel this orange in one piece in a circle.

"Mother May I?"

I've been wanting to paint one of my Steiff animals for awhile, so I threw in the apple to give a sense of scale.  So, not a lot going on as far as problem solving, but painting some new things. I hope to have my power back on in a day or two, so I can get back to work.

"Apple Blossom"

Well, I have been busy painting a lot lately. Sunflowers!

"Among the Cups"

I especially like this one with the reflections going on. 

These stacking cups are a relatively new challenge for me. I think I posted one earlier.

"Sharing Sunflowers"

This is a little 6" x 6" I painted, which is an awfully small size to tackle, for I do not like working with small brushes.
I've lost my power 3 times since writing this, because of Sandy(the hurricane), so that's all for now.

"Beautiful Grapes" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

I'm working here with most of the grapes in shadow, but love the one that stands alone.

"The Rose with Little Grapes" 8" x 8" oil on gesoobord

I used a piece of glass to create the reflections under the rose and grapes. More difficult thean I thought it would be.

Studies

My workshop with Carol Marine was a  blast! I met a lot of wonderful artists and I've got to move on from this workshop, for I am so behind in posting. Here are some studies that I did working along the theme of "white cups".

"Second Choice" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

More flowers! I love painting this particular type of flower, especially the pink ones. The turquoise bottle complimented the color of the flower perfectly. I was with a terrific group of painters in Santa Fe and we were all working with flowers and glass this particular day. I love the energy in the air when painting with a group of artists that have the same goal.....a need to paint!

"First Pick" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

Well, I'm back from my wonderful Advanced Workshop with Carol Marine in Santa Fe. Everything, including the meals, exceeded my expectations. Carol is a fabulous teacher and I met 13 other eager artists ready to shed their egos and allow for mistakes. And the week held quite an amount of diverse talent. One of the exercises we did was to work on painting glass with flowers. Painting clear glass has a different approach than painting colored glass. I was pleased with my study and only reminded myself how much I enjoy challenges.

"Ah, The Rose" small painting on gessobord

Roses, I find, very difficult to paint. So much form with translucent light passing through the petals. I still try to paint them once in awhile. I'm off tomorrow to Carol Marine's advanced painting workshop in Santa Fe. My suitcase is filled with tripod, palette, things to paint, lights, camera, backdrops, paints, brushes, bulbs, medium and a few clothes. I plan to post a few "experiments in learning" while away for the week. Yikes! I almost forgot to pack my confidence and patience. Carol is a wonderful teacher, for I was lucky enough to get a spot in her first workshop 5 years ago. I'm looking forward to meeting some wonderful painters there.

"Royal Pie" 8" x 8" oil on gessobord

I just couldn't resist. Not about painting the pie, but having some to eat. Though under the lights with the color background I used, this pie was more than royal for an hour or two. The pedestal I used I got from my mother-in-law, and I find it one of my favorite silver pieces to paint. I love the shape of the base and pedestal. Here the pie is resting on a white plate, which covers all but a piece of the silver rim. I'm really working on forks now. I prefer to paint them foreshortened, but just getting the shape correct I find a challenge.