"Let's Make Arrangements"

                                          6"x6" $90
Since this is such a showy flower, I tried to make other parts of the painting stronger so that it wouldn't be "all about the flower". If it worked as I planned, the eye is also drawn to the zig zag line of the leaf meeting the plate and to the vivid green of the surface below the plate.

On Saturday I attended a wedding on Whidbey Island where I ran into a fellow artist. She hadn't been painting much since the birth of her now 2 year old son. We talked about art (as artists do) and she said she felt inspired to paint again and could probably find time and space to create some small paintings. Can you believe it's only Tuesday and she's already done it, blog and all? Well, I'm so impressed with what she's done that I wanted to mention her in today's blog. Check Rachel Potter's site on my blog links.

"Peaches and Plums"

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These black plums are the perfect shiny foil for fuzzy peaches. Today I bought some little dark purple plums that will get thrown into the "prop bin". I'm thinking of pairing them up with black eyed susans....

"Pale and Proud"

                                          6"x6" $90
I had finished this painting and, as is often the case, I looked at it and thought "something's wrong and I can't put my finger on it". I finally decided that the blue cup was too intense and was the wrong shade of blue- not purple enough. The "proper blue" needed to be more pale to proudly sit alongside its companions. I repainted the cup and titled the piece "Pale and Proud".

Reclining Pose

                                                   8"x6" $90
The vase is one that my husband and I bought in Ojai many years ago. It has a satin finish base and a matte finish dark top- thus the "dull hilight" on the dark portion.At first I paired it with a cup in much the same neutral colors, but it cried out to be red- so I gave in.

"Supporting Cast"

                                          6"x6" $90
The orange glass vase and the yellow  flower are clearly the stars; thus the other items are the supporting cast...

"It's All About the Spout"

                                          6"x6" $90

I picked up this little teapot at a thrift shop in Portland. I think it was hand made in pottery class. It's kind of crude and chunky, but it has a certain charm. I am attracted to the colors and the stripes. I can see it showing up in a future painting with a couple tomatoes or something.

"Black Cup Companions"

                                          6"x6" $90
I like painting glass and silverware, so I put together this little composition, which I decided to do as a pretty neutral painting. I like the formality and "squareness" of it. I also like the fact that the cup is so rounded at the top and the little vase is similarly rounded at the bottom. It creates a certain rhythm that pleases my eye.

"Posers"

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The impetus for this one was the unusual color combination. I wanted to see if I could create some unity with an odd palette. Remnants of the yellow under painting and the use of some of the neutral in each of the colors seemed to do the trick. I'm pretty happy with the results; I especially like the rustic look of the browns.I'd love to hear what others think of this painting. Comments (especially criticism!) welcome.

"I Think He's Been Bitten!"

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How's this for some color? I have never done a red background, and it was pretty scary until I toned it down everywhere except in front of the bitten apple. I love the way the red from the cloth reflects into the upper side of the bite.

"Camouflage"

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More peaches; these guys are trying to avoid detection by blending in with the plate.

Think We'll All Fit?"

                                          6"x6" $90

The idea came to me that it would be cool to have the peaches all one portion of the panel and the other portion would be almost monochromatic, but with the interest of the glass jar. I think the two "centers of interest" balance each other pretty well. This is probably one of my favorite paintings thus far.

"The Renegade"

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One lone tomato has broken loose from the vine and made it to the other side. Guess he thought it was just too cozy living that close to family.

"None for Me, Thanks"

I really like painting cups. This one is one of those big rounded ones you can get your latte in if you decide not to get a to-go cup.

Have you heard of "Zatista"? It's a relatively new on-line art gallery. Thought I'd give it a try. They jury the art before you're allowed to post, which assures a higher quality of work than a totally open membership would permit. I'm quite impressed with the site; check it out if you're interested.

"Reflecting Red"

I got this blue bowl at a (surprise!) thrift store and I like the little bump texture on the exterior. I'm quite pleased with the spoon- and the red reflections (the inspiration for the title). For some reason this painting was hard to photograph. I can't get th colors just right, especially the blue. It will show up differently on your computer anyway. This is close....

"Related"

This little wildflower was growing in a drainage ditch near our house. I thought it would be cool to pair it up with a vase nearly the same color, thus creating some interesting shapes against the dark background. The stainless vase holding the flower becomes one with the dark shape of the background.

I'm going to Portland for a couple days, so I won't post tomorrow, but I have one waiting for Sunday...

"Choose a Side"

Today's painting is below, but I wanted to show you a photo that my friend Charlene sent me showing the little painting she bought and mounted above her mantel. I love the talent she has for combining interesting things. Note the shadow line behind the "Avalanche Lily" painting. This is my preferred method of hanging the small paintings. I mount a small block with an eye hook behind the piece so that there is a 1/2" reveal between the painting and the wall. There's something about the casual framelessness that really appeals to me.


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Here's that colorful bowl again. It kind of looks to me like the apple and the cherry are each guarding their territory and have some kind of dialogue going between them. Don't know what they're saying, but I hope it's friendly.

"Aubergine Invasion"

This painting originated in the Carol Marine workshop in May. For a long time I couldn't figure out why I liked it "with reservations". Then it hit me. What is now a neutral grey used to be a brighter blue. I needed more grey to make the colors of the eggplant, plate and pepper "pop". I like it much better now.

"Fill "Er Up"

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A fellow daily painter, Gwen Bell, is known for her beautifully rendered patterned cloth. While that's not my forte at all, I was inspired to buy a piece and try it out. I have to say the cloth I bought looks nothing like what I ended up with in my painting, but I think the pattern is still much more interesting than a solid color would have been. Thank you, Gwen, for that inspiration. It's interesting that no matter how many ideas we glean from fellow artists, we never have to worry about copying (well, unless we actually COPY). We each have our individual style that makes the painting our own.

"Plate of Peaches"

This is one of my favorite daily paintings thus far. I hoped to capture the fuzzy character of the peaches without approaching photorealism- and I think it worked. It also came together fairly quickly, with no revisions. Someday maybe that will happen with all my paintings. In the meantime I learn from my revisions and corrections.

I've also added PayPal to my site so that those of you who wish to purchase can do so right from the site. For now, the paintings are $90 each and ship free. E-mail me about a discount for "customer pickup" or for multiple purchases(wishful thinking???)

"Back and Fore"

I haven't painted many still lifes from a higher perspective; most are looking down on the subject from quite a high vantage point. This is a more classic setup. I really like the nearly neutral palette. It accentuates the blues and greens in the apples and vase.

"Consider This"

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Another example of my "branching out" as I attempt to determine the impact of my dailing painting exercise in another genre (other than still life) I love figurative, but I'd like to be a bit more impressionist so that the figure is clearly not attempting to be a portrait.

I jumped the gun yesterday when I said that my paintings weren't hanging in the Morris Graves show. Apparently we overlooked an adjacent gallery space where many of the paintings were displayed. I'm glad they are there, albeit in a less than obvious location.

"Lonesome Clove"

Last night I discovered that I am out of sync with the "happening" art world in Seattle- or at least didn't pick up any clues when I dropped off my paintings at the Rock/DeMent Gallery for the Morris Graves inspired show. None of my paintings made the cut! I think, now that I've seen the show, that the focus was on the mystic aspect of Graves' art, and that my paintings were not creative nor edgy enough. Well, it stung a bit to be excluded, but I have to conclude that it was just the wrong venue and my art is appreciated elsewhere.

So...on to today's painting. This is the first time I've included "folded cloth" in my little paintings. At first I made the dots lighter, but they fought with the garlic for attention, so I toned them down a bit. I like them a lot better now. The garlic is now like a bigger, lighter, more interesting dot than the others.

"Im a Little Teapot"

I've been wanting to paint this teapot for a long time. I love the "bulbousness" of it.

"Surrounded by Green"

And another little landscape.....that's all for now, although I'm sure I'll return to this genre. I'm enjoying arranging the compositonal elements. It occurred to me yesterday that this is not unrelated to puzzles, which I also like (crosswords, sudoku, etc.). It's like there's an optimum arrangement of values (lights, darks, midtones) and colors that will have the most impact, and I have to rearrange things until I find it. That's true, of course, no matter what the subject.

"House in the Woods"

Here's a departure for you. I decided to try some landscape and figurative subjects to see how my daily painting has affected my approach. I can tell you that I love the square brushes; they're so painterly. I still struggle with composition, but I tell myself to just follow the rules- variety of shape, values and color (while still keeping "unity" in mind). The big question is "Is it Interesting????" I think this little landscape works pretty well. Comments???

"Under the Knife"

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I got these colorful bowls the other day. They hold all kind of painting possibilities. I had to buy a set of 6, so I loaned my friend Janet one of them. It will be interesting to see what ideas occur to her.

This one was purchased by my friend Teri, sho loves red. It will look great in her newly remodeled kitchen (red walls!). She has to wait for it to dry before she can take posession. I altered it a bit after she bought it; strengthened the darks balues and popped the highlights. I think it's better- I hope she does too.

"Avalanche Lily"

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Day 2 of the Avalanche Lily theme- this time a single flower. I'm really fond of the "white on white" juxtaposed with the "white on dark". I kept the colors very neutral so that the shapes and subtleties of the flower would be dominant.