Bauble Bauble Toil and...

Another holiday painting to end the year out. I found this green glass plate at an antiques shop and felt happy to add it to my collection of colored glassware. The Christmas ball is gold but with all the reflections it took on the surrounding colors. If I don't post again before tomorrow, Happy New Year!

Lemon Slice

I'm happy to be painting objects that are familiar to me like a lemon wedge. The colors are clean and the painting isn't fussy. Although I've nicked the front corner of the lemon when painting the background and when taking the image I see my colors are off but what the heck. It's Christmas Eve and my hope is that art makes a difference and the world will be a better place.

Pale Rose

Roses have always been a thorn in my side. It could be I don't have a clear vision so I fuss and fuss.  Should I recite my mantra of "Simplify, Simplify, Simplify" as I paint or should I accept that they are complicated and move on?  On a brighter side, I had a goal of 100 paintings in 2012 and today I've reached it :)

Purple Topped Turnips on Plate

There is a mindfulness needed to paint. A way of quieting my mind so I can concentrate without emotions and stray thoughts. It is like meditation. I can't always go there but when I do I'm usually happy with my painting outcomes. These turnips were really hard to paint. The past couple of days have been very upsetting. I feel terrible for all those involved in the shooting in Newtown. My sister lives in  Connecticut and knows a young music teacher whose jazz concerts she's attended and whose child was shot and killed.  We can try and put a stop to this if we stand together. If you are interested in helping, here are a couple of links for petitions for gun control.

http://signon.org/sign/gun-control-now-1.fb23?source=s.fb&r_by=2375416

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/immediately-address-issue-gun-control-through-introduction-legislation-congress/2tgcXzQC

Here's a New York Times article worth reading

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-do-we-have-the-courage-to-stop-this.html?_r=1&

Bok Choy on Red Napkin

This bok choy still life may be the closest painting I do this season to a holiday card. Well it does have the right colors. Seriously, I just purchased lovely cards from my friend Chick who creates pastel and mixed media images of the mother goddess. I love her gentle soul.

Pink Rose

A rose by any other name is still a rose. 

I'm not sure how I want my roses to look since this is only the second rose I've painted.  I'd like them to be simplified, with less brushstrokes and more variation in colors. But, overall I'm pleased with this painting.

Orange Slice

I'm happiest when the paint just goes on without too much fuss. I can say that about the plate and shadow. The orange was more challenging because of the color. It turned out my Navel orange wasn't that deep orange color I was hoping for. But, it's easy to wipe paint off of gessoboard and start again.

The Usual Suspects

I've been working on this arrangement of stuffed toys for a while.  I've painted them individually just to get to know their personalities; now as a group I hope to build something fun, something people can enjoy. This painting is based on the film "Happy - A Documentary" here's the trailer http://vimeo.com/11335940. Somewhere inside this film is a shot of three little stuffed animals in a Scandinavian home and that was my inspiration. I'll post my process as I go along.

Reckless Radishes

I got carried away with painting on my gessoboard and before I knew it, it was too late to take an image of my work outside. So here is yesterday's painting.  There is something to be said about being mindful when painting. I'm reminded of what Richard Schmid wrote about measuring in drawing "Imagine that you are a mountain climber making your way up the face of a sheer cliff, and you must think and measure before each step -or else. Does being careful like that make climbing less exciting?" Sometimes it's just fun to be carefree and reckless.

Grapefruit Slice

I enjoyed painting on gessoboard today. It's so smooth my paint just glided across the board.  I bought four packs of four of them and I feel I just may get hooked.