We Saw the Light - SOLD

Hello from sunny, dry Arizona! Please note I won't be able to ship paintings until I get home, June 5th. I apologize for this inconvenience!

Odd Company - SOLD

I've been saving this very cool green bottle for the perfect moment. It was a gift from a student, and I am very grateful to add it to my collection. Thank you!

Competing with Cheddar

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After we released ArtBytes on Wednesday I took a couple of days to do something completely different. Still creative, but a different avenue. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to doing more in the future. Click here to see pictures.

Grape Fixation

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I felt it was appropriate, in my second cheese stack painting, for there to be a pig involved. And while he fell in love with the grape I fell in love with the reflection of the cheese back on him.

Cheese and Grapes

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I get my best ideas right before I fall asleep and right after I wake up. I don't know why. I had this idea recently, in bed, to paint little stacks of different kinds of cheese, paired with fruit. Why on earth was I thinking about this in bed?! At any rate, I was very excited to try it. And it turns out cheese has some lovely translucent qualities that are very interesting to paint. The only problem is after it sits out for a while it starts to ... "sweat" a bit.

Cornered

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I'll take a better picture of this one and repost it tomorrow. The sun goes down so EARLY this time of year way up here in Oregon. I had to take the picture inside and so the color isn't quite right.

Turns out the better picture isn't terribly different. But I do think it's better.

Stacked Nearby

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You've probably noticed I've been into stacking apples lately. Here I've added a rose to complexify things.

After my post yesterday my friend James said the table he mentioned is suddenly out of stock, so he looked up 3 others and posted links at the bottom of his post.

Nested Bowls

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I just posted a ton of info on my New Beginnings blog about my new tripod and shadowbox. It took a lot of work so you'd better check it out. I mean it. Oh, and happy 2012 (grumble grumble). : )

Flipped Out

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I did this painting for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge - Change the Color. The idea is if you keep all the values accurate, you can really make the colors anything you want. I don't normally recommend changing colors - it is surprising how many things each color will affect - but it was a fun exercise, and I am surprisingly happy with the result. Here are a few process photos.

Red Bowl

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You'll never believe it - the best flight I could get back from my workshop in Illinois was via LA, then Seattle, and THEN Eugene. Ack! It's been a long day. I'll wait until tomorrow to report about the workshop. Meanwhile, here is a painting that includes a special red glass bowl I got from my Grandma recently. She is on my mind today.

Fall Dishes

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I've been doing so many paintings with white in them lately, I decided to see if I could make it work with ALL color! I don't think I've ever done this particular combination of colors before, and I'm diggin' it.

Troglodytic Tomato

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This is a new size for me - 5x7in. I saw a student recently painting something horizontal and I thought - why on earth have I been doing squares, exclusively for so long?! Duh.

And regarding the title, sometimes I look up words in the thesaurus so both words start with the same letter. Silly, I know. Troglodytic means someone who lives a secluded life, who is unaquainted with affairs of the world. Maybe the tomato wants to live that way, but it sure looks lonely.

Hide Behind Stacks

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Someone asked how I get the reflections at the bottom. I have a big piece of glass - just regular glass - that I put in the bottom of my shadow box. I tape the front edge and only handle it from that end so I don't cut myself. I generally put down my cloth or paper first so I have some color or something underneath. In this case I had a gray yellow behind and white underneath.

Just Leafing

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I NEVER experienced a fall in Texas like this one here in Eugene. The leaves have been absolutely spectacular. And there are still quite a few of them hanging on. I found this one on the way home from Jacob's bus-stop and HAD to paint it. It was orange on one side and mostly red on the other side, hence the awesome glow.

Dramatic Stacks

I went to a figure session tonight and lo and behold there was a naked tomato! It was shy so it undressed behind stacks of cups and refused to come out into the light. Ok, really, our model tonight was a good-looking African American guy, not shy at all. After the first break he didn't quite make it back into the same pose. I tried to change my composition accordingly, but I just ended up making a mess. So I wiped it off and called it lesson learned.

One Helluva Party & Red Sweater

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Last night I went to another figure session with Sarah. Our model had some mega dreadlocks, and a fuzzy red sweater. About an hour into the 3-hour pose I started over. I decided on the second try to experiment with wilder colors in shadows. The part I'm happiest with is the suggestion of a hand. I find I spend about 2/3 of the time on the face and 1/3 on the rest (ha! - just read that was Sarah's experience as well)!

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And below is the belated group photo of last week's Sedona kids. It was a really fun group!

Fall Arrangement

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This is my very first, official, non-demo, from life, still life painting since the fire. It's in honor of all the stunning fall color we have here in Eugene. I mean literally we drive down the streets and say WOW! every 2 seconds. I am told it's more stunning than usual and has lasted longer, and it's because there is less rain than usual. I just hope we didn't bring the drought with us!!!

Folded Stacks

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Did I mention I found one cup in the rubble? It's the middle one in this stack. It's a little scorched, but I'll be glad to add it to my new collection.

Meanwhile, we are near Sacramento tonight. Read about getting here on our New Beginning blog.

The Kitchen Sink

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This painting has everything except ... you guessed it, the kitchen sink. I have to admit, it is sometimes quite difficult to come up with new titles, especially after 1,420 of them! My husband helped with this one. Thank you, sweetheart!

How Many Cups Do You See?

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My husband began wearing reading glasses recently (he is 12 years older than I) and is constantly losing them around the house. And every time he does he asks "have YOU seen my glasses?" in a distinctly blaming tone, as if I was the one who misplaced them. And until he finds them he is a grumpy-pants. That or until I deposit him on the couch with a glass of wine. Either will make him happy.

WORKSHOP - Here is one more workshop for 2012, in Toronto, Canada, Aug 27-31, email Marina to register.