"Tea, Lemon and Silver Ladle" Oil on 5x7 board

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This silver ladle was tarnished so badly it was almost black.  I cleaned it up using  a mix of baking soda and water.  I've never tried that before....it really works well! 

"Cloth, Creamer and Apples" Oil on canvas panel, 8x10 in.

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I really enjoy painting cloth, the many different shapes and shadow forms are always fun to create.  I'm staying simple with the plain white cloth.  I really envy others who can paint more challenging fabrics with patterns, or even satiny fabrics... maybe someday I will try that.

"Cloth Study" Oil on 10x8 inch canvas board

I started this painting with just the piece of cloth by itself.  I wanted to practice getting light in the shadows.  As I got further into it, I decided it needed something more in the picture, so I added the ceramic pot in the back.  This painting is on a canvas panel, which is different for me, I usually like to use the smooth hardboard panels.  But, it was a nice change, and the larger size was a nice change too.

"Raw Rib Eye Steaks" Oil on 6x6 board

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This week's Daily Paintworks challenge is to paint raw meat!  DPW Artist Sarah Sedwick came up with the idea, and posted a couple of her meat paintings.   I never thought I would paint raw meat, but, seeing Sarah's paintings made me want to try.
 I thought I would paint these steaks in their package, it seemed less messy, plus they were carbon copies of each other, sitting side by side and looked interesting that way.   But, I took them out, and laid them on white freezer paper instead.  I didn't want them to go bad just so I could paint them, so I kept an ice pack on them from time to time so they didn't warm up under the lights.
Thank you Sarah, for an intriguing new subject to paint!

"Pear and Apple" Oil on 5x7 board

I must have painted 3 or 4 paintings this week that I just wasn't happy with.. a peeled lemon, a peeled banana... peanut butter and crackers... and another I can't remember now what it was.. ha.. but, this one finally I liked.   I kept the lemon one, and the peanut butter one to work on another time.  The banana one was on this panel, but got painted over.  I'll have to try that one again sometime.
Thanks for stopping by for a look :-)

Breakfast Still Life Oil on 6x6 board

I painted this with the Daily Paintworks "Paint your Breakfast" challenge in mind.  That challenge was posted weeks ago, but I still wanted to paint something with a breakfast theme.    Now that I think of it, I guess any one of my recent paintings could have fit in the breakfast catagory....... but, this one I did on purpose.  
Thanks for visiting and looking at my artwork, and many thanks for all of the wonderful comments sent my way.!!

"Bosc Pear Halves"

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Another piece of cut fruit.  I was glad this pear didn't discolor as it sat out while I painted.  I thought it would, like an apple does, but it held up pretty good.

"Tea Cup of Strawberries" Oil on 5x7 board

I haven't bought strawberries in quite a while, they're just not as sweet in the winter.  But, these smelled really good,  I was surprised.... so I bought some, and painted them the same day, (and ate them too of course).
  I love how this one came out, and I remember some good advise I once heard...  to make sure that you arrange and rearrange your set up until you find something that you can't wait to paint!  That is how this one went, I was sure about the composition before I started.   Sometimes I get so impatient to just start painting, I think I will work things out as I go... and that usually leads to problems.

"An Apple a Day" Oil on 6x6 inch board

I made this painting because I wanted to paint the wooden cutting board.   I just remembered, I originally  had wanted to paint it with the corner extending out beyond the table top and casting a shadow.... Looking at it now, I realize I didn't do that at all... and I don't know why?! lol.

"Jelly Heart on Toast" Oil on 5x7 board

I started out wanting to paint some toast and strawberry jam, but when I put the jam on the toast it seemed to form a heart shape, so I thought having it in a heart shape was a much better idea- with Valentines Day coming up!

"Mineola and Bananas" Oil on 6x6" board

I tried to get a nice rhythm of light/dark/light/dark.. going through this painting.  I've always liked that affect.  I've also been trying to keep edges in mind as I go... I like edges that disappear and return, become sharper and then fade...  it's so hard to do, I keep wanting to define all the lines. 
I was planning on posting this last night, but we had a strong wind storm come through, and our power was knocked out!  What a surprise to be suddenly in complete darkness... we were using our cell phone display lights to find our way to candles and flashlights, lol.

"Coffee, Eggs, and Grapes" Oil on 6x6 inch panel

 I don't know what my trouble has been, but lately any time I try and paint, I wind up with something I'm not happy with.  I have a hard time controlling the paint, I eventually get frustrated and can't finish.   I set up this little still life and 1/2 way into painting it, I stopped and scraped it off, and decided to draw and sketch instead of trying for a finished painting.
Above is one of my quick sketches with pastel pencil on gray paper, and below is an 8x10 inch canvas panel, that I divided into 4 spaces.  In each space I tried something different.  In one square I drew the still life with pencil on the gessoed surface, and sprayed workable fixative over it. After it dried, I painted it in.  It was fun to do, but nothing that I thought made a big enough difference to me. And the paint is taking longer to dry in that square.   A couple other squares I toned with some thinned raw umber, once dry I wiped some linseed oil onto the panel before I painted.  That worked out ok, but I not a big difference there either.  Some where along the way I mixed some turpentine, linseed oil and stand oil together, and used that to thin my paint a bit while I painted and that helped!   And along the way I was also playing with the idea of only using black, burnt sienna, cad. yellow and white.   So,  I made little squares of mixtures I made with only those colors.  It was fun to see all the different shades I could mix, and how different a color looked depending on the white or toned background. The little rows of 3 on each side of the divided line mirror each other, they are the same colors.

 Finally after all of that playing around, I repainted my picture and was happy with how it worked out.   In the final painting, I used more colors than the limited palette.  

"Quiet" Oil on 8x10 inch canvas panel

 My interest in drawing has been pretty strong lately.  During my visit to the Art Store, I bought myself some conte pencils, and a set of conte pastel pencils.  Plus, some toned papers to draw on.  I set up this little still life to draw from, and I after I drew it, I thought it might make a nice painting.  I had recieved quite a few 8x10 canvases and canvas panels for Christmas, so I used one for this painting.  It's nice for a change to paint on a larger surface.   I named it "Quiet" because every time I look at it, that's what it makes me think of.. a quiet and peaceful moment.

"Peeled Orange" Oil on 5x7 board

The holidays are finally behind us, and now is the time I look forward to... getting back the time to do the things I like to do..  which means for me, spending time drawing and painting!  And spending my gift card to the Art Store!! Yay!!

"Lemon and Cloth" Oil on 5x7 board

Happy New Year everyone!! 

"Pomegranate" Oil on 6x6 gessobord

I  painted this pomegranate a couple of weeks ago, and set it aside.  I wasn't sure about the blue/green background, but looking at it now, I like it.   I finally got a chance to paint something new today, I'll be posting it as soon as I get a chance to take a picture of it.

♥ Merry Christmas ♥

I did this painting last year at this time, and it's one of my favorites.  I'm posting it because I haven't been able to paint anything new lately, as I was unexpectedly ill all last week, and this week I have been trying to catch up on Christmas shopping and things. Hopefully after the holiday I will be able to get some new paintings done.  I just wanted to keep in touch and  I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!  Enjoy!!

"Tea Cup with Holly" Oil on 5x7 board

I've been in the mood to paint something festive.  I haven't had as much time as I'd like to paint lately, but I was happy to get this one done.  As soon as I set it up, I couldn't wait to paint it, it just looked so pretty.

Thank you for the comments!

"Bosc Pears" Oil on 5x7 board

These bosc pears have an elegant shape that attracted me to paint them.  But, I thought the color might be kind of boring to paint, but, not at all.. it's really a very nice warm golden brown.

"Autumn Still Life with Pine Cone" Oil on 5x7 hardboard

I thought I'd try one more painting of one of these little pumpkins.  I added a pine cone I found outside, and some mixed nuts and cranberries.   I thought it made a nice little autumn still life.

"Christmas Bulbs" Oil on 5x7 board

These are my favorite kind of ornaments.  They've been around for years and years... and years!  My mom always called them "bulbs".   Every so often one breaks, but they are tough little things, even though they are made of glass.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments you've sent my way!!

"Tangerine and Apple" Oil on 5x7 board

I set these two into a box for something different.  I like the shadows it created.  I wanted to add some cranberries, but I decided to go without them this time.. It was hard not to put them in!! lol

"Pears and Cranberries" Oil on 5x7 board

  These two pears looked a bit ordinary, so I made a string of cranberries and added that in for something different.  Now, it has sort of a holiday feel to it,  which matches the weather lately.  We just got a little bit of snow tonight for the first time this year, and it really made it feel like Christmas is just around the corner.   This auction will end on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

"Peeled Orange and Grapes" Oil on 5x7 board

I've been painting a lot lately, but just couldn't seem to get interested enough in a subject to come up with an interesting painting.  I'd paint something, and wipe it off... and paint again, and wipe off.   I thought it might help if  I  changed to a different smaller table top easel, and move my lights and set up around, and got a more comfortable chair to sit in, and after a few more tries, I got this painting, which I am finally happy with.  I peeled the orange days ago, but I kept it wrapped tightly in plastic in the fridge until I could get a good painting of it.  It worked out pretty good.

"Lemon, Lime and Cranberries"

Oil on 6x6 Gessobord panel.

"Mango and Strawberries" Oil on 5x7 board

The pile of mangoes in the store looked so colorful, I wondered if painting just one would be just as colorful.  I took my time picking this one out,  I wanted one with all the colors in it.  I think it turned out pretty good! and,  I couldn't help but add some berries too.  I've got a "thing" for cranberries lately, I can't help but put them in the picture, they are so pretty... like little gems, and they last! I've had these same ones out for days!

LIttle Gourds Autumn Still Life, Oil on 6x6 board

These little gourds are so cute, and colorful. I added a few cranberries again, and some autumn leaves.   I'd like to try another painting of them, but I think for now I'm going to move on to something else.  I bought a mango at the store, and I've never painted one of those before so I think I will try that next.

"Three Little Gourds" Oil on 5x7 hardboard

I found these little gourds at a farm market near my home.. there were bins full of them in so many different shapes and colors.  I brought a bunch home, but these were the only ones so far that I could manage to paint... I found it really difficult!   I threw in a few cranberries for scale... these gourds are only about the size of a small apple.  My favorite part is the twisty stem on the center one.

"A Day at the Beach" 8x10 Oil on board

work in progress....

Above: Work in progress.... Below:  The finished painting

I had started this painting a few weeks ago, when the weather was still sunny and warm.  I lost interest in it, when the weather turned colder and rainy.   Recently Daily Paintworks began a new fund raising auction for "Every Mother Counts".   This is an aid organization dedicated to improving maternal health around the world.  You can read more about it here.
This fundraiser's theme is "mom", and as I was wondering what I could paint for this challenge, I remembered the one I had started.. it pictures an expectant mom and her girls out for a walk on the beach.  It was the perfect thing to inspire me to finish the painting, and put it up for auction, all proceeds will go to the "Every Mother Counts" charity.

"Sliced Acorn Squash" Oil on 5x7 board

This squash was fun to paint, I loved the yellow/orange color of the inside, especially in the light.