Dandelions {a new small floral painting} SOLD

Dandelions

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

Unframed painting

I truly love dandelions.

I think allowing myself to acknowledge this piece of information, is allowing myself to connect with my child-self, because as a kid I loved seeing the bright yellow flowers, yellow dots on a field of green. I also loved sitting in the grass and blowing dandelion puffs. And whenever an adult would see me doing this they would admonish me for spreading those "terrible" weeds, which my mind at the time could not see as being anything but wonderful.

Pansies with Saucer {a new small floral painting} SOLD

Pansies with Saucer

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

This painting is a compositional homage to this painting created a few months ago... It uses flowers that are currently in season, a different saucer, and bottle... however it was an investigation on how to create a new painting with different items and to see how it would change or stay the same.

I think going back and revisiting a lot of the previous daily painting compositions will be a fun activity, so expect to see more in the future.

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Also, I want to thank everyone who has signed up for my monthly newsletter. I so appreciate your support and interest in my work.

If you have not signed up, here is more information about signing up for email updates, and here is the March 2012 edition, my first newsletter.

Thanks for stopping by and reading,

Liz

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P.S. Here is how this painting would look framed...

(available framed upon request after auction)

Forsythia {Bountiful Observations no. 14} SOLD

Forsythia

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

SOLD

These little yellow flowers are one of the indicators I rely on for anticipating warmer days. Here in DC, forsythias are at their best on cold, damp, and grays days, the yellow flowers seem to glow with a promise of sunny days are just around the corner.

Though once the days begin to warm, drying out and staying sunny the blooms begin to fade and green leaves begin to sprout. And when the leaves begin to come out on forsythia bushes it means that the soil is staying at a pretty consistent temperature of 55 degrees F, which is a good point to begin other springtime plantings… So now that our forsythia bushes have dropped all the flowers and are in full leaf, I have been spending time prepping my beds and expanding a few of them in anticipation of future things to come…

Do you like to garden? If so this wonderful gardening blog I recently came across may be of interest to you, A Way to Garden, from Margaret Roach where she has these handy monthly gardening chore blogposts. I am finding them to be VERY helpful! Also if you are in the DC region, the American Horticultural Society will be holding their annual Spring Garden Market, APRIL 12-14. A great sale with fantastic seedlings and specimens to choose from and the 12th is the AHS members-only preview sale, so if you are not a member think about becoming one so you can get an early jump on your plantings…

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Pink Hyacinths { a new small floral painting} SOLD

Pink Hyacinths

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}
SOLD

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

This was the first time to paint hyacinths since working on the de Heem copy. Initially I started off real tight, and after a few hours realized that the painting was not going in the direction I wanted, so out came the palette knife and I scraped the painting down.

With the initial experience in mind, I set out to capture the essence of the flowers without tightening up, and I am pleased at how it turned out. There is an abundance of soft edges, paired with some specific focused areas.

Three Pink Roses {a small floral painting}

Three Pink Roses

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

Framed painting: $250.00 + S&H

Life-glowing season ! odour-breathing Spring !

Deck'd in cerulean splendours !–vivid,–warm,

Shedding soft lustre on the rosy hours,

And calling forth their beauties ! balmy Spring !

~Mary Darby Robinson (1758-1800)

Happy first day of SPRING!

Liz

Here's what this painting would look like framed
(available framed upon request after auction)

Stargazer Lily {Bountiful Observations no. 12}

Stargazer Lily

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

Available for purchase via my Etsy Shop

Framed painting: $400.00 + S&H

Finally the days are getting longer and brighter!

I am so excited about the warm weather and what it means it is bringing, SPRING! Last week I spent time prepping my vegetable and flower beds. There is still more to do, there always is, however I hope to be rewarded soon with fresh peas, arugula, and flowers from my garden. And I plan on incorporating these items into some paintings...

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Lemon and Silver Cup {a new small painting} SOLD

Lemon and Silver Cup

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H  SOLD

A quiet moment captured.

Pink Roses { a small floral painting} SOLD

Pink Roses

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

Unframed painting

One of the benefits of Valentines Day is that for the weeks after the holiday, grocery stores still have lots of flowers, especially roses. Those flowers that did not bloom in time for the big day are still beautiful, inspiring and available.

Pear on Wooden Box {a new daily painting} SOLD

Pear on Wood Box

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

Unframed painting: $100.00

Hello,

This little painting was completed over a few days. The first day was late on a bright and sunny afternoon, but I had to stop working on it because of other responsibilities {namely my little one}, then the next time I had a chance to get back to it, the day was dark and cloudy. So dark that it was hard to see, but I tried to finish it anyways because opportunities do not always afford time to paint....

Well the next day was a bright and sunny day, and I realized that I had botched a lot because of how dark the previous day had been. However, this turned out to be a gift in disguise, because I was able to add more layers of paint, some places were painted wet into wet, and other areas had paint scumbled across the top of previous layers of paint. So all these days working on this little painting afforded the time to effectively capture the weathered appearance of the old Phillips Digestive Cocoa wooden box that the pear was sitting on.

This painting would not be what it is, if it had been smooth sailing from start to finish…

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And here is a photo of miss N. in a new hat. Thank you Marie and Lily for the beautiful gift!

Yellow Roses {Bountiful Observations No. 9} SOLD

Yellow Roses in a Silver Cup

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

SOLD

Framed painting

Good Morning,

I am at a loss of what to share about this painting. It just came together on a cloudy and gray afternoon, I like the calm colors - yellows, greens, and blue-grays - and the muted background. The only bright color note in the composition is a streak of red in the silver cup that reflects the red sweater I was wearing.

Sometimes I find it hard to articulate what it is that drew me in, and at these times I hope the saying "a picture is worth a 1,000 words" comes into play.

Thanks for stopping by and reading,
Liz

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Hellebore {a new small floral painting}

Hellebore

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Painted at the end of the day, just before sunset, this hellebore seemed to glow in the last lights of the day.

Green Apple {a new small painting}

Green Apple with Slice

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 + S&H

I keep an idea/visual journal, where I jot down lists of ideas, develop themes, and just muse about art. Sometimes I focus on what was learned or thought about during the previous day or sketch out painting compositions.

I have written about this before, and found this kind of journaling to be very helpful for keeping on track when I was working as an architect. I fell away from the practice once I was able to paint full time, probably because all my waking hours were free to focus on art. Now that I am a mother of a precocious infant daughter I am finding that keeping an idea journal again is helpful.

Lately, I use it to sketch out thumbnails of still life compositions, to gather thoughts and ideas for the Friday Inspiration blog posts, and just keep safe ideas for the future. The thumbnails have become particularly helpful because when I get a free moment {like when Naomi is napping} and I can paint, if I do not have an idea to start immediately, I just go to my thumbnail sketches and choose one, set it up and begin painting. This way minimal time is lost before I can start to paint.

This painting came from one of those sketches, with the idea already thought through, it made the completion of the painting so much easier.

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Here is my little one…

{Naomi using my tripod to get to standing}

…she is already crawling and is now pulling herself up to standing, but she falls down constantly when trying to get down and already has a few bumps and scratches on her head because of her crash landings. If only she could get down as easily as she can get up, life would be less nerve racking!

Tulips and Lemons {Bountiful Observations no. 8} SOLD

Still Life with Tulips and Lemons

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

SOLD

Framed painting: $300.00 starting bid + S&H

With this series each painting is both a completed thought and a bridge between what has come before and what will come later.

This composition is such, in that I wanted to emphasize the complementary colors of the pink – almost purple – tulips to the yellow lemons. They dialog between themselves in this piece while they also are a manifestation of the multiple times I have painted tulips and lemons. Never before together as now, in this painting each has their own place while also supporting each other.

I am hopeful that what was learned and gained from completing this painting will be applied to future paintings, while it would have been impossible to complete this one without all the previous times of being in front of the easel and working on different compositions.

From a technical standpoint I also am particularly pleased with this painting and if you will bear with me I will go on to describe some the nuances of what worked out…

1. I have been experimenting for the past several months on how to lay in a simple background that still has visual depth, like the still lifes by Travis Schlaht or Duane Keiser. I am not there yet, but this painting has for the first time some of the visual atmosphere I am aiming at.

The gradation from light to dark, opaque to transparent, with touches of the burnt sienna underpainting peaking through in places, all have some of the qualities that provide a depth that is more visually pleasing than just a solid background.

2. With the tulips I experimented with using thin transparent tones for the shadow areas and thick opaque passages for the light areas. Tulip petals are thin and light does filter through them, making the shadow areas seem like they are warm and glowing.

3. And lastly, I am pleased with how the lemons turned out. The edges are soft and textured, emulating the rough rind found on lemons. The yellows are rich and deep in value with touches of orange, pink, and green often found in the lemons, while the highlights are textured.

There are a few more things I could write about with this painting, however these three items are the main points that turned out.

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Pomegranate {a new daily painting}

Pomegranate

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 + S&H

I have had several pomegranates floating around the studio for awhile, as I love to paint them. Their round shape with the prickly crown makes them an interesting form to paint.

Another great thing about pomegranates are is that they keep FOREVER. At first they are perfectly round with a smooth surface and bright red to pink in color, then they age as the time wears on, turning dark red to magenta with areas of brown, their skin starts to wrinkle and get leathery, and they no longer are perfectly round, but in my opinion that just makes them more interesting.

Lovely Grays and Hellebore {Bountiful Observations no. 7} SOLD

Gray Symphony - Quiet Moment

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

SOLD

Framed painting

Before moving to the mid-Atlantic region I had never lived anywhere with four distinct seasons. For the first few years I lived here each season was a period of discovery and wonder before I began to associate the sprouting and blooming of specific plants with specific seasons.

It was about four years ago when walking through Georgetown {a neighborhood in DC} in early February that I noticed the hellebore blooming in several yards. The next year I began to realize that these may be the first flowers to bloom in the DC region, maybe even before the snowdrops and crocus. And now I always look upon the blooming of these lovely and delicate flowers as the harbinger of spring.

The hellebore in this painting were given to me by a dear friend and as the flowers opened and continued to bloom I was struck by the soft colors of the petals, the dynamic pattern of the leaves, and how the muted tones were complemented with the reflective surfaces of the small silver bowl and pewter pitcher. Sometimes to bring out the vibrancy in a delicate color it is best to surround it with subtle gray tones.

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Mums in a Blue Pitcher {Bountiful Observations no. 6}

Mums in a Blue Pitcher

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

Click here to purchase

Framed painting: $300.00 + S&H

I began this series as a way to celebrate life and to further explore and capture the wonderful and heartfelt.

With this painting I wanted to experiment with a bird's eye view to maximize the visual diversity found in the two types of mums. It also allowed me to incorporate the embroidered detail of a linen handkerchief that had recently been given to me by a dear friend.

An added benefit of this painting is that it now also celebrates the wonders of friendship.

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Tete-e-Tete Daffodils {a small floral painting}

Tete-e-Tete Daffodils

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

These diminuative daffodils are the early season flowers that keep giving. Brightening the home while also being wonderful still-life subjects.

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Naomi is continuing to grow and become the master of her fate. My blue ink pens are a favorite "toy" of hers and up until last week I could let her play with them because she had not yet learned how to remove the cap, well now she has... and I now know better then to leave her to her own means when occupied with one. I am just happy she did not get ahold of a sharpie!

{my little artist in the making...}

Pewter Mug with Grapes {a new small painting} SOLD

Still Life with Pewter Mug and Grapes

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

This painting and most other still-life paintings are completed from life using natural light. Over the past several years, I have shifted from using directional lighting on my setups to relying on natural light from north easterly windows in my studio.

Even though it is more of a challenge painting without a strong directional light, because they give strong shadows and contrast, I have found I enjoy the quality of color, the diffused soft edges, and nuanced changes between the light and shadow more.

This painting is an excellent example of why I prefer to paint from natural light. The soft blues and warm shadows in the pewter cup, and the variety of color found in the grapes. If I had used a directional light, a lot of the color shifts found in the grapes would have been blown out by a strong light, thus changing to overall feeling and affect of the composition.

Thanks for stopping by and reading,

Liz

PS. do you see the mini-self portrait in the cup?

Three Cloves of Garlic {a new small painting}

Three Cloves of Garlic

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Things have been a bit crazy lately, and I wanted to paint something simple, a limited palette, simple objects, and a straight forward composition. While life has been handing out zingers, I am striving to keep things simple and calm.

Pink Tulip {a new floral painting}

Pink Tulip

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Click to Purchase

Unframed painting: $150.00 starting bid + S&H

When I was painting this tulip it continued to grow and by the time I had finished, the tulip stem had easily grown 1/2 inch longer than when I first cut it. They say tulips keep growing after they are cut but I had never experienced such eager growth before...