Royalty

SOLD  Oil on canvas on panel, 5"x7".  This was painted from life.  Pomegranates are such regal fruits.   

Luscious

Oil on canvas on panel, 4x6. A friend brought me some strawberries, so I had to paint them before I ate any of them. I thought I'd use a palette knife and squint a lot and here's the result.

CHOLULA WITH FRUIT & FLOWERS acrylic, 8x10

The Museum of East Texas Art Camp is over for this summer. This is the last demo I did for my students, so I thought I might as well post it, even though it's not a finished painting. I'm, now, working at the museum temporarily, filling in for the Curator of Education while she's on maternity leave. So, I'll be busy, but I think I'll have a little more time to paint than I did during Art Camp. Teaching of any type is all consuming. I've always taught--high school, college--and it takes over you life. I'm not saying teaching's bad, it's just different than other jobs. Teachers are entirely responsible for what goes on in their classroom and they must plan at home, purchase materials, take items such as still life contents with them, and pay close attention to everything and everyone at all times in their classes, then often take home papers to grade and plans to make for the next day. It's all consuming. Teaching is very difficult and stressful (if done well) and good teachers deserve more respect than they get.

RED GRAPES ON A PINK PLATE oil on board, 4x6

These are the grapes I bought a few days ago. It's hard painting all the colors in red grapes because the dark colors aren't always on the shadow side and the light colors aren't always on the light side. And, there is orange and purple and blue and green besides all the variations of red. It's fun and enlightening.

THREE OF A KIND oil on canvas, 6x6

I went grocery shopping yesterday and lingered in the produce department! I came home with these luscious apples and some red grapes...maybe tomorrow's painting. Painting shiny, colorful things with light and reflections is lots of fun. I really like painting on canvas much better than painting on a gessoed board. This is a board that I glued canvas on. I've been painting on gessoed boards a lot lately just because it's easier to gesso than to cut and glue canvas. I need to get back to gluing canvas on my boards. I like the feel of the brush on canvas so much better. The gesso absorbs the paint too much and it just doesn't feel the same as canvas.

A PAIR OF PEARS oil on board, 6x6

These are two of the three luscious pears I painted a few days ago. Yes, I ate the missing one. Yum!

THREE PEARS oil on board, 6x6

SOLD I found these beautiful pears this morning while shopping, and I knew at that moment what my painting subject would be today. Even their scent is beautiful. When I began the painting, I had trouble with the shadow colors, but when the painting was finished, it all worked well. When you look at this, I hope you can smell the wonderful scent of fresh pears.

BOWL OF FRUIT acrylic on canvas board, 11x14

8/5/08 This was also a demo for the painting class. I love painting and I love teaching painting.

LEMON COUPLE oil on board, 4x6

8/3/08 Fruit again! Yes, done with a palette knife.

ORANGE AND GREEN APPLES oil on board, 4x6

SOLD 7/29/08 Yes, more fruit! I love painting fruit--the colors, the reflections...especialy with a palette knife.

LIME AND TWO LEMONS oil on board, 6x6,

7/27/08 This is a palette knife painting which I enjoyed very much. I love painting fruit and using the palette knife is so much fun!

GIFT BASKET watercolor on paper, 4 1/2x7

7/21/08 This is a big basket of fruit and nuts and gifts my mother received. It was a joy to paint! The scent of apples filled the air.

THE SECRET 4X6, oil on board

SOLD Here are some more figs. They are so nice to paint with all the beautiful colors.

BOWL OF FIGS 5x7, oil on board

Yes, these figs are from my Dad's tree. How did you guess? He's quite a farmer! I'm still loving the palette knife!

7/8/08 THREE NECTARINES acrylic on canvas, 6x6

7/2/08 BOWL OF FRUIT watercolor 7x9

6/22/08 APPLE AND COFFEE POT
oil on canvas, appr 6"x6"

Actually, I painted this one before I left, but didn't photograph it. It's a palette knife painting of a coffee pot my Dad gave me. I'm not sure how old it is, but it isn't new. I really enjoyed painting the somewhat shiny coffee pot. It's fun painting reflections.

APPLES ON SILVER
oil on canvas, appr 6"x6"

This was an experiment. I love the looseness of palette knife paintings, but I like the "feel" of a bristle brush. So, I used a #6 bristle flat brush as if it were a palette knife. I had to keep thinking to myself, "This a palette knife. Use thick paint." I'm not entirely pleased with the result, but I do like it. Maybe I'll do another brush/palette knife painting tomorrow and maybe it will turn out better. It was fun to do, anyway.

ORANGE IN ORANGE CUP
oil on canvas, appr 6"x6"

I've painted this orange cup by itself, but this time I thought I'd add another color. Actually, the cup looks red with the orange in it. Guess it's red-orange, almost cad red. As you know, colors are affected by the colors around them.

GRAPES AND GREEN APPLE
oil on canvas, appr 6"x6"

I set up this little still life out in my garage while having a garage sale today. It was very hot, but I enjoyed painting this.