Reflections

When I was a little girl, it was my job to polish my mother's silver tea service for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. This is her sugar bowl and painting it brought back many memories.

Reflections on metal are fascinating. Silver is painted much darker than you would think and the best way I have found is to forget what you are looking at and simply paint the colors you see. Tip: Turn off the left side of your brain and give free rein to the right.

Works for me!

Sugar Bowl and Rose   6"x6"

Planning for Winter

The weather has turned and rather than spend those days when plein air is not possible working totally from sketches/photos/memory, I am going to rediscover still life (subject matter that I haven't visited very often in the last few years). I have set up a corner with a light, various fabrics for draping, and have started a collection of different objects to paint, including some crocheted doilies that have been in the family for a while.

I seem to gravitate toward kitchen objects at the moment, and I like to raid the refrigerator for fruits and vegetables.

The little 6" x 6" painting below is a Granny Smith that pleased my eye. After I was done painting, I ate it and it was delicious!

Granny Smith    6x6

Little Bit of Heaven

I always encourage anyone who will listen to visit Alaska if they get a chance.  I have seen no landscape more spectacular. Denali guides get to see such sights as this, painted from several photos my son brought back from one of his expeditions.
I was struck by the graphic, abstract qualities of the landscape and tried to think of composition before subject matter. I will probably never make it to this altitude in reality, but maybe I can get there on canvas.

Josh's Office   9" x 12"  oil on canvas

Welcome Autumn!

When the weather turns cool I feel the need to paint in oranges, golds, and browns. My favorite time of the year urges me to head for the woods paint the glories of Autumn. When I can't get out, I bring the harvest to me in the form of pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, and mums.

I never tire of their beauty and variety!

Autumn Still LIfe   oil on canvas  12 x 16

A Moment in Time

Conventional wisdom by conventional artists says that morning light is cool and afternoon light is warm. But the other morning, as I started out on my morning walk, I hadn't even gotten out of the driveway before I was stopped in my tracks by the light shining on a group of tree trunks. They were lit with an intense reddish light that was made all the more dramatic by the cool blues in the mist shrouded background.
I couldn't get it out of my head and so I painted it as best I could. I wish I could paint with light instead of pigments so that everyone could see what I saw.

September Morning Light   16" x 20"

Sometimes conventional wisdom needs to be ignored.......

I've got four hours....so paint!

Hiking in Trexler Nature Preserve is always a balm to the soul. This painting is done from sketches and photos taken on the trail. Deep summer is SO green....but there are a thousand different greens. I recently read that the human eye can see 10,000 different colors. How marvelous!! I will bite my tongue the next time I am tempted to complain about the color "monotony" of a scene.

Initial sketch in yellow ochre on a toned canvas.

After two hours of painting.

After four hours of painting.

At the two hour point things slowed down considerably. When I reach that point in a painting decisions become more critical, and so I become more careful. I put the painting away and let it "rest" overnight. Next day I studied it again (with fresh eyes), made a mark here or there, then signed it. Done!

The painting is 16" x 20".

Earthquakes, Hurricanes and Flooding, Oh My!

I made it back safe from Alaska (no problems coming back) and what do I find when I get home? First, an earthquake. Then, a hurricane. Cleanup from the flooding is going to delay me painting so many of the wonderful landscape scenes I encountered on my visit north.

I did sneak off for a few hours to paint a quick sky study and decided to see how close in value and how neutral in color I could make it and still have it "read" well. I tend to go for bolder colors and values that range from 1 - 10, so I thought this would be a good exercise for me. Did I succeed?

Grey Day Above    9" x 12"