Blue with Dots

 

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

Here's the final blue on a shelf. I'll definitely return to this theme. Hey, maybe I could do a series for each color family!

I've been experimenting lately with a new light. Normally I use an LED flood bulb, which is quite bright. For this painting I wanted a more subtle, focusable light, so I used the light I bought for workshops (my travel light). It is a zoomable LED spotlight lamp with a gooseneck and a clamp, and I got it from Amazon (not getting a kickback for this mention). Here it is in real life:

Perched on Dots

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

I've had a cold for a few days. The pressure in my head when I become horizontal makes it hard to sleep, so even though I feel crummy, I've mostly kept myself upright and busy, at least during the day. But I tried to paint yesterday, and what I found is that the crumminess was too distracting, and probably the exhaustion from not sleeping well, and nothing I painted turned out. Luckily I'm still ahead with my paintings, so here's a cute kitty from better days.

Party Cups

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I found this pink stripey cup in Boise when I was there recently. I tried painting it a couple of times, but this is the first one that worked out. I think it's because of the company it's in. I tried with apples before, and my guess is they just didn't get along.

Hide the Apples

 

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

I bought this fabric a while back thinking I'd turn it into a scarf. I realized today that I can still do that, but just borrow it once in a while for a still life. Duh.

Eating is Fun

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

My Grandpa Roy always said, "Eating is fun." When we visited he would take us kids to the pastry store for breakfast and let us pick out whichever donuts we wanted. And eating them was indeed fun! The resulting tummy-ache - not so much.

Considering Apples

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

Here's a larger one that I completed before my sewing obsession kicked into high gear (yes, still at it). Maybe it was buying fabric for my still lifes that was the gateway drug. At any rate, dots and stripes abound in this one. And glass, and of course, dots through the glass, which is my favorite part.

Looking for Complements

 

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

I found this background fabric recently in my stash. I actually painted the dots on, years and years ago, when I couldn't find what I wanted at the store.

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!

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.

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.

Bumps and Dots

 

Click Here to Purchase for $200 - 5x7in. - oil on panel

Here's one I painted months ago and somehow completely forgot to post. I made this bumpy vase years ago out of clay, along with a few other similar ones, and occasionally they make their way into my setups.

Regulation Dots

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel - starts at $100

This comes to you from chilly Montana. It is negative 23 as I write this (feels like -40 with windchill). Yikes! I can't tell you how happy I am to hibernate up in my cozy studio with my cups and vases.

A Little Birdie Told Me

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel - starts at $100

Every once in a while it hits me anew that realism painting is just illusion. We take sticks with hair on the end, dip them in colored goo, and wipe them around on flat surfaces to create the illusion of 3-dimentional things. Such a fun thing to spend time on.

Lines and Dots

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - Oil on gessoed hardboard - starts at $100)

Here's another Pixabay find, on gessoed hardboard. The cat is on a tiny, polka-dotted couch! Once again I completely changed the background.

Thank you all for your feedback re: making panels! I compiled a ton of ideas. Now it's just a matter of trying them and hopefully landing on something I like. But this will take time. I am having complications with my recovery from neck surgery, and am in the process of trying to figure out why and what to do about it.

Chillin' Cheetah

Click Here to Bid (8x6in. - oil - starts at $100)

This cheetah has just the right number of spots. Any more and I would have gotten sick of painting them. Ha.

Many thanks to Paul Kratter for lending me the reference for this painting. Hope you have a great time on your next trip to Africa!

Heads Up

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

I pushed myself a bit too much during my recovery (from neck surgery) and ended up setting myself back. : ( I would kick myself for it, but that would probably set me back further. BUT I am finally able to paint again some. And am happy for it. Sitting on the couch gets old after a while. I have been on it for literally most of 2022.

This is my first painting in a while AND my first painting of a giraffe! Or at least, a giraffe head. I am still having fun with the palette knife on the background, so I took this second picture sideways to the light so you can see it better.

Together Forever

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

Here's a simple one with some of my favorite subjects. Someone wrote to me once and suggested I "upgrade" to fancy things, like pewter spoons and fine china. No thanks. I actually prefer this kind of simple stuff. For painting and for my own use. Fancy has never appealed to me.

Reflecting on Red

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

Two of these cups I made in my recent pottery class - the polka-dotted one on the left, and the turquoise one trying to hide. They are both incredibly impractical to drink out of, but I really enjoyed having them pose for me. It's almost as if they were made for it. : )

Red in Blue

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

I had a friend (RIP, Bren) who always said, "Honor the Ebb." Meaning, there's an ebb and flow to everything, including creativity, and instead of resisting, one finds peace in accepting it. My husband has taken to calling it "Ed and Flo," and at the moment I am hanging out with Ed. Fortunately when Flo was around I did a few extra, which I'll post now. : )

In other news, I glazed a few of my pottery pieces last night so hopefully by next week I'll have something from my class to include in a still life. IF anything turns out. Fingers crossed.