Love at First Pumpkin

Click Here to Bid | 6x6in. | oil on panel

The title for this one popped into my head the second I came up with the composition. I think it's cool that the pumpkins are so completely fixated on each other despite the distractingly bright cherries.

Color Placement

Click Here to Bid | 8x6in. | oil on panel

This is one of my personal favorites of late. It's so simple, yet I feel this really good feeling when I look at it. I've been experimenting with some new techniques when it comes to process, and I'm very excited to share them at my next workshop, which is coming up soon, in Nashville! : )

Yellow Keeps Watch

 

Click Here to Bid | 6x6in. | Oil on panel

Here's one last little single sunflower painting. I tend to go for lots of color, but I liked the subdued palette of this one. Because of it, the sunflower is the clear star.

What Doesn't Belong

 

Click Here to Bid | 8x6in. | oil on panel

My ellipses are a little off on this one, but I think it lends a playful, jaunty air to the scene. Like they're all a little unstable. And it's because that green square crept in and disrupted the whole thing.

Mingling

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel

(This isn't a great photograph of this one, so I'll get another soon.)

My current shadow "box" is a system of moveable "shelves," and I realized recently that I could use one of the smaller shelves above to cast a shadow on one below, which you can see at the back (top) of this painting. Just something a little different, which adds spice to my painting life. : )

After Brunch

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

One of the very first paintings I ever got super inspired by was a simple still life of some flowers in water in a glass vase by one of my art hero's, Jill Carver. It was all done with just minimal brush strokes, and while nothing was overly-defined, it still read like flowers|water|vase. I wish I could find it to show you. But anyway, I've been inspired ever since.

Finding Solace

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I found this cute little potted plant at the grocery store the other day when I wasn't even looking. Those are generally the best finds - when you aren't expecting anything. He pointed out the sunflowers on the way out, and I just knew somehow that they were going to be buds.

Blue Backdrop

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Doing a still life with these fun colors is a complete indulgence for me. It's like eating candy. Yum.

Cup Family

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

A perfect little cup family: papa, mama, and baby. All nestled on their pink and red picnic "blankets." Waiting for the refreshments to be served. : )

Color Confab

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel

Here's another one that greatly benefited from taking off my glasses. In my experience we tend to only compare values (and colors) that are right next to each other, and we forget to also compare them to things all around the composition. When your vision is blurry (either by squinting or without glasses), you can see all the relationships more easily.

I'm repeating myself here, but I think this is a critical aspect of painting, and one of the most difficult. I've been painting for 30 years now and it is profound how much painting without my glasses has helped and why.

What's Left Behind

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil  on panel

After completing a recent painting, I started to dismantle the setup. I was going back for more when I noticed just these guy left behind. I was surprised how much I liked the simple, sort of random composition. So I adjusted it a tiny bit, and painted it.

Sitting Pretty on Yellow

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel

For years I’ve been struggling more and more with close-up vision. I’ve worn contacts for distance since sixth grade, but eventually I realized I could still see up close perfectly well without them. So I switched to glasses, thinking it would be easier to simply take them off whenever I needed to see up close.

Unexpectedly, this has turned into an advantage for painting. I’ve been experimenting with leaving my glasses off for the first half of a piece, and then taking them off intermittently afterward. I often talk about squinting to see the “big picture” and compare values accurately—but squinting also darkens everything. Letting things go fuzzy because of my natural vision softens the details without dimming them, which makes value relationships easier to judge. In a way, you could say I’m lucky to have poor vision. : )

Peony Shadow Touches Plate

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another peony from my garden. It looked especially good from above, and I used these blocks of blue (paper) for contrast.

Orange Pals

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I've been thinking a lot about friends lately, old and new, and specifically friend groups, and all their dynamics. I think I subconsciously pour my feelings about these kinds of things into my paintings. You can see it in all the groupings of objects. Some get along better than others.

Orange Delights

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another one with orange slices. I try not to cut them up the same way every time, although this is my favorite. I think the cups like it too. Especially this white one keeps sneaking over to spend time with them. I get it - they're cute.

Organized Orange

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel

I got an email today from a gal who says that she "struggles with the middle values." And I can honestly say - me too! Recently I added a new thing to my studio that has helped. I painted a simple little value scale (with acrylic paint) that I put under my palette so that the values peek out along the bottom.

When I'm having trouble, I mix colors with corresponding values right above each value. This helps especially with all the white cups and plates I paint. I also think to myself, when I'm looking at the plate, for example, what like value can I find? Is there a value in the cup that is similar? And every time I mix a new color, I look for like values to compare it too (as opposed to looking at only the colors right next to the thing). I might even put a little dab (on my palette) of the new color next to a color with a similar value just to compare.

I will try and post a photo with paint on the palette to show more of what I mean. Hopefully this all makes sense, but feel free to email me with questions!

Let's Talk

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oi on panel

Here's another one using two lights (one stronger and warmer than the other). The cooler light did some really "cool" things to the otherwise warm shadows. Haha, I'm a riot - you know it.

Wandering Away

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I used two lights again for this one - one stronger than the other. You can see that it sort of fragments the shadows. I have to move the lights around for a while before I think the fragmenting is happening in a pleasing way. But I'm just finding it much more interesting than solid shadows at the moment.

True Blue Friends

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's the second in my little blue on a shelf series. And speaking of rockstar subjects, you've probably noticed this little white cup a few times. I got it in Germany so many years ago, and it's cracked from when I poured hot tea in it once (?), so I can't even use it for liquids. But it's still perfect for being painted.

Orderly Breakfast

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

These eggs were surprisingly bright orange! And they weren't even the super expensive ones. I thought they paired quite well with the yellow teapot. : )