Mustard Fields and Black Oaks

My first morning out doing Plein Aire painting.

What attracted me to this scene was the contrasts between the mustard fields and the dark oaks in the valley. This is so tipical of Sonoma County in Spring.

Can't wait to get out again for another Plein Aire session.

11 x 14 Watercolor on Paper.

Just 'cause it's spring

Bunny with Basket 11 x 15 Watercolor

I'm so happy to see spring arrive to Northern California. The trees are blooming, white, pink and yellow, sniff sniff, cough! The fields are bright green and the mustard is in full bloom. The mornings are warmer and the sun just can't shine brightly enough. What a wonderful time to be alive.

Had to paint this happy little bunny and a beautiful basket of blooms.

Teddie's Waiting

We have a couple of new babies in our family and I'm hoping that some one will want this one for the babies room.

Primroses in Pots

I am so looking forward to Spring. After all this rain we've received over the last couple of months, I'm looking forward to happy sun filled days.

Although the clouds have been inspiring lately and I may have to do a painting of clouds soon before they are gone and our skies are that constant cobalt blue again.

Anyway these little plants that came from the nursery cheered me up for a few days while I was working on them.

I often wonder why I keep painting when no one ever buys my work. The answer I get is that I really just enjoy painting and sharing them here on my blog, which I don't think anyone ever looks at. Oh the pain...to be a visual artist with no one to see my work. Whine.......

I've been reading Jeanne Carbonetti's book "The Tao of Watercolor". It has so inspired me and I'm going to do more of this type of painting.

To begin I added color to the wet paper, leaving an area of white dry, that became my vase. After that layer dried I wet the paper again and added the red, yellow and blue. I let that layer dry and then wet the blossoms and dropped in some centers. I looked at it for a couple of days before I took the next step, then I added the leaves on the right side to cover the fact that the vase was off balance. Looked at it a few days more and decided I didn't like that long leaf, so added some dark blue to the edge of the vase and under the smaller leaves. It was looking better, but still needed something more. I then added some purple under the orange flower and yellow under the blue/purple flowers and down the left side of the vase. Let it dry and looked somemore . Today I added a few touches, like stems and the base and shadow. It was done and I'm really pleased with it. The size is 11 x 14. Title: Flowers in a Glass Vase.

Study of White Crockery

I've been away from the computer for a couple of weeks fighting an infection in my leg.

I'm better now, but not 100% yet.

This was the last piece I did before I got sick. It's a study in white and I may have a little tweeking to do on it before it's finished.

A small watercolor 7 x 11 done in Susan's class.

I'm really liking this way of using watercolor, although it really does use a lot of paint, but the colors are so brilliant.

Susan Adam's Workshop

I had the pleasure of taking a workshop this last week-end from Susan Adams.

Susan is a very nice person and lives in Petaluma. She's a very sucessful artist and shows her work internationally.

Here is what I produced out of this week-end. The top one is a finished piece that I did in the afternoon. The lower two are study pieces done in the morning.

Pomagranates Five

I found this wonderful little frame at the Goodwill and have been thinking about what to paint for it quite a while now.

Lately I've been doing a lot of Fall fruits and wanted to do some pomagranates, so I did a drawing of how they would be arranged and what size it would be.

7 x 14 on Arches watercolor paper.

Double Delight

This is a rose that grows in my garden. Faded away now that it's fall, but with a promise to return next Spring. I have this to remember it by.

11 x 15 on 140# Arches paper.

They Get No Respect (The Painting)

I really enjoyed doing this one. While I was working on it I thought about how these fruits are not popular in this country, although they are ancient fruits that have been used through history in Europe and the Middle East. Hence the title.

11 x 14 on Arches 140# paper.

They Get No Respect

I've had an idea running around my brain this last week for a subject of my next painting. It all started when someone gave me 3 small pomegranates. I wanted to paint them because they are so beautiful but thought that just those 3 tiny fruits wouldn't make the statement I wanted to make about the abundance of sustenance and beauty that we have this time of year.

Then thinking about the composition also made me think about color and contrasts, all those thing that go into make a beautiful painting. I needed something to contrast the reds that I had and remembered that a neighbor had a quince tree and was always asking me to take some. Yes they would be perfect with their pale yellow and greens and fuzzy textures. As I walked down his driveway I noticed his black fig tree and saw that there were still figs on it. What a great addition to my arrangement, I hope that he would give me a few, really only need two, but one extra would taste just great, with yogurt and honey, for my breakfast tomorrow.

I brought my treasures home and set them up on my painting table and lit them with an overhead and took many shots, added a second lamp and shot some more. Here is the one I choose and now have to decide if it will be watercolor, acrylic or oil.