Randomness  oil   7x5

sold

Another one I painted with my student who is working on painting flowers. She brought in a few geraniums and a glass.  Couldn't have been more simple.  I love the suggestion of the petals and stems.  It's an idea of flower.  That appeals to me.  Not fussy.

Community    oil    5.75x4.5

click to bid or buy

starting price $50

First painting of the second batch of garlics.  I recently lost the mothership garlics and now I have to wait until they come into season again.  Losing them was like losing a friend. The mothership is here: http://kathyhirshart.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-mothership-and-lunar-modules-oil.html. Sold but not forgotten.

Three Against One   oil  5.75x4.5
 Click to buy or bid

Another jelly beans and a slice.  Painted this one in class with my students. I think this theme needs to be painted large, so that I can really explore all the value and color richness in the beans and the shadows.

Attack of the Jelly Beans  oil  5.75x4.5
 click to buy

I started this little series yesterday- apple slices and jelly beans.  I did these as demos for my students for a lesson on edges.  The shadows of the fruit and the jelly beans provide an opportunity for lots of soft edges. And because the beans are translucent it's a chance to see a lot of color in the shadows.

Sprouts   oil   5.75x4.5
 click to buy

We had a bumper crop of sprouts from the organic farm.

Trying and trying to keep it loose. Let the brushstrokes stand, to be gestural and not so descriptive.

A Pear on Wednesday  oil 5.75x4.5
 click to buy

I painted this one for my class last Wednesday. I usually let all the students find their own subject matter and lighting.  This last Wednesday I thought I'd make the suggestion that the new students try this set up.  I created it to demonstrate a light against middle value, a dark against middle value and two dark values against each other with the corresponding lost edges.  All the students decided to do this pear against a blue background.  A very successful class with the students leaving with a better understanding of values and edges.  They would like to do it again-maybe this Wednesday we will do apples with cut edges.

Two Cut Edges  oil  5.75x4.5

 click to buy

The third pear.

One Pear   oil   5.75x4.5
 click to buy

I haven't posted for a week.  I've been doing 3 days of teaching this fall and have many figure drawings done but less painting.  I need to figure out how to better maximize my time in the studio when I have so many classes to teach.  And I forgot to sign it.

I'm starting a pear series-the recipes to follow. I find the composition on this one a little uncomfortable. The pear feels a little crowded in the upper left corner.  I'll do another one with a different layout. The scarf is from my friend Martha who passed away last week.  Wish she were here to see it.

Flotsam  oil  5.75x4.5
 click to buy

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
 click to buy

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.

Castaways  oil  5.75x4.5
 click to buy

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
 click to buy

Egg painting number 9 of 12. In the shadows I pushed the yellow both orange and green.

Afloat   oil   5.75 x 4.5
click to buy 

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.

Cherries Squared Two  oil  4.5 x 5.75
 click to buy

Another painting of cherries and cherries.This is a small one, but I'd like to do one that's 8x16, so the cherries are thrown like dice across the fabric. Maybe tomorrow.

Into the Clear Air  oil  7x5
 click to buy

A friend's yard.  I was trying to capture the effect of the flowers against the dark foliage in the light, with the foreground in shadow. And there were light flowers in the foreground too, adding to the challenge.  It's the idea that the dark t-shirt in the light areas will be darker than the light colored newspaper in the dark.  Clear as mud?

Next spring and summer I'd like to do a series of "Other People's Gardens".  Did a few this summer and found it very satisfying. It's kind of a collaboration- their garden artistry and your painting.

Follow the Crowd  oil  5.75 x 4.5
 click to buy

Egg painting number 7.  This one's boiled and cut up. It was fun to play with the shapes and shadows, creating movement with pieces of cut up egg.

There's a reason for the weird size.  I lived in China and had cradled wooden boxes made at one of the local art stores. We were working in the metric system. When I lived overseas I realized standard paper size is not 8.5 x 11.

Some Scrap of Shadow  6x6 oil
 click to buy

Another plein air from this week.  I've passed this house/bungalow many times in past 2 or 3 years.  It hit me as I drove by today that it was the perfect time to come and paint. Did you know that you can eat nasturtiums? Delicious in salads.

Composed of Curves  8x8  oil
 click to buy

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.

Delicious Moment   5x7   oil  still life
 click to buy

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".