Back just in time for Thanksgiving.

 

I hate long haituses (hiati? haitii?). I've been squeezing art into the cracks of chaos whenever possible, but fortunately things seem to be settling down around here. I have some temp work coming up between now and December, meshed in with the usual end-of-year reorganizing and resupply.

 

The first thing I'm pulling off of the "Things I've Done Since July" pile is called "Three Sizes". These apples were indeed wee, nae'-sa-wee, and f-in' HUGE! I have some Scottish heritage, but you won't find this sold at Everything Scottish. It's up in my shop instead.

"Three Sizes" - 8" x 10" oil on Ray-Mar linen panel

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"Jade Buddha's Apple"

 

My schedule is still a bit volatile at the moment, which makes it difficult to set up still life paintings with perishable subjects. At the moment apples are the only thing around that last for more than a couple of painting days. Here again is my little jade buddha figurine (difficult to depict as ever) with a "Southern Rose" apple.

 

"Title" - 8" x 6" oil on Ray-Mar canvas panel

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"Black Heart And Rose"

 

 

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5" x 7" oil on archival canvas panel

 

My first one for February. I feel pretty good about it, despite its simplicity. January was pretty much a dead month and things aren't going so great here at the moment, so it felt good to get back to a familiar subject. I actually hadn't planned on doing anything with plums again so soon, but at the store the other day the lady of the house picked up a "black plum" at random and - mirable dictu! - it was shaped almost exactly like a heart. Pointiest plum I've ever seen. Ten steps further and we found a display of "Pacific Rose" apples. I put the color combination and the names together in my head and thus, we have our painting, with its Fake But Accurate title.

"Green Apple Present" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

6" x 6" oil on gessoed panel

 

I once had a color theory teacher who harbored a silly hatred for chartreuse. We were actually told that we would be penalized for using it in any assignments, because "It had no use anywhere" (It's safe to say this woman knows nothing about the original 1970s Lamborghini Miura and has never seen any nightclub flyers). Since taking that class years ago, I like to keep an eye out for chartreuse-type greens in daily use. The latest appearance was on last Sunday's "Thanskgiving Showdown" episode of Iron Chef America. Besides a really wicked Indian Pudding dessert cooked by Bobby Flay, the show featured a chartreuse ICA "crossed knives" logo on the judge's table.

 

For my part, I picked up a delightfully retro green background cloth at a fabric store the other day, and I decided to put it to use with a yellow-green apple and a small gift box from the roommate's jewelry cabinet. Green is my all-around favorite color to begin with, so it was fun to throw together various blues with my two mainstay yellows. The downside is that it was hard to adjust the photograph of the painting, with all the subtle yellow-greens in play.

"Fall On Blue" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

6" x 6" oil on gessoed panel

 

I had some reservations about posting this one, as it's a bit of an experiment. I was aiming to keep color as clean and pure as possible, and at the same time, use only a single 1/2" flat brush to do the entire painting. The "blue" is actually a beach towel, which is not very "fall", but there were some oranges and yellows in there that worked as a background pattern. I had to put everything on the floor down by my ankle to get this POV, which meant a bit of extra work keeping the cats out of the setup.

"Goose And Apple"

 

 

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5" x 7" oil on gessoed panel

 

I must apologize for the uncreative title. I figured the best thing to do was to stay descriptive, and keep it simple! I picked this goose figurine up at a local thrift store along with a bunch of other props and items for still-life paintings. It's amazing how much random stuff you can get for $7.83 if you know where to dig.

 

I've been wanting to deviate from fruit a bit, and I don't want to over-do the "apples" thing, but there were some really nice big ones available with all sorts of interesting shapes and patterns. I can't help myself. And they're delicious too... Honey Crisp for the win!

"Autumn Owl"

 

 

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6" x 6" oil on gessoed panel

 

The last couple of dailies were somewhat experimental in nature, and I didn't find the results acceptable (hence the lack of updates). Here I've returned to my old favorite owl-shaped candle holder, and some "fall fruits".

 

This one was really tough to photograph. Rainy weather today means bad light for photographs in my apartment, and I put a lot of subtle darks into this painting, which are a bit difficult for the camera to pick up on a good day. I ended up photographing it under my work light, and doing more than the usual amount of digital adjustments.

"Tilted Apple" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

5" x 7" oil on gessoed panel

 

Attack of the Uncreative Title! The apple really is tilted. The bottom is flat but the body of the apple slants at an angle. It was purchased as an ingredient for a crock pot curry, but I demanded that it be spared - at least until I could paint it.