"Bananas with Berries" Oil on 6x8 board

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"Orange, Banana, Grapes" Oil on 6x8 board

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I've been trying out different surfaces to paint on.  This is a hardboard panel that I "primed" with a layer of acrylic varnish.  The surface had a nice feel to it, I felt like I had more control over the paint, and blending was easier.  I'll have to try this again.

"Lemon Water II" Oil on 8x6 board

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I had painted this little glass once before with a lime on a 7x5 board.  This one is a bit bigger, 8x6.   I thought I'd add a slice of lemon to the water. It floated into different positions in the glass, but settled just this way, and I thought it was perfect. 

"Lemon and Orange" oil on 6x6 board

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"Spring Flowers and Orange on Blue" oil on 6x6 board

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We were having such lovely weather, but over the last few days it has been rainy and much colder.  It rained all day, the day I painted this, I think that's why I gave it such a sunny, blue sky look ... I miss those pretty colorful Spring days we were having.  Hopefully they will return soon!

"Magnolias, Daffodils and Violets"

 Oil on paper, 8x8 inches

I visited the Park near my home, where all the magnolia trees are in full bloom already!  It was a nice sunny day, and I took alot of pictures.   When I got home, I set up this little still life with a couple of very fragrant daffodils, (I wish I knew the name of them), a violet colored magnolia flower, and some white violets. 
I haven't been painting in a while, so I thought I would just do a practice/study piece to start off.  I'm always thinking of different  things to try, so I gessoed a piece of vellum bristol paper, and painted on that.  It was a very nice surface to paint on, but now that I am finished with my painting, I don't quite know what to do with it.  Since it is on paper,  I'm not sure how it should be framed.   Works on paper are usually matted and framed under glass, but an oil painting doesn't need a matte or glass.  I thought I might just glue the painting onto a board, and varnish it.   Then it could be framed as any other oil painting on board.   Maybe that's what I'll do.

"Grapes and Orange" Oil on 5x7 board

"Orange and Strawberries" Oil on 5x7 board

I can't help but want to paint strawberries every time I bring them home from the store. 

"Pitcher and Lemon" Oil on 6x8 board

I painted this from a picture I took quite a while ago.   I remember setting some things up, and taking pictures to get ideas for paintings, and I forgot about them.   I usually prefer to paint from life, because all the information I need is right in front of me.   A photo seems to pale in comparison, but in this case... I think it helped.    I printed the picture on regular printer paper, and it was pale and off color.  I used it to get the basics down, and then the rest was up to me.  It was kind of nice just to color in what ever way I wanted, and not trying so hard to match every color to my set up.  It came out much looser too, which I like.   I feel like the looser touch might be because I've been drawing alot lately with my pastel sticks, and I like the sketchy look of them.  I think I might try to carry that over into my painting a little more. 

"Lemon Wedges on Plate" Oil on 5x7 board

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Here's a picture of my set up and work in progress.  This lemon is the same one I used in my last lemon painting! I found it wrapped up in the fridge, so I thought I'd use it again.  It was a little dry and moldy in spots, but I left that part out of the painting! 

"Eggs and Basket II" Oil on 8x6" hardboard

I wanted to do another version of this painting.  This time on a larger panel, and with a ribbon bow.

"Chocolate Doughnut and Strawberry" Oil on 6x8 board

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I've been wanting to do a painting of some kind of goody lately.  So, when I saw this week's Daily Paintworks challenge was to paint a donut, I couldn't wait to go to the store and pick one out to paint!

This chocolate frosted chocolate donut is my favorite.  I can't remember the last time I've had one.  It looked a bit lonely all by itself on this 6x8 panel, (a bit bigger than the usual 5x7).  So, I added some fruit.  It made me smile that I added the fruit, because after eating a donut,  I would probably eat some fruit to feel less guilty about the donut. 

work in progress

"Eggs and Basket" Oil on 7x5 board

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I can't wait for Spring, and I'm excited to see the daylight lasting longer, and the time change will really make a difference!  The sunshine is brighter, the days are warming up, the birds are singing and Easter is just around the corner.  We've had a fairly mild winter here, but even so...Spring can't come soon enough for me!

"Water Glass and Lime" Oil on 7x5 board

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

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.

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.