PERSIMMON

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Another food that I've painted many times but have never tasted. When I go through the checkout lane at the market I am usually asked what is it and how does it taste. I tell them I don't know how it tastes because I'm using it for a painting. The looks directed back at me are pretty comical.

Happy New Year to everyone and thank you to those who follow and comment on my blog. There are lots of very nice people out there in cyberspace.

KUMQUATS 2 SOLD

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

The winter solstice is past and the days will start getting longer. Christmas is over but I'm still busy this week. I am going to spend a day with my cute niece and nephew, two days with my granddaughter and a day with two artist friends. Hopefully I will also get to paint a bit.

CONTEMPLATION

10"X8"

OIL ON BOARD

This is a painting I worked on in the Karen Jurick workshop in November. I went back to it and made a few changes to get more detail in the skin tones. Karen had all of us working on this same photo on the second day which  made it quite interesting to walk around and see everyone's version of this lady. Sorry about the lack of posting but it is that time of year when every day is designated to getting ready for the Holidays.

CAT WATCHING

5"X7"

OIL ON BOARD

This is my granddaughter watching one of the neighborhood cats. The photo is bad but you will see this painting again. I have more work to do on it. Funny thing but when a painting is photographed all the flaws stand out. I will post it again after I make some changes.

KUMQUATS

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Painting kumquats is like practicing painting oranges in small bits. They are one of my favorite things to paint. Too bad they taste so bad. My son told me you eat the entire fruit, skin and all. He may, but I don't think I will try it again. They are very oily. I wonder if the food network has ever used them in a food challenge show?

HOLLY TIME

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I would like to say that I'm all ready for Christmas but all my friends and family would know I'm lying. I am a major procrastinator when it comes to the Holidays. I do as much as possible online because I hate to shop. I hang out in my studio and act like I have all the time in the world. And one day I wake up in a panic and
realize I'm down to the last week and have barely done a thing. This year will be the same I'm sure. Today I am painting, posting, bird watching and ignoring everything else.

WRAPPED UP

This is the progression of a small painting.

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

PINK

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS BOARD

PRICE $75

These carnations have been repainted so many times I thought about calling it reincarnation. I find open carnations hard to paint. What to do with all those petals? I finally stopped looking at the setup and things worked out better. They are easiest to paint when first opening up or dying.

For any of my classmates who are struggling with Elements 8, I just figured out how to best straighten a photo of my paintings. Go to image, rotate, free rotate layer. You can then go to the corner of the photo and pull it in line. Maybe I'm the only one who was having a problem with this but I was certainly happy when it worked.

SPICY

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I am still moving slowly this week. Just can't shake this sinus problem since the Hilton Head trip. I think my body(allergies) liked it better in S.C. Coming back to OH must have been a shock to my system. These jalapenos remind me of our trip to Santa Fe a few years ago. After eating all that spicy food there, I came home and made a huge batch of chicken tamales. Lots of work but worth the effort. That is, if you have a few free days with nothing else to do. We won't be having them this year.

A GOOD READ

8"X8"

OIL ON BOARD

A woman at Forest Beach very engrossed in her book. I have been working slowly and sporadically lately due to a nasty cold. It has been so long since I've had a cold or flu I forgot how miserable it is. Most of my weekend was spent in bed watching T.V. or reading. I am caught up on Iron Chef episodes.

TALKING IT OVER

8"x8"

OIL ON MASONITE

I painted this in the workshop last week and worked on it a little more after I returned home. I took several photos of this cute little girl so you may see more paintings of her later on. The beach is a great place for people watching and taking reference photos for paintings. What a fun week it was. This is an altogether different approach to painting for me and a bit challenging. Working in a new way generates new ideas. Always a good thing.

BEACH POOCH

6"X6"

OIL ON MASONITE

A soggy, friendly dog just coming out of the ocean from a swim. This is one of my paintings from the Karin Jurick workshop I attended last week in Hilton Head. Karin is a great artist and fantastic teacher. I have a link to her on my site so check out her blog.

SUNFLOWER/CROPPED VERSION OF A LARGE PAINTING

This is a section of a much larger painting. It is varnished and framed now and ready to take to a gallery
after I return from the workshop.

LANTANA

12"X10"

OIL ON MUSEUM BOARD

This is a painting I did several months ago. I have packed up my painting equipment for a workshop in Hilton Head, SC. next week. It is always fun to spend an entire week painting and hanging out with other artists.

BEGONIA SOLD

6"X6"

OIL ON MUSEUM BOARD

PRICE $100

This begonia is from a protected area so it was not killed by our recent frost. I find these flowers a little tricky to paint since there are many nuances of colors that are hard to replicate. The petals are iridescent in some areas. Each time I paint them I squeeze out paint colors that are normally not on my palette, looking for the perfect color. I'm still looking!

PEPPER POT #2

6"X6"

OIL ON MUSEUM BOARD

PRICE $100

Another circular composition. This time I'm relying on the pepper stems to lead the eye around the painting.

PEPPER POT

6"X6"

OIL ON MUSEUM BOARD

PRICE $100

The green peppers are now red and a bit shriveled but still enticing as a painting subject. You will only have to endure one more on Wednesday then I will change the subject. Painting almost daily has me thinking a lot more about color and composition a good portion of my time. Especially when I'm engaged in mindless things like cleaning. My goal is to do more note taking as things come to mind so I have a quick reference list when setting up the still lifes. I'll let you know how that goes.

PEPPER PILE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I hope you aren't tired of peppers because there is at least one more on the way. I did take time away from still life to do a small study of my granddaughter again. It has been a long time since I painted portraits so I'm missing a few colors that would be helpful.

CONCENTRATION

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS

NFS

PEPPER PLATE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I'm loving these peppers but wondering how much longer they will last.

Since I now have a computer in my studio with a large window in front of me, I am much more aware of the number of very skinny stray cats in the neighborhood. I took food out to one cat earlier but the cat was gone in a flash. After I left the food and came back to my computer. Soon another cat appeared and ate the food. I won't publicise my opinion of people who do not spay and nueter their animals but I will bet you can guess.

Just hanging out in the studio. No Lulu's eyes are not really that color but I am such a novice to photoshop that I couldn't figure out how to fix them. Her eyes are a beautiful golden color. Dudley(left) is the talker.

BI-COLOR PEPPER

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I have been enjoying painting these peppers lately. They are  plentiful at the farmer's market this time of year and in so many great colors.  If I only knew what to do with them cooking wise. Salsa and chile is about as far as it goes for me. Connie, we should have taken that cooking class in San Miguel.

MORE PLUMS

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I placed a bird feeder right outside my studio window, close enough to fill the feeder from inside this winter. The problem is, when I sit down to post on my blog, I get caught up watching the birds and can't think of anything to write. They are also great entertainment for Dudley the cat. The finches are losing that beautiful yellow color they have all summer. Another sign that winter is on the way.

BILL'S XINIA

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Bill is an avid gardener and grows great xinias as well as lots of other flowers. Because of time constraints I was only able to paint this one little flower but I've enjoyed looking at the rest of the bouquet in my studio. Xinias can be difficult to paint because they are so complex in structure. You notice that I chose the easy one.

NEW MUSE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

NFS

I have a 15 month old granddaughter who has renewed my interest in the figure.  Children are more agile than us older people(me) and can get into some poses that we can only dream of. I plan to do more of these small paintings in addition to my still life paintings.

BROWN TOMATO #2 ON HOLD

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS BOARD

PRICE $100

This painting was close to finished when I went to bed but mischief was happening in my studio while I slept. My nosey tabby cat Dudley, was dismantling my still life setup. Everything was on the floor except the vase and it was perilously close. Dudley has a felonious past when it comes to breaking things. One time in his younger years, he ended up with all four paws in bandages from broken glass.

BROWN TOMATOES

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I bought these tomatoes at Trader Joe's and they were labled Brown Tomatoes. They are actually a combination of very dark reds and greens that make them appear brown. Quite tasty as well as attractive.

WE QUIT!

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS BOARD

PRICE $100

The stems kept getting broken.

Years ago (I won't say how many) my friend and I were attending the same college but in different majors. We decided it would be fun to take a class together so we registered for a ballet class. It didn't enter our minds that we might be terrible at it. Our mindset never included the thought that we would ever fail at anything. We were awful, even the football players were no worse than us. After about three weeks it became clear to us that we had better drop the class or our GPA was going south in a hurry.

DANCE CLASS

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Get it? The plum with the stem is teaching the other plums a new dance step. It's been a long day.

These plums are so much fun to paint. Just like the eggplants, alizarin crimson plays a dominate role in the paint mixture. I took black out of my palette for a long time but now and then I bring it back. You can make some very nice greens with it and the cad. yellows.