Silver Star

"Silver Star"

10 x 10 inches, oil on panel

$350

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Although this is pretty much a neutral, gray painting (my palette looked like a swatch set for picking out concrete floor finishes), my eye can still find a range of colors within. Blue, yellow, purple... can you see them?

Pale and Glowing

 "Pale and Glowing"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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I picked this pear from amidst the jumble at an antique mall on the Oregon coast last week...

...and it's since made itself right at home with my other still life objects. It's an ever-changing menagerie!

Did you know I sell these black and tan sketches? Usually to followers on Instagram, since that's where they are most often posted. If you see one you like, send me an email! They are $50 a piece. 

Thanks for reading!

Political Pumpkins

"Political Pumpkins"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I didn't watch the debate, and only caught a few minutes of it on the radio, but when I saw this comment my painting got on Instagram, I looked up some images. Sure enough, this pair of pumpkins is evocative of our candidates - especially with Hillary in that white power suit! 

Though I feel bad for my orange pumpkin - he doesn't mean to be looming so ominously over his short, white friend. Don't worry, orange pumpkin, I won't do this to you.

Beacon

 "Beacon"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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Yep, more with the white objects! And looking around the studio at what I've got in-progress, I can say with confidence that you still haven't seen the last of them. 

Here's how this one got started:

And here's how it really got started...just another random morning sketch:

For more sketchbook stuff, check out my new board on Pinterest. Daily sketches....here!

Painting Grays in Color

 "Token"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Available here

I use these white geometric objects in some of my workshop exercises, and lately they've infiltrated my home studio as well. Though I'm usually painting them in black and white while teaching, I also love exploring the spectrum of grays that occur when white objects are surrounded by colorful light. 

When approaching a gray - or the modeling of an object whose local color is white - I ask myself a series of questions. What's the value of the gray? What's its temperature? What colors in the environment are influencing its color? Often, to arrive at the gray I need, I'll start with one of these surrounding colors (like the purple in this painting), and neutralize it until it works on the white object.

Another way to "see" color in ambiguous areas, like grays, is to use a color isolator. Sometimes I'll just squint through a half-closed fist. 

 And here is the preparatory sketch for this painting, on canvas instead of the oil paper this time:

 "Flame (Black and White)"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

"White Object, Lemons" Still Life, Work-In-Progress, and Black-and-White Sketch!

 "White Object, Lemons"

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

It's been a while since I painted this little plate, let's see - can I find any examples from the past to show you? Yes!

It's hand-painted, which makes reproducing the design with my own hands so much more enjoyable. At one point I actually forgot I was painting on canvas. I felt like I was painting a plate myself! This twisting floral style is common to decorative pottery made in Jerusalem, where my mother bought it in 1979 - when she was pregnant with me! Can't say I remember much about the trip.

Here's a progression. I didn't tone the canvas for this one, instead letting the underpainting create its own tone. The color is a neutral orange I had left over on my palette - probably a mix of alizarin, cad yellow, cad red, ultramarine blue.....you know, all the primaries. As long as there's no white in the mix, it works.

...And my black and white sketch. I love love love making these. If you're going to use Arches oil paper, I recommend brushing a thin layer of Gamsol (or your OMS of choice) onto the surface before beginning. Although this does tend to make the finished product dry at a snail's pace, it helps with the absorbent/chalky feel of the surface I've heard myself some artists complain about.

"White Object, Lemons (sketch)"

8 x 11.5" oil on Arches oil paper

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Pomegranates Everywhere!

 "Red, White, and Blue Pomegranate"

12 x 9 inches, oil on canvas

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Pomegranates are everywhere these days - in paintings, in viral videos, haunting my dreams... 

I love it that they look so much like Christmas ornaments. Every autumn they remind me that the joy of painting those shiny little orbs is mine for the having just as soon as I gather the nerve to face the leaning tower of tote bins that is my seasonal storage area.

Dark and Snowy

"Snowballs on Black"

approx. 5.5 x 4 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

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I love these Snowball bushes. Too bad the deer that (over)populate my neighborhood love them, too. My husband put a little fence up around the baby I planted last year, but it's been too munched on already to provide any blooms this year. Luckily, my neighbors have a lovely, lush specimen that leans oh-so-conveniently over their deer fence right into my back yard. Another piece of luck - they last forever in a vase! Who knew?

Here's an example of how this painting-on-paper might look matted and framed: 

Love these snowballs as much as I do? My first painting of them - another one-dollar auction - ends this evening! Check it out here.

Alas, Poor Leelou

"White Camellias with Skull"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$300

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When you have the rare luck to be leant a real human skull, it kind of becomes the only thing you want to paint.  Tearing my soul in two this week is the fact that it's also Camellia season. My favorite flower, and one I make sure to pilfer from the neighbors paint every year. Naturally, my only choice was to put them together, and why not? Makes for a classic Memento Mori.

Not that reminding you of your mortality is really what I'm all about.

Here's my progress. Contrary to my normal practice, I painted this one ALL WEEK. I only seemed to be able to snatch an hour here and there in the studio, so I think I did three or four different work sessions on this one. It wasn't as painful as my moaning and groaning (audible over twitter worldwide, I'm sure) might have lead you to believe.

What did you work on this weekend? Link it up in the comments - I'd love to see!

"White Lilies and Wine" floral flower painting still life wine fruit lemons art daily painting

 

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

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I'm happy with the looseness in this painting, though I don't feel I can take all the credit - my brushes are getting worn out, and until I get down to the art store and replace them (which I do about once every month or two), my paintings may be a bit fuzzy! I'm noticing a pattern here - I posted a WIP of this piece on Facebook, and in the comments, I admitted that the reason I didn't paint the entire lily stalk was that I didn't have any small, rectangular format canvases left. Note to self: I control the materials, they don't control me... Right?