The Rose Gold Ornament

"The Rose Gold Ornament"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Sold

The words "Rose Gold" always feel so good together in my mouth.

Persimmons and Christmas Ornaments

"Persimmons and Christmas Ornaments"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

I love December. It's so comforting to be in the studio when it's dark and rainy out, painting some shiny bright things.

Shiny Persimmons - and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 "Shiny Persimmons"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm grateful for green and orange, just one of the many color combinations that make my heart sing.

I'm grateful for you, the artists and art-lovers that inspire me to create.

And I'm grateful for the process, for learning and growth. Looking forward to more and more - this holiday season and onward!

 

Happy Holidays, enjoy!

Golden Loops

 "Golden Loops"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

My first ornament painting of the year! With this shiny gold ribbon thrown in as a bonus. I love the  texture and movement that ribbon brings to a still life - and the eye workout!

Here's how my paintings begin - as compositions seen through a viewfinder.
Looking through an aperture that's the same format (square, rectagle - horizontal or vertical) as my canvas helps me decide where to place the objects in a painting. Using this tool takes SO much of the guesswork out of my process, but taking photos through a viewfinder? Definitely a next-level challenge. I'm working on it!

Early Persimmons

 "Early Persimmons"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Here's how this one looked, through my viewfinder:

 And the palette I painted it with! Lots of reds in the mix, along with two yellows - a warm and a cool - and one big strong blue.

In other news, my 2018 calendar is out! Order yours by clicking here - or come visit me November 8-9 at the Tools of the Trade Show at the U of O Duck Store. I'll have a few to sell, and some new greeting cards too!

My next still life workshop will be November 18-19th, at Oregon Art Supply in Eugene. Two days of Painting the Dynamic Still Life! Hope you can join me.

Patti's Sugar Bowl

 "Patti's Sugar Bowl"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

Over the weekend, I was invited to a studio-remodel inauguration party at my friend Patti's house. What a great idea to break in your new/old studio - by painting with friends! It was definitely an infusion of artistic energy. 

I was, of course, drafted to set up the still life. Can you spot my painting subject amid the jumble?

 I love setting up a big, sprawling still life and letting everyone choose which part they are most attracted to. Just like I do when landscape painting, I settle on a composition by editing out extraneous details and zeroing in on what my unique artistic eye responds to. 

If you'd like to paint a still life like this, you have three options. One: invite me over for a painting party at your studio (be sure to send me a plane ticket, too, where applicable). Two: join me for a session of Still Life Open Studio - the next one is Thursday December 8th. Or three: take my three-day still life workshop this January at Oregon Art Supply. Fun guaranteed, whichever way you choose. ;)

Here's how this one got started. I almost never work this way: laying in the background first. I have no idea why I did it this time, and no plans to do it again in the future. But it worked out fine.

Pointed Persimmon and Public Painting Demo

 "Pointed Persimmon"

8 x 10 inches, oil on linen

$250

Click to buy

Lots of elements came together to make this painting! First, the persimmon: gifted to me by a friend who knows his trees (also, a little something about my persimmon obsession). It's a Hachiya persimmon, as opposed to the Fuyus I usually paint. Second, the fun patterned paper - a new addition to my still life stable which I already can't wait to paint again. And third - the luxurious Belgian linen canvas I painted it on, a sample sent to me by the generous owners of Masterpiece Canvas. It's from their Vincent Pro Muir series - a beautiful surface, and drum tight! 

The painting went through quite a few stages, and you'll notice it gathered more cranberries as time went on. They multiplied before my eyes!

If you'd like to watch a painting come together before your eyes, you can! This Friday, December 2nd, I'll be giving a figure painting demonstration at Whiteaker Printmakers, to introduce my workshop - also this weekend, and also with spaces still available. 

Come watch me paint this lovely model, Hannah. Young artists welcome - everyone in the room will be at least partially clothed. ;)   

Info and registration for the demo and the workshop here.

Persimmons and Purple Ornaments

 

 "Persimmons and Purple Ornaments"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

Here's how my palette looked when I finished this painting - you can tell I painted the persimmons first, followed by the ornaments, ground color, and cast shadows. Or, at least I can tell. Because all the bright clean oranges are mixed over - they would have been found in the Northwest quadrant earlier on.....kind of like me, up here in the PNW. Except my mixed oranges were located more towards Utah and Nevada. 

 

And here's even more evidence that I painted those orange persimmons before anything else...my work-in-progress! 

Flaming Leaves

 

 "Flaming Leaves"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Available Here

What brilliant timing - the day before the huge art supply trade show at the U of O, a friend offered me persimmons from her tree - making the question of what to paint for my demo an absolute no-brainer! I love that.

The show was a blast - and a whirlwind. Two days of painting, talking, and junking out on the latest and best in art supplies. I came home with a bunch of new things to try. Because who doesn't need more art stuff? No one!

 

Persimmon Season, Once Again.

"Candle in Glass (Persimmons)"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

So grateful to have been gifted some beautiful persimmons to paint this month. And I always love painting candles. It's been too long - for both subjects!

Keeping Warm

 

"Keeping Warm"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Here's a little still life from last week. I painted it over a "wiper" canvas - you can see the ghost of the previous painting in the in-progress shot below:

 

I kept the background thin and brushy to let some of those sepia tones peek through.

A Paean to Painting Persimmons...in Public

 "Persimmon and Floats"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

I painted these persimmon pieces at a fun event called the "Tools of the Trade Show," put on by the University of Oregon's college bookstore (known as "The Duck Store," because, you know, football).  It's a mega-meet-n-greet with art supply vendors, and the store invites artists to create in the middle of the mayhem. I had a great time.

 Trying not to get distracted by all the radically reduced art supplies. 25% off the entire store!

Head down. Concentrate!

Speaking of big events, (and big discounts, come to think of it), have you heard about my Holiday Open Studio Sale this Saturday? You haven't!?! Well, here ya go:

Happy Thanksgiving! (Plus, Plots and Plans)

"Persimmon on Purple"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

Happy Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I've been TBB (too busy to blog) for weeks - ok, ok, no I haven't, I've been TLB (the L is for Lazy...)

but I shouldn't be so hard on myself! 

...Right?

In fact, I've been busy plotting and planning.... First, a holiday open studio and sale, next weekend, December 6th. It's going to be at my best friend Gabriella's gorgeous studio (if you don't want to catch Studio Envy, consider staying away). We have a diverse group of artists, with ceramics, prints, paintings, handmade books, and even garden art. Snacks, drinks, deals, discounts (hint: on my table, there will be a $20 and under box). You should come. Here are the details.

I've also created - and updated - a new section of this blog: Workshops! Click the workshop tab at the top of the page, or (if you're reading this in your email - and I don't blame ya) just click here to see a list of my upcoming workshops and painting demonstrations.

2015, anyone?!?

Painting Patterns and Persimmons on Periwinkle. Period.

 

 "Persimmons and Periwinkle"

20 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

I've been working hard and loving it. The only downside of working on larger, multi-day paintings is that I miss my small still lives (and my #2 round brushes). I still have my preparatory sketches, though! Here's the sketch for this piece: 

"Persimmons and Periwinkle (sketch)"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

As you can see, the blue-on-white patterns look a little more polished on the larger canvas. Sketching them wet-on-wet is fun, but if you have the patience to paint the fabric and let it dry a day or two, patterns go on quite a bit more smoothly!

Preparation Pays Off

 

 "Persimmon Plenty"

20 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

When I sat down in front of this groaningly overloaded platter of persimmons, I knew I'd better start with a get-comfortable sketch. I wasn't working out the composition as much as familiarizing myself with the interaction and movement of the fruit within the dish. The larger painting just flowed off my brush - I even enjoyed the drapery - which makes me think I may be entering another drapery phase. It's a good way to spend chilly late-fall afternoons, really: cuddled up to my studio space heater, immersed in the details of folds.

This preparatory sketch is the final offering of my One Dollar Auction week, and bidding is open for a couple more days:

"Persimmon Plenty (sketch)"

8.5 x 6 inches, oil on paper

Sold

 

One Dollar Auction Week: Now, with Persimmons!

 "Early Persimmon"

6 x 8.5 inches, oil on paper
Sold

 The persimmon tree in my mother's yard is a step ahead of the seasons this year - loaded with almost-ripe fruit, and it's not even Halloween yet. I'll be clambering onto her garage roof to pick more as they ripen (because I love to live dangerously), but I've already got a huge bowl in my studio just waiting for their chance to be my subjects!

Here's a peek at how I began this little painting. That's a wash of Burnt Sienna, and a shot of my start. You can sort of see my underdrawing in Alizarin Crimson, and plenty of evidence that I don't paint from background to foreground. My instant-gratification junkie just has to paint the fun part first!

An oil painting on paper should be matted and framed under glass. Even though the Arches Oil paper I use is archival, and should stand up well over time, it's not a surface you'd want to be dusting or touching for any reason. Here's how it would look framed:

"The Red Christmas Ornament" festive holiday decor still life oil painting and, of course, persimmons

 

6 x 8"

oil on canvas

$100

click to buy

Will these persimmons ever rot? If I hadn't risked life and limb to pick them myself, I'd be starting to suspect they were plastic by now. If you've been reading this blog awhile, you might have the impression that I live on a farm, with my home-grown grapes, plums, and sunflowers. I don't! My mother happens to have an extremely productive yard/garden, which she inherited from the previous owner. Persimmons are the last fruit of the year....

"Decorating by Candlelight" Christmas ornament oil painting holiday xmas art gift

 

6 x 6"

oil on canvas

$100

click to buy

While "Decorating by Candlelight" doesn't necessarily sound like a fire-marshall-approved activity, I've certainly begun my holiday decorating. Basically, I pull a huge plastic bin of ornaments out of my garage and dump them all over my studio. Then my daughter comes in and helps distribute them in totally random locations throughout the house. Like under her bed, and in the cat food bowls. Ah, Christmas!

Because Zazzle always has killer deals this time of year, I ordered myself some calendars. I'll have them for sale at my Oregon Art Supply show and painting demo next Friday, and it's also good to have some last-minute gifts on hand, right?

more pictures here

   I'm really happy with the quality of the printing, and the shipping couldn't have been faster. It reminds me of a joke we used to tell about a chinese-delivery place growing up: you hang up the phone and the doorbell rings!

"Persimmon and Christmas Ornaments" not my most original painting title to date, but hey.

 

6 x 8"

oil on canvas

Sold

December is right around the corner, which sounds kind of depressing right this moment, but on the bright side, another First Friday Artwalk will soon be upon us! I'll be all over it, with a show of new paintings at Oregon Art Supply, where I will also be painting live in the store all evening. In addition, I'll have several pieces in Eugene Storefront Art Project's winter invitational at 224 E. 11th. Plus, I have my usual great stuff at Imagine Gallery, and if after all that, you still don't think I run this town, why not stop by Noli Italian Cafe for dinner? The pasta is spectacular. And I have 15 pieces on display.

Don't say I didn't give you advance notice: make plans now to come downtown next Friday evening!

"Persimmon Harvest" fruit persimmon apple pomegranate still life oil painting

 

8 x 10"

oil on canvas

Sold

Wow, there's been a lot going on this week. All of it good! On top of the Thanksgiving celebration/my husband's birthday festivities, I got invited to be on the radio last Tuesday! It was really cool to see the recording studio and meet one of the dj's that I listen to in my studio almost daily. I was kind of nervous, but I ended up having fun. Just don't make me listen to it! It's ten times worse than having to hear your own outgoing voicemail greeting, plus it lasts for seven minutes. Here's the link, if you think you can take it.