The Bear is Back. "Chrome Bear On Red"

 

Here again is my holiday friend, the strangest ornament ever to grace a Jo-Ann's shelf, the Chrome Bear. The berries were trimmed from a bush in downtown Grand Prairie just across the street from the farmer's market, and I have no idea what they actually are. I think the red is out of my system now, and I'll work on blue paintings for the next week or so.

"Title" - 8" x 10" oil on Ray-Mar oil-primed linen panel

Available on Etsy Now - Click Here!

 

"Single Red Rose"

 

Another "title says it all" painting. Somehow I forgot to list this one, I had everything uploaded and ready to go, and then I was interrupted and forgot to go through with the posting.

 

Unfortunately I am currently nearly out of supplies. My next round of panels and paints are on the way, and I will be back to more regular posting shortly.

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

Available on Etsy Now - Click Here!

 

Yeah, here comes the Rooster...

 

No we ain't gonna die-e-e-e... And I'm not dead, either! Alas, this post is not about Alice In Chains, but there is a rooster - two of them, in fact, or if you prefer, one rooster shown two ways. This is a matched pair of 9" x 12" paintings on panel:

 


 

9" x 12" oils on gessoed panel...

"Rooster & Grapes" on Etsy

"Rooster & Nectarine" on Etsy

I've decided to move away from small daily paintings and start producing larger pieces. In consideration of those days when the daily 6x6 isn't any good, or when the non-art world rudely intrudes on my work routine - a Category of Pain under which I place the phenomenon of "economic collapse", by the way - my lack of an explicitly "daily" update makes a mockery of the word. I'm going to expand and change up things a bit, so I plan to make some changes around here over the next week or two. I've found a good place to acquire nice flowers at a reasonable price, so I will have some flower paintings in addition to other new stuff (flowers are a subject I've wanted to explore for a while, and with spring coming up, I'm that much happier to wander afield from small fruity things).

"Nectarine Alone" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

5" x 7" oil on gessoed panel

 

I had a really hectic Friday and Saturday which prevented me from putting this one up on time. Shortly after I finished the nectarines decided they didn't want to be fresh anymore - thus ended their artistic stardom.

 

In hopeful anticipation of holiday demand, I'll be re-posting some of my older work for sale this week along with the regular daily works.

"Nectarine Trio" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

5" x 7" oil on gessoed panel

 

They had small nectarines at the store, which I will describe as "cute", for lack of a better word. In this case, I was feeling a bit graphic. A little bit primary, even...

"Strawberry Pair"

 

 

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6" x 6" oil on gessoed panel

 

I apologize for my lack of posts lately - I came down with some sort of sickness last week. It must be something going around the entire country, because I know of multiple people in different states who have been ill in the past two weeks. Thankfully I am now back underway, (relatively) healthy again and apparently free from January doldrums.

 

I've never painted strawberries before. I like them. They are of course pleasantly red, and good strawberries on home-made shortcake with real whipped cream is a pleasure fit for kings. Such was the post-painting fate I had planned for these, but the lady roommate decided to eat them plain while watching television. Next time, my pretties... Next time you will be shortcake...

"Red Plum Pair" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

6" x 6" oil on gessoed panel

 

Commissioned to go along with two other plum paintings previously sold. I'm pretty sure I bought the last four red plums available on this side of Dallas!

"Two Hot"

 

 

Available via My Direct Sale Page!

 

6"x6" oil on gesso board

 

The local Kroger stores have been stocking whole Habanero peppers. I've never knowingly seen an Habanero before, and was surprised at their lovely, subtle vibrance and milky surface quality. I tried to capture that glow but I don't think I've succeeded here. I'll have to try a different approach to achieve the impression of transparency.

 

I figured a simple pairing of an Habanero with a garden-grown red Chili would be a fun way to start painting peppers. My desk light was warming up the peppers as the day wore on, and by the time I finished painting, my eyes had become irritated from their peppery vapors.

"Strange Fruit" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD

 

5" x 7" oil on gessoed panel

 

A cucumber is a fruit, according to the internet, but I didn't know that when I titled this one. The figure is about an inch tall. I found it on a staircase a block east of my dorm while out walking one day during my mis-spent year at a large northeastern university... He might be called Lost Buddha, Found Buddha, or perhaps even Boston Buddha, though that sounds like a baseball player's nickname.

 

The cucumber is locally sourced, and it is a straaaange item. If I had a miniature ship model handy, I would have painted the two together and titled the result "Moby Dick", because this particular cucumber reminds me of a Great White Whale in miniature. The colors of this one don't come across very well in the JPG, a lot of the high end values are cut off for some reason. The painted cucumber has more white and clearer highlighting.

"Time For Pie" - SOLD

 

 

SOLD!

 

5" x 7" oil on gessoed panel

 

(How long should I stay on the Star Trek movie title theme?) Circumstances on July 4th prohibited me from blowing up anything, barbecueing, or going shooting, so I did the next best thing and made an apple pie, per the instructions of Our Lord and Master of Good Eats, Alton Brown. Unfortunately since the pie done got 'et (and it was good) the next best thing was to paint the pie bird and pie server, and since it looked like the antique pie bird is calling out, I figured he was saying "Time for pie!", and I put him next to the pie server - get it? I'm so clever.

 

This one frustrated me at the time. The velvety foreground cloth texture gave me a hard time, and I was painting well into the evening. In retrospect, though, it's become one of my favorites.