Blue Check

"Blue Check"

9 x 12 inches, oil on panel

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I got lost in this pattern. Such a meditative painting experience!

Stay well, everyone - and keep painting! 🙏

Serenity

"Serenity"

10 x 16 inches, oil on panel

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Hoya Kentiana

"Hoya Kentiana"

8 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$400

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The pattern of the leaves, the pattern of the shadows, the pattern on the bowl...this was a very meditative painting to create!

Favor the Bold

"Favor the Bold"

10 x 10 inches, oil on panel

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 Have a great weekend, whatever fortune has in store!

Three Spoons and Plums

"Three Spoons and Plums"

8 x 13 inches, oil on panel

$350

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The last of this year's crop of plum paintings!

Golden Spiral

 

 "Golden Spiral"

10 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$500

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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.

 

Slices and Halves

"Slices and Halves"

8 x 13 inches, oil on panel

$350

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Kind of a strange canvas size, this 8x13" deal that Masterpiece makes - and strangely wonderful to work on. The reason why isn't a mystery!

13/8 = 1.62, aka the Golden Mean, or Golden Ratio. 

Read more about it, here.

The Fish Dish

 "The Fish Dish"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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Here's the value study for this one. Kind of fun to get back to ballpoint pen and sharpie! My forays into digital drawing have taken me away from sketches like these lately. 

And wow, here's the first time I ever painted this dish, in April 2008! Reminding me that this fish once had a buddy. But he got broken. 

 "Fish Dishes no. 1"

6x6" oil on gessobord

2008

Cracked Rim

"Cracked Rim" 

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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I love painting blue and white patterns! (Which is exactly why a friend loaned me this dish.) I could have ignored that chip in the rim, sure, but I liked the way the warmth of the clay showing there echoed the colors of the orange.

Blue Vines

"Blue Vines"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

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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.

Strawberries for the Fourth!

 "Four Strawberries"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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Red, White, and Blue. Happy Fourth of July, all!

Four Elements

 "Four Elements"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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This still life was not originally intended to be an allegory of the four elements - it got its name because it has, literally, four elements. Looking at it just now, however, it came to me that they could be symbols - the fish dish for water, the orange ribbon for fire...the blue cup for air, and the white for....earth? It's "feet" are on the ground, anyway. 

I recently visited an astrologer, and was told that I have a lot of the Air element in my birth chart. One interesting thing about that: air signs are connected to birds and their feathers. Go figure!

A black and white oil sketch for this piece. Paint in my sketchbook - something I've been doing a lot lately!

Green Onions on Blue - And Thoughts on Using Black Paint

 

"Green Onions on Blue" 

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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 Here's are the colors I used for this painting. You'll notice that I have black in there - in fact, I almost always have black on my palette. Rather than using it to paint black things, or to darken other colors, I treat it like a blue - a very dark, desaturated blue. Usually, I mix dark greens with it. 

 

I also used it to whip up that little preliminary value study, right in my sketchbook. Ten minutes of planning makes a huge difference in the finished product - oil sketches are a practice I highly recommend!

New Year, New Art, New News!

"The Blue Fish"

10x10 inches, oil on canvas

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My first painting of the year! What took me so long? I could trot out my litany of excuses, but I'll simply say I've been preparing for big things coming - including an artist's residency - my very first - at Playa Summerlake. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to do nothing but paint for four weeks. With no plan going in, just to take what I find there and see what comes out of me. 

I'm thinking this will change the course of my work, temporarily if not forever. So...I'll be out of touch for a while, but will be back with a vengeance, renewed energy - watch out online students! And to all my loyal blog readers, thank you, and stay tuned for exciting things to come in a few short weeks!

Three Tangelos

"Three Tangelos"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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These funny looking oranges are a cross between tangerines and grapefruit. Wikipedia claims that they are "juicy at the expense of flesh." Which I think should be the alternate title of this painting, don't you?