607 Deer Gaze

 Deer Gaze

oil on canvas

6x12"

$158

     Although the whole family of deer were in the yard, lying about, they would not let me get close enough for many good pictures. I have moved the bird bath in hopes of luring them closer so that I can have more of a clear shot at them this year.

611 California Quail

California Quail

oil on canvas

6x6"

$80

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

How Emily Dickinson expressed the inexpressible!

I think paintings can be like poems. I have recently learned that James McNeill Whistler thought of paintings as musical compositions. I suppose all these means of expression are ways of making connections with others. I hope that is true.

610 Satsuma Branch

 Satsuma Branch

Oil on Canvas

13x8"

$230

     This branch with one satsuma was hanging over the edge of the table. The setup had several oranges and a lovely white teapot, but this little hanging branch is what looked beautiful to me. I especially loved the cast shadow against the table cloth.

608 Allison's Kitty

Allison's Kitty

Oil on Canvas

6x6

$80

     I love cats and love to paint them. This one belongs to Allison and is so very black. It was surprisingly easy to paint his blackness. I used ultramarine blue and transparent oxide red to get the deep, deep black. The white catchlight against the black pupil really makes his eyes live. It is fun to save that until the end. It is like turning the lights on. Great cat.

603 Milo

 Milo

oil on canvas

24x18"

$855

     I tried painting this image of Milo, who lives at Animal Ark in Reno, many months ago, but I was so disappointed with it that I wanted to give it another try. Cougars have the prettiest face in the world, and my first effort was just wrong, not pretty at all. This one is better. 

     

601 Carmen M

 Carmen M

oil on canvas

6x6"

$100

     Painting teeth in a portrait is not recommended. But how can I paint Carmen without her big smile?

     I never saw her in her old movies when she was not smiling, sparkling, and having so much fun.

600 Brooks

 Brooks

oil on canvas

6x6"

$100

     This time I painted Louise with a slightly different limited palette: chromatic black, cad red light, yellow ochre, and white, of course. I am stunned by the beautiful colors that come from just those four paints. I worked from a black and white photograph and just used the values that the colors gave me.

       

599 Veronica

 Veronica

oil on canvas

6x6

$100

     Veronica Lake, of the Peek-a-Boo hairdo, always seemed so sweet and delicate. She was actually blonder than my painting shows. I wonder if it was natural.

598 Brother Squirrel

Brother Squirrel

oil on canvas

8x10"

$176

     This squirrel has a cute little face all full of such innocence, but his hands have dangerous claws. He must need them in the big world where he is so small. Also he is fast. Davy chased him one day and did not catch him. Thank goodness!

 

596 Pink Carnations

 Pink Carnations

Oil on Canvas

8x10"

$176

     If I said it took two weeks to paint this little gourd full of carnations, no one would believe it. But it is true. I wonder how many times you can wash down a canvas before it falls apart. I must have come close. I had some troubles finding the vision for it and I had grown rusty while finishing up my little book.

     Carnations do not have a noticeable center so you get lollipop flowers. Also I tried using a synthetic brush which is not as responsive as natural bristles. 

     There is, after all, something about it that I like.

But Not So

 But Not So

Children's Picture Book

6x8"

28 pages

$17.99

     So many years ago the idea for this came to me and I have kept it alive in the back of my mind all this time. I really cannot describe the joy of bringing it to fruition at last.

     The story is simple and the images are too, but the process of putting it all together was NOT simple!  My admiration for professional illustrators has grown enormously. They deserve so much credit and appreciation.              

     My book can be found on Amazon, Children's Books. Put my name in the search box, but I am not the only Cheryl Wilson on Amazon. My Animals book and But Not So are my only books that you will find, so far.

595 Jar of Camellias

 Jar of Camellias

oil on canvas

10x8"

$176

     More camellias. Last spring was good for them. Looking forward to next spring, hoping the deer don't get them before I do.

     

594 Pink Cam

 Pink Cam

oil on canvas

10x8"

$176

     I love pink flowers. Red makes a bigger statement, but pink is my favorite, no question.

     I am trying to paint as briefly as I can. I want each stroke to stand on its own and not get lost in overworked places. Fresh!

589 Teacup with Rose

Teacup with Rose

oil on canvas

8x10

$176

     Roses do not last long in my neighborhood because the deer just love them. This little bush grows on an upstairs deck, so it was safe for a few blooms. It looked very pretty in Aunt Hazel's china cup.

 

593 Yellow Zin

Yellow Zin

oil on canvas

8x10"

$176

     What a lovely winter day with lots of snow for the puppy to play in! This zinnia is from last summer. Glad I photographed them while I could. They sure are gone now.

 

592 Monte and Keely

 Monte and Keely

oil on canvas

12x12"

NFS

     How hard it is to lose a loved one. When our yellow lab Keely left us, we had Monte, a pup mix, to help us through the grief. Now, years later, Monte is gone and we have no new generation to comfort us. 

     He loved Keely and I always treasured this photo of them together. I painted it and I am pleased with it, but it was hard.

591 Kitchen Sunflowers

Kitchen Sunflowers

oil on canvas

11x14"

$338

     These big ol' sunflowers were a gift from friends to warm my new kitchen remodel. I knew immediately that I would try to paint them because they would serve my still life endeavors. I tried to see less (squint) and connect shapes. Such a lot to learn, even after you think you know everything there is to know.

     The kitchen looks good and the flowers looked good in it.

590 Fox Squirrel

Fox Squirrel

oil on canvas

8x10"

$176

     When we moved to town, we made a new friend, the fox squirrel. Where we lived before we had gray squirrels and Douglas squirrels (so cute!).  We think this guy is pretty cute too.

     The canvas had a mishap that affected the surface quality. I had put it in the freezer to keep it fresh until the next day to finish it, and the freezer breaker switch flipped and the freezer defrosted on my canvas overnight. I thought it would be easy to repair, but it was not. The marks still show. I have decided to accept them.

587 Traveling Raspberries

Traveling Raspberries

oil on canvas

9x12"

$238

     These raspberries are from a bush originally from Oakland, CA, the yard of the the sister of my friend Jay.  I planted them at my old house, and then when we moved here, I brought them with me. They are doing fine because the deer do not eat them. 

     Painting raspberries is a good thing because as they continue to ripen and fall off, I can just pick them up and pop them into my mouth.

586 Sunflower Challenge

Sunflower Challenge

oil on canvas

6x6"

$80

     It has been quite some time since I participated in the DPW Painting Challenge. I should do it more often because it is such a good discipline. For example, here I am painting a flower, not my best thing. That is OK. It is good for me.

     This particular flower grew volunteer in my yard, so, naturally, I took its picture and I am glad I did. I needed it for this challenge.

585 Toyon

Toyon

oil on canvas

8x10"

     Toyon grow wild just over the split rail fence in our backyard. There are only four lining the property line, but I wish they went the whole way. Some people call them Christmas bushes. Very cheery red berries in the winter.

582 Fuyu Line

Fuyu Line

oil on canvas

8x24" 

$288

     This year's series of persimmons has been fun. Next week we go to the Mandarin Festival in Newcastle CA where I hope to find my favorite little oranges with stems and leaves still on. I will be needing new material for next year.

     

581 Eli

Eli

oil on canvas

12x9"

$216

     Eli lives at Animal Ark in Reno NV. His ears are very short because they froze off before the good people in Reno could rescue him. I took this picture of him considering a reddish fruit. I think it was a carrot, but since I do not paint carrots very well, I turned it into a tomato. I hope it is true that bears eat tomatoes. If not, then this is an example of artistic license.

Persimmon Crowd

oil on canvas

6x18"

$162

     Sometimes when I paint these little orange fruits, they begin to take on personality. I think of them as individuals, people, boys and girls, friends. But at dinner time I don't think about that.

578 California Apple

California Apple

oil on canvas

12x9"

$216

     It is harvest time for apples and persimmons in Northern California, so I must hurry to get my photography done before they are all gone to market. The trees are beautiful fully laden with their fruit. I just take lots of pictures of the trees, go home, download, and look for the paintings in the trees. One tree can give me several compositions to choose from. I feel so rich.

577 Red Zinnia

Red Zinnia

oil on canvas

9x12"

$216

     I believe this is the most difficult piece I have done all year! It was not the white on white that was the problem. It was all the little bitty details in the phone itself. And I left most of them out.

575 Peach with Leaves

Peach with Leaves

oil on canvas

18x6"

$162

     I had toned the canvas with Venetian Red and then found the reddish peach looked pretty on it. I decided to keep the color of the toned canvas but thickened the surface with more paint. The colors worked for me and I had very little more to do. It was like the painting said, "Here, Cheryl. We are going to give this one to you."

     Thank you very much.

574 Peeking Deer

Peeking Deer

oil on canvas

16x12

$384

     It was pretty cute. This one was standing behind the tree and peeked out to look at me when I took his picture. He was coming in to get a drink at the birdbath (the one that got broken when we moved). Now we have a new birdbath and I am hoping for visits from our new neighbors, the family of deer that lives here in the woods near us. I need fresh material.

573 Greta in Blue Cap

Greta in Blue Cap

oil on canvas board, cradled

6x6"

$100

     I measured her face to see how she stacked up to the Golden Ratio. Point for point perfection. I love her in Ninotchka, when she says, "Must you flirt? Suppress it."

572 Pink Camellias

Pink Camellias

oil on canvas

14x11"

$308

     As you may know, flowers give me trouble. Our camellias this year were so beautiful and I love that pretty pink color. I am just always worried that my paintings of flowers will look trite, and they often do.

     I did enjoy composing the canvas though. I am interested in the divine proportion. If you multiply the length and width of the canvas by .618, you arrive at a result that is better than the rule of thirds. I never brag about my math skills, but I find the way the divine ratio works is great fun.

571 Madison B

Madison B

oil on canvas

12 x 12"

     I do not do commissions. I have said it before and I say it now. But when I saw Madison, I knew I would make an exception. She struck me as truly exceptional.

     She did, however, remind me of why I do not do commissions. First, she is a brown dog. How to make the brown look beautiful? Then there are her white spots. How to include them without it looking stupid? And I never would have been able to reproduce her spots and not someone else's spots. So leave them out.

     Her eyes though turned out more easily. I did work on them quite a while and used all the tricks in my art bin, but I did not find them to be problematical. I hope her family agrees with me.

     

570 For Julee

For Julee

oil on canvas

12x9"

     Julee did a big favor for my sister when she needed some serious help after her hospital stay. As a way of saying "thank you," my sister asked her favorite artist (me) to paint Julee's adorable dog as a gift. Here is the little darling, and, as usual, I fall in love with the subjects I paint.

569 Peach with Leaf

Peach with Leaf

oil on canvas

6x18"

$162

 

     The Growers Market is the best place to find fruit with the leaves still on. I bought several and then photographed them right away because I knew they would not last. I was right. We ate them immediately. Local summertime peaches--heavenly!

568 Teapot

Teapot

oil on canvas

24x8"

$288

 

     I suppose most everyday objects are rich material for metaphors, but my favorites are shoes and teapots. When I paint a teapot I can think about the setting, who is doing the preparing, who is doing the drinking, what they are doing and thinking or dreaming. For me, a teapot holds more than just tea.

567 Drinking Fawn

Drinking Fawn

oil on canvas

12x9"

$216

     They eat everything in sight. Now something cool to wash it down.

     Our birdbath gave us joy with the visits of so many birds and animals. How sorry we were that it got broken when we moved into town.

566 Marlene D

Marlene D

oil on canvas

6x6"

$100

     I like Marlene very much, but she is just a little scary. Those eyes seem to say to me that she means business.

     She is most often seen in her movies as a blonde but this image suggests quite dark hair. It looks good.

     My favorite of her movies is Witness for the Prosecution.

565 Line Up with Leaves

Line Up with Leaves

oil on canvas

8x24"

$288

    It is fun to arrange the fruit in a long line and paint them on an extreme rectangle canvas. I have enjoyed including the crease in the linen.

     

564 Deer Nibbles

Deer Nibbles

oil on canvas

11x14" 

$308

     We love the deer, but they eat EVERYTHING! I caught this young buck right in the act.  He looked at me as if to say, "What?"

563 Loretta

Loretta

oil on canvas

6x6

$100

     Same old problem, they are more beautiful than I can make them. I am doing better these days with the likeness though.

562 Mandarin Leaf Closeup

Mandarin Leaf Closeup

oil on canvas

6x6"

$75

     Sometimes if I zoom in, I find lovely new possibilities.

Mandarin Leaf

oil on canvas

9x12"

$216 

     Must paint them fast. So good to eat.

560 Sumi

Sumi

oil on canvas

12x9"

$216

     I love sumi painting and these brushes have so much character. (All my brushes are beautiful.) So I decided to paint their portrait.

558 Louise B

Louise B

oil on canvas

6x6"

$100

     Louise Brooks--I have painted her several times. I enjoy her "garconne" look, but I do not worry too much about likeness since her haircut identifies her so quickly. But this time I really did try to get a good likeness because I met the president of the Louise Brooks Society, and if anyone would notice if I got it right or not, he would.

557 Mandarin Shadow

Mandarin Shadow

oil on canvas

8x10"

$160

    It is a lucky find when the fruit still has stems and leaves. I bought the whole bunch and took lots of photographs. When I saw this one, I knew I wanted to paint it right away. At first I did not notice the crease in the linen. When I did, I had to decide whether to leave it in or leave it out. I am very pleased to have left it in. Don't know much about painting drapery, but I like the way this little wrinkle turned out.

556 Lemon Squeeze

Lemon Squeeze

oil on canvas

8x10"

$160

     I am trying to develop my still life painting, and I love to paint fruit, but utensils are a different story. In my kitchen I use the reamer regularly as I do my steel bowls, but I bet I will not paint them again any time soon. The bowl was not as hard as I expected it to be, but the reamer was ten times harder.

555 Sliced Boscs

Sliced Boscs

oil on canvas

8x16"

$256

     Although bosc pears look quite brownish, they sometimes also have a lovely orangey color that goes well with blue. Because orange and blue are complementary, the orange came out really, really orange, and the blue really, really blue. They could have used a little neutralizing or some split complement work. Aside from that, I love that little star shape in the center when you cut a pear crosswise.

553 Pitcher with lemons

Pitcher with Gold Trim

oil on canvas

9x12"

$216

     I wanted to paint a still life in an analogous color scheme. The yellow lemons and napkin set the stage. I got my inspiration from Janet Rickus, and I plan to borrow more from her wonderful vision. One problem I have with that is I do not have a lot of crockery. She says she borrows from friends. I may have to do that too.

552 Persimmon Scatter

Persimmon Scatter

oil on canvas

6x18"

$162

     I have always enjoyed round orange fruits for my paintings. It is perfect when they still have a leaf or two on them, but that almost never happens unless I do the picking myself. The thing about persimmons is that stem section. Only four little leaves, what could be so hard? I don't know, but it is.

551 Army Phone

Army Phone

oil on canvas

9x12"

$216

     My friend found this phone for me at an antique fair. Working rotary phones are very rare now. I just love them. The sound, the weight, the way a secretary would use her pencil to dial because her nails were too long, things like that.

     This one happens to be an army phone. I can just imagine someone using it to call home and tell us all that wars are no more.

550 Marlene

Marlene

oil on canvas

6x6"

$100

     Marlene embodies that look I love from the 30's and 40's. In this image she is so proud and defiant looking. I almost got it, but not quite.