Pears always make a good painting. There's something about their shape and the variety of colors that they come in. I painted these cute little fruits in a more layered technique than usual, using glazes and a bit of scumbling. I generally paint small pieces as alla prima works, or works done in a single sitting for Daily Paintworks, but my sessions kept being interrupted by one thing or another and so it evolved into a longer painting with more passes. The title came to me in a heartbeat when I put them on the cloth, turned around for a second and then turned back to arrange them and they had arranged themselves. Cute huh?
Time has been pretty tight lately as I gear up for the upcoming Sequim Arts Studio Tour. I'm number 11 on this year's tour. In addition, because I'm a contributing author/editor for www.sequim-news.com which is a local online newspaper, I've been writing a series of articles on all the particpating artists - an endeavor that is very time consuming. Check them out on the "arts" page or today's article about Rudy Bauer that's on the front page! Anyway, I'm a busy girl. I stole some time to get into the studio today and here's what I came up with. I had no difficulty in photographing this canvas. Last week I reprimed a host of them with Ganblin's Oil Primer. This great stuff fills in the interstices on the canvas and gives a nice smooth finish. That's the kind of finish I prefer and it's much easier to photograph. Hope you like it.
Just back from a week long workshop, I'm still in workshop mode. I'm working on actually slowing down. Seems my first year I spent speeding up so I get a panting a day done. Now I want to take a bit more time to do a piece. I still take about a day, but I'm putting more hours into each piece. Right now the biggest challenge is incorporating some of the things I learned at the workshop into my stuff. Got a ways to go though. I don't think anyone will notice the difference right now because all my effort is going into how I hold my brushes and make a stroke. Mundane stuff that adds up over the long run. Thought I'd try these roses today. Enjoy.
I was in the mood yesterday for something a bit more complex, so I chose to do a full bouquet of Peonies in a pretty detailed vase. I wanted to give a good painting lesson and demo on my other blog and this seemed a good way to do it. The flowers have some great thick paint on them and were glazed to bring them to life. I was really happy with the way they came out. The satin cloth came to life here as well. As complex as the design on the vase appears, it really only took a few minutes to get it in with a glaze. The overall effect is quite convincing though. Hope you enjoy it. Check out my other blog to see how this painting was done.
