Lemons and Rice Bowl Still Life

Lemons and Rice Bowl – 7-1/4” x 17” (18.5 x 43 cm)

Hello,

Most of Sunday afternoon was spent completing this painting. It was set up to use only natural light and being that we are scheduled for some cloudy days ahead I was eager to complete it with a sunny outside, the same lighting conditions for the first few phases of the painting.

In other news over the weekend I found out that the 2nd floor of Artomatic was reviewed by Kevin Mellema of the Fall Church News Press in the Northern Virginia Art Beat column and my work was mentioned. This is my first experience receiving press, and it is kinda exciting. Here is the article.

Have a wonderful afternoon, Liz

Here is a detail of the rice bowl.

Part 1 of Lady Apple with Ribbon

Lady Apple with Satin Ribbon (part one of diptych) – 2-1/2” x 8” - Oil on canvas panel

This is the first of two small paintings I am working on for an upcoming juried “Small Works” show. The composition is of two long linear panels with lady apples and a gray satin ribbon. It is a play with on the frieze paintings I have been working on over the past year, just in miniature. For this piece I wanted to play with the complementary colors of the red and green apple offset by the rather neutral ribbon and background colors. Instead of being full of color the textures and surfaces became more important. The shiny smoothness of the ribbon and the matte neutral of the cream background were also a focus of this painting.

The second part is partially completed; I need another painting session or so to get it to where I want it to be and also to blend well with the first one. When it is up I will share it with you. Until the weekend, have a good one!

Here is another blog post with great apple pics.

Frieze Painting V - Peaches Still Life

Frieze Painting V - Fresh Peaches – 7-1/4” x 20” Oil on Linen Panel

This weekend I only worked on this painting. As I prefer to paint from life, I was racing against the shelf life of these peaches… I am feeling really tired right now, so I cannot articulate what it is I like about this painting or what motivated me to paint it. Proof that this weekend was a fun and intense painting experience…

I will elaborate more later… Have a great evening! Liz

Below are two detail shots of the painting:

Another Frieze Painting, this time of lemons

Lemons in a Row – Frieze Painting IV – 5-1/2” x 12” Oil on Linen Panel SOLD

This painting is another long linear composition, where I use these Frieze paintings as a means to experiment and learn about paint handling techniques other than the alla prima method (meaning completed in one setting) I typically employ.

For this painting I worked over an extended period of time, often waiting for layers to dry to a certain level before moving on. The technique I utilized most on this painting was the affect of glazing. I applied both glazes derived from opaque pigments to transparent ones. The transparent pigments were often easier to suspend in medium, and would flow lightly and evenly over the canvas. Where the opaque pigments required more medium, and would catch and hang onto the uneven paint surface. I really liked how each provided a different effect that deepened my painting experience.

Thanks, Liz

Peaches and Apricots Frieze Still Life

(in-progress painting, with my studio in the background)
Peaches and Apricots Frieze – 5 1/2” x 24” Linen on Panel

This weekend I began another Frieze painting. This still life includes fruit like the other frieze paintings have had, however to mix things up a bit I also am including a salvaged tile and an antique cigar box.

Below is a detail of the painting.

Red, White, and Blue 4th of July

Three Apples in a Row – 6” x 12” Oil on Canvas Panel

Happy Fourth of July! Here is my red, white, and blue contribution to this wonderful day.

In the spirit of being patriotic, last night Steve and I started watching the HBO movie John Adams. Wow, it is really a great mini-series. Love Laura Linney as Abigail, she is a wonderful actress, and Paul Giamatti plays a convincing John Adams.

A few years ago I attended the Gilbert Stuart exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. One of the last paintings hung in this exhibit was the 1826 portrait of John Adams as a very old man. The inquisitive look and the way his hand clasps the handle of a cane really captures the razor sharp intellect and integrity of John Adams. I believe this may be one of the best portraits I have ever been lucky enough to see in person.

Three Pears - Separate and Together

Three Pear Frieze - 5-1/2” x 12” Oil on Canvas - SOLD

This is the third frieze composition I have completed. It was a lot of fun working to capture the variations of the colors on the skin of the pears. To me the pears seem to glow. I have included some detail photos to show the brushwork of the more tricky areas.

Thanks, Liz


I have recently started using DaVinci Maestro 3 hog bristle brushes, these brushes are more springy then the previous brand I was using . Making it possible to paint wet in wet and skim the rosy red colors over the wet yellow-green underpainting on this pear.


This pear was closet to my model light, so between breaks I would have to shut the light off to prevent "cooking" it!

Another Frieze Painting

Apple Frieze – 5-1/2” x 24” Oil on Canvas

This is the second frieze painting I have competed of a series I began earlier this year. I have been working on it since February. In this painting I have utilized the new techniques I have been learning from Danni Dawson and I have also been using glazes. The small paintings I sell on Ebay are typically painted in the alla prima manner very directly, where with this painting I would work on it for a few hours or a day and then have to wait for the paint layer to dry before I could commence on the next step I wanted to take.

I am hoping to get this painting into a juried show in the DC area, I will keep you posted if this ever occurs...

Here is a detail of the painting.

My First of the Frieze Series

Mandarins with a Pomegranate Frieze – 24” x 5-1/2” Oil on Linen

Being that I am an architect and I was thinking it would be nice to interweave my professional career with my fine arts activities, I was searching around for ways to be inspired by architecture and interpret it with the still life paintings I have been pursuing lately. Recently I was looking at a bas relief sculpture detail on an architectural frieze, and I as inspired. I decided to pursue a series of paintings that have long linear compositions that are often utilized in such situations. I believe the most famous freizes in architecture are those of the Parthenon in Athens.

My paintings are not classical in subject matter, instead they are filled with the typical still life items, fruit, cups, and such.

I have several more planned and I will continue to work on them over the next several months. I will post them as they progress and as I complete them. Please stay tuned....

Here is a detail of part of the painting.