Pepper Party

6"x6" oil

Peppers are fun to paint.  They have such vibrant colors and interesting shapes.  When posting images with red varieties of colors, the photography tends to blend them into one color.  The difference in reality between the orange pepper and the red pepper is significant.  You will have to use your imagination with this one.  I like the exercise of doing still life paintings and I like taking a break on occasion from painting people.  Even though they are both made up of shapes, lines and values with lovely colors, the pressure of getting people "right" can be daunting.  I mean, if I make the pepper a bit lopsided or fat, who would notice?

Everything Happens In 3's

12"x12" oil

These are huge, but they look great framed!

Alexander, Graham and Bell

 6"x6" oil

I loved painting this...and then eating them!

Heart of the Matter

6"x6" oil

It kind of looks like an orange heart....even has the heart symbol shape...and it is good for your heart too if you eat it...which I did!

Top Hat and His Tomato

6"x6"  oil

OK the title probably isn't very P.C. but I couldn't help myself.  Forgive me.

Fistful of Kohlrabi

4"x6"  oil

I am a bit all over the place these last few days...back in the garden with this one.  Kohlrabi is such an interesting looking player in the food group.  I love the deep purple color of this one.  The challenge for me on this painting was finding the balance between enough detail and keeping it loose.  I also didn't find it easy to come up with the right colors for the hand and the background, even though I paint a lot of flesh.  When I am conscience of the "rules" I always struggle.  It really works better for me to not let my brain get in the way!  Do you feel like that?

Big Radishes

11"x11"  oil 

I don't know why, but I love painting radishes.  Maybe the attraction lies in the gorgeous complimentary colors of red and green....maybe it is how round they are but have the funny little roots on the ends that make lovely shadows.....maybe it is the wilted greens that form such fun abstract patterns...don't know, but I love 'em.

Rad Dishes

6"x6" oil

I have been working on larger panels for a while and it was really fun to return to this small 6"x6".  I can't seem to get the variety of colors that are in the painting to show up in my photos, which is a little frustrating for me.  This was a fun painting to do and it reminded me of some of the things I really like doing when I am painting.

A Savory Day

5"x5" oil

More garlic.  I love these carnival squash.  They are really fun to paint.  Onions offer a unique challenge too, even though they are perfectly round, their skins reflect so many beautiful and warm hues.  It is very easy to make an onion look like an orange.  This still life makes me feel sunny and warm, which is not what the weather has been bringing.  We are surrounded in every shade of gray that exists and loads of water to-boot.  Generally the weather doesn't get me down.  Days like this remind me of school days when it seemed like the sun never quite got up.  I would be lulled into day dreams by the patterns made by water dripping down the huge old windows of Madison Elementary School.  We had really old desks with initials etched into them and places for ink wells. Even though we didn't get to go outside on days like this because the mud puddles were just too tempting, I liked them because we would frequently get to paint!

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Riches 5"x6" $90 still life

I just returned from a week on the beach.  After unpacking and dumping loads of sand, doing laundry and resting up from my exhausting fun, I finally got down to the job of painting.  I haven't painted for more than a week, and as many of my fellow artists will testify, there is usually an attack of trepidation associated with starting up again.  So I cleaned my palette, squeezed my paint tubes, sorted brushes, unpacked my art stuff, and downloaded a million photos.  Three hours later, I finally settled on this little still life.  I was deliberately trying to do something a bit simple and not beach related.  One of the many riches you discover when returning home from a summer vacation is an abundance of produce in the garden.  I consider my bed, my quiet country home, my personal routine, friends and family to also be daily riches in my life.

Carnival Kiss 5x7" oil #236

This is another Carol Marine challenge. The idea is to do each stroke a different color. That means you have to mix each time before putting the brush on the canvas. The main thing it did for me is make me really think about my strokes and make them count which keeps it fresh looking and loose. It is a carnival squash, an onion, and a garlic.
SOLD

Pepper, Scapes and Onion 6x6 oil

Looks like spaghetti is on the menu. This was painted outside in diffused cloudy light on a chilly day. Having strong light really makes still life paintings zing. But, you can't always control the conditions you paint in. Maybe I should have done a landscape instead. I did this at the Chaffee Art Center too. #72