Sunday post: where I take the day off and post something from my website.
Perhaps I'm dreaming of summer, wanting to paint oranges and lemons. They are a nice shock of colour. Wondering if I added enough darks to the oranges? Maybe not 3-D enough. I thought about this while I was painting but then stopped myself from going further. I was conscious of wanting to keep it light and bright - but not sure if they now are reading too flat. Will have to experiment with that.
Or perhaps "Surfaces from hell" lol. But I feel pretty good. I know in summer this would have been a complete nightmare for me. So - yay! - you do learn over time : ) The vessel to the left was silver, and the green candle lantern is ribbed glass, and then there is the flower. 
But really - doesn't it look like a sassy little number with her hand on her hip on the yellow carpet? I recently picked up this copper creamer - very 70s-looking - at a thrift shop. Who knew it would make a good gown?! I hear "Staying Alive" pumping in the background...
Sunday post: where I take the day off and post something from my website. Today I thought a bright painting was in order. It's been awfully gray and rainy the past 24 hours so here's a shot of spring for all those under the same conditions :)
This is that beautiful, faux depression glass bowl that I bought for a buck ;-) I think what I love about it so much is the colour. When I shone the light on it, shards of robins egg blue and turquoise sparkled. I threw the lemon and cherries in there for a bit of bounce.
I keep painting these cherries while they last. Yeah...I like to buy local and all that - and definitely purchase it whenever it is an option - but I couldn't resist these cherries from Chile. First of all, I had a craving to paint them after seeing Carol Marine's, and secondly - they really do taste great. I know - it's hard to believe after coming all that way - but they taste like the ones down the road!
I really like painting bowls and plates from a birds-eye view. Love the circles. I had a lot fun with the shapes and colour on this one. 
Seven delicious cherries. Firm and sweet. Ahhh...makes me daydream of July...
I hadn't planned ahead today and as a result didn't have much for a set-up so I did a bunch of glass and neutrals. A challenge for sure. I'll have to go back to this again. And I really need to go still-life hunting : )
Sunday post (where I post something from my website): Red Herring
Yesterday was reds, today I gathered up everything I could find in my studio that was blue. So there is my new blue glass bowl, a pot of metallic ink, a favourite teacup, a spool of thread (back from when I was sewing things onto this collage) and an empty tin of Gypsy Tea (that my friend Dawn introduced me to). It is all sitting quite comfortably on a scrap of batik fabric from my sister-in-law. 
I tried to play around with my still life set-up a bit more today. I tossed a couple of apples in my new red glass dollar store vase, and then laid the amaryllis bloom in front. I'm realizing that it really helps to have a number of objects right at hand in my studio, so that I don't have to "settle" with a set-up I'm not very excited about. This will mean hunting for some more items at thrift shops, and then getting a shelf to properly store said objects. Right now I have about five. Boy - if you could see my studio now...well, let's just say I've got my work cut out for me. P.S. If anyone has tips on how to title paintings a bit more creatively, I'm all ears : )
Another view out my studio window. A typical January scene.
This morning over (very good) coffee my friend introduced me to an inspiring artist named Bobbie Burgers. Wow. Good thing I saw her work before I did my daily. I zipped to the dollar store and found some heavy glass vases, plucked the amaryllis bloom that opened up yesterday, and drove to the studio. 
Well, actually these are the kids' paintbrushes. But I saw the jar under the sink and they looked pretty interesting. And this reminds me of one of my pet peeves: crummy paintbrushes in grade schools. I mean, really! They're wiry, plastic-y bristles with cruddy points and they don't hold paint well. How can a kid get inspired with that? (And yep - there is one of those offensive brushes on the left. I didn't buy it!) Do kids use paper protractors? Compasses made of thin bendy rubber? I think not! You need proper tools for the job. Enough said.
Sunday post from my website: Fall Jewel
Okay - this is more like it. After all of yesterday's careful studying, this just seemed to flow. It feels good. This is one of life's simple pleasures, no?
This morning I met up with Patti Harris, assemblage and collage artist extraordinaire! I was picking up Pearl's Light and Pearl rocks! I just have to find her a place. Anyway, after that I went back to the studio and painted these oranges. Much, much tighter than I usually work...hmmm. I think I was trying to get my ellipses right and then had trouble painting loose strokes for fear of them getting wonky. Always more to learn : )
This one goes out to Shari's daughter in Texas who apparently shares my fondness for marbles : )
A Cat's Eye close-up. Marbles are a lot of fun to paint!
Sundays I take the day off and post a painting from my website. This painting is Spring Thaw. The sky and snow reminded me of today, although it is definitely nowhere near thawing temperatures out there! Brr!
I was going to make some crack about "losing my marbles" but on only the first day of a new year, things are not yet too crazy! This painting was a lot of fun. I may try some variations on the subject tomorrow.
