"Candy Cane and Holly" Oil on 5x7 board

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work in progress photo

"Pomegranate and Pears" Oil on 5x7 board

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This is still the same pomegranate as in the last painting.  I set this still life up days ago, but didn't have time to paint it.  I took some pictures of it then, which was good, because now the fruit is over ripe, and I had the photos to refer to. 

"Pomegranate" Oil on 6x6 board

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I looked though all of the pomegranates at the store to find one with the little tips still on the top.  I found this one and wrapped it carefully and got it home with the tips still on.  That made me happy, because so many times they break off before I get home!  Anyway...  it seemed like painting it took forever, I felt like every time I looked at it, there were more colors of red to try and figure out.  They are so pretty. 

"Fruit with Persimmon and Cranberries" Oil on 8x10 board

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Here is the finished painting!   There are so many different textures and colors in this painting, I learned alot as I worked on it.  Thanks for looking :-)

Fruit with Persimmon... 8x 10...work in progress

 

I've been looking for a white ceramic pedestal bowl to use in my still lifes for a long time.    I finally spotted this one at the Goodwill store!  Yesssss!! I was so happy!!!   I wanted to do a larger painting with it, and arranged some fruit in it, including a persimmon I bought just for the occasion.  I did this little pastel drawing before starting the painting. 

I started the painting on a  gessoed board using some acrylic raw umber for the sketch.  Once it was dry, which didn't take long, I colored in with oil paint.

I added a small seckel pear, cranberries and some green leaves to fill in the space better.  I haven't quite finished it, but hopefully will post the finished painting soon.  :-)

"November Apple and Grapes" Oil on 6x6 inches

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Well... it's been a little while since I've posted anything.  First because I was disappointed in 2 or 3 little paintings I did.. and  gave up for a while.  I became interested in making artwork with paper.. collage.. mixed media.. I experimented a bit and had fun.  Then, one day I suddenly suffered a back injury that kept me lying down for about a week.  It's better now, but still aches a bit.  I'm finally ready to paint something, and feel like I don't know where to start!  I bought some colorful grapes, pears, and a persimmon that I thought would be interesting to try and paint.  I spent some time drawing, and then I did a small study in oil on paper, a mixed media paper by Strathmore that I drew on and then coated with clear gesso before I painted.
And finally, I did a small painting of an apple and grapes on hardboard.

"Apple and Oak Leaf" Oil on 5x7 board

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I found this oak leaf while on a a walk, I liked the shape and color of it and wanted to paint it. 

"Banana, Book and Tissue" 6x8 inches, Oil on Paper mounted on board

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This little painting started as a drawing on paper.   I decided to try something different with the drawing, and mounted it onto a piece of illustration board.  Then I coated it with (acrylic)  matte medium and added the decorative paper as a background.  After the layer of medium was dry, I painted it in with oils.  I like how it came out!
  To see a more detailed description and picture of the drawing I started with, look at my post here
 The illlustration board is sturdy, and about 1/16 inch thick.  It is varnished and can be framed as any other oil painting. 

"October Apple" Oil on 5x7 board

This is a cortland apple from the store.  The leaves are from an apple tree in my back yard. 

"Two Pears" Oil on 6x8 board

Paper Cutting

Every so often I see an artist that does paper cutting, or "scherenschnitte".  I find it fascinating, and I get inspired to try it.   I have some silhouette paper, which is paper that is black on one side and white on the other.  And also, some parchment paper.  I don't know if there is a proper way to go about this art, but I suppose there isn't one certain way to do it.  Last year I used the parchment paper to cut a Christmas tree design, and put black behind it.  This time,  I decided to cut a design out of the black paper, and have the parchment behind it. 
I drew a design on tracing paper, and transfered it to the white side of the black paper.

drawing design

cutting with an x-acto knife on a cutting mat.

This what it looked like on the right side

 What I like best about crafts like this is that it isn't messy, there's almost nothing to clean up, and you can leave it and come back any time.  And it's very relaxing. 
Here it is, finished with the parchment paper behind it.  It's about 6x8 inches.  I was tempted to color in some of the spaces with watercolor, but I thought it might be better this way, simple.

"Mini Pumpkin, Apple and Goard" Oil on 6x8" board

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painting in progress...

I used a different board for this painting.  I usually use an Ampersand board that is 1/8 inch thick.  This board is called an Art Board, and is about 3/8" thick and has hanging slots on the back (above). It's nice and heavy, with a smooth surface.  The label says it is made of refined douglas fir natural fiber.  I applied a few coats gesso, and tinted the surface with raw umber.

Autumn has arrived, so I went out to buy some goards to paint.  I found this mini pumpkin, and a few interesting goards.  I added an apple, and a leaf to the set up also. As I moved the lamp around, I liked how the cast shadow on the pumpkin curved down to follow the line of the pumkin stem.

I had no idea this little 6x8" painting would take so long... the afternoon went by, and then into the evening... I finished around 8 at night.  I finished, the painting might need some more work today. I didn't take a final picuture, but I did get to paint in the goard and leaf before I finished up.

"Lemons with Grapes and Leaves" Oil on 10 x8 canvas

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 I began this painting with a different background, and no leaves or grapes.  I felt like the background was too light, so changed it darker, then darker still. Then added the grapes. Still not satisfied with it,  I put it aside for a few days, and today I got back to it, and added some grape leaves.  Good thing I don't pull up the grape vines when I discover them growing in the backyard..  they came in handy. 

"Orange Peel and Fleur De LIs" Oil on 5x7 canvas

  I peeled the orange and positioned it in different ways, and on different surfaces, but this one was the most interesting to me. The background is a sheet of design paper meant for scrap booking and paper crafts. I placed the set up low near the floor to get this over head view.

 I had a very pleasant time painting it, I loved every minute of it :-) 

Thanks for looking!

"Blue Glass and Orange" Oil on 8x8 board

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I thought I'd try painting this little blue and white pitcher again.  The shape and design on it together make it such a tough little thing to paint!  I started it last week and got back to it a couple of times, but never finished until today.  The spoon was a last minute addition.  My set up looked ok the way it was, but I think I positioned it a bit off on my square board. I didn't notice until it was all painted.. and  it seemed to need something to balance out that side.  I also changed the color of the background from the gray to a warmer color (burnt sienna, orange, blue and white).

Playing around with oil paint on paper...

I really love the idea of mixed media art work.   I wondered what would happen, if I drew in pencil on some brown paper, then stuck the paper down on a more rigid surface, and then oil painted over it.  So, I sketched some poses of my little manikin, and some pieces of note paper, and ribbon in pencil.  Then, I sort of "decoupaged" the piece of paper down onto a sheet of heavy bristol paper.  I used some acrylic mat medium to do it with.  It didn't disturb the pencil at all, like I thought it might.  After it was dry, I painted over it with oil...  just to see what would happen.  I liked the smooth feel of the surface, and the paint went on nicely.  I didn't quite finish it... but, I had fun, and I wonder.. if I might do more with the decoupage/collage idea, using different papers, and then adding oil paint.  I feel like I need something new to really spark my interest lately!

"Butterflies and Fruit" Oil on 8x 10 canvas

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I started this painting over a week ago, and couldn't seem to get back to finish it until today.  During that time the peach became over ripe, the plum and cherries are shirivled, but the butterflies are still beautiful.  I was thinking about naming this painting "short lived" or something to that effect.  But, in the end, I just went with the obvious.

I began this painting in an unusual way... I just wanted to see how the paint felt on a canvas that I had put 5 or 6 extra coats of gesso on to make it smoother.  I had brushed a few random shapes and colors on and wiped off, and decided to use a peach as a sample subject.   Then I added cherries.  Then I added the butterflies.  Then the plum and so on...  the last thing I put in was the ribbon.  I've been wanting to paint ribbon, and it seemed like a good place to add it in. 

"Little Blue Pitcher and Grapes" Oil on 5x7 board

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I bought this little cream pitcher at the Goodwill store for $1.99, isn't it cute?! I also bought a glass pedestal dish.  I didn't really want a clear glass one, what I really would like is a ceramic one, maybe plain white, but, this was close enough for now.   I don't know if I'll be able to paint it, but one day I'd like to give it a try.

"Black Plum, White Creamer, and Grapes on Grey"

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I wanted to paint something with 3 obvious values.. black, white and a medium grey.  I started with just the little creamer, and plum... but it was too plain, and so added the grapes.  This is painted on a linen panel, which is different for me.  A quick note about the spelling of the word grey... or gray??  I never know which way to spell it,  so, I looked it up and it seems both are acceptable. 

"Two Cherries and Cup" Oil on 4x4 inch board

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I painted this on a small 4x4 board that I put some gesso on, and a thin wash of acrylic raw umber.  I just wanted to see how the oil paint felt on this surface if I used alot of medium to thin it.  I set up this simple cup and cherries just to try it, but it turned out nicely!  I paint this cup alot, I think because I like it's warm white color, and the values and shadows on it are undisturbed by any pattern or color.

"Tea and Note Card" Oil on 5x7 board

 

 I did this little drawing first with color pencil to work out my composition.  I decided later to put tea in the cup.  It was pomegranate tea that I bought a few months ago.  I didn't care for the flavor, so I figured I might as well use it for something..  turns out the deep red color of it looked really pretty under the light!

 

 I took a short cut with this one, since the view I had chosen for my painting was not the view I could see from my easel, I took a picture of the set up from above and started my painting from the camera's picture. ( the drawing I did wasn't quite detailed enough to use)   After I got the drawing down, I referred to the actual set up for the rest of the painting.  I went back and forth a few times to get a better look as I painted. 

 I set the note card up, so I could see it better from where I sat.

so fun coloring in the card... I love Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings!