Landscape

"Albion View", 5"x7", Oil on Board
I've been wanting to paint some more landscapes in oil so I decided to paint this small study. The original image is a little brighter than this photo even though I used the white balance adjustment on the camera. I actually did replace the camera that I was having a lot of problems with and bought a digital Panasonic Lumix. It's a nice camera but I still haven't worked out all of the settings for lighting my artwork. I'm not as comfortable painting landscapes in oil as I am in pastel so there's room for improvement here. I haven't decided if I'll paint more landscapes or move on to a still life.

I Love Cherries

"Cherries in Silver Bowl", 6"x6", Oil on Board
I came quite close to finishing this yesterday; however, I was too exhausted so I ended up finishing it this morning. I'm quite happy with how the painting turned out but the detail is really more incredible in the original. This photo was as close as I could come to the original painting. I also re-painted the background on the Vintage Hamilton Beach Mixer and it came out much better. I've re-photographed that painting and re-posted it below. I'm much happier with the mixer painting now. Let me know what you think!

Another Candy Painting

"Jr. Mints", 6"x6", Oil on Panel

I finished this little candy painting about an hour ago. This is probably about the third still life painting I've done of candy, but I have fun painting them and they are kind of whimsical. The most challenging part of these kind of paintings are the package designs and hand painting the lettering.

I got a call from the owner of the Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth, Maine which is near Bar Harbor for those of you who do not live in Maine. The owner of the gallery is interested in showing some of my work at her gallery this summer. She requested to see more images of my pastel landscapes which I sent out to her on Monday. I'll give it a week and then I'll follow-up with a phone call to find out which pieces she is interested in. My biggest problem with this whole process was that all of my Jpegs were not at a reduced size so I ended up having to make my image files smaller. I don't know how my image files are ending up so large to begin with. I'm weak in the technology area!

Vintage Hamilton Beach Mixer

"Vintage Hamilton Beach", 8"x10", Oil on Board
I finally finished this painting yesterday. The past month or so I've been so busy with other things that I really couldn't focus on painting. I'm hoping that I can get back into some kind of routine now with my painting. Please keep in mind when you look at the photo of the painting that the background is still wet in areas and the camera picked up the glare from it. I will replace the photo as soon as the painting has dried. I felt like my subject matter was a little challenging; however, I still enjoyed painting the mixer. The one thing that I kept thinking about when I was painting this was how beat up the mixer was with all of its scratches and imperfections from years of use. The mixer still runs and I've found use for it as a still life object. The mixer reminded me of people in the sense that even though a lot of us have imperfections and life has worn us down we keep going.

M & M Painting Finished

"Plain M&M's", 6"x6", Oil on Board

Yes, I finally finished this! I was getting ready to take it outside for a photo and had to stop because it's snowing. What else is new? I'm actually pleased with how this painting turned out. My favorite part of the painting is the section inside of the candy wrapper with the M & M's tucked neatly inside. You can also get a sense of the light coming through the wrapper there as well. Please let me know what you think!

New Cherry Painting

"Cherries on Green", 6"x6", Oil on Board
I finally got this photo posted with the help of my son. As I mentioned earlier, I'm having problems with my camera. Hopefully, I'll get this issue resolved soon. I'm happy with how this small painting turned out. Let me know what you think? It's great to be painting again after giving the joints in my hands a much needed rest.

Fruit Still Life

"One Pear", 5"x7", Oil on Board
I've really enjoy painting fruit so I thought this pear would make a nice still life when I found a whole bin of them at the grocery store. I kept the brush strokes a lot looser than I normally would and really enjoyed the simplistic, organic quality of the pear. With the new year coming, I'd like to paint some larger pieces as well as continue with my small paintings. It will be difficult to work on more than one piece at a time. If I don't post another painting before New Year's, than Happy New Year's to everyone. I've appreciated all of your comments and support since I started this blog back in September.