Jonquil Bouquet on Blue and Blue SOLD

This spring I painted many gray backgrounds; but this one is a little more lively.  I put this bouquet of white jonquils on blue and blue and blue.  These are early jonquils, some of the many bulbs that my daughter planted last fall.  The orange centered ones are small and have multiple flowers on each stem.  I really like the large area of blue and the strong contrasting whites and oranges.
On my ETSY Store

Yellow Sunflowers on Blue

This painting was originally Yellow Sunflowers on Gold, but I was looking at it last week and decided the Gold had to go.  Now I have a turquoise background and blue/lavender shadows which I like better.  I think the colors express the idea of "sunniness" that sunflowers imply. Here's a link to the previous version.

Yellow Daffodils on Gold

A bouquet of spring daffodils to mark the season.  Rather than paint each individual flower I tried to paint the whole bouquet with light values, middle values, and dark values grouped together, to give a better sense of the volume of the bouquet.  It is hard to make a dark yellow - if you add black to yellow, it turns green, the secret is to add a bit of purple which is the complement of yellow.
On my ETSY store

Stiped Towel and Orange Slices

This is a slightly larger piece, so I thought I'd try some pattern.   I found a piece of blue and white striped towel and kept the colors simple, everything blue or white except for the orange slices.  I  subdued the reflections in the dark blue vase and the coffee cup because the striped pattern was taking over. I also lightened the fabric to reduce the contrast and simplify the painting.  A fun exercise.

Prize Winner!

I won second prize in the Daily Paintworks November contest.  "Daisies and Bachelor's Buttons" is 10" x 10" oil on panel.  Painted this summer when my daughter's cutting garden was in full flower.  (Thanks, Annie!) I painted the front daisy with detail, but tried just to suggest the rest of the flowers.   I also liked how the background colors work with the limited palette of the bouquet.  So even though the colors are cool, the composition seems light and lively.
 Click here to see this one in my Etsy store

Cosmos and Zinnia

Although it's getting cooler, the flowers in the garden are still going strong and the sweet autumn clematis has just started to bloom.  So I picked a red zinnia, some deep pink cosmos and some white clematis for this fall bouquet.  I worked hard to keep it loose - the flowers are suggested, but I did paint the zinnia with a little more detail.

10" x 10" oil on panel

Yellow Sunflowers on Gold

How much more of this gorgeous weather can we take?  The sunflowers are begging me to paint them.  And the dahlias and cosmos and bachelors buttons and calendulas.  Thank goodness, the daisies are spent!

10" x 10" oil on panel
to purchase

Daisies and Bachelor's Buttons SOLD

These are from my daughter's cutting garden.  I like how loose I managed to leave the flowers - most of the flowers are just suggested except for the center daisy which is painted fully.  I also like the colors; blue and white are so summery.
10" x 10" oil on panel

Daisies in a Row

More of the daisies- they're growing too fast to paint them all but I keep trying.  I like the lineup of vases; I enjoy the stripe of light tabletop connecting all the glass jars 

Green Coffeepot and Blue Cups SOLD

I really liked the green coffeepot (or teapot) so I painted it again, and this time I put just about every color into the mix.  I like the reflections and the strong top lighting which gives such interesting shadows. 

Green Coffeepot on Green

Probably a coffeepot, but since there are teabags in the painting, I suppose it could be a teapot.  This was a thrift store find so there was no label.  

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.

Orange Slices, Silver Bowl on Pink SOLD

This is another  of the 10" x 10" paintings that I worked on for the Vashon Allied Arts Fundraiser Auction.  I painted several so that I would have lots to choose from.  I really like the orange slices and pink table reflected in the silver bowl. It feels like you could reach in and touch that silver bowl and it would be hard and shiny.  But it's just paint!