Bread on Glass - and Mentorship Students' Work!

"Bread on Glass"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

I've begun doing a monthly challenge theme for my online art mentorship program, and August's was "Bread." Aside from a random hot dog bun, this is a subject I've never tried myself - until now! What fun. And my students' work has been fantastic!

I'm a proud mentor. ;)

Three Spoons

"Three Spoons"

10 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

$500

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How did I ever live without digital painting? Making quick color studies with the Procreate app is helping my finished paintings more than I ever imagined it would. Click here to watch a time-lapse of this digital painting-in-progress, and click on the image below if you'd like to scrutinize it more closely for the differences between the virtual and the real deal!

 

("Real deal" being the one on the bottom, of course. 😉)

White Hydrangeas

 

  "White Hydrangeas"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$700

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In this one, I really wanted to play up the darkness inside the glass vase against the light fluffiness of the blossoms. 

Here is my color study - made on the ipad! Which means I've got a time-lapse video of it coming together. Click here to watch!

 

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. ;)

Early Apples

 "Early Apples"

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

$800

I've been experimenting with digital painting lately. I know! It's crazy. I never thought I would venture into this realm, but it's actually really fun!

The program I've been using is called Procreate. It's an app for the iPad. I also use an Apple Pencil, for drawing on the screen. Below you can see my "sketch" for this piece, above the "real" thing. I'm surprised at how much this digital preliminary color study informed the finished painting.

Another great thing about Procreate is that it records a time-lapse video of the painting as it's created. Click here to watch this one come to life!

Seeking Sunlight

"Seeking Sunlight"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$400

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This is the season for Black-Eyed-Susans - they are everywhere! So, it's no surprise that a dive into my painting archive turns up several paintings of this lovely flower, from this week in history.

Here is my first one, from August 2008:

 "Black-Eyed-Susan" 5x7" oil on canvas panel, 2008

I am still fond of this painting! I lost the vase in a wax-spilling accident a couple of years ago. It's quite remarkable, the relationships I develop with my still life objects, living with them and painting them over and over for years. I could show you half a dozen paintings of that vase, and now there won't be any more.

This green beauty is a recent gift from a friend. I wonder how many times I'll paint it in years to come?

The Letter

 "The Letter"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Grapes are so much fun to paint. Every time I try it, I wonder why I don't do it more often. 

Here's a work-in-progress for this one, with its black-and-white oil study. 

Thanks for looking!

Tomato Time Machine

"Spilled Spoons"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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We all have one: that thing we just CAN'T seem to paint. And mine is tomatoes. Or, at least, that's what I've been saying to myself, and plenty of other people, for years!  But! After watching my students create amazing tomato paintings in a workshop I taught last weekend, I thought - maybe I'll give it another try....

So this is my first big red tomato since... 2008! I love getting in the painting time machine. Definitely an argument in favor of keeping an archive of ALL your old work!

"Heirloom Tomato No. 3"
5 x 7 inches, oil on ...hmm, I can't remember. Maybe Raymar canvas panel?
2008

Honeydew

"Honeydew"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

 My very first painted honeydew. The color mixing was a challenge - honeydew has such subtle value shifts, and a lovely mix of warm and cool light greens. A fantastic opportunity to indulge in my favorite color combination - purple and green!