"Lemon in a Blue Bowl," 5x7, gesso board

The blue plate and yellow lemon are lovely. Not sure I captured them right, though. I love the reflections on the water. Maybe I should set up more of those.

"Apple," 9x12, oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

This is one of those pieces that paints itself. Seriously. I did a smaller version, liked it, and decided that was a study. (What the hey.) So I did this one on stretched canvas. It's almost a graphic more than a painting, but I am especially fond of the little spots on the skin. Anyway, it's the end of the month, and I have a couple of pieces that I haven't posted. In two case I didn't like them, although I've fixed one.

"Glowing Hillside II," 9x12, oil on gesso board

In June I did a a 5x7 version of this picture. For some reason, that image cried out to be bigger (not that you can tell on a monitor). It also seemed like a great time to play with painting knives, which I used for the middle and far ground of this painting. For the foreground I used brushes to get that velvety look

"Blue and Green," 6x6, oil on gesso board

I did this last night, and my critical eye was in high gear (do eyes have gears?) and I saw all kind of problems. This morning I was fresher. It looks better. Glass is deucedly difficult--and a lot of fun--to paint. It has reflections and transparencies that require you to really look at the shapes and colors. The cool part is that, since you know it's difficult and kind of abstract, that almost makes it easier: you turn off your literal brain. By contrast, the apple should have been easy, but I kept seeing reflections in it that shouldn't have been there, but were.

UPDATE: I darkened the background. The composition needed the kick.

"Abalone," 6x6, oil on gesso board

I got this one done a couple of days ago, but now I'm off on a trip. It's a family wedding and reunion, so no saying if I'll get any painting done, although it's to a beautiful part of the country, so I might try a landscape. Meanwhile, this one was extra fun for all the iridescence. If you want to test your ability to see wonky shapes and colors, try something like this.

Life excitement and painting

It's been a busy time in my world, recently: We got a puppy (about 6 months old, and very energetic!); I was in a show (I also do theater); and there's a family wedding coming up (including a week of family reunion). So I'm still painting, but it's a little slower. But, hey, things should settle down in mid-August (famous last words).