Side by Side  6x6  oil

Summer light at midday with all things two by two-flowers, windows and chairs.

Patty's Gate  oil 6x6
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In the green thumb neighbor's backyard.  I wanted this little painting to not be about flowers but shapes of color.

Farmer's Market Saturday Morning   oil   6x6
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Saturday morning with the Oak Park Art League. The gladiolus were beautiful and the cast shadows caught my eye.

Sweeping Upwards   oil   16x8
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Part of the beet bondage series.  I'll be posting more tied and strung onions. There's something vaguely compelling about them.  This one has a faintly Japanese air.

Uncle Don  oil  12x11

This was a commissioned portrait.  Very fun to do- one of those paintings that fell off the brush. I love the light and the cast shadow of the cigar.

Tools of the Trade   8x6   oil
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Painted this one with my students.  A good example of "really, anything can make a fun subject".

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.

Flotsam  oil  5.75x4.5
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Egg painting number 13 of 12.

The Japanese wabi sabi philosophy states in part: nothing is perfect, nothing is finished, nothing lasts. So true.

I'm getting into the swing of painting and posting every day.  It requires me to be willing to let go and send the image out into the world. (I'm of course reserving the right to repaint and repost later, but haven't so far).

I think yesterday's post, Foiled and Boiled needs a little glaze on the reflection to darken it just a hair. And I might play with the bits of egg flotsam, the flow needs some adjustment.

Foiled and Boiled  oil   5.75x4.5
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Egg painting number 12 of 12, but I don't think I'm done yet so there will be more. 

I painted this one with the little cups perched on aluminum foil. Reflections are right up there with glass, it not about the thing. it's about just seeing what's in front of you.

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.

Fiery Glee  oil  8x8

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Time for a break from eggs. I cut up a wan orange and dropped it into three little glasses with a patterned background.  I love painting glass.

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.

Cheney Mansion  oil  8x10
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Painted this with my plein air students in June.  A gorgeous day, we spent the previous day indoors  working from photos because of rain.  What I noticed was- when the students got outside the next day, because of the emphasis on abstracting the photo the day before they were less intimidated, felt more in charge and were less overwhelmed.  One of my students called it "blobism"- not painting individual things but seeing the scene as areas of value and color.

Different Directions  oil  13 x 11
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I've been working on a series I call beet bondage.  Here's a preview- tied up, tied down, stretched, wound around itself- it's been fun.  I've barely scratched the surface. I'll post more in the coming months.

Touched with Fire  oil  9.5x7
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Trying to get the interior glow of an orange- always a challenge. It was fun playing with the shape of the shadow.

Perfectly Simple  oil  10x8
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Another house from Crested Butte. I'm interested in entrances, front steps and windows, what the front of the house has to say for itself. I hope to do a show next year called Front Steps and Stories.

House at the Corner  oil  10x8
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This house is in Crested Butte.  An old mining town in the mountains of Colorado. Every year this house catches my eye. It's deserted and the red trim has faded to pink. The windows are dark but reflect the sky and trees around it. I  particularly enjoy playing with the colors. I'm attracted to the trim in the light and shadow, the way the roof and trees cast shadows on the white wood, the yellow dandelions in the bright yard and in the shadow of the trees. I've been working on my evergreens, I find them challenging to paint. As always, less seems to be a bit more-less contrast and fewer strokes.

Curls of Light  oil  6x9
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This spring the ranunculus were gorgeous-so round, so full. The contrast of the black centers of the flowers make a good graphic focus. I particularly like the vase on this one-so abstract. I often like the way my vases are painted- I think it's because I'm not painting a thing, I'm painting reflections and transparency.  I wish I could bring the same non attachment to all parts of my paintings.

Sweet Treat  oil  9x6
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I taught a week of summer camp to 8 year olds this year.  It was called Cakes and Carrots.  We baked, we decorated, we drew, painted and played with color.  I painted this for the kids, as an example of how to transform your cupcake into a painting.

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.

Bob's 'Barrow   oil  8x10
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Bob has an amazing garden, with rows and rows of sunflowers (that painting is still on the easel).  He also has these old wheelbarrows planted with red and pink and magenta.  Late in the day the sun was coming straight at me creating dark shapes against the lights of the grass.