Bowl of Mandarines

Bowl of Mandarins  Oil on Linen  8 x 8  NFS

I finished this little painting yesterday, and it wasn't until I posted it, that I realized I don't like the dark background. It's too harsh  and cold, with the warm soft colours of the foreground. So I will go back into it and make some changes to the background, and then repost once I've made those changes. I think maybe a subdued wallpaper, or kitchen tiles. Any ideas for the changes?

Bowl of Mandarines

A Krafty Pair

Original Oil on Linen 8 x 8

I have an old cheese box that was apparently used as a mold for making Kraft Cheddar Cheese. It's definitely a muse for me. I've painted it with a number of supporting actors. I also love painting Red Anjou pears, as the colours go from deep rich reds into paler versions with undertones of ochres. These ones were the paler version. I really loved how the light was hitting the top and left side of the box and reflecting off of the pears. I'll be showing this painting and the one below, along with several more still life paintings and some west coast landscapes, at the TD Art Gallery Paint In this Saturday. I'll be demonstrating still life painting and will have a station set up for anyone who would like to take a moment to paint with me. Then I'll hang your painting across the top of my market tent for the remainder of the day, and you can pick it up toward the end of the Paint-In. If you're in the area, I'd love to see you and chat, and of course spend a few minutes painting with you.

I've been having a very hectic life recently and haven't been getting in nearly enough painting time. We have visitors from France for the next month, but I do hope to get in some plein air painting and post those.

A Bunch of Hotties

I'm reposting this one, as the picture is so much better than the first one I posted. I'm sometimes a little photography challenged. In fact, what improved this one is a layer of varnish which brought back all the darks. Oh the challenges we face!

A Krafty Pair

Pomagranites

Original Oil Painting on Linen 8 x 8 Framed - SOLD

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I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm working on more painterly brushstrokes, and was thinking about lost edges as well. I'm quite pleased with the spontaneity of it. The photo has some glare unfortunately. If I manage to get a better shot, I'll repost. I find that the darker the colours with oil paintings, the more difficult it is to photograph. Anyone else have that problem? And if you do, how do you deal with it?

This painting reminds me of living in Toulouse France. We had many exotic (for us) fruit and nut trees in our yard, and one of those was a pomegranate tree. I didn't know what to do with a pomegranate and was told to us them in salads. So here's a great little recipe if you happen to paint a pomegranate and then want to eat it. Baby spinach or mixed greens, lots of pomegranate seeds, walnuts, a bit of crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese, and an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. It's really yummy!

Pomagranites

Tempting

Currently showing at The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

I just love these Red Anjou pears. The colours and form are so inspiring to paint. I got a bit of glare in the photo but I haven't figured out how to avoid that with the darks in oil paintings yet. If anyone has any tips please let me know.

Tempting

Three's a Crowd

Currently showing at The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

I haven't done a still life from real life in a few weeks because I've been working on my Beach House series and some landscape pieces. I find painting still life to be a totally different feel from landscapes. It feels quite intense, focusing on the light and form of the objects and trying to see each variation in colour and temperature. It's fun but hard! The photo is a bit darker than the painting because I had to photograph after work and the light wasn't optimal. I tried to lighten it but it became too contrasty. But I think you get the idea. 

Three's a Crowd

Kraft Canadian

Kraft Canadian - 6 x 12 SOLD

Original Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

As you can see, Canadian has a bit of glare on it that I can't seem to get rid of in the photo, but it gives you the idea. I'm on so many learning curves at the moment - painting, computer skills, photographing....it's very challenging and sometimes I just have to settle for my best try. :-)

Canadian
Original Oil 6 x 6
Right side of Diptych

Here is side two. I've had great feedback on these two little studies so I'm going to further investigate this theme. I'm going to try to post the two sides together, so you can see it as a whole, but I'm still being photographically challenged, so if it doesn't work for tonight, I'll post when I can get a good representation.

Kraft Canadian

Kraft

Original Oil 6 x 6
Left side of diptych

I've decided to create some paintings using some of the Retro items we have around our kitchen. This is an old cheese box from Kraft Canadian Cheese, and I was told when I bought it, that it was actually an original cheese mold. I don't know if that's true or not, but I love the box, and have many ideas for future paintings utilizing it. I had lots of fun painting the logo and am pleased with the colours forming the tomato as well. I'll post the other half tomorrow.

I apologize for the quality of the photo. I'm having trouble with my photos having glare or being too high tone. Someone suggested that it was the white balance in my camera, so I'm looking into that.

Kraft

Persimmons

Persimmons   Acrylic on  Linen  $65

I decided to work at making the brush strokes painterly in this one. I tried to make as few strokes as possible while capturing the lighting effect and creating the volumes in the fruits. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

 

Persimmons

Tuscan Olives 2

Tuscan Olives 2   Acrylic on Exhibition Canvas  $85

I painted a "Tuscan Olives" painting for the Christmas Small Works Show at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria 2009. I really enjoyed doing that painting and decided to paint this similar one. I love painting in warm Tuscan and Mediterranean colours.

 

Tuscan Olives 2

Red Anjou

Red Anjous   Acrylic on  Linen  $65

I had fun with this little painting. The pears and the fabric were quite close in colour. I was using a daylight painting lamp which made all the colours and nuances looked great. Then I took it out from under the daylight lamp and all the variances in colour disappeared. I had to go back in and really push the highlights so that picture would read properly in regular lighting. It was a learning experience, using a painting lamp while working in evening light.

Red Anjou