Pre-Scramble

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

Love the colors in this one! 

Fig March

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

Another exercise in using fewer brushstrokes.

So Corny

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I bought this colorful harvest corn at the farmer's market and decided to try and paint it.  The under-painting is orange, so I did the little strings by scraping off the paint.

Lemony Tea

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I started collecting items for still life, and found this lacy cup and saucer in a local shop.  It cast such an interesting shadow with the sunlight shining through the saucer and the raised scroll work casting light back onto the cup. 

Red Hills

(oil on archival board; 6"x 6")

I had some paint left on my palette after I finished a painting and didn't want to waste it so I painted this abstract landscape just for fun.  Most of my favorite brushes were already soaking so I used stuff from my kitchen junk drawer to apply some of the paint. 

Life is Bowl of Cherry Tomatoes

(oil on archival board; 6"x 6")

This was very frustrating to paint and I wasn't happy with it, but then my daughter Rebecca really liked it so I decided to post it and quit being so self-critical.  I did learn a lot painting it.  One day I will try again.

Lonely Pepper

(oil on archival board; 6"x 6")

I like the shadow cast by this twisted pepper and the way the tail lifts up and helps to fill the frame.   I 'posed' it in sunlight to get the sharp but long shadow. 

Garlic Grouping

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

In retrospect, I probably should have tried this in watercolor - the papery garlic leaves did not lend themselves to oil, but overall I like it.  It photographed with more vivid colors than the original - in the actual painting the garlic is more white than yellow.  I'm still working on the photography, experimenting with camera settings and photo editing.  That is more difficult than painting! 

Pineapple Portrait

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I set up this little "portrait" on the edge of a table.  This was challenging to paint but I tried not to get too caught up in detail and I'm happy with the way it came out, especially the shadow.  It's so easy to overwork a painting of an object that has a lot of detail, but I was feeling very relaxed when painting this - it was a Sunday afternoon and Jake was doing his homework and I was painting and we were just chatting, and it all came together. 

Blue Espresso

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I absolutely love this little espresso cup, and this painting!   I used to have a set of four cups, but I'm now down to two unbroken ones.  I like the shadow cast by the uneven edge of the cup, which I exaggerated.  To get the shadow in sharp relief I set up the still life in sunlight in early morning when the shadows are long, and I got that great shadow above the cup as well as the shadow of the handle on the apple.  I was having trouble with the coffee looking a little dull, until I added blue and it worked!

Nestling Plums

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I think I may have to break out my Nikon SLR for photographing because with my small camera I'm really having trouble getting the color on screen to reflect the original.  Or, maybe it's my computer. I like this one better in real life than here; sometimes it's the opposite.  The colors are a bit more muted in the original.  I was working on getting that bluish-white look on the skin of very ripe plums.

Snuggling Lemons

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

My sister gave me the beautiful, thick glass bowl in this picture.  I had been wanting to paint it for a while, so one day I collected some Meyer lemons from my backyard tree and set up this still life.  It's painted with a thicker layer of paint than usual, which usually means I'm having trouble, and that is true here, but there are some elements that work.  Overall, the values are all too close to each other, so not enough contrast. 

Rebecca's Apples

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I decided to paint the apples again, but with more detail on the plate.  I like this plate with the little raised dots, which I had simplified for the first apple painting. 
One apple painting is for Anna and one for Rebecca - my two best supporters, fellow artists, and amazing daughters.

Anna's Apples

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

This is another painting in which I am trying hard to use fewer brushstrokes.  I was looking at one of Carol Marine's books and I thought I would try apples.  She is the master and makes it look so easy!  I lost focus after a while and started to overwork it.  Note to self:  take a break when 80% done.  Most of the time I will realize I can stop there.

Pepper Go-Round

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

I like the sense of movement in this composition - it adds some fun to an otherwise "still" life.   I did this one in painting class.  Someone brought a big bag of red peppers and they looked so juicy and delicious that I had to try and paint them.  I was consciously working on putting in the object highlights without resorting to using pure white paint, and I think it worked well here to use yellow - I think the value is true to life. 

Lemon Light

(oil on gessoboard; 6"x 6")

This is a painting exercise I did in Carol Marine's wonderful painting class.  It has sentimental value because it was the first time I tried oil paint, and I got hooked.  The assignment was to paint the fruit using the fewest brushstrokes possible.  It's a great way to force yourself to be intentional about each brushstroke.