Pink Ring

"Pink Ring"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas on panel

$350

Click to buy

Experimenting with color in this one - Burnt Sienna and Sap Green, plus white! Proving once again that everything in painting is relative - a tube of "brown" creates gorgeous pinks when offset by its complement, green. 

Silver Kiss

"Silver Kiss"

8 x 10 inches, oil on linen panel

$250

Click to buy

The metal teapot is new to me, thanks to a very productive antique-mall outing. This kiss won't be the last you'll see of him, I'm sure! As the saying goes, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

 

 

Radiate

 

 "Radiate"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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For this one, I did a quick study with black sharpie and grey Pitt pen on white paper - just three values. When you have your composition all planned out before you get to the canvas, painting is even MORE fun!

Three In, Three Out

 

 "Three In, Three Out"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

I loved noticing all those blues of the bowl reflecting onto the apples - and the green reflections in the plate! Lots of opportunities for chunky color spots. Satisfying!

 

The Orange Ribbon

"The Orange Ribbon" 

10 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Click to buy

I love painting ribbon! It's basically a custom-made tool for creating movement in a still life - and lots of fun little shapes to paint. 

I'm in Louisiana teaching two workshops this week - still life AND portrait painting. To follow my adventures, check out my Instagram page. It's really the best way to keep track of me these days!

A Busy Artist

"Three of Two Kinds"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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A busy artist is a happy artist! And between my workshops, private lessons, a portrait commission, and gallery shows, I'm overflowing with gratitude lately. 

But it's nice to get back inside the cozy confines of an 8 x 8 square, enjoying all the colors in these green and golden apples.

Curvy Company

 "Curvy Company"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I crowdsourced this great title on my Facebook page. So fun to see what everyone suggested! 

Green Apples, Pink Plates

"Granny Smith Snack"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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I love Granny Smith apples. You can keep your weirdly expensive Honeycrisps and your other strange new varieties. My favorite apples to eat (and paint) are these. It's funny, though...growing up in Ohio, and now living in Oregon, apple picking has been an annual tradition - and yet I've never picked Granny Smiths. Where do they come from?

I'm also pleased to report that, though I bought it sometime back in 2014, this is the first time I've managed to (somewhat) successfully paint this pink plate. :)

Weekend Update

 

 "Six Grannies"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

Whew, what a weekend! It kicked off with a fun Friday of painting at Oregon Art Supply. The art-walkers were out in force, and I had friendly and interested company throughout the evening. I even got to say a few words to the group - an opportunity I never shy away from. Just give me that mic!

I had all my recent coastal landscapes on the walls, along with plenty of still lives, and I even got to send some of them home with awesome collectors!

The rest of my weekend was spent getting ready for Ellie's 5th birthday celebration, which was a blast. (And the adults enjoyed it, too!) I can't believe my daughter is five. She's very happy about it.

Primarily Apples

 "Two Apples, Yellow"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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Red, Yellow, and Blue: the parents of all colors. Some white and gray thrown in, because they're beautiful!

I had a great portrait session this morning, and I'll be heading to figure painting tonight. You can follow along on Facebook or Twitter. See you later!

How About Them Apples...?

 

 "Two Apples, Blue"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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Talk about a still life coming together by accident! I put this plate on the floor while moving easels around the other day, and voila! It's great when I don't have to spend an hour fussing with a setup - running back and forth, minutely adjusting everything over and over until the elements are working together in just the right way. It's not quite as good for exercise, however.

So now I have two these two apples on red and on blue, and I'm contemplating adding a yellow composition to this duo to complete the primary set. Could be an excellent way to spend a Sunday!

 

If you're looking for an excellent way to spend an afternoon next weekend, The Gallery at the Watershed is hosting their inaugural "Good Old-Fashioned Art Auction" on Saturday the 12th from 3-5 pm. This is going to be a fun event, a great chance to score some fabulous art, and of course, an opportunity to rub elbows with the likes of me. Hope to see you!

Seeing Red

 

 "On the Red Table"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I think I love my new studio. What a relief! Especially because it would be awfully hard to take back my old one, already on its way to becoming a man-cave family room. Jesse wasted no time taking over that space! I didn't waste much time myself - there's no better way to settle in than to sling some paint, or, um, spray diet soda all over the room.

I didn't do it, for the record!

Today I started on a fabulous new commission, which I'll be sharing much more about soon!

Getting it on Paper

 

"Calla Lilies with Green Apples"

8.5 x 11.5" oil on paper

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I have been enjoying the new oil painting paper by Arches, especially because every time I turn around these days, I'm out of canvases. I'm going to do some experimenting soon with mounting these onto panels, but they'd be great framed under glass, like a watercolor.

And now I'm off to scrounge up something to paint on and head out to the Alpaca farm for another rainy, cold (in fact downright wintry) afternoon of plein air.

Different Strokes

 

"Green Strokes"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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Well, I did my homework. Instead of winging it with my workshop this week, I sat down last night to pre-test the exercise:

 Three ten minute paintings, progressively completed in 25, 20, and 15 strokes. Thanks to the oh-so-talented Carol Marine for inventing this one, and sharing it with me - it's a great way to eliminate "futzing," and discover what's really essential to convey form and texture.

 In class today, we started off with a "regular" 10 minute painting - kind of a control group. In this one I focused on blocking in the background values first, relying on that framework to help me round out the apple in space - and ran out of time. I also used my trusty #2 round brush - which you cannot use for the other three. A flat or filbert is a must. It's pretty crazy that the apple with the most solidly three-dimensional form is the 15 stroke sketch, eh?

 

My group, painting away: 

  

I'm really enjoying teaching this workshop, and just confirmed that I'll be doing it again in April. If you're interested in joining me for the next round of creativity calisthenics, contact Maude Kerns Art Center.

"Green Apple Stack" framed fine art still life food fruit kitchen decor commission custom painting

  

8 x 10"

oil on canvas

framed $200

available in my Etsy shop 

I'm starting a commission today, a portrait of a lovely young woman. I moved my desktop computer into the studio so I can work from a digital photograph. Upheaval! So, for today's post I've pulled a painting from the vault, a personal favorite. I like it so much, I'm "storing" it in on the wall of my upstairs hallway. It would really make more sense in the kitchen/dining area, but that space is already taken.

Are you thinking of commissioning a painting for a holiday gift? Whether it's from me (why yes, I'd love to), or another artist, now is the time to get started!

"Pomegranate Halves" framed art original oil painting fruit bowl

 

6 x 8"

oil on canvas

maple frame 

$200

purchase

I just brought a few paintings home from a show. Some of you, my loyal followers, might recognize them. They were all painted in 2010! Time flies when you're making art.

Wishing you all a great fourth of July. I'll be running a 10K in the morning and then enjoying some cold beverages and BBQ! (Not that it's going to be hot. I hate to rub it in, East Coast, but our high tomorrow is 75!)

The four new additions to my Etsy shop