Sold!

This painting, titled Morning Mist, along with two other paintings, sold at the benefit dinner and silent auction for The Friends of Fort Liberte, a children's orphanage in Haiti. It was a lot of fun to sit and watch people bid on my paintings (two of them were live auction). Even better was to have the proceeds go to a most worthy cause.

Reflecting

Tonight three of my paintings will be presented at a benefit dinner and auction, to raise money for an orphanage in Haiti. This is one of them, titled Reflecting, or, Reflection. It was at my daughter's apartment for several years and I had forgotten about it. She redecorated and it came back to me. I hope it now goes to someone who will love the quiet somber beauty of this woman. More, even, I hope it will bring big bucks to go towards materials for the orphans. I know my limits and can't ever see myself working in Haiti, but I am glad to contribute in some small way.

Figs

Back a few years ago, posting a painting a day was the blogging fad. Haven't heard too much of people doing that, but thought for my personal goad, ur, goal, I would try to commit to posting new art once a week. Here is a drawing from two days ago. My neighbor has the most luscious, extravagant fig tree. She had plucked these, thinking I might want to draw or paint them. I did! I now want to ask her for some more, to arrange in various settings for a photo shoot, to become the basis of paintings.

Turnips, again

Second painting of turnips, again painted with brushes on a Masonite board. The first painting has been given away to a very old friend, a master cook, to be perched in his gorgeous kitchen. I love it when my paintings go to good homes!

Turnips!

I feel so accomplished - the apple store geniuses had me convinced that I could not upload photos from my iPad to my blog, but I found a back door, so to speak.

Finally, painting again. Finished this about 5 weeks ago, and really enjoyed using brushes instead of my palette knife. This was done on a gessoed smooth finish board, with 2 layers of transparent "washes" to build up the turnips and cloth and shadows, then a finishing layer of thicker, more opaque paint on the turnips and for details and whites. It is 9 x 12 inches.

summer haze

One of my "little" paintings, 8 x 10 inches. Colors are limited in hue, but I liked working within this small range. For those interested in my palette, I used ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow light, hansa yellow, and sap green. And titanium white. Actually, cadmium red light and dioxazine purple are the only other two colors that I generally use in addition to the above.

Art Show Coming!

However, this painting will not be in the show! Glory in the Common Spaces will open July 7 and run through August 2 at the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center. Please come and see landscapes painted from 2009 through June 2011.

Why post this little still life? I don't think I have posted it anywhere and found it in my desktop file of images. This little painting, 8 x 10, is painted on top of an old painting (recycling as well as utilizing texture) by using a palette knife (my usual technique) to spread on oil paint, scratching away to reveal previously applied color, whether dry or just painted. I like how the process is not controlled and surprises happen. I use this technique almost always in my landscape paintings, but not often in still life. This was the first painting of fruit that I painted in this manner and felt that no one would ever buy it. It's been stuck in a back bedroom for four years and I don't often see it or think to display it. Still a personal favorite. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting!