YELLOW PLUMS 6"X6" OIL ON CANVAS

After bringing these plums home from the farmers market on Sat. I grabbed a bowl and put them in the fridge. Later I opened the door and thought WOW! that is a still life painting. The bowl is one of my treasures from San Miguel, MX. Every time we go to MX. I bring back as many hand painted dishes as I can fit into my bags. I don't have room in my cupboards for more dishes and that's a good thing. They now charge for overweight luggage.

PEPPER DOTS 6"X6" Oil on Canvas

This is the last of the little peppers for now. They are contributing to the compost pile as I write this. Or they may have been a vegetarian meal for the racoons that roam our neighborhood at night. Friday is almost always a studio day for me but this week I'm going to Columbus with friends and family to visit The Franklin Conservatory. If you live in Ohio it is worth a visit for adults and children. They have a wonderful butterfly room. I hope to get lots of photos for possible future paintings.

PEPPER LINEUP 6"X8"

Now that I'm posting this painting I notice there is quite a bit of glare on both ends. It is hard to photograph a still wet painting and not have glare somewhere in the painting. I am trying a new little gadget that has halogen lights. The trick is to aim the lights at just the correct angle and the angle is different for each painting. For those of you living in the Dayton area, stop by Gallery 510 on East Fifth St. to see some of my work.

THREE PEPPERS 6"x6" Oil on Canvas

 I bought a bag of cute little red, yellow and orange peppers from Trader Joe's because I thought they were perfect for painting. You will see them again. They are also very good for snacking. These are going to be rabbit food since they are a little too shriveled for my taste.

BABIES? 6"x6" oil on canvas

This is the green tomato couple who have since turned red and now have three babies. I confess, I ate the midsized tomato for breakfast today. It was delicious. I am determined that my granddaughter is going to know that food comes from a garden and not a box or vaccum pouch. So Sunday my daughter-in-law and I took Hayden to my favorite farm market in search of watermelon. We found lots of goodies including beautiful cherry tomatoes. As we were pushing the cart around deciding what to buy next, Hayden pulled the bag of tomatoes and spilled them in the cart and on the floor. After picking up all of the ones in the cart and a few from the floor we tried to act innocent and walk away. People were already stepping on them. There were squished tomatoes all around us.

THREE GREENS 6"x6" Oil on Canvas

What can I say? Green apples are just green apples and not nearly as fun to paint as green tomatoes. These are locally grown and are used mainly for applesauce. Known as transparent apples, because they have a very thin skin that looks translucent.

STAY OUT 6"X6" Oil on Canvas

Get it? The apple on the plate is trying to keep the other one out. I'm feeling title challenged today. Must be that hour chatting online with someone in the world about my Photoshop account. I'm not sure we settled anything but we decided to end the conversation. We just lost interest in each other.

GREEN TOMATOES 6"X6" Oil On Canvas

This could have been a science experiment of sorts (for kindergarten). While I had the tomatoes sitting under my painting light, they were changing colors as I painted. They are now very orange. I decided  it was time to introduce our 13 month old granddaughter to crayons today. I bought the big fat ones and a tablet of white paper which I placed on her highchair tray. I gave her a red and a blue crayon and waited for all her genetic art talent to come forth. After a few marks on the paper the crayons became drumsticks. Her drummer grandfather was quite pleased with the news.

ORANGE LILY 6"X6" OIL ON CANVAS/ON HOLD

This is not a roadside lily but a close relative. It was hybridized for the rich burnt orange of the petals. Lillies in general have an abstract quality to them that I find very appealing.

BEE BALM AND CHERRIES oil on canvas 8"X6" SOLD

I painted this same turquoise vase and posted it in June. If you look back at that painting you will notice that it looks more blue than turquoise. Those of you who are familiar with Joseph Alber's color theory will realize why. In the earlier painting my background and flower were both orange so my eye wanted to see blue...the compliment. This one is a closer match to the actual vase color because the background is nuetral. Kind of an aha! moment for me. I actually did retain something from that class that seemed so silly all those years ago.