Christmas Ornaments

We are not decorating for Halloween this year.  I don't want to pull out all the decorations while we are packing up the house to move.  It just seems like more work.  And since we are moving over Thanksgiving week, we are definitely not putting out any decor for turkey day either.  So of course Christmas is on the brain!  I've been itching to paint some of these ornaments since I had a go with the pomegranates.  They were fun and challenging, and I will be playing around with them a lot more!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Pomegranate and Pears

Having more fun with pomegranates, I thought I would add a couple of my favorite mini pears into the mix.  The mini pears at the store are getting redder and redder each week.  I don't know if it's a seasonal or variety thing, but it sure adds to their personality!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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One Pomegranate

I love pomegranates.  I think they are so fun and quirky and full of personality.  This little one was fun to paint, and I tried not to get too fussy with it.  I hope to play around more with them and really get a feel for their shape and colors.  They also remind me a bit of Christmas ornaments, which makes me now want to experiment with those!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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The White Teapot

It was funny to me how much drama and life I could find in a simple white teapot.  I have painted this teapot before, but was never really able to get the shape or shadows right at all.  Last time, I approached it as a white teapot with shadows in a few spots, and this time, as an object with many shades of grey and a few hints of white.  It totally changed the way I painted, and I am much more pleased with this outcome.

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Mini Eggplants and Creamer

Eggplant season must be a long one around here, because our farmers market still has these cute little guys every week.  I love playing around with their reflections and colors!  

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Pumpkin and Pears

It's finally starting to feel like fall.  The heater has been running in the house for about a week, and jeans are now worn every day.  This is my favorite season, and hopefully I will have time to paint lots of it!  This little pumpkin was so fun to paint.  I had so much fun with all the grooves!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Cloudy Day

It's been forever since I have posted a painting, and almost as long since I have been in the studio.  I have a lot going on right now, but I am still surprised as to how distracted I am!  We are moving, and finding a house has become my permanent job.  When I sit down to paint, all I can think is that there must be more I should be doing in our house hunt.  We have finally found a house after a few disappointments, and while we are still waiting for a final agreement on price, I am optimistic.  Now it's just a waiting game to close, and I am feeling antsy to get back in the studio.  Hopefully I'm not too rusty! 

This painting is not new, it is one I did while on my artist's retreat several weeks ago.  I wasn't sure if I was going to post it because I thought maybe it was too whimsical.  But now that I have studied it for a while, I think I like it.  Hopefully I'm not the only one!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Vintage Bottles 5

This painting is also from my retreat weekend.  One of my scrapbooking friends had this awesome alphabet paper, and I thought it would be a perfect backdrop for my bottles.  And the key limes look so fun next to the burnt red.  

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Lemon Slices

This is another painting from my artist's retreat weekend.  I painted this one along with a friend, and it was so exciting and fun.  I wish I had a picture of her piece to show next to mine!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Tomatoes and Lime

The second painting from my retreat weekend.  It's been a while since I have painted a tomato, so I figured the subject needed some revisiting.  I tried to keep this one fun and fresh with loose brushstrokes.  I also love the little key lime hanging out with the "big kids."

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Lemons in a Silver Bowl

I was away all weekend at an "artist's retreat" of sorts.  I had a blast with some great friends, and even got to paint with another artist for the first time ever.  What an awesome experience!  This weekend I finished five paintings, an embroidery project for a friend and even caught a fish.  It was definitely a productive weekend!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

One Olive Martini

Sometimes when you attempt a commission for someone, it ends up not being what they want.  It doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad painting, just that you and the client had two different visions.  With this one, I decided to start over again, and put this one up for sale, instead of trying to rework it.  I really like it and didn't want to end up ruining it!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Grapefruit Wedges

I think grapefruits might be my favorite cut up fruit to paint.  I know that seems specific, but I have painted a lot of cut fruit!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Egg with White Shell

I didn't know if I had it in me to do another egg quite yet, but I figured I at least had to try a white shell.  I think I learned a lot from the last one, because this was much easier!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Three Apples

I can't believe I have never painted an apple before.  I think it is because we fly through them in our house!  They were fun, but not at all similar to any fruit I have attempted.  They were closest to cherries, but have more "facets" than cherries do.  I foresee more apple paintings in my future!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

One Egg

This week's Daily Paintworks challenge is the broken egg challenge.  I have been thinking about trying an egg for a while, and now I had an excuse!  By no means is painting an egg as easy as it looks.  Yikes!  I may try another, or I might just stop at "One Egg."

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Crown Royal

This is one of three commissions that will go along with my Captain and Coke painting.  Commissions are always a challenge, and this was no exception.  The angles and facets of this dang bottle took forever to figure out!

oil on panel
6 x 6
nfs

Clementines with Blue Mug

Working with the blue and orange challenge theme again, I incorporated a glass bowl.  I love this glass bowl.  It picks up so many colors and reflections from everything around it, and it casts very interesting shadows.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Hiding Clementine

After several days of no internet I find myself back in civilization!  Not that I even left home, but without access to the internet on my computer, it seemed like the stone age.  I can check email and other basic stuff from my phone, but it's just not the same.  I have been painting the last few days, working on figuring out the other color combos for this weeks Daily Paintworks challenge, as well as a few commissions (yay!).  And to make things even better, I sold 2 paintings yesterday and 2 more today!  This painting is for the orange/blue combo for the challenge.  I thought it would be easy for me since I have already done so much with this color combo, but for some reason, working with parameters just made me struggle.  I finally think I have something worth showing.

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase

Radishes on Table

The same bunch of radishes from yesterday, just without the plate.  Yay for fun shadows and twisty, turny roots!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Radishes on Plate

Inspired by the Daily Paintworks "Complementary Challenge," I tried to use red as red, and green as the complimentary color that I could play around with.  Doesn't make sense, you say?  Didn't to me either.  Then, as usual, Jo handed us all the guidebook with her lovely peppers here.  She nailed it!  Now I'm still uncertain as to whether or not mine fits into the parameters of the challenge, but either way, I had fun with this one.  At first it looked bad, then it looked terrible, and then it went in a completely different direction that was both unplanned and satisfying at the same time.  Tomorrow I will have a go with orange and blue, more in my comfort zone, and see what happens!

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase

Back Lit Pears

I've been wanting to try a back lit subject for a while now, but didn't really know what to use.  These little pears were fun and curvy enough to work for this.  The light coming in and the cast shadows were so fun to paint!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Eggplant and Pears

It was only a matter of time before these two ended up in a painting together.  The greens and purples compliment each other perfectly.  My 6 x 6 panels arrived this morning and all is right with the world again!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Cut Pear

My 6 x 6 panels were supposed to arrive yesterday.  Supposed to.  I paid extra shipping to have them get to me faster, and then the Fed Ex guy dropped off my package somewhere else and left me with some guy's Ford parts (it says on the box, don't worry I didn't open it).  I was pretty bummed about it, mostly because I'm pretty sure they are sitting at someone's house about 2 blocks from me, and I can't do anything about it.  But then I stopped whining and pulled out a 5 x 5 instead and got to work, and got back to the pears like I promised.

oil on panel
5 x 5
sold

Eggplant Line Up

These quirky little eggplants really are a blast to work with.  They remind me of the cherries with their colors and reflective surfaces, but they are a lot less serious.

oil on panel
5 x 7
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Mini Eggplants on Plate

I know I said more pears were in my future, but I picked up these mini eggplants at the farmer's market, and wanted to paint them before they had to be cooked.  Their shapes and colors were so interesting to me!

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase

Two Pears

Pears are tricky, tricky little fruits sometimes.  They aren't just one sphere that you have to make look 3-dimensional, like a lime or tomato.  They have two distinct bulbous areas that need addressing.  In this painting, back pear looked like a deflated blob for the longest time.  With the angle, I couldn't get him to be both pointing upward and not an apple.  He finally came through after several attempts.  I think what this means is more practice, more pears!

oil on panel
5 x 5
 click here to purchase

Blue Pitcher with Pears

I've been wanting to paint something bigger, but I've been too intimated to pull out the really big canvases just yet.  I realized yesterday that I have only 1 (gasp!) 6 x 6 panel left, so I quickly ordered more and pulled out this 8 x 10 panel to try a bigger composition.  I recently purchased this beautiful blue pitcher, but it's too large in scale to use in a square format, so this was the perfect time to try it!

oil on panel
8 x 10
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Lunch Break

This painting is from a photo I took while still living in Southern California.  This adorable dog was sitting with his owner waiting very patiently for it to be time to go.  Neither of my dogs would ever be this well behaved in public!

oil on panel
5 x 7
sold

English Breakfast with Lemon

I tried out a few different things with this painting.  I worked really hard on making all my brushstrokes really deliberate to keep it clean and fresh.  I think I'm getting better at this, but it's still a process.  I also tried to branch out and play around with some different colors.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Sliced Clementine

We cut up and ate that last clementine, so tomorrow I will be moving on to different things.  I have no idea what it will be, but here's hoping something inspires me!

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase

Clementine Study

I had "artist's block" today.  Instead of giving up and walking out of the studio, I plopped down my last clementine on a blue paper and did a little study of it.  With this study I left the clementine in the same spot and changed only the light source.  And of course, I did it in blue!  Each little square on the panel is roughly 4 x 4.

oil on panel
8 x 8
sold

Cut Grapefruit with Fork

I tried to do this painting with fewer brushstrokes than yesterday's grapefruit.  I like the results.  I think it looks fresher and less fussy.  This is also my first time trying a fork.  I know it sounds silly, but I was worried it would be so much harder than a spoon or knife.  Maybe I'm getting somewhere with my skill level, or maybe it was luck, but either way, I think it looks pretty good!

oil on panel
5 x 5
sold

Grapefruit on Blue

Grapefruits have the most beautiful colors inside. The pinks and oranges are so fun to play with, and they look so good with blue!  I only picked up two, so hopefully I can fit in a few more paintings with them.

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Captain and Coke

I have never attempted ice cubes before, and while I'm not sure if they look enough like ice, I am pretty sure that most people will assume that's what they are.  Hopefully.  Either way, this was a fun one.  I think I am getting the hang of using my viewfinder and really cropping in on the subject to avoid all the excess dead space.  I have to keep telling myself to go in further than I think I should.  So far so good.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Two Cows

Now this is not my first time attempting cows, but it is the first one I'm pleased with (at least for now).  I took this picture in Nebraska last summer, when the cows were all hanging out in the water.  Most of them didn't care about us at all, but the one in back was at least a little curious.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Three Clementines

Having some more fun with the clementines before (maybe) moving on to something else.  If you haven't noticed by now, blue is definitely one of my favorite colors to paint with, and I've yet to find something that I don't like against it.  I know it's all personal taste, so hopefully there are other blue fans out there!

oil on panel
5 x 7
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Puddle Splashers

It's getting to be that time of the summer that I dream on sweaters, pea coats and boots.  My son's wellies were hanging around, so I thought I'd have a go at them!

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to bid

Striped Clementines

I painted the last seven little clementines today.  They are so fun and playful, I don't know why I didn't try them sooner!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Clementines and the Blue Vase

I picked up a nice big back of these little plump clementines at the store yesterday.  I chose a larger panel than usual, but once I got working I hardly noticed.  I had a lot of fun working with them, so you will definitely be seeing more of them.  However, my kids are going through them so quickly I might have to buy another bag before I can paint them again!

oil on panel
8 x 8
sold

The Rose

After taking the weekend off from painting to watch LOTS of Olympic coverage, I was itching to get back in the studio today.  The Daily Paintworks challenge for this week is "The Rose Challenge."  There was a beautiful sample picture to use, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it as much justice as some other entries, so I found my own.  Flowers are still befuddling to me, but I think this may be the best attempt I've had.  I tried so hard not to overwork it, but I think I got fussy in a few spots trying to add depth. 

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Blueberries on the Bush

I've had this picture in my to-do list for a while, and I finally decided to tackle it.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out or if it would work at all, but I'm actually quite pleased with it.  I'm hoping I can apply some of what I learned from it to my still life paintings.

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase

Open Seating

I've been getting rather frustrated with my still life paintings recently, so I thought I would break away and try something different.  Then I saw this lovely scene at my local coffee shop, and had to give it a go.  The huge light-filled window and the shadows it was casting on the floor were too fun to pass up!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Artichoke in the Library

Artichokes are like a more studious pineapple.  Perhaps that's why this one found its way into the library.  I tried to stay looser and more deliberate with my brushstrokes on this one.  Now if I could just get these darker paintings to photograph better!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Two Artichokes

This one was a challenge.  All the dimension and "petals" of the artichoke were hard to capture.  I think I attacked it with at least three different strategies before finding one I was pleased with.  I don't think that artichokes will be the new cherry for me, but I think I will play around with them a bit more.

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase

Teatime

It's been several weeks since I have attempted a challenge on Daily Paintworks.  This week is the "Paint it Primary Challenge" where we must paint a composition using the three primary colors.  It was fun painting the angles on the creamer, and I especially love the glow of the tea in the mug!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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The Soloist

I had so much fun with the leaves on yesterday's lily, that I thought I would try a composition that showed them off more.  They may be my favorite part!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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The Sidekick

I'm back from South Dakota, and while I have a few photos of the beautiful landscapes, I'm not quite sure how I want to attack them just yet.  Instead, I wanted to work on loosening up my strokes and experimenting some more with flowers.  The colors in this were so fun to pay around with!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Yellow Daisies

This painting is a commission for a lovely customer.  It is also my last painting for a few days since we are going to South Dakota tomorrow.  We are staying in Custer Sate Park, so I'm hoping to get lots of beautiful inspiration photos!

oil on panel
6 x 6
nfs

Cherries and Bottles

I bought this table runner for Easter when we had my husband's family in town.  I love the colors and pattern so much, I really didn't need an excuse.  It was my husband who mentioned that I should use it in some paintings, and I was surprised I hadn't thought of it sooner!

oil on panel
6 x 6
click here to purchase