TULIP WITH EGGPLANT

This is the start of a painting from a few days ago. You can see that I decided to move the vase down a little so it would not line up exactly with the plate. I am using gessobord that I have covered with black acrylic paint. Sometimes I use burnt sienna or just start on the white primer of the gessobord.

Here I have covered the canvas with oils in preparation of getting a bit more detailed and adding highlights.

8" X 10"

PRICE $150

Here is the finished painting after another coat of loose paint and some palette knife work on the tulip.

BERRY REFLECTIONS

6"X6"

OIL ON BOARD

PRICE $100

Thank you California for strawberries in September. Not only are they beautiful but also delicious for snacking.

MEETUP

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6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

This is one of those compositional things that go unnoticed at the beginning of a painting. The two tomatoes on the plate mirroring each other just sort of happened. But the painting was 90% finished before I noticed so I just went with it.

THE GROUP 6"X6"

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These apples look more appetizing in the painting than they do in person. They are very wrinkled and soft by now. I made another stop at a different Goodwill today to pick up some new things. Couldn't really browse because I had both of my terrified cats in the car. They had just visited the vet for their yearly check-ups and shots so I didn't want to leave them for long. New (old) stuff will be appearing in future paintings.

NEW CUP 6"X6"

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This red cup is from a recent trip to a Goodwill store. A still life artist treasure trove. Only 49cents and a gorgeous blue interior that I will paint at another time. It's kind of funny when I think about all the stuff I have given Goodwill over the years(coffee mugs, plates etc.) and then I go buy back more coffee mugs and plates.

I have one bid on the cigarette lighter painting I posted on ebay. That means the Lung Assoc. will get at least
$25.

APPLE BOWL 6"X6"

I really like this color combination. Whenever I see grapes in a painting I think of the Dutch still life painters. You notice that I have decided to leave out the dead fish that sometimes accompany the grapes.

VIEW FROM ABOVE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I approached this painting like one of my larger paintings from the beginning. As a result, I had some wiping to do. I tend to forget that the spacing is so much tighter and sometimes I need to put a background color down when I start the painting. This one was frustrating but a great learning experience.

WALLFLOWER

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Kind of looks like the flower is acting shy. I know, It's dumb. I am so tired from my week of studio cleaning, shelf buiding and organizing that my brain is a little foggy. My next project is varnishing a bunch of paintings. I do that when I know I will not be in the studio for a day so I don't have to smell it.   

GREEN APPLE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I like playing around with different perspectives and this one was a bit of a challenge. So was the color in the vase. The orange fabric was casting a very strong reflection on the lit side of the vase but when I painted it, it didn't work. So in that instance you have to make a decision about what will make the painting work. I chose to make the reflection not so bright and light.

LAST CLEMENTINES

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

The last ones I'm going to paint for awhile, that is. On to something different to give my eyes a rest.

Recently I was painting and posting persimmons and saying that the name made me think they were too tart to eat. A friend from CA sent an email to tell me that they are quite sweet really and people make cookies from a certain variety. I went to google of course to check on the cookie comment. Sure enough, Connie you are right as usual. I found many cookie recipes using persimmon pulp. One more bit of food trivia to add to my already overloaded brain.

ORANGE CIRCLE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Back to the circular composition this time. The background cloth is really more of a turquoise color that apparently my camera didn't notice.

LUNCH?

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $1OO

Well, not really lunch. I have never tasted a persimmon but I may work up the courage at some point. Just the name makes me think it might be a little tart.

REFLECTING ORANGE

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Here I am in snow covered Ohio and I can have clementines all winter. What a country! Not kidding. I love citrus, even limes with salt on them. I had some camera distortion with this photo so the cropping is not great. There is a feature on photoshop to fix that but I need a little practice with it.

ORANGE CRUSH

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

This started out as a completely different painting. I got very bored with the original and scraped the paint off. The original setup had clear glass in it and I wasn't in the mood for it. I like this one much better.

ORANGE SUPPORT

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

These are actually clementines, not oranges. I prefer them for painting over oranges because they come in such a variety of shapes. Oranges are pretty much just round and harder to stack.

STACK

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

Sorry about the glare on the photo. I haven't figured out how to get rid of that in photoshop. Any ideas from fellow bloggers would be appreciated.

PERSIMMON 2

6"X6"

OIL ON CANVAS PANEL

PRICE $100

I have decided to narrow my palette a little to see if I can speed up my painting. I'm thinking with fewer choices It will be a little more automatic. Sometimes we have so many choices we get a little bogged down. I will let you know how it goes.

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.

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?

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.