Floral Oil Painting of Magnolias and Fruit, 24" x 36"

"Evening Shadows"
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I had a sick day today so I decided to post one of my more finished pieces. This definitely is not a "daily painting" having taken several sittings to complete. The work is done on panel and represents some of my better work. I've had some difficulty in getting a good picture of it but this seems to be a fairly good representation. The whole painting is a bit brighter but if I brighten it on photoshop, the flowers just get too bright. Haven't figured out how to compensate there. There's more subtlety in the flowers than is shown here. Hope you enjoy it. Click above if you want to inquire about purchase.

Floral Oil Painting of Tiger Lily and Copper Kettle, 9" x 12" on board

"Tiger Lily Tea"
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There's nothing like hot tea on a cold day. I threw the Tiger Lily and fruit in for color. I've been having to paint a lot under warm light because I've been getting started later in the studio. Daylight fades about 3:30 here so it doesn't leave me much time for painting if I get started after 2:00 PM. I rather miss the cool light and will try to make a concerted effort to get into the studio earlier. My eyes have been acting up a bit. The cool light will certainly be more comfortable to paint in.

Oil Painting of Yellow Tiger Lilies, 11" x 14" on board

"Tiger Lilies"
SOLD.


It's been so rainy and gloomy here in Washington, that I thought I'd bring some sunshine into my studio. So Tiger Lilies were the pick of the day. These were fun flowers to paint. I used warm incandescent light for this set up as I started late in the day and there wasn't enough natural light in my studio. I love the way the light plays on the lilies and shines through. See the detail below.



Original Oil Painting of Poppies and Glass Vase, 28" x 38"

"Poppies Aglow"
SOLD


Poppies are such warm delicate flowers for such a hardy breed. I love the way they take on a glow in the light. This one has some nice thick paint in the blooms and leaves. See the detail below. It's also pretty contemporary for me. Has a nice kind of abstract feel to it. I was in an expansive mood today so I pulled out a really huge canvas and got to work. Boy am I pooped.




Oil Floral of Lilies and Cut Tangerine, 9" x 12" on panel

"Lilies and Cut Tangerine"
SOLD






This painting is done on 1/4" thick 9" x 12" hard panel and finished with a light varnish. The Lilies are painted thickly in the lights with generous paint. I especially like the composition here which has good strong negative shapes. I'm quite satisfied with the way that the flowers fade into the shadows.

White always presents a challenge for artists. This is true especially of flowers which have many nuances in them. In chiaroscuro painting, the emphasis is on tonal quality and not so much on color. However, the trick is to discover the color in terms of temperature change and emphasize it just enough to bring life to the shadows and make the whites stand out against each other without falling into mud.

Oil Floral of Roses in a Copper Vase, 12" x 16"

"The Copper Vase"
SOLD




It's been awhile since I painted in cool light. I generally use a warm incadescent light that I can dim or brighten according to the needs of the painting. But cool natural north light is always preferable. My studio sometimes makes this difficult. But today I moved things around a bit and this painting of roses in cool light emerged. I love roses, as do most people, but always find them a challenge to paint. Think I did OK here. I especially like the way the warm copper vase sets off the warm tones in the roses.

"The Copper Vase" is painted on 16" x 20" unstretched canvas. It has a lovely 2" unpainted border around it giving it a number of framing options. See the image below. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Oil Figure of a reclining woman, 11" x 15"

"Angela Sleeping II"
SOLD


This afternoon, the sun was actually shining for awhile into my studio and I couldn't bring myself to shut down the lights, huddle in the dark and paint a still life. So I dug into my model collection and decided to do a sister piece to the last "Angela Sleeping."

I've been having a lot of fun with these pieces. I especially like the white border around the painting. It intrigues me with some design possibilities. While I certainly won't be doing all my pieces like this, I intend to explore it here and there with other ideas.

"Angela Sleeping II", like it's sister piece, is painted on 16" x 20" unstretched canvas. It has a two and a half inch border around it which sets it off in a lovely way. See below. It has a variety of options for framing. It can be stretched onto stretcher bars, backed on board, or matted decoratively under glass.

Oil Floral of Hayacinth and Cut Apples, 14" x 18"

"Hyacinth and Cut Apples"
SOLD



This pitcher and bowl have been hanging around my dining room for many years and I only now decided to paint them. I was aiming for a soft glowing look here and trying to pick up the color I saw reflected in the shadows. I'm quite happy with the outcome.



Postscript: About one hour before I posted this, my devil of cat, Nalie, jumped onto the still life set-up and knocked the entire thing to the floor. Sigh. Glad I painted it. At least I managed to salvage the pitcher.

Oil Floral of Pink Orchids, 12" x 20"

"Orchid Glow"
SOLD



Orchids, despite popular belief, are quite hardy. It goes without saying that they are beautiful as well. I like painting in unusual sizes. These orchids seemed to fill the space nicely. This sort of composition always intrigues me. I like designs where the object or subjects flows off the table. I may try this again from an even more severe perspective. I somehow picture a piece like this in a niche or on a narrow wall.