Fascination

Pastel on Canson Paper, 9x12

I don't work with pastels very often, so this was something of an experiment. The first two backgrounds I tried weren't working for me so I scraped them out, leaving a soft, mottled ground. Working with that base I let the background simply disappear so the entire focus could be on this child.
The idea for this image came from a trip to Rome several years ago. All the adults were being awed by the Colosseum, but this tiny little girl was fascinated by the birds instead. I think there is a lesson there, somehow....

Way of Life

oil on RayMar panel, 4.5x12"

We were lucky enough to go to China last spring and saw so many wonderful places. The pace of life ranged from frantic in Shanghai to idyllic outside the main cities. This image comes from several photos I took near a Buddhist Temple between Shanghai and Suzhou.
This painting and the previous one (Never Too Old) are my first attempts at water landscapes - I'm finding it really fun and interesting to learn how to create the effect of different kinds of water.

Never Too Old

oil on RayMar panel, 8x10

When we were at the beach in Southern California earlier this month we had these great downpours of rain, so the beaches were nearly deserted. One exception was a middle aged man in a suit, tie, and dress shoes, flying his kite between showers. It was marvelous!

Lemons (reconsidered)(sold)

oil on RayMar panel, 6x8"

After living with this painting for a few days I decided it needed a bit more work - I heightened the shadows among the lemons, and altered the large cast shadow, making it more colorful and extending it onto the knife. I think it hangs together better now. Next is to go back to The Red Queen pear and rework the areas that bother me.... and I'm working on an image from our trip to the beaches of So. California, hope to be able to post that in a few days -

Lemons

oil on RayMar panel, 6x8"

For me, this one got painted at the speed of light - I bought the lemons yesterday morning, wishing for some summer weather! Growing up in California with citrus trees in the back yard (avocados and peaches, too, yum!) my Mom kept us happy with fresh lemonade and orange juice... this painting takes me back.

Conversation

oil on canvas panel, 9x12"

Just a different approach to a pear from the previous pear painting, working to balance the sublte differences between painting glass and brass and the similar colors of the brass with the pear.

The Red Queen (sold)

oil on RayMar panel, 8x8"

What seemed fun and simple became frustrating - I may still go back and work on this one more. Even getting a photo of it proved more difficult than usual, I'm not sure why, but the camera didn't want to record any subtle color shifts. I still like the concept though, so maybe I will just start it over fresh, later.

I haven't posted all week - we went on a lovely vacation in S. California. The idea was to go someplace warm and sunny: it rained most of the time we were there, but it was great fun anyway. I did some sketching and came home with wonderful ideas for new paintings, so I can't wait to get back to work! Hope to have sketches and/or a painting to post by the middle of the week!