A Plum Among Them

                                    6x6

This may be the most items I've ever included in a  composition. I remember awhile ago Carol Marine did a number of them from much more distant perspective. The simplification required grows enormously the further away you get. Now that's a challenge! This was hard enough....well, maybe I'll try backing off further.......

Three Lemons on Blue

                                        6x6

One of my favorite compositional tools is combining shapes of similar color to make new shapes. There are essentially only 2 colors in this, but I think it works pretty well. I love this little green bottle.It may just be my new favorite prop.

Green and Gold

                                      Bid on this painting
It seems I only paint the little ones any more when the DPW Challenges occur. I am working on my Spain/Portugal series whenever I have the opportunity to paint. I know I'll get back to the dailies later. This challenge was to paint rectangles of color based on what you are observing. I quite like the effect, and it renews my resolve to be more careful about making color fields interesting with the application of a variety of related colors.

Don't Be Blue

                                 6x6 $90
I'm back "on the bottle(s)" again. This time it looks like the red bottle is trying to spread its influence over the blue surrounding it. It "got" the fork. Lucky Fork. That was another title possibility- "Lucky Fork". Hmmm...

Two on a Plate

SOLD

Dwarfed By the Big Guy

6x6 $90

I painted 4 panels with variations on these bottles, and this may be my favorite. I love all the deep rich colors in the upper third juxtaposed with the bright yellow.The bottle on the right is a beautiful shape and a rich amber color, but it's big enough that I'm not sure if it will ever show up "whole" in my little compositions.

Thanks to all of you well wishers for my trip. It's getting exciting as the date draws near. The challenge is packing, as it's recommended your pack weighs no more than 10% of your body weight. For once, I'm glad I don't weigh 120. Tough enough as it is. I'm sure I will be glad later that I stuck to the limit.

For anybody who doesn't know, Daily Paintworks Challenge is raising money for Japan with an art auction. I donated "Sorting Seaweed" and it's up to $111. I hope it goes even higher; those disaster victims need every nickel! Check out the challenge- they're almost up to 200 donated pieces!

You Can Call Me Red

6x6 $90

Today was a red day. I primed a couple panels with red acrylic and went to town. I'm trying to accumulate some paintings to post while I'm gone in April and May. My husband and I are going to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago- 500 miles! We'll also spend a little time in Portugal. I'd like to have enough paintings to post ahead every 3 days or so. That may be overly optimistic. We'll see....

Gala

                              
Here's another of the 12x12's I recently painted. I'm enjoying painting a little larger than my dailies (not that I've abandoned the little ones...). Yesterday I even tackled an 18x24! This is pretty funny because I've painted as large as a 48x30 without hesitation. But now I'm applying the things I'm learning as a daily painter to the larger format.I don't want to avoid getting more detailed, so I use larger brushes. Anyway, enough about that. That's not even today's post. This post employs that little yellow bottle again, but I had to make it a little shorter because I didn't want to cut it off at the neck.

Fresh Squeeze

                                            6x6 $90

I I really like painting glass, and the shape of this mug is fun to paint too. I still am having problems with color accuracy in my photographs. The oranges should be brighter and yellower, the brown is too purple and the lavender is too blue compared to the actual painting. When I correct for one it screws up the others. BUT at lease I got some clarity and sharpness. I'll settle for that for now.