POPPIES SOLD

I just saw a great exhibit at The Dayton Art Institute. It is sixty paintings by California Impressionists from the Irvine Museum collection. Beautiful paintings. These artists were painting in Laguna Beach before the population explosion. Poppies and lupine were growing everywhere. Not quite the same but here are some Ohio poppies.

CHERRIES 6"X6" oil on canvas

More cherries! I couldn't resist painting these nice bright cherries. The snow outside is in the melting stage and getting ugly. We had heavy fog all day..so dreary. But now my mood is slightly elevated from looking at these colors today.

MEYER LEMONS 6"X6" oil on canvas

 

Meyer lemons are the color of pale oranges and are much sweeter than regular lemons. We are still snow covered with icicles hanging around the house. Painting citrus makes me feel a little warmer and reminds me that Spring is just a month or so away.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

RED PEAR 4"X4" oil on canvas-gallery wrap

Our local Art Museum just purchased a beautiful still life by Janet Fish, which contains a bowl of
pears. That inspired this painting but I will admit that hers are infinitely better. I do feel very lucky to be able to look at that painting as often as I want to. She not only is a masterful painter but a very nice person.

This is the view from our bedroom window on Sat. morning and it still looks this way because our temps. have remained very low. Cold but beautiful. We are supposed to get another 6 inches of snow Tues. I'm having trouble keeping the bird feeders filled.

CHERRIES 6"x6" oil on canvas

These cherries were tasty. I was sampling while painting which I know is unhealthy and toxic but I always snack while painting.


We are in the beginnings of a snowstorm that is supposed to drop about 8" of snow by tomorrow.
I only remember one real blizzard here in my lifetime, but ever since that happened, the grocery store gets flooded with people after the first snowflakes start falling. People go to get the staples; bread, milk and cereal. So following suit, I went for our staples this morning. Beer, wine and pizza makings.

CAFE CUPS 6"X6" oil on canvas

The cherries were fun to paint. The cups not so much. White is difficult because it isn't really white. It is a combination of all the colors around it and then colors show up from no obvious source. I once asked my prof. where a certain color was coming from, he said "don't worry about where it is coming from, just put it down" so I do. Thank you Kiser.

THINK SPRING 6"x8" oil on canvas

I would like to say that this Jonquil is from my garden, but it isn't. We have snow on the ground here in Ohio with temps in the teens. Spring is still months away but the market is full of flower choices. I usually use more color in my setups but I was experimenting with the clear glass on white. At first I thought it was going to be a wiper but then things started coming together. Now I like it.

RED, YELLOW, BLUE 6"x6" oil on canvas

This one fell to the floor while I was setting it up to be photographed. Luckily it landed wet side up.
I am still working on the portrait I mentioned last time I posted and it hasn't gotten any easier. I decided I needed to look at a master portrait painter, so of course I chose Sargent. He made it look so easy.

To all my friends and family in CA. I hope you are staying high and dry.

APPLE MARCH 6"x6" oil on canvas

I just realized that I haven't posted anything since Jan. 3rd. I could go down the list of all the things
I have been doing instead of painting and posting but the yawning would be deafening. I have
started a fairly large portrait that is taking quite a lot of my time. I'm working from a photogragh
which I have only tried one other time with mixed results. At the University we were taught to
always paint from life but guess what, that isn't always convenient. Making up your own rules is
much more fun. I will post the portrait when it is finally finished.

DECEMBER TULIPS 6"x8" oil on canvas

I went to the market on Dec. 31 to stock up on food since all the Christmas leftovers were depleted. The flower shop is the first area I see as I start through the store. Bright red tulips caught my eye and I couldn't resist buying them. What a contrast to our very cold temps and traces of snow remaining on the ground. The cloth is a gift from Marie, a friend who was helping expand my ever growing accumulation of still life props.

I like to try different painting surfaces and have been using RayMar canvas panels lately. They are sturdy and hold a lot of paint. Since I like painting on smooth surfaces, I bought the portrait finish.