Green Olives and Tea

 "Green Olives and Tea"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas
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Here is my thumbnail sketch for this painting:

And here is a studio shot with my work-in-progress - the still life, my thumbnail sketch on the floor, for reference, and my easel cuddled up close to all of it, for a bird's eye view. In the background, by the window, you can see the still life setup for "The Pattern Beneath All Things," which I was painting at the same time as this one, in the afternoons, with the blinds open.  I had tape marks on the floor, and I just shifted the easel over.  

The thumbnail sketch for this piece snuck into this random shot of my studio desk as well - along with some objects from the painting - the garlic, the blue-rimmed plate. The olives are even hiding in this shot. (Hint: they're in their jar.) I think my motive for taking this picture was to document the excessive number of sketchbooks in play at once. Or maybe I just found the overall scene pleasing. I do love a good jumble of objects.

Getting Hungry

 "Baba To Be"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I've been painting chocolates all morning, so I'm extra happy to bring you a healthier piece during my blogging lunch-break!

Baba Ganoush is one of the best ways to eat eggplant, though, if I'm cooking, I'll always go Parmesan! I did eat a few of these in a stir fry, but the rest were thrown away (in a sad, sad, moldy state after their long stint in my studio). 

I love Middle Eastern food so much, but I live in a part of the world that is sadly lacking in good places in which to eat it. The best Hummus in this town is made in my own kitchen! Believe it or not, out here in the Willamette valley the best restaurants tend to be Thai. Moving to Oregon turned me into something of a Thai-food-lover.

Mmm....time to eat!

Garlic, Snow, and Ice

  "Garlic Braid on a Tea Towel"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

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Another painting of my glorious Thanksgiving garlic braid.

If you're like me, you've had it up to here with snow pictures on Facebook lately. At the expense of boring you with yet another diatribe on local weather conditions, I will say this: I have been snowed in for the past three days, and am now iced in. I live in a city that doesn't plow or salt the roads - also a city with some pretty serious topography - including my neighborhood, which is basically a hill on a hill.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm going crazy! Thank god for home studios.

And just in case you aren't fed up with snow pictures....

At least someone's happy about it!

A Garlic Braid and a BIG Discount Code.

 "Garlic Braid with Knife"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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You can guess what became of this beautiful braid of garlic during the melee of Thanksgiving dinner preparation. I'm glad I got it on canvas before it went into my mashed potatoes!

I'm in full-on show-gear-up mode, which obviously requires lots of hyphenation in addition to tedious tasks like varnishing and (*groan*) finding things. I'm always thinking of my beloved Etsy shop, though, and am offering a killer (if-I-do-say-so-myself) discount to you all, this most online-shopped of weekends.

25% off with the code BLACKFRIDAY! Use it today, use it tomorrow, and use it on Monday. Because I'm too busy to create a new coupon code just for Cyber Monday, yeah, busy finding things and then hyphenating them.

I'm a Purple Person

 

"Garlic on a Purple Plate"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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Friday was a good day. It started off with a misty 6 mile run with Gabriella, then I hit up the thrift store for some new still life props and fabrics (also scored two cute cocktail dresses, in case anyone's thinking of inviting me to a fancy shindig....*hint hint*). In the evening I headed to The Gallery at the Watershed for some live painting - and wine.

Both of which are in evidence here:

 I really love painting with others - not so much in front of a hushed audience, but in a relaxed, convivial atmosphere. I'm thinking of hiring myself out for parties. Better than a mime! I'll just stand in the corner and paint. It's not the wildest party idea I've come across lately....

Random Roundup: What a Week!

 

"The Florist"

 9 x 12"

oil on canvas

click to buy

Here's my portrait from yesterday morning's open studio. I was going to wipe it before I even left the Art Center, but was dissuaded by the gentle encouragement of my painting friends. After bringing it home and letting it hang out in my kitchen for a bit, I realized that that red shirt kept catching my eye as I breezed past. And I have to admit I'm drawn to the strange dynamic between his dignified face and those flowers....

My start was terrible. I believe this goes in the category of "I was stupid to share it," but hey, it's the Random Roundup. No shame.

 

In other news(papers), The Gallery at the Watershed was written up in our local daily this week, and the photo they published was yours truly, making this painting last week. It was entirely coincidental that I was there when the photographer arrived, and I might even call it fortuitous, if I had been identified in the photo they ran in their paper, online, and on Facebook. Go to your grave gracefully, print journalism. 

(Here's a link to the article, really a very nice writeup of an exciting addition to our local art scene.)

source

 My workshop got off to a great start this past Monday. I'm loving my new crop of students, and their enthusiasm. Here is one of my demos from the day - in case you haven't already seen it on Facebook, it's up for auction on Daily Paintworks, starting at $1.

 "Garlic and Butter Knife"

approx. 6 x 8 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

click to bid 

Well, that's all the news that's random this week. I'll be painting live once again at The Gallery at the Watershed tonight from 7-10 pm. I'd love it if you came by to say hello, but please, no pictures. ☺