Berries and Cream

Berries and Cream                6x6" oil

Berries and cream come to mind when I see red, luscious strawberries like these. You can almost smell their intoxicating fragrance!  What would summer be without them? Starting bid is $45.

Bumble Cafe

"Bumble Cafe"                        3x4 inch oil   (Image slightly larger than the actual painting)

  

One of the great sounds of a summer garden on a warm day is the buzz of bumble bees collecting nectar from the many-colored "cafes" that they find.   How to simplify the wings and still have them read properly was a challenge, especially on such a tiny canvas.

Opening bid on this painting is only $20!

Painting Sunflowers

Since my sunflower paintings are very popular, I thought you might be interested in how many of them come about. 

I like to work from life, but every time that I've bought a bunch of sunflowers this summer, I've made sure to photograph them as well. Sunflowers seem to disappear from my local markets in late fall, and I want to be sure to have photos to work from through the winter if I want. Here's a photo of the setup I worked from for this particular piece. Actually, I've used this photo for several different paintings recently and each is very different, as you will soon see.

Reference Photo

Following the Sun, 4 x 6 inch oil  SOLD

Red Warms My Heart 5 x 5 inch oil

The Yellow Rose of Kansas   6x6 inch oil

Now you know!  Don't be surprised to see more versions from this same photo!

Red Warms My Heart

Red Warms My Heart                         5x5"  $200

I must say, red paintings are tough to photograph, and my camera is malfunctioning, so this photo doesn't do the painting justice.  Good thing Santa is bringing me a new camera! (I've been very, very good this year).   You can see the original painting, along with two other sunflowers, at Abend Gallery in Denver as part of their Holidays Miniature Show.  I'll have 5 pieces for you to check out.  The reception is Sat. December 7th from 5 to 9pm and the show runs through Dec. 31.

Turning Toward the Sun

Turning Toward the Sun                            6 x 6 inch oil

Click to Bid in My Online Auction

I can't promise that this will be the last sunflower on red, but I am moving on to a different background color tomorrow.  In this painting, I'm particularly fond of how abstract I got the background flowers.  I also love the light on the petal that drips into the flower's center.

Plenty of Sunshine

Plenty of Sunshine                         6 x 6 inch, oil

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A few years ago, I discovered an artist online who painted thirty different compositions of three plums, and for some reason, that made a great impression on me.  I'm thinking of her as I work with my sunflower series, wondering if I won't lose interest before long...my red phase is drawing to a close, and soon I'll turn to some other background colors!  With each piece, I learn something new that I can do with the palette knife...

Sunflower on Red

Sunflower on Red                                    5x5 inch oil

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I'm committed to my series on Sunflowers and am learning more and more about using the palette knife.  I'm also learning to quit sooner than a do.  I often leave the studio vowing to give up painting altogether given the "mess" I've made on the canvas, but am almost always surprised to walk in the next morning with a fresh eye and find that what looked disastrous the night before is actually quite exciting.  It's the "just let me add one more stroke" that leads me to reworking the whole thing, and in doing that I often end up with something more generic looking.  Luckily, that didn't happen with this piece!  Current auction bid is $40.

Grateful Bouquet

Grateful Bouquet                6 x 6 inch oil on stretched canvas

This month, I'm giving away the small painting pictured above!  If you are already subscribed to my blog,   you're automatically entered for a chance to win it.  If you haven't already subscribed, just go to the top of the sidebar on the right and enter your email address. 

That's it!  

On September 30th, I'll have my handsome husband (David) pull a name out of a hat and I'll announce the winner here in a blog post that should arrive in your inbox no later than October 1.  I will actually post the email address of the winner, as that is the only record I have of my subscribers.  Since I object to having my personal address posted online due to the spam it generates, I'll only post the part of your address that come before the "@"  and leave off your email provider.  

Good luck!

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Joy and Happiness

Joy and Happiness                  6 x 4 inch oil

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The sunflowers that I brought to the studio on Monday are holding up beautifully, especially considering the heat.  As long as they continue to pose so prettily, I'll happily keep painting them.  Today I tried a closer cropping, and really like the result.  Next, I'll paint them with a blue background in hopes that the coolness of the blue will help me ignore the air temperature!