Join the Circus

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I bought the little stripey cup on Temu. It's my only purchase using the site, and I wasn't crazy about it. But the cup is fine. It comes with a matching saucer, and I've tried painting them together several times, but it never works out. I'll get it eventually.

Speaking of bad purchasing experiences, if you enjoy sewing and are considering purchasing patterns on Etsy, beware! Apparently there are a bunch of pattern scams, and I fell for one with my first purchase. After many frustrating hours, I realized the pattern was physically impossible to complete. Here's a video I found about how to avoid these scams. Us makers have to stick together!

Supporting Cast

 

Click Here to Purchase - $300 - 6x12in. - oil on panel

My husband built me a set of amazing shelves to hold all my still life "stuff". They take up an entire wall of my studio, and are shallow so that I can see everything at once (nothing is buried). They vary in height, but the ones for cups are short enough that the one above sometimes casts a shadow on the ones below. I have wanted to paint something like it for years.

My easel is in a pretty fixed location (because of the light), so I recreated the scene in my shadow box, using my new stripey cup as part of the supporting cast. The bounced light was quite a challenge.

Citrus in Sun

 

Click Here to Purchase - $500 - 12x12in. - oil on panel

I got completely obsessed with sewing the last few weeks and neglected painting entirely. Oopsie.

Here's an oldie that I held onto because I really love it. Now it's prepared to find its forever home. Plus I'm home from visiting family for Christmas and ready to paint again. I hope you're all finding new inspiration too in the almost new year!

How Do I Stack Up?

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Recently I hosted a book group dinner at my house, and one of my friends brought me a bouquet of white mums. I decided I had to paint a few. Here's the first. Thank you, Colleen!

Pick Your Spot Again

 

Click Here to Purchase - $700 - 16x16in. - oil on panel

For this larger painting I used a 6x6 I loved as inspiration. I set up the composition again, but ended up changing it a bit in several ways: I added the spoon and an extra cup, and altered the colors of the paper. I'm learning so much from each one of these.

Glass Gathering

 

Click Here to Purchase - $700 - 16x16in. - oil on panel

Here's another large painting that was quite challenging. Trying to get all the shapes right and everything leaning in the right directions (perspective) AND the value and color relationships ... but I like how it turned out in the end.

Pondering the Deep Down

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

You might not know it, but when pears spend any amount of time in an art studio, they start asking all sorts of questions. Like, "What's at the bottom of that bowl?," and "What does it all mean?" It can be very distracting.

Existing Separately

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Seeing as it's cyber Monday and all, I put a few of my paintings on sale. You can see everything of mine that's currently available here. : )

As for this painting, in case you are confused, I put down the maroon-y paper first, then a big piece of glass, then the light pink paper, then everything else. I thought the reflection-y bits were really cool, but in hindsight I wonder if it might be confusing...

Shine on, Rosie

 

Click Here to Purchase - $400 - 9x12in. - oil on panel

Something funny is that 9x12 is a super standard size, but I've only done it ONE other time in my life! Haha.

Finding Common Ground

 

Click Here to Purchase - $300 - 6x12in. - oil on panel

I now have a whole slew of these little paper bits - different sizes and colors - so many that I had to start organizing them into categories so I could find what I was looking for! Ah the things we do for art.

Click image to see larger.

Holiday Pears

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, ate too much, drank too much, had several awkward conversations with family and/or friends, and then slept really well. If not then you didn't do it right. ; )

Pears and Paper

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's a little one with some little pears I found at the grocery store. Small things on a small panel. How cute. ; )

Coveting Red

 

Click Here to Purchase - $350 - 7x13in - oil on panel

I sometimes cut my big panels into custom sizes, and have unusual sizes left over. This time one worked out perfectly for this little composition.

I can recommend a few fabulous online frame shops that do custom sizes easily and that are no more expensive than standard sizes. There's a list on my FAQ page, just 6 questions down from the top.

Make sure you click on the image to view it larger!

Reflecting on Things

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in - oil on panel

Sometimes a composition asks for a large panel, and sometimes it wants to be born small. They tell me what they want after I'm done putting them together. As long as they ask nicely then I'm fine with it.

The Importance of Variety in Dishes

 

Click Here to Purchase - $750 - 12x24in - oil on panel

This wide format never looks great here, so please click on the image to see larger. I'm quite happy with this one.

Enough Grapes

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x8in - oil on panel

I found this one last small painting from back when I was doing grapes. Anything inside glass is tough, but a bunch of grapes? Quite a challenge. I realize I say a lot that something was a challenge, and so I guess what I should tell you instead is when something is EASY to paint, haha!

Gather Round

Click Here to Purchase - $700 - 16x16in - oil on panel

I love these scenes in the bright sun, but haven't found a way to paint them from life as they change too much, too fast. And so I've been taking pictures and painting from that. I would love to find a light that simulates this look, but have had no luck so far.

Orange You Colorful

 

Click Here to Purchase - $700 - 16x16in - oil on panel

Here's another larger painting experiment. This time I decided to add a lot of color variation within each color. I tried it out first on my ipad and that really helped a lot.

Holding it Together, Again

 

Click Here to Purchase - $800 - 18x18in - oil on panel

Here is the product of a recent experiment where I took a small painting I liked > and made it larger ^. Since I had all the props, I set it up again and took pictures. Then I painted from a combination of photos and the original painting. In the future, if I can, I will work from life (as I normally do).

I made two small changes to the composition - I shortened the white vase so it wasn't the same height as the green cup. I don't know if that made a difference, but there it is. I also moved the little, white plate closer to the green cup. In addition I increased my painting arsenal - in addition to brushes I used a squeegee and palette knife.

I Ordered Eggs

 

Click Here to Purchase - $700 - 16x16in - oil on panel

Today I went to the post office to ship my latest large painting and found that prices had gone up yet again, and especially over a certain size (any box side longer than 30"). I've seen this happening, and for other reasons as well have been focusing on medium sizes with new work (in between 6x6, and 24x24). I feel so much more freedom composing, but also in how I paint. As well I've been experimenting with my process, and I have a feeling my next batch of workshop students will be hearing some brand new things from me. : )

So here's a NEW painting, finally, after exhausting my reserves.