Orange Centered Jonquil on Gold SOLD

Another spring jonquil with a gold background and a dark diagonal stripe.  A mostly neutral palette with just touches of saturated color - orange. green, rusty red.  Those neutrals give the saturated colors lots of contrast and make them important.   The jonquils have been blooming for weeks, they're almost over.  Maybe just one or two more paintings.

Sunset Ferry Crossing Blake Island SOLD

This large painting is an evening view of one of the Washington State ferries passing in front of Blake Island on its way between Southworth and Seattle.  This painting will be in the spring Barnworks Show during the Vashon Spring Arts Tour on May 5th & 6th and May 12th & 13th.  The Barnworks has been hosting Spring and Fall Arts shows since the 1970's and this is the Last Year, and the Last Spring Show!  Barnworks is located at 12122 Cove Road SW on Vashon Island. 

Jonquil with Diagonal Orange Stripe

The same white jonquil slightly different composition.  I really like the blue background.  Again the painting is mostly blue for dominance.  The orange stripe in the background adds a nice bit of conflict and repeats the orange of the jonquil cup and the warm tones in the stem.

Jonquil on Blue and Turqouoise

The white jonquils with orange centers have opened in the garden.  I was eager for a new color after all the gold daffodils on gold backgrounds so I decided to try blue.  I find my compositions are better when I have color dominance; here, it's a very large piece of blue with just a bit of gold and green black and white.  And I like the turquoise contrasted with cobalt blue. 

Two daffodils Purple tabletop

The gold background is essentially a dark yellow, so this painting is a study in complementary colors - purple and yellow.  I enjoy that the lightest parts of the painting are the highlights in the glass jar. 

Pink and Yellow Apples

These are Pink Lady apples.  I love the color of these apples, they're red and yellow and green.  I simplified some of the streaky detail because it's hard to add light and dark pattern and not have it look like shadow.  The apple in the back IS in shadow so I darkened the yellow and reduced the contrast to push it back.  

Single Daffodil Gold and Green

Another daffodil, and a very limited palette.  Because the colors are analogous,  the painting is very harmonious.  The background is a gradation from medium to dark.  Dark value pushes the pale flower forward while medium value enables lost edges, and keeps the flower from feeling like it's cut out and pasted down on top of the painting

Two Purple Crocuses SOLD

We've had a cold late spring so I got to paint crocuses in April.  These crocuses were moving the whole time I was painting.  Even outdoors they only last a couple of days.   Most of this painting is purple and lavender.  This creates color dominance.  It also makes the gold sing (complement of purple) even though it is not a huge leap in value from the purple.

Daffodil with Dark Background SOLD

It's been a late spring so we've still got daffodils.  I like how crisp and sculptural they are and I like what an interesting and recognizable silhouette they have.   I think the jar worked well and I enjoy the orange stripe.

Piner Point SOLD

Low tide at Piner Point at the south end of Vashon Island.  This painting was originally 9" x 12" and it just wasn't working. The foreground just wasn't very interesting- it was all sand and gravel.  I didn't want to paint every speck of sand, but I didn't know how to create interest while at the same time subordinating the foreground.    I solved the problem by simply cropping off the foreground. When in doubt, leave it out.

Barometer in Brown SOLD

Barometer Mountain sits at the end of the airport runway on Kodiak Island where we used to live.  I like this composition--mostly middle values with a small amount of dark and just a touch of light in the sky.  It's very Kodiak weather- mostly overcast with just a small cloud break.   Spring green shows in the foreground, but the top of Barometer is still brown from the long winter.

Woody Island Lagoon

A scene from Kodiak Island where I used to live.  I like the composition of this painting.  There's a nice placement of the horizon line.  The colors are harmonious (ultramarine blue and burnt sienna make a wonderful gray).   I've divided the page up in a dramatic and interesting way, because I have a large piece of medium value a small piece of light value and a smaller piece of dark value.  Not a sunny day, but still some interesting light in the horizon.