Three Pears on Linen

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Oil on wood panel

$80.00

This is one of those paintings that is deceptive.  It's the third one I've done of this pear series so I felt confident going into it.  But...the lighting was subdued and therefore it surprised me how dark the "white" of the linen had to be painted.  I knew if I kept going, it would work out and it did.  I knew the pears would really come forward against the sombre background and it did.  I can still see a tiny bit of tweaking to do but otherwise I'm happy with it.

I also generally avoid wiping out portions of a painting but I did this time.  I had to wipe out two of the three pears because I used a brush that was too small for the area.  I had forgotten one of my
intentions was to simplify and work more loosely and that means working with a larger brush and
choosing my strokes carefully rather than fussing.  So that necessitated wiping out.  And I'm glad I did.  The switch to the larger brush kept the pears more interesting than they started out.   I will
remind myself to not hesitate wiping out and re-working.

As always, comments, critiques and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Working in a Series

6" x 6" oil on wood

$80

Scissors and Thread

I wanted to call this one "Needle Pulling Thread" but I hadn't painted a needle.  I am tortured by coming up with titles!  I painted a smaller version of this one last year (5" x 5") but wanted to do a series of three that had to do with sewing, so I'm using this one again.  Inspired by my hand made brass scissors, (will post that one later this week), I prepared three panels for this 

theme.  I'll likely do more for this series as one thing leads to another and I have ideas that I'd like to follow through on.

A Painting for the Children of Africa

Over at the Daily Paintworks website they have started a "Children of Africa" challenge and this is my entry for this auction.  Bidding started today and will run for a week.  It's nice to know that there are ways we can help (if only in small ways) and DPW is making this happen.

So Far, So Good

Still working on my small format paintings.  Except for a few weeks where I switched to watercolors as you have probably noticed from previous blog entries, I have been working on more of the 6" x 6"'s in oil.  The list is growing for all the ideas that evolve from this endeavour and I'm pretty much busy for the rest of 2011.  But I'll always make room for the next great idea.  At this point, I'm collecting ideas for themes with 9 in each category.  Animals are my current theme and seasons were another as you might have noticed from the fruits and vegetables pictured above.  Cherries have been photographed and so have plums and I still want to do something with watermelons....and on and on!  And I did want to do a series of landscapes.....

Catching Up

I've been anxious to get back to my small format paintings.   The summer weather slowed me down a bit but although I didn't work oils I did quite a few watercolors in the last two weeks.  

The painting I'm posting today was 98% finished several weeks ago but I did need to tweak a few things about it and I still might.  It is a study for a larger vertical format painting that I would like to do of a tall vase of white gladiolas and I wasn't sure about the color palette but now that I've done this smaller version, I think I like it enough to continue.

White Jug, Green Apple

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil on wood panel

Radishes.....

I really should find more backgrounds.   I seem to always reach for the gingham fabrics.  They do seem to set off the more organic lines of the subjects.   But I recently painted a silver spoon on a damask fabric and I just may stay with the ginghams!  I'll post that one later.  Until then, here are some radishes.....

Radishes on Green Gingham

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Planted.......and Painted

Unbelievably, it is already the 13th of June and my first blog of the month.  So I'm making up for it by posting three.  There have been other subjects painted this month but I thought it was in keeping with my last post.  I have no illusions about painting each of the flowers in my garden as they come into season but some I must try at this smaller format for my daily paintings.  I love peonies but they are somewhat similar to the colors of these Dahlias so I will pass in favor of doing some lillies and I've been photographing them as they bloom.   All three measure 6 x 6 x 1.5 inches on wood cradled panels.

Dahlias and Wicker

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil

Dahlia I

6" x 6" on masonite

Dahlia II

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Dreama's Cat

This is my entry to the Daily Painters Challenge.  Once a week on Saturdays a new image is posted.  It's interesting to see how the same photo can be interpreted by many different artists using their preferred media.  This past week I had also painted several paintings of my own cats so I was happy to see this week's subject was also a cat and a very pretty one too.  The light falling across the kitten and the chair

provided the most challenge for me.  The rendering is a little tighter than I wanted but all in all I'm happy with the result.

I'll post more cat paintings this week...

6" x 6" Oil on Masonite panel

Sold

My new favorite fruit......to paint

I love the range of color when painting grapes.  The muted hilites on the exterior and the semi translucent interior that absorbs the light seemed daunting at first but I found it enjoyable.  Would like to do more soon but I have a few new subjects to explore first.

6" x 6" on wood cradled panel

Oil

$80

Daffodils

In case you haven't noticed, I'm terrible with titles, with my blog entries as well as the paintings themselves.   Some people can be so clever with naming their work.  Lyrics from songs are an interesting source, although I can't recall any songs about daffodils??

I knew working with yellows would be a challenge.  A third of the way through I thought ... "Okay, remember to stay away from anything predominantly yellow.  But once I figured out how to subdue this vibrant color to create the contrasts, it started to pull together and I quite liked it.

Working with this small format (6" x 6") though, I actually felt confident enough to do another one.  Only this time I would simplify the group and remove the flower on the right and enlarge the huddled group.  Tomorrow I'll post the newer version.

....."And the Daffodils Look Lovely Today"!!!!  There...I did it.  I looked up lyrics with "daffodils"

in it.  And that is what I found.   I guess this works.   Song by the Cranberries.

And the Daffodils Look Lovely Today
6" x 6" Oil
SOLD

Not the most organized palette but it did look lovely too with the sun streaking across the brilliant yellows.

Davidson Farm

I don't do landscapes as often as florals but this is a scene I pass by nearly everyday and had to do one as part of my "daily" paintings.  These smaller formats are like "thumbnail" sketches towards larger formats.  This will be at the exhibition this weekend.

On the way to something good...

....a salad maybe?   

Eventually I will be organized enough to actually paint a food group that alludes to what was being made...

Encouraged by the looseness of the last one I launched into this next painting but even I can see that I began to tighten up again.  But that's okay.  I really like this one and I'm developing a sense of how to start to achieve the desired results.  This is also a "fact finding" mission!

The Start to Something Good
6" x 6" Oil on Wood Cradled Panel

                             

In search of a brushtroke....

Another little 6x6 oil painting of tangerines in a silver footed bowl.  Would you believe the reason behind

these little 6x6 canvases is so that I can explore methods and hopefully loosen up a little bit.  Eventually I would like to learn to stop the blending and "nitpicking" in favor of gestural brush strokes (as much as one can gesture within a 6" x 6" space!)  But for now this is like my safety net.....More to come in the days ahead.

Tangerine in Silver Footed Bowl
6" x 6" Oil