New Paintings

     I've gotten out of the habit of posting my new paintings here, but I wanted to put up a sampling of what I've been working on lately. This Fall I went into a florist shop at the end of my street looking for Chinese Lanterns but came out with a handful of gourds instead. I really liked the color, texture, and shape of these.

     I painted this one first. I enjoyed putting it in different positions to see how it would balance, and in this position it reminds me of a bird looking below from it's nest. The stone reminds me of an egg, and I like how it adds a bit of cool between the warm gourd and block, while repeating the shape above it. This painting is 16x12, oil on panel.

     In my next painting I wanted to work with this gourd/bird connection in a larger composition. I really liked the idea of the gourd being perched on something with the neck swinging down, so I repeated it in this painting with a different gourd on a reflective bowl. I also added the same gourd from the above painting turned around and "holding" onto a blue egg. The egg reinforced the bird idea but also added a cool note to the grouping that I like.  I spent an unreasonable amount of time deciding if I wanted the blue egg to be leaning or upright; I'm still not sure but I think it's okay. This painting is 30x40, oil on canvas.