Friday, October 11, 2013

Abby Extreme


Abby Extreme
Oil on Canvas
12x36"
$432

     This is called Abby Extreme because I painted the abyssinian on one of my extreme rectangles that I usually save for still lifes, but it took the extreme to get all that long cat in the picture. The cats are so great, you don't want to leave anything out.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013


Ft Bragg Dahlias
Oil on Canvas
11x14"
$308

     First a landscape and now flowers. Hope! If anybody tells you that painting these two genres is easy, my advice is don't believe them. It would be easy to paint them to look dopey, trite, boring, and childish. It is a rigorous quest for me to paint them to look the opposite of those things.



Thursday, September 19, 2013

Mendocino Cypress


Mendocino Cypress
Oil on Canvas
12x16"
$384

      Here is a landscape although it is a scene by the ocean. That little strip of blue sea cannot qualify it as a seascape, can it?
      Landscapes, seascapes, they are a favorite. I live in a beautiful place. I wish I could paint it better. My landscapes often fail. (I mean really often.) It is funny that I have not given up on them.



Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Little Fawn Girl


Little Fawn Girl
Oil on Canvas
12x12"
$288

     A good neighbor gives me photos of his Abyssinian cats. He knows I love to paint them, but I can so easily get the color wrong. True fanciers know all the colors and exactly which one they own and love. This kitten is supposed to be Fawn. I hope I am forgiven.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Two Plums on Branch


Two Plums on Branch
Oil on Canvas
8x8"
$128

     The plums on our tree will provide me with five paintings this year. Here is #3. I climbed around in the tree taking pictures just for this purpose. I use photographs for my paintings of fruit because we eat the fruit before I can finish all the paintings. I use photographs for the animal paintings because animals will not hold a pose. I use photographs often, I must confess.      
     Today, in Robert Genn's Twice-Weekly Newsletter, (Painters Keys) he discusses the shortcomings of using photographs in painting. He says, "Sitting in front of a subject and sweating it out may be the old fashioned path but, in my opinion, it can produce better art. "Cavete camerae," said the well-known Roman philosopher and poet Kjerkius Gennius, (36BC) "Beware of the camera."     
      I take it to heart, but here I am still, a painter who uses them. In fact, I am looking forward to working with them again next week.



Monday, July 29, 2013


One Red Plum
Oil on Canvas
9x12"
$216

     The arrangement of the leaves across the canvas is what I was after. Other leaves were in the scene  and I painted them too with the result that the painting was not so good. When I eliminated some of those background leaves and simplified down to the ones I really liked, then it was much better. Simplifying is an artisitic skill, something I know I should do, but I don't always practice what I know until I stop to remember what I know.


Friday, July 19, 2013

Red Plums


Red Plums
Oil on Canvas
8x8"
$128

     Our plum tree yielded so many great plums this summer. I loved photographing the fruit on the tree for painting later. The photographs were really very pretty, but when I tried to paint them their true color, the painting was no good. After many washdowns, I finally realized I was not going to make that work and decided to use the colors I love. I just need to remind myself that I am an artist.
      "Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid."  --Jules Feiffer.
    
     

Friday, July 12, 2013

Red Apple Pieces


Red Apple Pieces
Oil on Canvas
5x7"
$70

     I am happy to say that I have something in common with Qiang Huang, an artist I admire very much. He likes to paint apples when he needs to regain his bearings. I find that it is helpful to me too. Apples are usually on hand. They are simple and familiar, yet they possess qualities and subtleties that are delightful to pay attention to. When a little out of focus, paint an apple.


Monday, July 8, 2013

Red Umbrella Blues


Red Umbrella Blues
Oil on Canvas
16x20"
$640

     Monte seems to be the star of the month. It just turned out that way.
     I do not normally paint scenes. I usually paint things, but the story in this scene was appealing, I thought, so I went ahead and gave it a try. I do not think it successful enough to make me want to paint scenes all the time now, but I like it well enough to keep it.



Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Resting Stump


The Resting Stump
Oil on Canvas
20x16"
$640

     Monte goes up on the madrone stump to sun himself. I think he looks cute when he does that so I wanted to paint him, but I had to try four times before I got this one and decided to keep it. I think the reason I like it lies in the limited palette: prussian blue, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and of course, white. I found it exciting to watch those few colors create the harmonious color scheme for the painting.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Orange Dahlia


Orange Dahlia
Oil on Canvas
6x6"
$72

     This flower in real life just glows. It is a beautiful bright orange. Of course, I had to give it a try, but I always feel disappointed when I paint flowers. They never look as good as they do in life. At least I can't make it so. They seem dumb looking to me. If I did paint a good one, I wonder if I could tell.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Sleepy Fox


Sleepy Fox
Oil on Canvas
12x16"
$384

     Animal Ark, near Reno, Nevada, is a refuge for animals who cannot thrive on their own in the wild.  What a beautiful day we had there photographing the wonderful creatures, knowing they were protected, not imprisoned.
     This little darling was too adorable for words. I painted him on a dark green canvas. At the very beginning, with only a few strokes, it read fox. How much more work should I do on it, I wondered. I decided to do little. It was so rough and unfinished looking, but I allowed it to be, for fear of losing the freshness of the paint and also the charm of the animal.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Mandarin Bowl


Mandarin Bowl
Oil
8x10"
$160

     I wanted to continue with the warm background. The slightly blue bowl is a nice complement, and nature provides the lovely cool green leaves. Can't improve on that.



Tuesday, May 14, 2013


Persimmon on Gold
Oil on Canvas
5x7"
$70

     Another orange-red globe, but this time on an analogous background, not complementary. I even tried to put orange in the green leaves. It is really, really warm. I love it. I liked the cool backgrounds, but this change feels good.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Mandarin on Blue


Mandarin on Blue
Oil on Canvas
6x6"
$72


     Orange and blue. They are so great together they should be labeled as "too easy."
     The little mandarins continue to please and delight me and I seem to need something friendly these days. I will save the challenges for another day.

     



Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Two More Mandarins


Two Mandarins
6x8"
Oil
$96

     This painting is very similar to one I did a few weeks ago, but it is different just as every moment is different. While I painted this one, the other one was completely out of mind. That must be what makes it possible to paint the same thing over and over, like those haystacks.
   

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Cat


The Cat
16x12"
Oil
$336

     It has been a while since I painted the cat. I thought this posture was very engaging. She is so beautiful, with her pure white fur and fabulous eyes, one black rimmed and one orange rimmed. That contrasting patch of dark pigmentation she has above her right eye makes her a little glamorous. In this version, I hardly painted her at all, only her pretty little face. That is where the real interest is for me, so that is what I gave my attention to and let the rest speak for itself.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Mandarin Lineup


Mandarin Lineup
12x36"
Oil
$300

     These mandarins are on a large extreme rectangle, a canvas I like to use from time to time. It is fun because it is an out-of-the-ordinary format. The oranges themselves continue to delight me as I paint them. I will do another, though smaller, before I must go shopping again. I did a little photography of the fruit for later, but painting from life is more personal and I like it better.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Mandarin Pair


Mandarin Pair
6x8"
Oil
$96
DPW $76

     Two bright orange mandarin oranges. Two orange balls would be fun to look at, but I love the complexity the stems and leaves add. The shadows are an important element too. This was fun to paint.
    

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Mandarin Single


Mandarin Single
6x8"
Oil
$96
DPW $76

     Imagine a box full of bright orange mandarins with their stems and leaves still on! The box even said, "With stems and leaves." For me that was the best news. Supermarket fruit is so bare. The greenery makes the fruit so beautiful and interesting. Orange--what a color! I bought the whole box. I now have plenty of something lovely to paint for days and days.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Red Gerbera


Red Gerbera
5x7"
Oil
$70
DPW $60

     Here is a cheerful flower. The sun hit it and made it glow. How often nature dazzles our eyes. So, of course, we want to paint it. I think that must be akin to "gilding the lily." Anyway, I had to paint it, and I got to use all my warms. But they would not have stood out without the cool dark background made up of my darkest blues and greens.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Dogwood Branch


Dogwood Branch
8x24"
Oil
$200
DPW $160

     The dogwoods here on our property are white, but I pinked this one because I wanted it to stand out on a greenish background. The dogwoods in this series are from photographs I took last year. In order to paint something other than the color it is, I have to render it in black and white, grayscale, on the computer. Otherwise I would forget what I am doing and start painting the color I see, white. Having photographs that I could alter helped in this case.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Dogwood on Red


Dogwood on Red
8x10"
Oil
$160
DPW $130

     I wanted to paint the simplest thing with as few strokes as I could get away with. I painted the flower itself first and then the leaves and then the stem. Finally, I put in the red background. The painting is small and simple, and because I did not allow myself to go back into the shapes, it remains fresh. I could easily have overworked it, but I am trying to "look more, paint less." (Sure is red.)

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Dogwood Pair


Dogwood Pair
8x8"
Oil
$128
DPW $102

     There is a rule somewhere against painting two similar objects without something to unbalance them, and I usually go by the practice of placing the focal point in the upper part of the canvas, in a "sweet spot." But I just thought these little dogwoods were so pretty that I painted what I saw and broke my own rules. I did try to make one more dominant than the other, but it is still a pair of dogwoods. "So sue me. Shoot arrows through me."

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Red and White in a Jar


Red and White in a Jar
8x8"
Oil
$128
DPW $102

     Another effort at simplifying the shapes. I found that the parts that I worked on least are the parts that are the best. 
     "Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify!" Thoreau's principle is a good one to live by and a good one to paint by. I can fritter away the vitality of an image by detail and overworking. I should put the quotation on a banner and hang it on my easel.

Monday, February 11, 2013

The Amalgam Challenge


Flowers after Lisa Daria
6x6"
Oil
$72
DPW $60

     Jo MacKenzie posted this Challenge on Daily Paintworks. Since I am her fan I wanted to be sure to do it. The challenge is to paint in the style of another artist. Since I am also a fan of Lisa Daria, I knew right away who I wanted to emulate.
     Lisa paints flowers in a loose abstract style. She simplifies the shapes to an extreme reduction and the result is wonderful. I knew I could learn a lot from her, so I was happy to see Jo's Challenge.
     Could I simplify to the degree that Lisa does? Nope. At moments I forgot what I was up to and fell into my own way of seeing. Other times I became intrigued with a lovely little detail and wanted to be sure to include it when Lisa would never have done that. 
     Nevertheless, I believe I still learned something from this Challenge (assignment?). I intend to try for more abstraction and simplification in my next piece. Thank you, Jo and Lisa.



Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Clementine, Cherries, & Daisy


Clementine, Cherries, & Daisy
8x6"
$96
DPW $76

     This composition is very much like the last post. This one I find more interesting though, probably because there are more objects to look at, and I believe the color carries the eye around the canvas better. It is, therefore, more fun to look at. Another aspect that makes me like this one better is the overall color unity. Mostly warm with some cool; mostly middle value with some light and just a little dark. Aim for a dominant value with a secondary and then just a little of a third.



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Glass Challenge


Jar of Red and Yellow Flowers
8x6"
Oil
$96
DPW $76

     This Challenge is to paint glass, so I did, but you can hardly see it. Such a small part of the jar shows. It was fun to paint anyway. It is almost like painting what you don't see. And then suddenly there is so much to see. A lot of looking goes into painting glass.
     This painting presented me with other challenges. I wanted to paint something with lots of blue, a blue painting. Now I am not completely comfortable with it. Is it too blue? Should there be more blue in the flowers? Too much? Not enough? Wrong blue? Sometimes I just don't know. Maybe blue is not my color.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Persimmon in a Tree


Persimmon in a Tree
6x6"
Oil
$72
DPW $60

     I have had this image in my files for a long time and have tried to paint it a time or two but always ended up dismissing it. I decided to give it one more chance, and if it did not work, then I would dismiss it permanently. I guess I decided it turned out all right this time.
     You might think you could hardly go wrong with that simple lovely shape and that great color scheme straight from nature. Nevertheless, I had to try and try and try again before I gave it the OK.

Monday, January 14, 2013

The Something New Challenge


The Cat in Watercolor
8x10"
NFS
Pure Exercise

     The Challenge was to do something you never do. I have occasionally painted in watercolor, but not  for a very long time--and it shows! But I wanted to try it and show it even if it is a little overworked in some areas and underworked in others. Watercolor is an exciting medium. You really have to cooperate with it, give it its head, don't try to boss it around. Much of the painting experience is like that regardless of the medium. But watercolor! Do any watercolorists ever have a clear idea of what will come out of it when they begin?



Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Mum Jar


Mum Jar
12x12"
Oil
$128
DPW $102

     A flower in a jar. I do it all the time, especially when all the other flowers in the bouquet are dead except for the little mum that hangs on longer than all the rest. But what was most interesting in this setup was the way the light refracted through the water and glowed on the backdrop. That was the very brightest spot in the whole composition. With that lying very close to the almost black stem and leaves, it made a nice contrast. Visual interest is fun to look for even in the simplest scenes.  

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Camellia Surprise Make-over

Happy New Year!

 I begin this new year with a fresh face on an old painting.


Camellia Surprise 2
5x7"
Oil
$70

     Last May I painted a version of this flower that pleased me very much. I had been running into stumbling blocks in my work, and the process of painting one small flower was just what I needed. But then as time went by, I began to see problems with it and thought it was not so good. I finally accepted that it was just not OK, so I gave it a "whitewash" by painting a layer of titanium white over it and letting it dry good and dry. Then I repainted my little flower.
     I suppose some people would think the first one was better than this one. Well, it is too late now. This is the one I have. I think it is more fun to look at, so I am glad I did it. Here is the original: