Fruit Still Life

Apple and Meyer Lemons – 6" x 6" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

I am currently working on a larger piece with apples, however sometimes I get bored with just focusing on this one painting and need a break. So I set up this composition. I wanted to try my hand again with checkered fabric and I am always fascinated with trying to depict “round” forms.

I have also recently started painting on 6” x 6” canvas panels; so many daily artists use this format. It has been fun to see how I group items differently with the square format versus a rectangular one. As an architect, I like the combination of inscribed circles within squares as a beautiful design motif. This attitude is present in the way I tend to setup compositions. In past square format paintings, I would typically arrange all the items so the compositions would flow in a circular pattern, however for this painting I worked to setup a strong triangular composition instead. I believe it works well because of the fun pattern of the checkered cloth and the heavy brightness of the red apple being balanced with the three lemons. It was a fun little painting that was a fun mental challenge while also being good practice.

Still Life Study

Apples and Apple Half Still Life Study – 5" x 7" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

This little painting is a study of a portion of a still life composition I have currently set up in my studio. I am working on a new “frieze” painting with apples and apple halves. As I have never painted an apple half I wanted to get some practice in.

Thanks, Liz

Green and Purple

Three Green Pears – 5" x 7" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

Green and purple have always been a favorite color combination. I keep coming back to it in paintings, and with green pears with the variety of the value and hue that is found in them, the combination is never truly repetitive. On a side note, I think the emotional attachment to this color combination stems from when I was in junior high, there was a blouse with green and purple plaid fabric, I really, really wanted it. Alas I never was able to possess it, so when I am painting these colors I think sometimes my heartstrings are being pulled and I am satisfying some deep sense of satisfaction through my painting…

Well maybe that is what is going on, or I just have never gotten over my absolute love of how these colors just come together…

Last Vestiges of Winter

My Large Pumpkin – 6" x 6" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

I have had this pumpkin since the late fall. It has been a challenge to paint, as the color is not quite orange or salmon, so the shadow areas are just as nebulous… I have started a few paintings of this pumpkin and have more times than not, scraped them down and started over or changed subjects… In this painting was pleased with what I captured in paint and I really liked the shadow the pumpkin cast. Unfortunately I believe this may be the last painting I will be able to attempt as the pumpkin is starting to show its age and is developing soft spots in its skin and leaving marks on the table…

It is sad to see it age, however I am fortunate that spring is on its way and I am looking forward to focusing on painting flowers, veggies from my container garden and next autumn I will attempt painting pumpkins again…

Looking forward to Summer

Meyer Lemons with Bowl – 9” x 12” Oil on Canvas

I completed this painting; I am pleased with the outcome. I will be submitting it to juried shows this spring, so wish me luck! If I am fortunate enough to get it into a show I will post the information. Until then, I am working on a new “frieze” painting this time with Gala apples and another 9” x 12” painting with mandarins and the same curvy white bowl as in this painting. This new painting has a similar setup as the lemon painting, with subtle changes, as I am really fascinated with the white louvered doors as a background.

Bright Red Apples

Three Red Apples in a Dish – 5" x 7" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

These red apples had been sitting on our microwave for the past week in this bowl. I kept looking at them and thinking how beautiful they were and how it would be nice to capture them in a small painting. I love the way they turned out. The vibrant red and the cool highlights on the apples really make them look delicious...

Thanks, E. Floyd

Papaya Still Life

Papaya – 5” x 7” Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

I have been meaning to paint a papaya for awhile; I am very fascinated with pink-orange flesh of the fruit and the dark berry-like seeds. So this is my first attempt. In painting this fruit I learned that is more than what I had originally thought. I like how there is a dark green outline that surrounds the flesh of the fruit. How the color and tone change depending on how close or far away it is from the green rind.

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.

Study for a Larger Painting

Pomegranate with Two Mandarins – 6" x 8" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

This is another study I completed while I was working on a larger gallery oriented piece. I will post the gallery piece tomorrow.

In this painting I was fixated on capturing the leaves of the mandarins in a loose but convincing way. I like the play of light and shadow while also the play with the complementary colors, red-green, and blue-orange.

Fun with Pattern and Color

Three Gala Apples – 6" x 8" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

I had fun with this painting.