Lemon Water and Silver

"Lemon Water and Silver"

9 x 12 inches, oil on panel

Sold

I get asked all the time if I eat the things I paint in my still lifes. The answer is - not always. Sometimes I try to get other people to eat them! But I drank every drop of this lemon water, along with batches made from those lemons lurking in the bowl. A favorite hot weather drink, for sure!

Golden Spiral

 

 "Golden Spiral"

10 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Click to buy

Why did I call this one "Golden Spiral?" Because it fits so nicely inside the Fibonacci spiral! You can see another painting on a Golden Mean ratio canvas in my previous post.

 

Plums and Lemons

 

"Plums and Lemons"

10 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Click to buy 

I painted this during a public event called "Studio Without Walls," in downtown Eugene. It was a lovely evening - perfect weather, and a fun, funky crowd with lots of diverse artists participating. Here I am, painting on location!

 

I set this still life up at home, began the painting and mixed all my colors from life, and then finished it from a photo on my phone. You can see in the picture how I rigged that up. Clamps! Can't paint without them. The beret helps, too. ;)

Rainbow Bright - And Studio Listens!

 "Rainbow Bright"
10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

It's been a great week - busy and interesting, just the way I like it. One thing that happened: I got interviewed for the podcast "Drawn to Win." What fun!

Here's a link to listen - whether you're working in your studio this weekend, on the road to somewhere summery, or just out for a walk - let me keep you company for an hour. 

Thanks, and enjoy!

Blue Vines

"Blue Vines"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Blue vines on the bowl, green vines in the bowl! Love this little Hoya plant. It has so much movement and liveliness about it, and almost grows before my eyes.

Lemons in Glass - And Videos!

"Lemons in Glass"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Available through Tvedten Fine Art

This was April's demonstration for my Online Art Mentorship group, talking about painting glass - a subject many of us love to visit and revisit - including me! It was a great session, and I've got the videos to prove it. 

A two-minute time-lapse of the finishing stages: (click the link if you're reading this in your email)

And the longer version. Enjoy!

Lemon Water

 "Lemon Water"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

I had a great week of daily painting. Six 10x10's and an 8x10. Phew! Thank you for joining me!

Here's the preparatory sketch for this one. It was actually done on tan paper, but I liked the look of it converted to black and white. Maybe I will get a gray sketchbook next!

Here's a collage of the week's paintings. These are all available - you can check them out on Etsy. 

A Ribbon Runs Through

"A Ribbon Runs Through"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

OH man, did I have fun with this one. 

Day two of my seven-day painting challenge. Follow them all week on Instagram!

Thanks for looking!

Rapunzel

 "Rapunzel"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

 I am doing a painting a day this week with my Online Art Mentorship group - and anyone else who wants to participate - over on Instagram. Just seven days, not the more typical 30-day challenge, with a goal of creating some spring studio momentum! 

I love the way I feel when I paint every day. There's a time for being ambitious about painting - working larger, more carefully - and for being more precious about the outcome. It can be a relief to step away from that, and say 'Tomorrow is a new day....and a new painting!' 

What will you create today?

Lemon Geometry

 

 "Lemon Geometry"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Sold

I spend a lot of time on still life setup - and as you see below, that enables me to really rely on perception as I'm painting. I like to call it "slavishly copying the world," with tongue firmly in cheek.

 

If you're interested in learning more about my techniques for still life setup - or just want to paint one of them - I've got two workshops coming up! One is March 24-25th, in Eugene, and the other is April 6-8, on Bainbridge Island, WA. There are a couple of spaces open in both - join me! :)

Avocado and Lemon - and My Very First Newsletter!

 "Avocado and Lemon" 

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

This is my painting for day two of the 30 in 30 February challenge. It's yesterday's painting. I'm not going to be blogging every single day's painting, because I anticipate that some of them will be less impressive than others, but for now, here ya go! 

...And speaking of impressive! After procrastinating for almost ten years, I just published my very first email newsletter. Check it out here, and click subscribe to be entered into my Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Because, yes, my blog will be TEN YEARS OLD in just a couple of weeks! That feels awesome.

Just subscribe to my email newsletter to be entered to win! It's a teeny tiny pool right now - so share with a friend! Your chances are excellent.

Chunky Lemons

"Chunky Lemons"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Sold

This painting really stands out from across the room, even though it's only eight inches tall. I have it on a wall with some of my larger, recent works, and it grabs my eye every time!

Lemon Light, and Black and White

"Lemon Light"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

 

This is the third time I've painted this little green glass. I found it in a labyrinthine antique mall in Oklahoma City the last time I taught there, and it's rapidly becoming a favorite still life object. 

I like it for its form and color, but most of all for the light patterns it casts into its shadow.

There's a time-lapse video of the beginning stages of this painting on Instagram. Check it out!

The black and white sketch for this piece is a fun one - but I'm biased. I think all my black and white sketches are fun!

$100 (unframed)

 

The Hermit

  

"The Hermit"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

The four stages of this painting: still life setup, value study, underpainting, and finish! 

 

 This is a pretty simple composition, but I find it very satisfying. That grouping of lemons on the plate, seen through the viewfinder, makes me want to paint the whole thing all over again. Something about it just clicks in my eyes. 

Value study, oil paint on Arches oil paper, approx. 8x8 inches:

Sold

A Plein Air Still Life on Whidbey Island

 "Five Lemons"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

In my last post, I shared pictures from my recent opening at Brackenwood Gallery on Whidbey Island. It was a fantastic opening, and the fun didn't end there! The next day, I did a plein air still life demonstration outside the gallery doors, enjoying the cool island weather, and the gallery-goers who stopped to chat. I even had a canine audience, as you can see!

The light was a little strange, as it was cloudy and hazy with smoke from nearby wildfires - a kind of grainy, golden light. Not bad, but not as dramatic as the stunning summer sunlight I got for my demo afternoon last year!

Here's a look at my process: a simple black and white oil sketch (in a sketchbook) to plan the value pattern and composition, an underpainting on the canvas in sepia tones, and color laid directly over that, alla prima.

Three-And-A-Half Lemons

 

"Three-And-A-Half Lemons"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

 I'm able to bust out these little black-and-white oil sketches so quickly because I keep a pre-mixed value scale palette on hand at all times - in my freezer. Oil paint will develop a dry "skin" after a day or two when left out on the palette, but frozen it will keep for weeks. 

I also find it incredibly helpful in my color work, not to have to start from scratch each time I set out to paint. If the thought of all the preparation involved has ever stopped you from heading into the studio, consider keeping a pre-mixed palette on ice!

 

So many tips and tricks stored (like palettes in a freezer) in the recesses of my brain... I'll be unpacking lots more of them this weekend at my still life painting workshop, here in Eugene. Spaces are still available - click here for info! 

Lighthouse

"Lighthouse"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas
Sold

Learning to see a complete spectrum of colors in an arrangement that at first seems to only contain yellow, blue, and white - and showing it to you! Just one tiny part of my answer to the big question: "Why paint?"

Go Green... and Yellow!

 "A Dish of Green Olives"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Interrupting my stream of residency paintings to post a piece from one of March's Still Life Open Studio sessions. Is it a coincidence that I'm posting this very green-and-yellow painting on the eve of the big Oregon Ducks final four basketball game (green and yellow being the U of O's school colors)? 

 Yes, it is. 😉

These two daffodils took a turn as daily sketch subjects the next morning, looking fresh and rested, even after their rigorous evening modeling session. The lemons, too. Troopers!

Yellow Path (aka Lemon Pie, the Sequel)

 

 "Yellow Path"

24x12 inches, oil on canvas

$700, framed

Sold

Here it is, the missing slice! 

I enjoyed playing with all the different yellows in this setup - once I got past my freakout over being out of Cadmium Yellow. Seriously, that's like a chef running out of butter! But just like a chef with enough milk and elbow grease, I made my own perfectly suitable substitute using a combo of Indian yellow and Cad yellow pale. No churning required.

 

A warmup sketch. Getting comfortable with those whipped-cream ridges! Eeek!

Lemon Pie

 "Lemon Pie"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Why does time always seem to speed up at the end of the month? I at least attempted to slow down this week by spending some time with this lemon cream pie. If you want to find out what happened to the missing slice, tune in tomorrow!