Fruit Aplenty

 

Click Here to Purchase - $500 - 12x12in. - oil on panel

If you're new to my work, I have a series of online tutorials available. I call them ArtBytes because they are bite-size tutorials, at reasonable prices. A few are free, so you can get a taste of what they're like. And if you pay for one and are disappointed, we have a money-back guarantee. Thanks for checking them out. : )

Holiday Pears

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, ate too much, drank too much, had several awkward conversations with family and/or friends, and then slept really well. If not then you didn't do it right. ; )

Pears and Paper

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's a little one with some little pears I found at the grocery store. Small things on a small panel. How cute. ; )

Particular Pears

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 8x6in. - oil on panel

I don't often paint in a vertical format. For some reason it's harder for me to compose this way. But these pears insisted on it.

Hide the Last Apple

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

When I have a bunch of fruit, I have a hard time not painting them in a glass bowl. I've done it lots of times. Here's one of my very first ones, from 2007.

Peaceful Pears

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Pears can vary in personality. These have been pretty chill so far. They couldn't stand for very long, so I told them they could do a lying down pose. They fell asleep but they didn't snore.

Pears in Formation

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil - "Pears in Formation"

Buying pears in the winter is never optimal. My choices were slim and they didn't last long. Maybe I should move to a tropical climate ... nah.

Now Swing Your Partner

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

It always takes time after a break to find my groove again. I wiped a few attempts that were way too tight and picky. What's funny is that in order to get looser I actually had to make myself SLOW DOWN. Mostly to slow down and LOOK more, consider more, and make each pile of paint and subsequent stroke really count. No fussing afterwards.

Glass Half Full

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

My props have been very contemplative of late. The lemons concluded they were more on the side of "glass half full," but the pears couldn't decide. If you read my last post you know that pears often have trouble making up their minds. They can always see it both ways.

Choosing a Color Scheme

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

Did you know that pears have a hard time making decisions? They sat here for hours trying to decide on the colors for their painting. So I painted them chatting about it.

Pearpalooza

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

I have a particular affinity for pears. But I wish they were more shiny. And lasted a little longer. But you can't have everything.

Cool and Calm

 

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

Here's another lightbulb that I'm trying. This one is an LED flood, 50W equivalent, 4000K. It's a lot less bright than the last one, and more diffused. Almost too diffused for what I want most of the time. But I'll keep it for when I might want that. It's also a little warmer (because it's 4000 rather than 5000k - the lower the number the warmer the light). My plan is to keep trying bulbs until I find something I'm really happy with.

Ask the Spoon

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

Sometimes, when I lose my focus, I look back at old paintings of mine that I was really happy with. And usually I see something that I was doing that I ... apparently FORGOT about! Before this I had done a couple that I wasn't happy with (that I ended up wiping) and what I realized is that I was getting too blendy. So for this I focused on [distinct] [strokes], and I'm calling it a keeper. : )

Pear Company

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

And this is the last in this pear series. They get to a point where they are too soft and yellow. And I'm happy with the progress, so I'll move on.

Dividing Pears

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

Here's another in my current pear series. I didn't get anymore questions from anyone. I guess I've already said everything, here and in my book. That's probably a good thing...

Mourning the Spoon

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

I've been chatting with a friend recently about learning and staying motivated. It reminded me how much I like doing a series. I find I learn (and re-learn) a ton about a particular subject by doing a bunch of the same thing. I just finished a cup series, and now I'm on to pears. Once I'm truly happy with the progress, and I start getting bored with the subject, I move on to the next one. I think if I instead painted a completely different subject every time, I wouldn't learn nearly as much.

It occurs to me in writing this that if anyone has a particular question they would like me to answer here, please ask and I'll answer so everyone can see. : )

Did They See it Coming?

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

This was one of the rare occasions when I thought of the title as I was setting up the composition. If you don't know by now, I have a rather dark sense of humor. : )

What Are We Doing Here?

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

I was at IKEA yesterday, picking up some things (for a project that will be revealed soon...) when my husband spotted this piece of glass and suggested it might make a good palette. I had been intending to get one from somewhere to finally replace the paper palettes I've been using for years, but hadn't done it yet. And boy am I glad, because this one is perfect! It's thick, has rounded edges, and is already white on one side. Best of all, it was only $20!

I feel like this is a setup meant for a queen! And so of course nothing I painted today worked out. Ugh. The painting above is one I did a couple of days ago.

Check Us Out

Click Here to Bid (6x8in. - starts at $100)

When I was in San Francisco I saw three young gals walking around together, constantly taking selfies. I watched them for a while, because I was waiting for them to move out of the scene I wanted to photograph. For at least 15 minutes they were completely oblivious to their surroundings, except as a backdrop for their glamour shots. They didn't even speak to each other, except to ask for an opinion about a pose. These pears reminded me of those girls, but with a "mirror" instead of cell phone cameras.

Who Goes First?

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

These pears know they need to get on the plate, but they're not sure what's going to happen once they're there. I'm not either.