Three Cups and Grapes

A change from flowers-- the little white cups that I love and a few red grapes for color.

Two Green Pears

Initially, I got rid of all that white canvas by covering the entire board with a mixture of ultramarine and burnt sienna. The cloth and pears were then lifted out with a paper towel and then restated with the appropriate colors.

Red Hat

The canvas was toned with red first--I like the little bits of it showing through here and there. A friend reassured me that the painting imaged is by Mark Rothko.

You Look Familiar

This painting was dropped off yesterday for entry into the Guilford Art League Annual Juried Exhibition. Nothing left to do but wait for the postman to deliver the little accepted/not accepted slip. You never know.

Little Pitcher

This is a variation of a painting done previously. I read somewhere that you should paint what you like more than once and I decided to follow that advice.

Three Pears with Bowl

The pears managed to paint themselves rather quickly. The bowl, however, was most uncooperative. I couldn't get the sides to even up or maintain the same angle so the bowl grew and shrunk about a dozen times.

Mushrooms and Red Onion

I wanted to paint something different and both the baby bella mushrooms and the red onion were new subjects for me.

A save the date reminder: for all those in the New Haven, Connecticut area, the opening reception for my upcoming show "The Art of Everyday", will be Sunday, April 1oth, 1 -4 pm at the DaSilva Gallery. Please come and say hello.

Strawberry and Pear

Although, in the end, I was pleased with this painting, it was a struggle. The background color changed several times -- initially it was a much warmer color, almost a flesh tone. You can see remnants of it, mixed in with the gray.

Sieve

I was looking around the house for another object for the "old stuff" series. A friend who was staying with us suggested this sieve. The challenge was the mesh part. Luckily, the texture of the cotton canvas was mesh like enough to take care of that problem, otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do.

Paint Brush

This is one of the "old stuff found around the house" series, although I actually found this well-worn paint brush in my parents' basement. The background was done first with a thin layer of red acrylic. Then on top of that is a layer of thick blue acrylic, which was applied with a palette knife. I used acrylic because it would have taken weeks, if not months for oil to dry. The brush was painted with oils.

Red Handle

I was reading Hawthorne on Painting, first published in 1938. In the introduction, he talks about seeing the beauty of the ugly and the commonplace; "it is better to make a big thing out of a little subject than to make a little thing out of a big one."

This red handled fork is old, fairly beat up and at one time was probably commonplace.

Chicken Little

We use this little pitcher for maple syrup but I thought he looked better with eggshells than with scattered pancakes. This painting was done a few days ago. Yesterday's painting was a scraper--all the paint scraped off with the palette knife after many hours of work. I think everyone who paints has had that experience (well, maybe almost everyone).

Eggshells with Lime

City Wide Open Studios is next weekend! The above painting isn't brand new but I will have it with me at Erector Square, Building 3, Room A 2-4, September 25th and 26th from 12 to 5. Just like last year, Rita Brieger, Rob Jacoby and I will be sharing a space. The buildings will be full of interesting art.

For more details about the whole event which occurs over several weekends visit http://www.cwos.org/

If you are any where near Erector Square, 315 Peck St., New Haven, CT. next weekend come say hello!

Lemon, Bowl and White Cup

These were done during the recent workshop. The top one was completed first. Mr. Bielen's only comment was "paint it again". I had to change the setup a little, hence the spinning lemon.

King of the Hill

I just got back from Bennington, Vermont where I took a fabulous still life painting workshop with Stanley Bielen. It was an Art New England workshop which is sponsored by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

The above painting was done before I left for the workshop. On upcoming posts, I will tell you more about Stanley Bielen and the workshop and show you some of the work I completed there.

Pear and Eggshell

Beautiful day in Connecticut today. Stopped by Susan Powell Fine Art in Madison to bring in this recent painting and to see the new David Dunlop exhibit (so worth a trip).

Red Grapes and Pear

Just completed this larger still life featuring my favorite milk bottle. ( Favorite things - I feel like bursting into song like Julie Andrews.)

Two and Two

The Still Life Invitational Exhibit at Susan Powell Fine Art in Madison, CT ends this weekend--last day is May 2nd. This is one of the paintings in the exhibit. Susan Powell will continue to have some of my work at her lovely gallery in downtown Madison.

Magnolia

Magnolia Grandiflora is the official state flower of both Mississippi and Louisiana. My knowledge of horticulture is very limited--I just learned that little tidbit from Wikipedia. Glad we have magnolias in Connecticut as well, they are beautiful this spring.

Trio

Only a little over two weeks left to view the exhibit, Still Life Invitational, at Susan Powell Fine Art in Madison, CT. Several of my paintings have sold (so happy). This is one of the paintings included in the exhibit.