Homely Heirlooms

sold. (6x6in.)

These two beauties were home grown and gifted to me by some friends. They were quite a challenge to compose with, but I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed eating them afterwards! Heirloom tomatoes are the best.

Now Where Did I Leave My...

sold. (6x6in.)

I had fun putting this one together. I have amassed quite a pig collection over the last 5 years, and its embarrassing how few I've painted recently! So here's the orange one, quite proud he was chosen.

Curiosity Killed the Tomato

sold. (6x6in.)

I am excited to announce a new workshop! This one will be next year, May, in ... wait for it, France! You can read more about the venue here. We'll be painting the landscape and from photos we take around, which I'll do demos for and lectures about. Come paint with me in France!

I'll have more of my regular (still life, daily painting) workshops for next year to announce in the next few months, as soon as I have all the details worked out.

On a Journey

sold. (6x6in.)

I made some new friends here in Eugene recently and they gave me these plums to paint. I knew they'd be perfect in my green fish bowl. Thank you Lisa and Robert!

If you noticed a gap between this and my last post, it's because I was in Colorado, painting with my pal, Penny. The weather didn't completely cooperate, but we did get in a few nice sessions. I'll think about posting some of those paintings.

While I was there, we happened to notice a Richard Schmid retrospective happening at the same time. So we went, and met some pretty awesome artists, including Richard himself! I asked him how often he wipes a canvas and he said, "Once every..." (he paused for a bit here) "7 or 8 years." I said, "Wow! That isn't very many!" And he said, "I never start a painting unless I can see it finished in my head."

Yella Fella

sold. (6x6in.)

After yesterday's post I got a few questions about my lamp. I'm including some pictures here to the right (and a peek into my shadow box!), but I'm sorry to say the lamp's a bit of a frankenstein - not something you can buy off the shelf.

My husband made it for me. He knows how to connect stuff.

The head is from a cheap lamp we bought somewhere (like Target?). The neck and clamp we bought from B&H Photo.

If I didn't have such a handy husband, I would probably try some of these until I found a few I liked. But I'm sure glad I have David.

Nectarines By Moonlight

sold. (6x6in.)

In my shadow box have a lamp with a very long, bendy neck so I can point it in any direction. As I'm composing I play around with this a lot to find a situation I really like. For this one I pointed the light towards the very back of the bowl so that just a little bit of the nectarines glow with color. I think it's important to try all sorts of things. Eventually, after playing with all my props, backgrounds, angles, and the light, (this takes anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, or more) I land on something and I think, "Oh, that's cool! I want to paint that." So I do.

My Shiny Friend

sold. (6x6in.)

Copper and nectarine make the perfect pair, hey? I pulled out my dusty old piece of glass for the reflections. I forgot about it but I used to do this all the time. Like this one, and this one. At this angle (not quite eye level), the reflections are vague still, which I like, but it's also difficult to paint. The trick is to squint and compare, compare, and compare some more.

Don't Play with Your Food

sold. (6x6in.)

A student of mine gave me this blue elephant a while ago, but I'm just now getting around to using it. Sorry (and thank you again)! I do think it's very cool. It's just that I have so MANY things on my shelves calling to me.

Your Brother's Car

sold. (5x7in.)

I was very attracted to the unnaturally blue windows. And the perfect shadow up on the grass. And the little red car in the background. Very geometric.

Narrow Enough to Step Over

sold. (12x6in. - click image to enlarge)

I painted this one from a photo I took recently in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This little creek was near our camp, and one of the few that we could step over easily. There were plenty more that took a bit of navigating. I had a few unsteady moments, but never fell in the water. Amazingly.

Outdoor Seating

sold. (12x6in. - $500 - click image to enlarge)

I have a few paintings leftover from my recent gallery show. This is one of them, and perhaps my favorite from the whole show! The price is the same as what it was in the gallery - and "buy it now" instead of auction. The scene is from a little alley with restaurants in Seattle near the Pike Place market. Unlike most of the paintings I sell here, it comes in this simple, black floating frame from Franken Frames, and shipping is included in the price.

Pairs Not Pears

sold. (6x6in.)

I'm quite proud of the title for this one. I actually thought of it while I was setting up the composition, which is rare. Normally I think of them afterwards and I'm sitting here in front of my computer about to post.

Aerial Perspective

sold. (6x6in.)

My little brother is visiting us for a few days, so I am posting a few I painted before he got here. I really enjoyed getting back to basics with still life.

Comfort

sold. (6x6in.)

When I got home from the mountains I had a hankering to paint some still life. I had been using a block-in first method outside, and decided to try it on some cups. It was a horrible failure and I wiped it off immediately! And then did a few more wipers for good measure. It was late so I wrote a note to myself for the next day to "slow down." This was the first one I did the next morning. It was like a meditation, and just what I needed.

Tree Rock Mountain

sold. (6x12in. - click image to enlarge)

This is the last painting from my recent Sierra Nevada trip. Below is my whole group of comrades: (L to R) Ernesto Nemesio, myself, Kim Lordier, Bill Cone, Michele de Braganca, Lori Putnam, our fabulous cook & her daughter, Terry Miura and Paul Kratter.

Serenity Creek

sold. (12x6in. - click image to enlarge)

This is another one from the Sierra's. On this day I decided to hike back down a bit the way we had come, to some creeks I had seen. I found this lovely spot, near the trail. Right as I was finishing up, some dark clouds rolled in, so I hoofed it back to camp. I got in right before it started to rain, which was a great excuse to climb into my tent for an afternoon nap.

What a job!