Kitchen Chairs

The shadows of these chairs is really neat to me, I like the geometry and abstraction of the shapes. Oil on Canvas, Sold.

Kitchen View

My furniture is actually varnished wood, but I felt like doing the painting in brights, contrasting colors. The table is actually kind of a turquoisy blue and the chair an orangey red in the painting. Oil on Canvas, 18x18.

Fruits on Stripes

I was happy with the way this one turned out, the purple shadows seem to brighten the whole piece. Oil on Canvas. Sold.

Sunny Peaches

Same location, I often place a fruitbowl on a little table in the center of my kitchen, east window, early morning sun, usually a good place for a still life. 9x12 Oil on Canvas.

White Bowl, Red Dots and Pears

My sister gave me some polka dot dishcloths (after she gave some to another sister and I begged) so I have used them in several pieces. I really liked the way the early morning sun reflected the cloth onto the bowl, so couldn't pass that up. Oil on Canvas, 18x18.

Better Photos of Last Paintings

I retook the pics of last weeks paintings, the color was not right at all. I took the previous photos outside and the bright blue sky must have affected it somehow. These are more accurate representations of the colors. I know you ar supposed to adjust in photoshop but I just didn't do it. Oh well. Went to a very windy and dusty art festival Saturday in Van Buren County the next county east of us. Lots of people, and we exhibitors got free dermabrasion from the dust and grit. It was a beautiful fall day otherwise, 80 degrees, probably the last real summer day.

Panorama

I painted two 11x14 landscapes of different parts of the same field, that could be hung separately or together. The sky and field colors are slightly different, one has a more yellowish sky, the other slightly pink tones. I'm not entirely thrilled with the background colors. I was using a new brand of brush, and a new plastic palette: I usually use an old thick slab of auto glass for a palette.

Old Illinois Barn

We drove to Kankakee in August, taking backroads. There is no direct 4 lane from Pulaski to Kankakee. It was like driving in a tunnel, Illinois corn very tall along both sides of the roads. And not many hills. Somewhere near Princeville, I think, we saw this neat old barn. I wanted to do a painting of it before my last art show, and didn't have time for an oil to dry. I did this on heavy watercolor paper, with acrylic washes. It's floated on a white mat, with a rustic silvery frame. Image 18x30.

South Barn

This is the barn next to the shed across the cornfield from the sunroom. (That sounds like the kiddie story 'The house that Jack Built', doesn't it). 10x10 Oil on canvas. All these 10x10's are gallery wrap thick canvases.

South Shed

This shed is across a cornfield from my sunroom window.
It's interesting to watch the changes from day to day; earlier this spring before the corn was up, there were four baby foxes playing in the weeds in front of the shed. They were like puppies chasing each other and jumping around. The weeds were a reddish gold, same color as the foxes. I got close enough to take a few pics; next day they were gone.

Spring Stubble

Just west of town, I saw the corn stubble in the spring, and loved the shadows of the bins and on the house. I wouldn't normally divide a painting with something like the weedy ditch right down the middle, but this time I think it worked. Purple isn't usually a color I use so strongly, but the purple haze around the trees seemed to work also. Oil On Canvas 24x36.

Limes and Hydrangea

I was happy with the way the limes are reflected in the tray, and the hydrangeas. Last year my hydrangea bush was loaded, this year just a few blooms, but we did have a bluebird nest in the middle of the bush. There were four babies who left the nest and hopped across the yard. A friend gave me blooms from her hydrangea bush especially to paint. 16x20 Oil on Canvas.

Brown Bag Apples

I find getting the translucency of light through a brown bag is not a piece of cake. I need a lot of work on getting light browns that still look rich, and not dull. It might be easier using acrylic washes or watercolor. 10x10 Oil on Canvas.

Trio on White

I often set up still lifes in front of a big basement window, facing east, to get the strong light, which of course changes too fast. I especially liked the darker tones in the green apple on the left. 11x14 oil on canvas.

Granny and Seedpods

My sister gave me these seedpods; they're from some kind of small lily. When the pods dry, they pop open and are full of black seeds. I liked the colors of the pods with the green apple and white enamel. 10x10 Oil on canvas

Box of Balls

This is a 10x10 oil on canvas of pool balls in a cardboard box. When Ozzy the dog isn't rolling the balls around, I paint them. I like the way the green one turned out.

Stacked

Another view of the field of stacks. They were like Miss Muffet's tuffets. This was the second painting of that view, and I did it with fewer brushstrokes, a looser method. I was really looking at all the different shades of green and yellow in the field, and the patterns the stacks made. The sky has more yellow and pink in it than the first painting. I like them both.

Morning Haze

This is an early morning view of an Amish farm with stacks of oat straw near Milton, Iowa. the early summer sun was just beginning to burn off the fog, and really lighting the tops of the stacks. One of those scenes that just jumps at me to be painted. Oil On canvas 16x20