A Lemon in the Grape Parade

A Lemon in the Grape Parade       12x19      oil on linen

A still life with no flowers!  Just wanted to try some textures with more solid shapes.  I really had fun with this one....Just a bit of a change of pace.

Orange Star

Orange Star     16x20  oil on linen

Native to South Africa, this flower really is an "orange star".  It is such a wonderful spark of color in the long enduring winter.  

I worked a combination of brushwork and palette knife for this painting.  I'm having fun pushing the textures ever further.  I love the feeling of dimension you get when you build up the paint.

I'm learning more all the time about creating dimension also with shadows.  Probably the single most valuable lesson I took from the workshop with Laura Robb.  She told me to always be looking for those areas where you can push the value of shadows to give the sense of one thing in front of or on top of another to create that depth.

DeliStar Mums

Deli Star Mums   15x16  oil on linen

I tried a little different technique on this painting.  Instead of my usual alla prima style, (working wet into wet often mixing color right on the canvas), I worked a bit from glazes and layering.  The mood is a bit more somber than my looser alla prima paintings.  

It is always fun and challenging to change things up and try something new.  

It took a couple days work because I had to let the first layer dry before working over top with the glazes.  

Just a different approach.  I found it easier to control colors but harder to get the transparent colors to be as effective.  It's worth some more studying.

Turquoise Glass and Roses

Turquoise Glass and Roses  17x17"  oil on linen

There were still a few roses fresh enough to paint left over from the bouquet I painted last week.  The turquoise glass containers are some of my favorites to paint....I love the colors, and I love the shapes.  I've painted them often but don't believe I've ever put them all together in the same painting.  

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