Seckel and Bartlett

One more, done a couple of weeks ago.  "Seckel and Bartlett", 10x10, oil on canvas.

"Still Life with Blue Vase, Starfruit, and Teapot" included in the Fingerlakes Show at Memorial Art Gallery

     I'm delighted that my Painting "Still Life with Blue Vase and Starfruit" was chosen to be included in the Finger lakes art show at the Memorial Art gallery of The University of Rochester this summer, and in addition, I've been chosen to speak about my work there on the evening of July 30th.   I'm very grateful, excited, and nervous too. 

Still Life with Kumquats, Plum and Pear

     I started this painting in a demo I did about 4 weeks ago in my studio and finished it over the next three weeks.  It's 11x14 inches.  If anyone out there is looking for fruit for their still life compositions try kumquats.  These looked the same for the entire three weeks with no sign of decomposition. 

     I've also been putting together a talk about my work to give to some of the students at my sons school.  The last time I gave a talk about my work I used a slide carousel, so it's been a while!

Salmon Creek Falls, Spring

    This is another painting of a spot in Lansing, NY where I live. I started this one a few years ago and put it aside unfinished until a few weeks ago. I had three unfinished paintings that I wanted to finish up and this is the last of them, so now I get to work on some new things. This will  be showing at the East Shore Festival of the Arts in early May along with two other paintings. It's 20 x 40 inches and done in oil.

Daffodils with Purple Drape

     I finished this a few weeks ago and posted it on Facebook but forgot to post it here.  I had started it a few years ago and am very happy to have it finally finished.  I'm on a roll of sorts, finishing up paintings that I've had hanging around unfinished. It's been sort of painful really, because they were all put aside for a reason, namely, they had problem areas that were so frustrating for me that I gave up! I always liked the glass vase in this one and one day recently I looked at it and the problems in it seemed a little more manageable.

Salt Point Winter, 14 x 38 inches

      I started this painting about 2 years ago but set it aside, and I didn't foresee ever getting back to it.  I hate not finishing paintings but from time to time I  get stuck.   In this one I got overwhelmed by all of the details in the reference photo like the ice on the water and land, and I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle all of the branches, which got lost when I painted in the sky anyway...  So I hung it on the garage wall outside my studio for a couple of years and one day a few weeks ago I felt like I could figure it out, and was kind of excited to give it a try.  So here it is.

Painting Process for "Still Life with Starfruit Blue Bottle and Teapot"

This is my newest painting, "Still Life with Starfruit, Blue Bottle and Teapot".  It's 30 x 40 inches and it's oil on canvas.  I took more photos of it while in process than I usually do and I'm posting some of them here in case anyone is interested.

 This is from December 8th.  I like to have the drawing finalized before I start any painting. This is what I got done on the first day of applying paint.  I like to start with the background to get rid of as much white as possible.  When I put the first colors in they usually look a lot darker than they will in the end, because there is still so much white on the canvas.

                                  



This is from the second day of painting.  I'm blocking in the colors for the objects in the still life. I'm doing my best to get the colors as accurate as I can but I know I'll need to make many adjustments after everything is in.

                                   



 This is from December 11th and everything is blocked in now.  This is when the painting really gets going, because for me it's all about the value and color relationships and I can't see those relationships properly until everything is in and the white is all covered. I've also put a second coat on the background, making it darker, especially towards the bottom where it meets the table and I want to create the illusion that it's behind the table.

From December 15th,  more messing around with the background. I put a lot more thought into the backgrounds than it would appear.  I like them to be dynamic, with a wide value range. At this point I made it warmer behind the blue bottle to help the bottle stand out.

 December 18th.  With each pass I like to fine tune the drawing, making the verticals and horizontals true and making things symmetrical that are supposed to be. There's no shame in using a ruler!  I'm also deepening the shadows, adding highlights and texture. I try to do all of this quickly because the fruit won't last very long.  This was the last day I worked on this before going away for the holidays.

 January 11th.  Back from Texas! The starfruit fell over and the orange was a gonner.  I got a substitute orange for color reference which helped some, and I also used a photo I took at the start to help me finish it. I worked on this for a few more weeks before I decided it was finished.  In the end I was never crazy about how the orange came out but that's the way it goes sometimes. Whatever I can't finish before the fruit expires is often a struggle, but there's always next time.