Work in Progress

This is a section of the painting that I'm currently working on. I hate going for weeks without posting because people end up thinking that I've disappeared. At the same time, it's hard to show everyone an unfinished painting. I've been painting my cobalt bottle again and added another reflective element that I have purposely cropped out (I think it adds an element of surprise to not show the entire painting and keeps the viewer guessing what the final piece will look like). The shadows in this piece will play an important roll in this piece if I can pull it off.

Fruit Again

"Sunbathers", 9"x 12", Oil on Canvas
Hi Everyone! It took me awhile to finish this piece because I've been trying to work on a couple of different projects. I had to take almost a week out of my painting time to add cradled backs to my oil on board paintings (I had about eight of them). After they were finished, I delivered them to the Carverhill Gallery. I've also been taking a class at a local university which has required some additional work. Now, for my current piece, I arranged these Bosc pears on a plate outside in direct sunlight. I was really intrigued by the shadows and the white on white. Hopefully, you can feel the warmth in this piece because a shade of yellow was used as an underpainting in the "white" areas. I really concentrated on getting the right values in this piece because this is something I've struggled with in the past when painting "white" objects. Maybe now that I've gotten some of my class work behind me and have my paintings mounted, I can return to some kind of normal painting routine.

One Year of Blogging!

"Bottles", 8"x10", Oil on Board
My blog has lasted a year! I had wanted to post this painting on the 17th (the actual blog anniversary date) but things never work out quite the way I plan. I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive of my work over the past year. Your comments and support has meant a lot! A special thanks goes out to: Alvin Richard, Todd Ford and Joanne Giesbrecht. These three wonderful artists have been so supportive and encouraging to me. Thanks folks! I've been painting with oils now for a little over a year and feel like I've improved so much; however, there is still so much to learn with this medium and not enough time in a day.

I really wanted to get this painting posted tonight so I apologize for the quality of the photo because I usually photograph outside in natural daylight. I painted these old bottles as a companion piece to my vintage series. I had all of these bottles on a shelf in my kitchen except for the cobalt one which I recently purchased at an antique shop. The cobalt bottle is my favorite but I also like the old, big bottle with all of its stains.

Around the first of September, I got an email from a gallery owner in Rockport, Maine expressing interest in my work (she found me on the internet). After meeting with the owner and showing her my work, I'm pleased to say that the Carver Hill Gallery will be representing me. It's really a nice gallery in a unique setting. The gallery carries a diverse body of work most of which isn't listed on their website. I'll be delivering my work to the gallery around the first or second week of October. I'll keep you all posted!

Colorful Fruit

"Nectarines", 5"x7", Oil on Board
I spotted these nectarines at the grocery store and instantly fell in love with the colors. For some reason I've been attracted to orange, reds and yellows lately. I would like to do some more work with fruit compositions because the possibilities are really endless. Last weekend I also picked up some old, cobalt and amber colored bottles and hope to incorporate those into future paintings as well.

Candy Fix

"230 Calories", 6"x6", Oil on Board
I haven't painted any candy still lifes in awhile so I decided to paint my favorite, Reese's peanut butter cups. I'm quite happy with how it turned out and only wish my camera did the painting justice because there are some really delicate areas in the painting. I couldn't think of a title when I finished this and then I remembered that everytime I eat these I end up thinking of the additional calories that I'm racking up for the day. Pure Guilt! Anyone up for a snack?

Chinese Food Container

"Takeout", 8"x10", Oil on Board
I finished painting this Chinese food container last night. I'm not happy with how it turned out but it's been a good learning experience. I wished that the container either had red letters or Chinese symbols etc...I think it would have punched it up a little. I'm off to look for my next subject!

Southern Maine

"Maine Coast", 5"x7", Oil on Board
I haven't been doing a lot of painting this summer because I've had so many other things going on. I painted this quick, little landscape of a scene I found down near Cape Elizabeth. Over the past couple of weeks, I've also made some trips to the coast to view and sketch boats and dinghies so I may be working on paintings of them in the future. A few weeks ago, I was also fortunate enough to get down to Boothbay Harbor to view Kevin Beer's work at Gleason Fine Art gallery. It was a pretty impressive show of Maine landscapes especially the paintings of Monhegan Island. I was hoping for a chance to go to Monhegan before the summer is over.