Broken Color Landscape 2 - SOLD

Broken Color Landscape 2 Oil on Canvas Board, 12" x 16" SOLD at $75.00 plus shipping. Since there was such a positive response to the landscape I posted the other day, done with broken color, I decided to do another one today. I took an old painting that wasn't very sucessful, sanded it down, and used the paint that was left as a background color (you can see some of the sky blue in spots at the bottom, since I turned the old piece upside down.) This is a really fun way to work, just dots and dabs everywhere.

Sienna and Mauve Irises - SOLD

Sienna and Mauve Irises Oil on Stretched Canvas, 18" x 24" SOLD at $100.00 plus shipping. This one is big, and it took me a while today. Actually, this is the drawing I did for yesterday's painting, not realizing that it was the wrong size canvas. So it became today's painting. I'm not sure if it's a good thing to plod along like I did on a large piece. After a time, you just get so eager to be done with it. And that's when you just start stroking. No fussing, just get the thing done. Good or bad? I'm not sure. There's a lot of color though, and it got to be more or less "Impressions of Irises." Thanks for looking.

Frosted Purple Irises - SOLD

Frosted Purple Irises Oil on Stretched Canvas, 16" x 20" SOLD. The collector who requested this one liked the Black Frosted Iris from awhile back, but since they were gone, I painted this for her. It came out nicely, I think. My daughter says that the petals look "velvery" which is a nice compliment. Now on to other requests.

Broken Color Landscape - SOLD

Broken Color Landscape Oil on Red Gessoed Panel, 11" x 14" SOLD at $60.00 plus shipping. For whatever reason, and that I had a red gessoed panel ready, I felt like dibs and dabs today. I like the way this turned out, and it really is mostly dabs of different colors, with the red undercoat allowed to show through wherever. I think if you click on it, you'll be able to see the little spots of red here and there.

Reflecting Tree - SOLD

Reflecting Tree Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 10" SOLD at $35.00 plus shipping. I've been working on a large couple of paintings (by request) the last couple of days, and they came out really well. When I was shooting photos and details, this one little secton just popped, so I did this small paintig of just one small section of one of the paintings. Since I had the colors mixed anyway. All that green and lavender with just a blast of yellow, isn't that cool?

Purple Folds

Purple Folds Watercolor with White Gouache on Watercolor Paper, 300 lb, 5" x 5" Available at $20.00 plus $5.00 shipping. I was working today on two larger oils, and knew I wouldn't be getting them done, so did a little watercolor in the meanwhile. When it was done, it looked so ho-hum, that I decided to use a little gouache on it to see what difference that might make. It's different. I'll let you be the judges.

Pond and Trees 2 - SOLD

Pond and Trees 2 Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 12" SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping. Another rendition of the Trees and Pond, done by request. Isn't it interesting how every painting, even a repeat of the same image, has it's own distinct flavor? This one has a slightly different "feel" to it, even though it's a repeat.

Iris Study - SOLD

Iris Study after Mark Christopher Weber Oil on Gessoed Masonite, 6" x 8" SOLD at $10.00 plus shipping I am a firm believer in copying, as long as you give credit to the master artists whom you've studied. This is a little study taken from the book, Brushwork Essentials, by Mark Christopher Weber. What I really loved about it was the incredible way he captured the subtleties inside the darks. I didn't get it, but it's a nice little study anyway.

Lavender Line Up - SOLD

Lavender Line Up Watercolor on 140 lb Arches paper, 13.5" x 21" SOLD at $65.00 plus shipping It's very dry here today, and for that reason, I think, my paint wasn't blending and merging like I'm used to. So, this one was drawn tight and painted very loosely. I wanted to try the paper turned horizontally, when usually I use it lengthwise. So it's a bit different for me, but isn't the color yummy? Thanks for looking.

The Blue Shovel - SOLD

The Blue Shovel Oil on Canvas Panel, 10" x 12" SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping. I don't know who these two little boys were, but this is painted from a photo I snapped at Ocean City, Maryland a few years ago. I always liked the image, and have been meaning to do a painting from this photo for a long while. Some of my commenters have been saying that I need to practice figures, so that I can do them more often. It's like anything else, I suppose. If you don't DO it, you don't get better at it.

New Every Morning - SOLD

New Every Morning Oil on Stretched Canvas, 24" x 24" SOLD at sale price. I first painted and posted this one in October of 2008. There was always something just a bit "off" about it, and it didn't sell. I've repainted the foreground to make it darker, added some little buildings, made the line of mountains lighter, and enlarged the trees. Pulled some of the purples from the sky into the rest of the painting. And dropped the price, considering it's a two foot by two foot piece that needs to have a home. Now I like it.

Iris Face Two - SOLD

Iris Face Two Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 12" Sold at sale price of $30.00. Same palette colors as yesterday's painting, and same set of irises from Jo's yard as the watercolor (see several days ago.) The difference here is that I made myself use a large brush (1", mongoose), to see what the results would be. It was frustrating for me, since I always tend towards pickiness. And the details were sacrificed. The good part is a more fresh look, better brushwork, and a looser feel. I think. But then again...

Iris Face in Yellow and Lavender - SOLD

Iris Face in Yellow and Lavender Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 12" SOLD at $65.00 pus shipping. After doing the watercolor and posting it yesterday, I wanted to try the same irises in oil. Soooo much easier for me, with the big brushes and quicker coverage. But as one of my collectors commented, there's nothing quite like the sparkle of a watercolor. This one, however, for an oil, is pretty and subtle, I think.

Yellow and Magenta Irises - SOLD

Yellow and Magenta Irises Watercolor on Arches 140 lb paper, 14" x 21" Sold at sale price of $70.00. This one is pretty big, a change of pace from the oils. I've been working on it for three days, off and on. It's done from some photos I took in my post office friend, Jo's yard last spring in Massachusetts. Oh, she had beauties! Hope you enjoy the touch of spring color. Click on the image to see a close up.

Little Tapper 2 - SOLD

Little Tapper 2 Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 8" SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping. Another view of the pint size Tap shoes. I had to hurry up a bit, as dance school meets on Fridays, and little Katie will need her shoes. It's been fun doing these, and I'll probably explore some other unusual still life arrangements in the near furture.

Little Tapper - SOLD

Little Tapper Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 8" SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping. I borrowed my little granddaughter's Tap shoes for this one. I don't know if there's anything as cute as darling 3 year olds all dressed up for dancing school, with the little pink leotards and tights, bows in their hair, all prancing and bright faced. The shoes were fun to do, but next time I'll be more exacting about the ribbons.

Trees and Pond - SOLD

Trees and Pond, Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 12"

SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping.

This started out to be a study of brush strokes, with a very simple scene, but the point got away from me. I do like the image though, and the simple colors here. You can still see some of the brushwork in the water at bottom left, small choppy strokes. I was intending to do the whole painting that way, but...

Bosc Pears 2 - SOLD

Bosc Pears 2 Oil on Canvas Board, 10" x 12" SOLD at sale price. It's a study in browns! Ochre, sienna and umber, all terrific colors. I like this one too, it's still got the direct and deliberate brush strokes, with a little more refinement. But not too much. Detail below: Doesn't it sort of look like an Old Masters type study? I think that's because of the darkness and the browns. Cool, I think. I really enjoyed painting this one.

Bosc Pears on Brown - SOLD

Bosc Pears on Brown Oil on Canvas Panel, 9" x 12" SOLD at $50.00 plus shipping. This is very close to how I really want to paint. Brushstrokes, I mean. I used a bristle brush, and did this one amidst multiple frustrating interruptions. The canvas had blue gesso on it, so it was hard to tell the values, and I just sort of "went for it." I'm not excited about the background, but I really like the fabric and the pears. Now if I could just control this way of painting....always something, isn't there?

Chayote Gourds - SOLD

Chayote Gourds Watercolor on Paper, 6" x 10" SOLD at $15.00 plus $5.00 shipping. These are the stangest things. I had never seen them before. But after looking them up, I found out that they are very common in Central America, they are used in a lot of Mexican dishes, they are also called vegetable pears, chcocho, and christophenes (among quite a few other names) and they are treated as you would squash. Very green, with nice tucks and curves. I thought I'd try them in watercolor today.