Two Half Open Daisies on Turquoise

We planted Shasta Daisies in the garden but they took over like thugs and became weeds.  Now we chop them back ruthlessly.   These are two escapees that I managed to pick before they were whacked down.  They are still opening and turning to the light.

Vinegar, Fork, Spoon on Gray

Shiny things are fun to paint - all those reflective surfaces!  The red label adds a strong color note and contrasts nicely with all the neutral gray. 

View South Through the Madronas SOLD

This was done out of doors in my yard on an overcast day. We have a large stand of madrona on our property and they all lean out over the hillside.  This is a view south towards Tacoma with the lightest part of the painting the light reflected on the water.  I like the close color harmony created by the subdued light.

Sequim Slough

Another view of Sequim.  The land is low and sandy near the water and this tidal inlet works its way back towards the town.   I like how this painting is opposite of the previous Sequim view - dark in the foreground and light in the back.
This painting is for sale at my Etsy Store

Sequim View SOLD

It's often sunny in Sequim WA on the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  The Olympic mountains (in the background of this painting) catch all the moisture and leave clear blue skies.  This is a view near the ocean looking back at the mountains.

Nancy's Shed and Madronnas

The sky was a deep dark blue and the madronas were dark, with reddish tones from the red bark .  All these darks acreate strong contrast and push the shed forward.

Nancy's Shed and Fence SOLD

Another view of Nancy's garden shed. I like how the strong sunlight is reflected under the eaves and warms the shadow

Nancy's Shed with Lavateria SOLD

This is a neighbor's shed painted from photos taken last summer.  It was late in the summer and the lavateria was in full bloom, the apples were almost ready to pick and the grass had turned golden.  A souvenir of a perfect summer day.

Yellow Daffodil on Mauve SOLD

A painting from this spring.  Mauve is the name of a light purple color that was the first synthetic dye color.  It was created by accident in 1856 by an 18 year old chemistry student, William Henry Perkin, who was trying to synthesize the anti-malaria drug quinine. The name mauve was given to it from the French name for the mallow flower.  The color of this dye is familiar to those of us who remember ditto  machines- it was used in the ink.

Three Cherries Shadows Reflections

How do you make a light intense vibrant red?  If you add white you wind up with pink, so the trick is to make all the dark reds almost black and leave the light reds pure saturated color, straight out of the tube.  When I paint cherries I pick the red ones to paint so that I have somewhere to go with my dark colors.  This suits my family just fine because they like to eat the darker sweeter ones.

Cup of Cherries

A strong down-light illuminates the rim of the cup and saucer and casts dark shadows.  The cup saucer and tabletop are white, but the shadows are quite dark, and only the highlights are pure white.

Sngle Pink Rose Glass Jar on Gray SOLD

This painting was painted before the previous entry, but it had a very unsuccessful pink background behind the rose and jar.  The painting was just pink everywhere -screaming, unsubtle pink.  After I painted the two roses I went back and subdued the background in this painting.  Suddenly the pink rose was delicate and the painting was balanced between a very large area of neutral color and a very small area of bright saturated color.

Two Pink Roses Square Glass on Gray SOLD

These delicate single pink roses are blooming on shoots of the rootstock that our species roses are grafted onto.  The rootstock is probably Rosa Canensis, or dog rose.  A very prosaic name for such a lovely rose.  I like how the gray background contrasts with the pink.

White Pitcher Blue Saucer Red Cherries

Another painting of cherries.  I put a narrow piece of cardboard between the light and the still life subject and this threw a shadow across the back of the still life.  This made the objects in the light more contrasted and the objects in shadow less contrasted.  It gives a sort of atmospheric perspective in a very short space.