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.

548 Lola

Lola

oil on canvas

7x5"

$100

     Lola, beloved kitty. Prettiest eyes in the whole world.

548 Persimmon Lineup

Persimmon Lineup

oil on canvas

6x18"

$162

     Breaking rules again today. This time it is the "Rule of Odds." There is an even half dozen persimmons in my lineup. Maybe it would have been better with five or seven, but it is six and I do not mind. It looks OK to me.

    

547 Four Fuyus

Four Fuyus

oil on canvas

6x18"

$162

     These extreme canvases, 1:3 ratio, are really too long for good compositions but still fun to do. I like the challenge of arranging the subject, and I find that people enjoy them for just that crazy space on the wall that will not take a traditional canvas.

546 Persimmon Extreme

Persimmon Extreme

oil on canvas

18x6"

$108

     A funny thing about a persimmon tree is that all its leaves can drop and the fruit still hangs on. You see an old bare tree full of fruit. Persimmons are a good crop in California. The Fuyu, the kind shown here in my painting, is my favorite for eating because it is nice even when a little firm.  The Hachiya, the longer pointy ones are often bitter and make your mouth pucker up unpleasantly. But both can make a lovely painting. Such a color!

545 Eleanor

Eleanor

oil on cradled canvas board

6x6"

$100

     Eleanor Powell was a fabulous dancer. She had such a sweet, wholesome look that made me like her, but she was not much of an actress, which probably explains why she was rarely a leading lady. She was still a bundle of talent. I love the one where she dances with the dog.