Wednesday, April 30, 2008

TIINY RED FLOWERS
oil on canvas, appr 6"x4"

How's that for a creative title??? I don't know the name of this plant. This is a plein air painting done in my yard this beautiful morning. The only problem was the wind trying to blow everything away. For some reason, this picture doesn't show the colors correctly. What looks like violet in the picture is actually blue green on the painting.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

GRANDMOTHER'S ROSES
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

This is a plein air painting. The weather is beautiful again, so I painted in my back yard with my umbrella shading me. The little pink roses are on a climbing rose bush my dad gave me. He says they were growing in his yard when he was a boy.

Monday, April 28, 2008

CACTUS FAMILY
oil on canvas, appr 12"x9"

This is a plein air painting done in my back yard. The weather is so beautiful today that I just couldn't resist painting outside. I set up my French easel and my umbrella and painted to my heart's content. What a wonderful morning! There's just not a better way to spend a beautiful morning than painting while the birds sing and Gracie naps under my easel in the shade. I'm so thankful to be able to paint.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

PLUM SISTERS
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

These plums are very dark, so I had to look closely to find colors in them. But, once I really looked, I could see reds and blues in all three of them.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

MANGO TANGO
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

I wanted to paint these 2 mangoes one more time before we ate them, so here they are. I just couldn't resist the rhyming words...

Friday, April 25, 2008

LONELY MANGO
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

This is one of the mangoes I painted yesterday. It has so many colors in it that it was really fun to paint. I'm already thinking about tomorrow's painting...

Thursday, April 24, 2008

TWO MANGOES
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

I bought these wonderful mangoes this morning. I guess people walking by wondered why I spent so much time choosing the ones I wanted. I wanted them to be a little different in color and shape, but look nice together.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

SELF-PORTRAIT 3
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

Today I painted myself again. I placed a mirror on my drawing table and painted. Now that I've taken a photo of it, I see a few things I want to change, so I may do that and then take another photo. As you artsits know, after looking at a painting for a couple of hours, you can no longer "see" it. So, I'll get away from it for a while and then look at it again. Turning it upside down or looking at a photo of it also helps. But, I'll post this one for the time being. My favorite subject is the human head and if I have a mirror, I have a model. You will probably see more self-portrits.

4/25/08 OK! I've made a few changes and I'm happy with the painting, now. Here's the new photo.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

GLASS OF LEMON LIME
oil on canvas, appr 6"x4"

I painted a single lemon a few days ago, so I thought I'd make this one a little different. And, it's always fun to paint shiny things! I placed this glass with the lemon and lime in it on my drawing table by the window and painted it with the natural light on it. And, yes, I painted pretty fast, before the light changed too much.

Monday, April 21, 2008

RED ON RED WITH PINK
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

This painting is almost all red. I like to paint in natural light, but the light kept changing on this one. I guess I didn't paint fast enough. Anyway, I had trouble with the reflections. I'll do better tomorrow.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

GRACIE'S SHADOW
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

This is Gracie, one of our Russian Blue (mix) cats. I painted this from a photo I took of her last night. She was crouching on the floor in the dining room with light coming from the kitchen. I thought it was interesting how her shadow was a little different shape and larger then she was.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

SATURDAY MORNING
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

This is my husband washing his truck on the driveway this morning. It was a beautiful, sunny day and he likes to take good care of his truck.

Friday, April 18, 2008

APPLES AND FLOWERS
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

This is actually a study for a larger painting I'm planning. It will be on a 24"x30" canvas. For this, I set up apples and a plant and made up the rest. Now, I'm eager to get started on the large painting.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

RED GLADIOLA
oil on canvas, appr 7"x5"

I did this as a study for a larger painting I'm doing which will include a pot of red gladiolas.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

SPRING CACTUS
oil on canvas, appr 6"x4"

This is a plein air painting done in my back yard. The weather is so beautiful today that I just had to go outside to paint. I sat in a chair and looked up at this cactus on a plant stand beside my back porch. It has lots of new yellow-green growth while the old is blue-green.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

RED RED--GREEN 2
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

I painted 3 apples again, but, well, one of them isn't all there... This was a fun painting. I painted them with natural light coming through the window behind them.
RED RED--GREEN
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

Monday, 4/14/08 I love apples! I couldn't decide which one to paint, so I just painted all three. It was lots of fun!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

ONE LEMON
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

I painted this after teaching children's classes all afternoon at our museum. The kids were really fun and did some great art work.

I thought I'd make this whole painting yellow--sort of. There are some variations, but some yellow is in everything. I was surprised that the colors and values of the shadows kept changing slightly. I'm not sure why. The lamplight inside was pretty constant, so maybe it was my vision that was changing... Anyway, I really enjoyed painting this lemon.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

THE LAST AZALEA
oil on canvas, appr 7"x5"

This is the last surviving azalea from the bouquet that my mother brought from her yard last weekend. All the rest have withered and died. I guess this one won't be far behind, but I wanted to paint it one last time before it bit the dust.

Friday, April 11, 2008

DAISY ON MY DESK
oil on canvas, appr 6"x4"

This is the Gerber daisy again. This time I decided to paint the whole daisy with it's very long stem. It is in a green glass sitting on my desk beside my laptop in front of a window.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

TAX TIME
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

This is me after I finished doing our taxes and e-filing today. I always dread the prospect of gathering and organizing all the art information. If I would be more organized during the year, I would have an easier job when it came filing time.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

GERBER DAISY
oil on panel, 10"x8"

I bought this big beautiful flower this morning. I thought it deserved a bigger canvas than I usually do for my daily paintings. Actually, this is done on a gessoed hardboard panel, not canvas. It is painted about life size. The color on this photo isn't very accurate. There are other colors besides red on the flower, but, in the photo, all you can see is red.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

FIVE MARBLES
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

These marbles were fun to paint! There are many different values and colors in each marble and reflecting from them onto the table and on each other. And, of course, there are all those highlights.

Monday, April 7, 2008

PLATE OF STRAWBERRIES
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

I bought a carton of strawberries and thought I'd paint all of them. So, I poured them out on a white plate and set it on a desk by a window in my studio. I love red!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

Today has been so beautiful with the warm 75 degree weather and sunshine! Our cat, Gracie enjoyed the sunshine, too. She lay on the driveway on one side, then turned over to sun the other side.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

ECCENTRIC BELL PEPPER
oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"

I just HAD to paint this bell pepper! I've never seen one shaped like this before.

Friday, April 4, 2008

EVENING SUN THROUGH THE TREES
oil on canvas, appr 4"x6"

We're having a garage sale today and I painted this from a photo while sitting in the garage. I took the photo between Jacksonville and Alto one evening a few weeks ago. I love how the sun makes long shadows in the early morning and late afternnoon.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

M's AZALEAS
oil on canvas, appr 7"x5"

These are azaleas my mother brought from their yard when she and my father came to visit today. They are a different variety from the ones I've been painting from my neighbor's yard. I put these in a vase of water, hoping they would last for a few days.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

PEPPER COUPLE, AKA PEPPER TANGO
oil on canvas, appr 7"x5"

These are the same two Anaheim peppers I've painted before and they're now becoming elderly. They're still pretty, though, so I thought I'd paint them again, this time in a sundae glass.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

SUNSHINE AND FLOWERS

oil on canvas, appr 5"x7"


Early this morning I saw my neighbor, Lucille's flowers with the morning sun on them. I just couldn't resist painting them.