Just A Lemon, 6x6 Oil

Back in the studio.  It's a steam box today, although it's a sunny day so really I can't complain.  I love the simple shapes of lemons, and it looks so easy - but of course it's not.

Anyone in the Massachusetts area should try to stop by the Pembroke Art Festival this weekend, Aug 2 & 3.  You'll see 3 of my paintings there, some of Paula Villanova's too, and lots of other good paintings.  I'd like to congratulate Jody Regan who won 1st Prize in Oil/Acrylics there!

Slice Of Melon, 6x8 Acrylic

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Yesterday afternoon I started this little Daily Painting, hoping to get ahead a day, so I could spend one whole day plein air painting followed by some studio work on bigger pieces.  But I just couldn't get this right.  I was using the local color, which had a dull dark red for the background, and a greenish white for the cloth under the fruit.  The shadow side looked reddish-greenish (now THERE's a color you won't find in a tube!) and the top of the fruit was vapid and white-ish under the light from the lamp.  So I threw in the towel and left it.  This morning it seemed I knew just what would work, and in about 20 minutes had gotten it to this stage - with no visual reference (we had eaten the cantaloupe for breakfast!).  Sometimes you just have to paint what it feels like.  This is one good example of that!

Thanks, everyone who emailed me about not giving up on food as a theme.  You're right.  Almost everything's 'been done'.  But not by me! :)

Scattered Blueberries, 6x6 Acrylic

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So many things to paint for Daily Paintings.  I was a little 'stung' when a more accomplished local artist reviewed my work this Spring, and about the Daily Paintings she said "Food has been done and done.  It's old.  Thiebold had the last word on food.  You should do other things."  Well, I do other things, but the shapes of food, especially fruit, are a 'wonderland' to me.  People eat berries all the time, but when you really examine one, you find all sorts of patterns and reflective surfaces, as well as undercurrents of, for example, reds and greens in the blueberries.  So once again ignoring good advice, I set up a handful of blueberries this morning.  Here they are.

It's Plum Time, Oil, 6x6

I got these new painting panels from Karl Heerdt and couldn't wait to try them.   He's a Daily Painter, and has been making his own panels - decided to make it a little business.  They're nice!  They're pretty inexpensive (with shipping my pack of 10 cost $20) and they're canvas on masonite.  On the way to the studio I stopped to get some corn for tonight's dinner and saw three bins of plums.  Now, I LOVE plums, and I love the color of them, too.  So... at the studio I put them on a beautiful green background - and - voila!

Two Pieces Left, Oil 6x6

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I'm watermelon-obsessed!  I actually tried one day last week (Thursday?) to paint a stack of thick sliced watermelon, but couldn't do it justice... a wipe-off.  I love the many, many reds you use in painting this stuff, not to mention the yellows and pinks.  I'll miss it when the season's over.

And Happy Birthday to Paula Villanova!  Check out her blog and wish her a happy day!

White Rose, 8x10 Acrylic

Stayed home today just in CASE there was another water funnel in the area, like yesterday.  Turns out while I was gone the intense wind sucked one of the doors on the porch open and my cat Isabelle got out.  Hours later when I arrived home (even though I left the studio as soon as the worst had passed, there were trees snapped in half laying across the 2 main roads out of town, and telephone poles laying in the road) I saw what looked like a small piece of luggage on my front porch up against my door - it was Isabelle - traumatized!  So I played it safe and stayed home to paint with my acrylics, first a wipe-off of watermelons, then this beautifully opening rose.  Even though painting roses makes me go cross eyed, I'm determined to 'get' them this Summer.

I think the edge of the table is too sharp, so I'll probably soften it.

Who Wants Watermelon? Acrylic 6x12

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Strong light in the late afternoon and a plate of watermelon slices just 'says' Summer, doesn't it?  

Rose Bouquet, Acrylic 5x7

We have an abundance of roses.  I'm thinking it's got to be easier to paint them one at a time! :)  But the gorgeous colors make it too hard to decide on any one.  In this bouquet I stuck little purple flowers that look like balls, or thistle into it.  Yesterday it was lavender sprigs.  

Anyway the zillions of petals are always what grind me to a halt when painting flowers.  Here I just stopped my eyes and let myself do one at a time.  One way to do it.  I also could have looked at the 'whole' of the bouquet and given the impression of the mix.  Another day, another bouquet...

Walkin' the Walk, 6x6 Acrylic

These days just seem to be made for walks on the beach.  Here's a woman and her Mom at Briggs Beach just getting a little exercise and talking about everything and nothing.  I'm not 'back' at my Daily Painting routine... having given myself time after opening my show.  Next week.  In the meantime... if you are in the Boston area, tonight there's a show I'm in at the Oceanside 17 Gallery in Hull, MA, called 'HEAT'... Should be a fantastic time, and you'll get to meet some really fine, fun people!

The Wild Cosmos Garden, 6x12, Acrylic

This was a request from my husband, who has the greenest thumb ever!  At the edge of his garden the Cosmos self-seeded and he couldn't bring himself to weed them out - so... we have a wild edge to the vegetable garden, with gorgeous pink flowers!  This one's not for sale, it's for his new office.

And I'd like to invite anyone who's in the area of the South Shore of Boston, to come see my show at the Ventress Library in Marshfield, MA (a great little town on the ocean with lots to see & do around, too), it's open now through mid-August.  The Opening Reception is Monday, July 14th from 7-8:30, and the show is sponsored and run by the North River Arts Society.

Also some new work is on my Studio Blog... please feel free to check it out and comment...  I must apologise for not posting recently, I have had yet another 'camera incident'... believe me, you don't want to hear about it!

Tiny Purple Roses, 6x6 Oil

Would you believe it if I told you these look much better in person?  And I couldn't get the glare off the photo, either... in the shade it looked too dark, in the light (or even the 'light' shade) it was bouncing off the canvas.  Oh well.  These are from a tiny rose bush that I had no expectations of - last year it yeilded just a few blooms.  This year - BANG!  Of course we caught a lot of the insects earlier this year.  I'm going to master 'roses' if it kills me.  This morning it's been humid and very warm, but a storm is rolling in, I can see it coming across Aquidneck Island, and I want to catch it on canvas, so instead of preparing my house for the 4th of July festivities, I'm painting (surprise, surprise!)!  If I don't get to post tomorrow (I'm going to try to paint chickens at a local farm) I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July!

Yellow Roses 6x6 Oil

These roses are from my garden - there are so many right now I can't keep up!  I have vases, cups, bowls - all filled with yellow, white, red, striped, orange, peach and pink roses - I'm in 7th heaven!  My show was supposed to Open last night but there was a problem with the Library's plumbing - so it's been postponed two weeks.  I'll dedicate a post to it later.  Right now, after the intensity of getting ready for the show I told myself I wouldn't paint for 2 weeks - an enforced 'vacation'.  To let my creativity lie fallow for a little while and see what comes of it.  It lasted 3 days, and for 2 of those days all I could think about was painting!