Green Energy  oil  6x6

Same garden different view from yesterday's post.  My friend and neighbor has a very green thumb. I've wandered over in the afternoon to paint for several days. The garden gate depending on the light is a wonderful graphic element.

Looking In  oil 8x6
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A little plein air in my neighbor's back yard. I love the mysterious window.

Blue Bottle oil 8x6
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I loved the way the shadow is cast on the surface of the flower as it turns away from the light.  I particularly like the stem seen through the bottle- nice and loose and juicy. More striped fabric from asia-this particular fabric makes many appearances.  It's subtle, but nicely divides up this space and gives some movement to the background.

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.

Daddy's Tulip oil 8x6 

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I painted this for a dear friend for her birthday.  After her father passed away a red tulip appeared in her and her sister's gardens.  This year she picked it and placed it in a vase.  I secretly took it into my studio and painted it against one of her red striped tea towels. She loves red and I wanted the painting to be about red.  The tea towel appears many times in my paintings. not easy to paint as it has quite a bit of contrast, but there's a graphic quality to it that I like.

Radishes for E  8x6 oil

More radishes with the white in the shadow.  I planted many this summer, but too close and didn't get many beauties.  The grocery though has some really good ones.  I have a cookbook project in mind, then the radishes will get their day. The challenge is always the red (dark value) and the contrasting white interior.

Shining Leaves  oil 8x6
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The gingkos in my neighborhood turn a beautiful golden color in the fall.  I collect them, put them in a jar with glycerine and stick them in the fridge.  During the year I pull them out and play with them until I hit on a still life setting I want to paint. Again, this is a shallow stage to take advantage of the shadows on the wall.  I also love painting white, you get so many great subtle colors in the reflections and shadows.

Sprouts  7x5 oil

This painting was donated to the Telluride Aids Benefit.  The little Kathmandu bowls make a third appearance and more cut vegetables.  It's all about shapes and shadows.  That's the actual name of this blog but I haven't figured out how to fit it in the header of the blog in an attractive way.  Soon.

Gather Us Up oil 8x8.5
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I painted this one in class with my students. I was showing them that anything is fair game-that you can turn a cut banana into a fun painting.

Familiar Faces  oil 8x6
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I talk endlessly about negative space and shapes in my classes.  My motto is "it's not about the thing". It is about the shapes butting up against each other, each square inch of paint on the canvas, how the shapes and edges interact.

Rising Joyfully oil 8x6
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I tell my students that the sides of the paper and canvas are magnetized and every object, limb and branch is being pulled horizontally and vertically.  They need to fight the pull to right angles.  It's hard, I feel the pull and am always trying to resist it.

Desperadoes  oil 6x8
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So if pears are my favorite fruit, beets are right up there in the vegetable category. I often use a shallow depth of field in my set up to maximize the shadows on the back walls.  I think of the still life set up as a theater stage, with lights, paint brushes and action.

Composed of Curves  8x8  oil
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I love painting pears-the most human of the fruit. The tiny bowls from Kathmandu make another appearance. And I'm working as always to make each brushstroke count.

 Counter Suspension   oil on wooden box   8"x6"x1 3/8"
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Third post and I think it's time to introduce vegetable bondage. I work in several different genres- still life, plein air and portrait.  And within those genres I've developed several different themes. One of those is vegetable bondage.  I can make interesting shapes by tying up vegetables. And yarn and wire can create still more movement and tension.

Falling Into Place  8x8 oil
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And here's number two. The little blue bowl is from Kathmandu.  It appears in many of my still lifes.  One of the things I love to paint is a high value color (light, not dark) in the shadows.  The little bowl with the yellow dots lets me do that endlessly. The shadows on the radishes also are fun.  Do you go warm or cool painting a white surface in the shadow?

Delicious Moment   5x7   oil  still life
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Okay here goes.  First post, first painting posted.

I really would like it all to be perfect.  To me that means: meaningful post, gorgeous painting and ebay, pinterest, dailypaintworks all set up and working like a clock. But like life, this isn't perfect.  So first the post, then the posting, then setting up everything else.  Got to start somewhere.

I painted this for my students as a demo, 25 strokes (more or less).  "Too much dabbing at the canvas is like mumbling when you speak".