A Pear - ently Red

Original Oil Painting on stretched Linen  6 x 6 - SOLD
Currently Showing at the Christmas Small Works Show
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

 I'm really into painting these rich red Anjou pears.  I love the gorgeous sculptural form of pears and the colour of these Red Anjous is just so inspiring. I think it was faster to paint than it was to name. My two kids were in hysterics coming up with all kinds of crazy names, and finally I had to just stop the madness and I went with my daughters first serious suggestion. It was a fun family moment!

A Pear - ently Red

Olé!

Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas  36 x 24  $600 + s/h


I had so much fun painting "Three Amigos", the post of July 9th, that I decided to take it to a large format. I added an extra bowl for height and a few things in the foreground because of the extra space in changing from a square to rectangular composition. All the objects are many times their life size, and seen in real life, the stack of bowls is quite impressive, like a feat of balance. So I called it Olé! Greatly enlarged objects are an interesting concept. Maybe something to consider in the future. I think I prefer Three Amigos, probably because the image was fresh for me, and it was so cute, it almost had it's own personality, but Ole has some power. Which do you prefer? Tell me what you think about this concept. This is the last of my Mexican theme.....for the moment.

Olé!

Ensalada

Ensalada Original Acrylic on Canvas 16 x 16  $350 
Please contact for shipping quote


Here's one more Mexican themed Still Life. My sister brought me this lovely plate from a trip to Mexico. I had a lot of fun with the composition, using the pattern in the tablecloth. The plate was very time consuming because of the light play on the fluted edge. This one is currently at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria for the Summer Small Works Show.

 

Ensalada

Fiesta

Acrylic on Exhibition Canvas 12 x 12 $225

Still on a Mexican theme, I thought that all the colours and patterns were an absolute party, so I called it Fiesta. I'm quite pleased with all the peppers, especially the one cut open on the cloth. It was a bit challenging painting the peppers over the patterns in the bowl, and getting them to read correctly.

Fiesta

Red and Green

Original Oil on Canvas Panel  6 x 6  
Currently Showing at the Christmas Small Works Show
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

I just love the combination of these two complimentary colours, red and green. I spotted these grapes in the fruit bowl and quickly put them in my favourite green bowl and painted away. My husband was a bit concerned that once again he couldn't eat the fruit he had just brought home, but I managed to complete the painting in time for dessert.

Red and Green

Apeeling

On the weekend I wrote that I had planned to post this step by step, but then decided not to because I'm thinking of entering this painting in a show, and I thought it would be against the show rules. I reviewed the rules and think it's fine. I was being a bit a too diligent I think. So here's the post.

Here is the value study of my painting 'Apeeling'. I drew it out using a view finder, and measuring the proportions and angles with my paintbrush. Then painted in the abstract shapes and values.

I've started blocking in the big abstract shapes.

This is the modeling phase, where I'm trying to see and create the subtle changes in colour, tone and temperature. Working on creating the volume of the objects, seeing colours reflected into the underside of the chrome bar, and starting to create the reflection of the peel onto the tabletop.

Original Oil on Linen  11 x 14  $650

This is the highlight and accent phase. I added the highlights and applied some impasto paint to further emphasize the apple and peel. I'm trying to decide if I should further define the chrome edge of the table. I tried to downplay it so it wouldn't compete with the apple, but I'm thinking it needs some crisping up. Any comments?

 



 

Apeeling

Tuscan Oranges

Original Acrylic on Exhibition Canvas   20 x 16  SOLD


This is one of the paintings that I submitted for the Summer Small Works Show at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. It's a vibrant, fun, feel good painting, and will make an impact on someone's kitchen or breakfast nook wall.
I have been busy painting a piece for my Retro Series, which I had planned to post today. I've been photographing it in progress, to show a step by step, but decided that I like
it so much, I'm going to save it for an upcoming show, and therefore can't post it. Sorry about that, but I hope you enjoy the painting I posted in lieu.

Tuscan Oranges

Still Life Show - Vancouver BC

From the Garden Acrylic on Exhibition Canvas  24 x 24  $800 + s/h

Au Marché  Acrylic on Exhibition Canvas  24 x 24  $800 + s/h

I'm very pleased to announce that two of my paintings 'From the Garden' and 'Au Marché' have been juried into the Annual Still Life Show at Federation Gallery in Vancouver BC. The exhibition runs until June 27 and you can view the entire show online at
http://artists.ca/show/still_life_show

Check out the site for more information about the Federation of Canadian Artists, a community of artists and art lovers who share a passion for the visual arts through education, exhibition and communication. Also check out two International Shows coming up soon, that you may be interested in entering - POTE 'Painting on the Edge', and AIRS 'Annual International Representational Show'.

Still Life Show - Vancouver BC

Lone Lemon

Original Oil on Canvas Panel  6 x 6  $85 + s/h

In this painting I continued with my goal of painting what I see. Working on getting the colour and value tones just right. I have found that when painting reflections, whether on water, or on something reflective like this stainless steel bowl, it's best to forget what you're painting and just paint the abstract shapes. 

 

Lone Lemon

Sweet n' Spicey

Original Oil on Panel 6 x 6 - SOLD
Currently Showing at the Christmas Small Works Show
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria


This is the first post workshop painting I've done. It's always interesting to paint following a workshop, because you feel like you have all this new knowledge and no idea how to paint! So I've tried to forget everything I knew before and focus on the new stuff. My goal here was trying to nail the colour and tonal values - painting what I see. I'm pleased with the outcome, especially with the jalapeno pepper on the plate. The colour nuances really worked on that little guy.

Sweet n' Spicey

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

Just Picked

Just Picked
Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
12 x 12 SOLD

I have this great over sized Italian Latte cup and saucer that looked fabulous filled with cherries this past summer. That's about all the cherries we managed to get out of our tree because the birds make a steady diet of them, until we're left with just the leaves. But since I love all the birds that visit our yard, I'm willing to share. The fruit and the cup were quite reflective, so I concentrated on that with minimal brushstrokes, and trying to give the painting a summery, fun feel.

Just Picked

Zen Moment

Zen Moment   Oil on Linen  6 x 6 $65

Here is a little bit of Zen going out to all you Mother's on this glorious warm sunny Mother's Day, here in Victoria. We haven't had the best weather this Spring, so today is a real gift. Enjoy!

 

Zen Moment

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

Golden Pears

Golden Pears   Acrylic on  Linen  $65

I had a great time painting this little picture. The pears were quite bumpy and full of personality, which showed up well with the lighting. I've just started working on these small paintings, which take about two hours to complete. I'm hoping to work in this format regularly to sharpen my painting skills. 

 

Golden Pears