green pitcher

20x24 oil on stretched cotton canvas $600

I love painting large, to some artist 20×24 would not be large, 60×72 would be large. I would like to tackle a canvas that size but so far I haven’t been inspired enough by a subject that shouts BIG! It will happen though. The last time I visited my parents house I was captivated by this green pitcher perched high above my Mom’s kitchen cabinets. I saw the color as a mixture of my two favorite colors, viridian and yellow ochre. (Did you know  in Latin, a garden is called a viridarium ) I also knew the raised design would be fun to paint with a light source directed towards it. I had a hard time deciding what to do with the background. I tend to paint a drape or objects in at least 80% of the background so I don’t have to decide. I wasn’t sure if all white would be too much white. I went for it and I am happy with the end results. The wooden rooster and green pitcher really stand out as the important player in this painting. Lately I have been painting a lot of green and red together, good strong colors.

radishes and onions

16x20 oil on stretched cotton canvas $600

My first larger painting in quite awhile. I still wanted to paint the green bucket from some of my smaller paintings, it is my favorite. I just love the colors in this bucket. I started blocking in the shapes the day I bought the vegetables at the grocery store. I also took a photo just for reference later. It is a good thing I did take a photo because before the day was over the leaves on the radishes wilted to almost nothing. It was to fast for me, I am a slow painter. Knowing I had the photo, I went ahead and painted everything else and left the leaves for last. I had the most fun painting the ragged edges of the cloth. If you look back on some of my other paintings, I like to emphasis small details like that. I feel it adds a lot of character to a painting.

Jack and Jill

6x8 oil on cotton canvas panel $150

Here are more of my (correction: my daughter’s) collection of children’s mugs. My favorite part is the light reflection on the front of the dog handled mug. I also like the stamp on the bottom of the one mug. I get so excited about painting when it is going good and so depressed when my painting is going bad. Artists have such a roller coaster of emotions on a daily basis. Anyone who lives with an artist has a good soul.

3 chicks

6x6 oil on cotton canvas panel $150

I have a collection of children’s mugs that my Mom and I have been collecting since the 80’s. They were meant to be given to my daughter when she got her own home. Well, she is 30 now and I still have the mugs. 🙂 I had this little metal chick for Easter decorations and I thought it looked so much like the chicks painted on the mug, I just had to paint them together. One thing I learned from Scott Christensen’s workshop is to look and observe all the colors that make up an object. I find my paintings are more interesting when I use more than local colors. Your studio light, the atmosphere, the time of day are only a few reasons a subject could be absorbing different colors.

green bucket

6x6 oil on cotton canvas covered panel $150

I really like this bucket, tub, pot whatever it is. The color is so unique and I love mixing colors to find all the color variations found on the surface from age and use. My base color was viridian. Then I began mixing burnt sienna, yellow ochre, white and a touch of burnt umber to tone down the intensity of the viridian. It doesn’t take much viridian to go a long way. It is alot like phthalo blue. I had been using Winsor & Newton’s Winton oil colors for my phthalo blue. It just didn’t seem to be as intense as another brand I had used in the past. I just don’t remember what it was. This weekend I drove to Austin to visit my daughter and we went to Jerry’s for their big before school sale . I bought Gamblin’s phthalo blue hoping that would be the one. With a little Gamblin’s transparent orange and a lot of white it makes a beautiful sky. I also bought some bigger canvases. It has been quite awhile since I have painted bigger than 6×6. I already have some ideas in my head trying to get out.

two red pears

6x6 oil on cotton canvas panel $150

I am back painting still lifes again. After painting my past still lifes from real life it was not as much fun painting from old photos. Hopefully, soon the weather will cool off here in Texas and I will get back out to paint plein aire.

Old House

6x6 oil on cotton canvas panel $150

Again I used a photo I took last year. Here in Texas we have been experiencing three digit temperatures for the last month and no rain for the last eight months. So, I have not wanted to go out and paint. I am not a complainer and I think for a fifty-something female I usually can tolerate the outdoor elements pretty well. But this weather has finally got to me. The year this photo was taken was a really good year for bluebonnets. We had gotten plenty of winter rain which is what bluebonnets need to germinate. This painting looks so “Texas Hill Country” it looks like a set up. But I guarantee you this scene was just down the road from my own house.  This painting has not been altered for the sake of this blog, haha.

Lost Maples Trail

6x6 oil on cotton canvas panel $150

Lost Maples State Park contains Texas’ largest stand of bigtooth maples east of the Guadalupe Mountains. When conditions are right, the maple leaves put on a dazzling show of fall colors. I painted this from a photo I took two years ago. We are in a exceptional drought right now so I have no idea what will happen this October when the leaves are suppose to turn.

red roof shed

6x6 oil on cotton canvas panel $150

Ok, I think this is my favorite 6×6 so far. There is something about sunlight and shadows that can make a strong statement on a painting. It makes your painting feel alive.

dragonfly at Wildflower Center

6x8 oil on stretched cotton canvas $150

This is another painting from the Lady Bird Wildflower Center. This cistern is located at the entrance. The time I visited the center there was a wonderful sculpture exhibit throughout the grounds. This giant dragonfly was part of the exhibit. To my regret, I do not remember the name of the artist. To give a sense of proportions to  the cistern and dragonfly, I painted a person walking past the cistern.