Present and Accounted For  oil   8x8.5
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Daffodils, jonquils, narcissus- they all refer to this beautiful flower floating in the nameless blue reaching for the light.  Very fun to paint-always a struggle painting the light white in the shadow. I'd like to paint this again but loosen up my edges.

Incoming Tide   oil  5.75x4.5

Egg painting number 11 of 12.

As I wrote last month- I'm writing a cookbook and plan to do a series of food paintings that are vaguely related to the recipes-just enough to give some structure to painting subject matter. I've been collecting recipes for a few years from a dear friend and fabulous cook- she is really gifted. The cookbook is called "A Year of Food Sex with Sam".

Here's the first egg recipe and a quote from Sam:
"Eggs are delicate, we treat them harshly.  They're the most delicious food and a pleasing shape."

How to boil an egg: 
Put the eggs in a pot with cold water.  Bring the water to a gentle boil and turn it off.  Do not cover the pot. Let them sit for 7 minutes and plunge the eggs into ice water. Voila, the perfect boiled egg.

Castaways  oil  5.75x4.5
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Egg painting number 10 of 12.  Eggs moving in and out and across the canvas.  How many ways are there to slice an egg? A surprisingly large number.

Crowded Harbor   oil   5.75x4.5
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Egg painting number 9 of 12. In the shadows I pushed the yellow both orange and green.

Afloat   oil   5.75 x 4.5
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Egg painting number 8 of 12.  I've kept the same color scheme as "follow the crowd" and played with the arrangement of shapes. I'm able to be a bit looser with each painting. A boiled egg is a surprisingly fragile thing.

Goldfinch Heaven  oil  12x9
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Here's the rest of Bob's garden from a plein air perspective.  The goldfinches love the sunflowers and everything was glinting with gold, the flowers and the birds. I went twice to catch it all.  Apparently all the sunflowers are volunteers.

Star Burst  oil  6x8
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How much can I infer without directly stating it?  Sometimes I think I should do a painting and try to "nail" it.  And then paint another one and allow myself to abstract it.  I've even considered putting up two canvases side by side. After 25 years as a medical illustrator old habits die hard.  I'm very happy with the little purple flowers- merely inferred.

 Feel the Delight oil 8x6
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Flowers in a jar- what could be more simple.  I'm always trying to maintain the looseness and it's not always easy, but this one makes me pretty happy.

La Tulipe Jaune  oil 6x8
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This painting is about yellow. Fun to do, I wondered how many different ways can you paint yellow.  I find purple to be a good foil in the shadows. The tulip has more warmth than the fabrics in the still life.