Check Please!.....black and white check series....Oil paintings

These are from my new series "Check Please!".  They are each 12x12 on gallery wrap thick canvas. They are done in oil paints with a collage technique that creates the checked motif and cool extra texture.  They can be purchased separately or as a set.   I absolutely LOVE the direction that this series is headed!  More to come after grandbaby is here and spring festival (Double Decker) in Oxford is over.

Fruits, kitchen art....oil paintings

Vegetable Paintings....................oil paintings

 10x20...............Tomatoes on turquoise

 10x30,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Tomatoes on the Windowsill

20x20.....................Bell Peppers

It always makes me happy when someone buys a painting of mine for their kitchen.  Because I know how much time my family spends in MY kitchen.  I know they must like it to put it somewhere where they will be seeing it so much. 

Tabasco and Olive Oil......Oil Paintings

 Tabasco on Everything........10x20

 Tabasco on turquoise.......10x20

Olive Oil and Fixin's.......10x20

These are some more of my favorite subjects ready for the Revel.  One year I tried bringing more "new things" and after about 40 times being asked....."aren't you the tomato lady?"  and "didn't you have Tabasco paintings last year?"  I decided to always bring some of the tried and true with a mix of a bunch of new ones.  Last year I got the mix just right.  I hope I did this year, too.  (Really) New ones will be posting tomorrow. 

Garlic Pods.....................Oil Painting

Garlic Pods................12x24

There will be no vampires around here....Not with all this garlic laying around.  So you can rest easy if you were worried.

Aglio Y Olio...........Oil Painting

Aglio y Olio.........10x20

When we went to Italy we discovered a delightfully simple dish.  Apparently it's sort of one of those dishes Italian moms make when they have to make something quick and haven't been to the grocery store.  Aglio y Olio means garlic and oil.  So it's basically pasta (and we are talking fresh Italian pasta! yum) and garlic and olive oil.  Throw on a little freshly grated parmesan cheese.  So simple, yet so good. 

It's Chili in Here.......Oil Paintings

 8x24..........It's Chili in Here I and II

Yesterday it was a little chili (actually two little chilies).  Today it's two big chilies. Just for truth in advertising, I don't think the chilies themselves were any bigger than yesterday's, it's just the paintings that are different.

Tomato Math.......Oil painting

12x 24.............Tomato Math

There's a whole, a half and two quarters.....hence the title.  

Colorful Bell Peppers.....Oil Painting

Colorful Bell Peppers.....8x24

In keeping with what I said yesterday about fresh summer produce, here are some peppers for you viewing pleasure.

Summer Produce......Vegetable oil painitng

16x20..............Summer Produce

As Summer draws to a close, at our house, we are trying to enjoy all the fresh fruits and veggies we can while it is still plentiful.

Red River Revel new art work (Miscellaneous).............oil paintings

8x16....Tabasco

10x20...Comin' at Ya

36x36.......Dusk on Canal

12x24....Streetcar

12x24.....Balanced Diet

 

A few more miscellaneous paintings because time is running out and I leave tomorrow!!! 

 

And one more thing I like about the Revel.  The atmosphere in general.  It is such a community event.  Families turn out for all the festivities, old friends run into each other and reconnect, there is music and laughter and just a general hum of excitement that the Revel is finally here and fall is in the air!  



Tomatoes!............oil paintings

12x12...........Round Tomato

 

12x12..........Squatty Tomato

I paint tomatoes as much or more than I do pears.  Not sure why I don't find the same interest in apples or any other red fruit or vegetable, but I don't.  I have come to find out that's just the way it is.  

Pears and More Pears......oil paintings

8x16.....Single Pear

12x24......Looking Out the Window

I love to paint pears.  I have said it before.  It is still true.  I have tried other fruits and I keep coming back to pears.  The just have more personality than most other fruits.  That's all I can say.

Finally

8x24 

10x20

I am finally back in the blogosphere.  It has taken me a while to get my life back in order after the death of my beloved step-dad and my dear brother.  In 2013 I threw myself into doing lots of shows and painting a lot to keep my spare minutes focused in positive directions.  It was a little much and I am just now getting my feet back under me it seems.  2014 has seen much more productivity and return for my efforts.  I have cut way back on my show schedule and spent more time actually painting.  Lots of commissions have kept me very busy, but not frantic.  I feel like I am regaining control of my life, so that's a scary thought.  That's when something else comes to reek havoc.

My blog plan is to try to post very regularly here for a while and post bunches of work that I have done since my last post (Oct. 2013!!!!).  Moving right on up to my latest projects that will be featured at the Red River Revel in Shreveport, LA in October.

Hope to reconnect with some of you that have followed my blog in the past.

Garlic.....oil painting.....#25 of 30 paintings in 30 days...

 

12x24....oil on canvas.....$340

 

I have previously been confused about garlic terminology....clove, pod, bulb, hunk?  So I looked it up.  It appears that what you see before you are three bulbs of garlic which separate into numerous cloves.  So now we know. 

Pouting Tomato....Oil Painting.....#17 of 30 Painting in 30 Days...

 

8x24.....oil on canvas....$230

 

 

I have fallen into the habit, like fellow painter Carol Marine, of assigning human attributes to the inanimate objects that I paint.  To me this group of tomatoes is like a group of your grandkids....you ask them to line up for a picture and there is one that pouts and turns their back and will have none of it.  Well, I didn't feel like coaxing the big guy that is looking away....I just went for it.  I wonder if he will regret it later. 

Tabasco......Oil Painting......#16 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days...

 

12x24......Oil on Canvas.....$$340

 

I have to have at least four or five Tabasco paintings ready as I head into the fall show season because they are a popular item.  This one is on the coolest green background!  It is different from any green I have mixed before and really complements the red bottle. 

 

Museum-Worthy Tomato.....oil painting......#9 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days...

 

12x12.....oil on canvas......$170

 

This is the tomato that I painted on location at the Mississippi Museum of Art this past Saturday.  I was a part of their "50 Paintings in 50 Hours" celebration as the "Old Masters to Monet" exhibit came to a close.  I had such a great time visiting with people and seeing all the great art we have right here in our own backyard!  What a great day!

Kitchen Art....still lifes with tabasco, tmoatoes, etc.

SOLD

I recently sold the top painting to a sweet young couple in Shreveport.  Their mother is a client and now they are too.

I set up the still life of the next one and painted it from real life.  I absolutely love it.  The olive oil is one that we got on our trip to Italy.  This is another one that has to be seen in person to be appreciated. 

I never get tired of painting Tabasco.  I love all the different colors of red that go together to make it come alive.

This is a stack of cups that I actually (I asked permission first) stacked myself at a cute little coffee shop in Tupelo.  I took several shots of different compositions so expect to see more eventually.