Cobalt Bowl and Delicata - painting a day

"Cobalt Bowl and Delicata" 5x7" SOLD

After painting the oranges sitting in bowls I thought it would be interesting to experiment with a glass bowl, and so I pulled out the smallest of a set of cobalt blue pyrex mixing bowls. Here's a picture of my little table with various items waiting to become the subject of another painting.

Mandarin Bowl II- Painting a Day

"Mandarin Bowl II" 5x7in

This is the same bowl and orange that I posted yesterday, but from a different perspective. I really liked the back-lit orange, but I'm not as happy with my rendering of the overall shape of the bowl. After doing mostly landscape for so long, I'm finding the perfect ellipse of circular objects in perspective to be rather challenging.

Mandarin Bowl - Painting a Day

"Mandarin Bowl" 5x7" oil/panel. SOLD.

After painting apples, pears and mandarin oranges on their own for the last few days, I wanted to change it up a bit and pulled out one of my Japanese bowls. I really like the shadows and reflections in the bowl, but I can't seem to take a photograph that reproduces the colors in the shadows to the right of the bowl accurately. They aren't as inky black as the photo implies, but have a lot of subtle color in them.

Three Mandarins - painting a day

"Three Mandarins" 5x7" oil on canvas SOLD

These little mandarins are proving to be very interesting subjects. I really like how they reflect light on each other, and each one has it's own character. I've also been pulling out different fabrics to use as backdrops, and it's been interesting to see how the colors in the fabric interacts with the oranges.

Thanksgiving Mandarins - painting a day

"Thanksgiving Mandarins" 5x7" buy now at my Etsy store

At Thanksgiving dinner, I met a couple that grow mandarins, and they gave us a bag to take home. So of course after eating a half dozen of them, they became the focus of some new still lifes.

Two Pears - painting a day

"Two Pears" 5x7" contact me to purchase.

This is the second painting from my pear still life set up. For this painting I used the natural light from the window. The pear lying down gave me no end of grief, and I'm still not sure it looks like a real pear.

Red Pear - painting a day

"Red Pear", 5x7" oil on canvas board. SOLD.

I did two little paintings this morning, and this is the first. I love these red pears. They have very thin skins and wonderful flavor. And their color is spectacular. I set this one up with a studio light to get a strong cast shadow, and I really liked how the reflected light bounced around to the back of the pear.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth this past weekend at Ft. Mason. It was a pretty slow show, but I talked to a lot of very nice people. I spent a fair amount of time sketching the network of girders supporting the roof, which was an interesting exercise in perspective and composition.

Pink Lady Apples - painting a day

"Pink Lady Apples" 5x7" SOLD

It was too wet today to paint outside, so I set up a couple of apples in the studio and did a still life. I forgot how gratifying it can be to work with a subject where the light isn't changing every minute.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I find framing work to be fraught with difficult choices. But after playing around in the shop (otherwise known as the garage) last weekend, I put together some frames for the little paintings that I'm really happy with. They're made from reclaimed oak flooring that has some beautiful character, and they seem to complement the paintings without overwhelming them, which is always a delicate balance.

If you're in the SF Bay Area, I hope you'll be stopping by the Serendipity show this weekend at Ft. Mason to see some of these paintings in person. I'll have a number of the small paintings from my painting a day project, as well as woodcuts and larger paintings. In other words, something for everyone.

Long Shadows - painting a day

"Long Shadows" oil on canvas 5x7in.

I love this painting. It's a wonderful feeling when a painting comes together almost by magic. These two barns are the same location as this painting.

Barns - painting a day

"Barns" oil on canvas, 5x7"

What a relief to be painting again. After all the rain last night, the air was clear and brilliant. I painted this one on my way home in the afternoon. I did a little wandering and found a dead-end road that was amazingly peaceful considering the traffic I'd left behind. But all I could hear were the sparrows and phoebes calling. The sun was just sinking behind the hills as I was working, and it lit up the ends of the barns and the new green grass, but I could have used another half hour of light for this one.

Available for purchase: $75 plus shipping. Contact me for more information.

Walnut Tree - woodcut

"Walnut Tree" woodcut with monoprint, 7x9" on Owara Mulberry. Buy now at my Etsy shop.

Sometimes when I get frustrated with my painting, or run into some sort of obstacle, shifting to block prints seems to work things loose. I've been carving the block for this print over the last couple of weeks without a clear idea of what I'd do with the background. I was thinking about printing just the tree in black, when Jana's blog inspired me to work with monoprinting again. This print is one of several variations I printed this evening.

I also used this block to experiment with working with a different way of transfering the image to the block. Most of my block prints use photographs I take as their starting point, and usually I print out the design and then use transfer paper to trace the outlines I want to carve away. In the tracing process, I'd make some decisions about how to simplify the shapes in the image. But this time I printed the photograph of the tree on very thin paper, and pasted the image to the block. Japanese style printmakers will recognize this as a hanshita. All my adjustments to the image were made directly on the block.

Painting a day - persimmon tree

"Persimmon Tree" 5x7" oil on canvas buy now

Another painting of the little persimmon tree in my backyard. I painted this while sheltering under the eaves of the house as it rained. The cloudy weather just made the red and orange leaves stand out even more.

Off the easel

"Green Valley Vineyard" 18x36"

I've been working on this painting for several weeks. I started it plein air, working feverishly before the sun set, and finished in the studio. This is about as large as I care to work with outside, and I was amazed how quickly the leaves on the vineyard changed. One week it was an amazing expanse of oranges and golds, and the next week half the leaves were on the ground. I took a quick snapshot of the finished painting the other morning, and didn't notice until this evening what a strong shadow the top of the easel cast on the painting. Oh well...don't pay any attention to the flying saucer landing at the top of the painting.

I'll be doing a show in San Francisco in two weeks, so I need to start thinking about framing and generally getting ready. It will be my first indoor show, and I'm looking forward to not having to worry about being blown away by the wind or struggling with the heat.

Painting a day - Persimmon Branch

"Persimmon Branch" 5x7" oil on canvas
contact me to purchase this painting.

I have a smal persimmon tree in the back yard, and in the fall not only do the leaves turn the most amazing colors, but it is loaded with beautiful orange fruits. I was drawn to the contrast between the fruit and the dark background when I was setting up to paint.

Jolly Traveler

"Jolly Traveler" 8x10" oil on panel contact me if you would like to purchase this painting.

I painted this a while back. I'm not always happy with my ability to paint water and reflections, but I think this one works well. I've been busy in the studio working on another large landscape that I'll be sharing soon. And I'm back in the small daily groove - just waiting for them to dry.