Pewter Mug with Grapes {a new small painting} SOLD

Still Life with Pewter Mug and Grapes

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

This painting and most other still-life paintings are completed from life using natural light. Over the past several years, I have shifted from using directional lighting on my setups to relying on natural light from north easterly windows in my studio.

Even though it is more of a challenge painting without a strong directional light, because they give strong shadows and contrast, I have found I enjoy the quality of color, the diffused soft edges, and nuanced changes between the light and shadow more.

This painting is an excellent example of why I prefer to paint from natural light. The soft blues and warm shadows in the pewter cup, and the variety of color found in the grapes. If I had used a directional light, a lot of the color shifts found in the grapes would have been blown out by a strong light, thus changing to overall feeling and affect of the composition.

Thanks for stopping by and reading,

Liz

PS. do you see the mini-self portrait in the cup?

Amaryllis {Bountiful Observations no. 5}

Amaryllis

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

Available for purchase via my Etsy shop

Framed painting: $300.00 + S&H

This beautiful bloom is from an amaryllis bulb I purchased in November, back in December it gave me two of the most spectacular blooms I have ever owned, so luscious that I just wanted to look at them and savour them untouched... After the blooms faded I resolved to replenish this bulb so it would bloom again next year, so I have been watering and tending to the bulb, when low and behold it gave me a third bloom!

This bloom was just as spectacular as the first two and I knew I needed to share it with you as a painting.

With this composition I aimed to share the excitement and joy I experienced every time I would look at this amaryllis, an unexpected, but very appreciated gift of life!

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Friday Inspiration: Books about Landscape Painting {Free Online}

{the blustery sky today}

Today we are having an unusally warm day, I have the windows open in the house, and it is wonderful being able to air out the rooms and hear the birds chirping in the distance.

It is the end of January, but it feels like spring is just around the corner... which means I will be able to go out and paint en plein air soon! So with that in mind, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite landscape books that are available online.


Landscape Painting by Birge Harrison
{as a side-note, do not bother purchasing a re-printed copy of this book on Amazon because the scan is so poor. I did because I love to have a book infront of me that I can add highlights, dog-ears, and notes, but I was terribly dissappointed in the quality of the book and find the link above to be a much better quality, so I wasted paper and time with the purchase...}

The Art of Landscape Painting in Oil Colour By Sir Alfred East

Imagination in Landscape Painting By Philip Gilbert Hamerton

Brush and Pencil Notes in Landscape By Sir Alfred East

Light and Water: a study of reflexion and colour in river, lake and sea By Sir Montagu Montagu-Pollock

Landscape and Power By W. J. Thomas Mitchell

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday! 

Liz

Three Cloves of Garlic {a new small painting}

Three Cloves of Garlic

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Things have been a bit crazy lately, and I wanted to paint something simple, a limited palette, simple objects, and a straight forward composition. While life has been handing out zingers, I am striving to keep things simple and calm.

Pink Tulip {a new floral painting}

Pink Tulip

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Click to Purchase

Unframed painting: $150.00 starting bid + S&H

When I was painting this tulip it continued to grow and by the time I had finished, the tulip stem had easily grown 1/2 inch longer than when I first cut it. They say tulips keep growing after they are cut but I had never experienced such eager growth before...

Mums and Apples {Bountiful Observations no. 4} SOLD

Still Life with Mums and Apples

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

SOLD

Framed painting: $300.00 starting bid + S&H

With this series, each new composition presents an opportunity to investigate new ways to convey the beauty and textural diversity found in flowers. In this painting I wanted to share the impression of a mass of flowers and stems surrounded by shiny apples, so instead of depicting the mums individually, I focused on the mass of yellow and how the flowers in shadow edged to violet.

Everything just seemed to fall into place, impressions captured and conveyed. It was a joy to paint.

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Inspiration Friday: Some Memorable Quotes

This week when reading the current issue of Fine Art Connoisseur I was struck by this quote and thought you may also like to know about it. It says...

"Art should be independant of all clap-trap -- should stand alone, and appeal to the arstistic sense of eye and ear, without confounding this with emotions entirely foreign to it, as devotion, pity, love, patriotism, and the like." ~James Abbott McNeill Whistler

And here are a few more quotes I have come across this week.

"Since an artist appeals to the intelligence and the emotions, his work can only give real pleasure to those in whom it arouses a consciousness of beauty similar to his own perception." ~Rex Vicat Cole

"The way to understand painting is to go and look at it." ~Pierre-Auguste Renoir

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better place than we found it, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.”   ~Walt Whitman

Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Liz

Jonquils & Pear {a new small painting}

Still Life with Jonquils and Pear

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Spring is not here yet, however the stores have begun to sell small pots of tete-e-tete daffodils and I cannot resist them... and then the lovely flowers end up in the studio and in a painting.

Peeled Lemon {a new small painting}

Peeled Lemon

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Hello,

Lemons are a favorite subject to paint.  Whenever I paint them I think of their place in the grand tradition of still-life paintings, especially those compositions by Pieter Claesz.

Persimmons {Bountiful Observations no. 3} SOLD

Still Life with Persimmons on a Pewter Plate

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

Framed painting: SOLD

I had the good fortune of being able to get these persimmons from River Farm, so the leaves and stem were still intact and they had been minimally handled, which meant the color of the fruit was more vibrant and unaffected. Often fruit purchased a the grocery store will have been handled a lot so the natural yeast often found on fruit has been rubbed off, which dullens the texture and color.

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horticultural Society.

Friday Inspiration: Georgia O'Keeffe

Several years ago, like close to seven, I read Full Bloom,a wonderful biography about Georgia O'Keeffe. For several months after finishing the book I was mesmerized by how prolific, how dedicated, and how determined she was to become an accomplished artist.

Then in 2010 the Phillips Collection had a wonderful exhibition that focused on her abstractions. Again I came away from the experience of seeing the exhibit with awe and wonder.



As an artist myself, I tried to view the exhibition as an admirer and also as a technician, disecting how she applied paint and worked. Though I do not paint many abstract compositions, I admire her skill in compositions and I own two books that focus on the compositional concept notan that was so important in Georgia O'Keeffe's work, they are:

. Notan
. Composition by Arthur W. Dow

Sometimes I will flip through the pages of these books to get ideas and to learn a bit more about compositional design. And when I am really stumped about coming up with some painting ideas I will flip through the catalogue raisonne of Georgia O'Keeffe's works.

Here are a few spreads I photographed to share with you today.

And I thought I would leave you with a few of my favorite quotes by Georgia O'Keeffe

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for. ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense. A hill or tree cannot make a good painting just because it is a hill or tree. It is lines and colors put together so that they may say something. ~Georgia O'Keeffe

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.”   ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

The last quote is my favorite, and really sums up the drive of why I paint, the journey of art making is the most important.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend,
Liz

Garlic {a new small painting}

Still Life with Garlic, Pitcher, and Bottle

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

This head of garlic has been languishing in our kitchen for several months {since Naomi was around 6 weeks old} because I have had to take drastic measures with my diet to keep her happy. As I cannot cook with this garlic, I figured it might as well star in a painting...

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BTW, here is a recent photo of my little one, she has been getting about on her belly, I figure in the next month or so she will be crawling...

Tulip and a Tea Cup {a new small painting} SOLD

Still Life with Tulip and Tea Cup

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

Today has been a very fun and busy day, I was able to get a lot of painting in {close to 5 hours} which is almost a record since Naomi was born. So I am particularly happy tonight.

Have a wonderful evening,
Liz

Red China Asters {Bountiful Observations no. 2}

Red China Asters

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

Available for Sale in my Etsy Shop

Framed painting: $400.00 + S&H

Hello,

This is the second painting of my Bountiful Observations series.

One of the reasons I like painting still lifes is that it requires me to slow down and really observe an object or objects. Through this concentrated effort of learning how something really is, I learn that things are not always as I think. Close observation forces me to think about the objects before me and to leave my pre-conceptions behind.

With this painting, this is what I needed to do in order to capture the form and mass of the flowers while also recording the reflective nature of the pewter cup. When I think of pewter, I think of gray, where in reality there are areas that are dark black and others areas that are light blue, pink, yellow, and of course gray.

Each time I paint more experience is gained in how to observe and also how to let go, something that I believe is very freeing.

Thanks for stopping by,
Liz

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horiticultural Society.

Friday Inspiration: Resolutions for 2012

Happy New Year!

It is that time of year when the urge to make annual resolutions occurs. This year I sought out some quotes to help me find some direction in setting my goals this year. These two quotes are my favorite of the many I read online...

. The most important thing about motivation is goal setting. You should always have a goal. --Francie Larrieu Smith

. The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get. --Jim Rohn

So I think over the weekend I will work to outline some specific goals this year that can be monitored and assessed periodically.

What kind of goals are you planning to set this year?

Liz

Alstroemerias {Bountiful Observations no. 1}

Alstroemerias

{8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – oil on canvas panel}

For Sale in my Esty Shop

Framed painting: $300.00 + S&H

Hello,

Here is the first painting of many to come in the Bountiful Observations series. I am so excited about starting this project. I am anticipating that having the goal of posting a new painting each week will help me establish a regular routine this year, helping me balance being both an artist and a mother.

This painting was completed from life over a number of days. Alstroemerias keep for a long time if you keep the water full and refreshed, so I was able to focus on each bloom and utilize some glazes to capture some of the soft pinks in the petals. I also soften all the edges of the flowers that were more in the background, thus heightening the focus on the flowers that were centered and forward.

Every painting in this series is available for sale framed.

{14" x 14" (35.6 x 35.6 cm) with frame}

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This is a painting from my Bountiful Observations series, with 25% of the net proceeds of each sale being donated to the American Horiticultural Society.

Bountiful Observations {a new series}

I am so happy to introduce Bountiful Observations, a new painting series, all still-life paintings inspired by the seasons and simple objects found in our everyday life.

Around the time my daughter Naomi was born, I began to develop a concept for a new series of paintings. At first, I was not sure if the idea would be possible because motherhood was requiring a lot from me and I questioned if there was enough time in the week to dedicate to painting regularly. Then as the weeks passed by and Naomi and I began to develop a rythem, I realized that by standardizing the format and size of the series it would be possible to develop a series and debut the paintings here on my blog.

So here we are, the first week of 2012, and I am happy to share with you the first painting of the Bountiful Observations series. Starting today I will offer for sale a framed 8" x 8" still-life painting through an online auction. Each Monday in 2012 a new painting from this series will posted here on my blog and website.

Happy New Year!

{From our trip to the Okanagan Valley last week}

Happy New Year!

I am so excited about 2012 starting, and cannot wait to share with you a new project that is about to begin. Tomorrow I will post more information about it and debut the first painting of the series. Please stay tuned...

Thank you for making 2011 so wonderful,
Liz