Three Eggplant, One in the Cup

One last painting of the eggplant from Uwajimaya's grocery store. I like the luscious colors of the eggplant.  And the metal cup feels very shiny.  I really like this one.   On my ETSY store

Three Eggplant Silver Bowl

These dark red-purple eggplants are elegant next to this shiny Revere-style silver bowl.  I like the dark lavender reflections on the bottoms of the eggplant.  Painted from small eggplants I bought at Uwajimaya's grocery in Seattle.  On my ETSY store

Two Eggplant Silver Cup SOLD

This still life was the result of a shopping trip to Uwajimaya grocery in Seattle.  There they have the most amazing variety of produce, including these beautiful little round eggplant.  The stems are a soft fuzzy yellow green which is a delicious color to paint.  I like the reflections in the tabletop. 

Purple Sunset Ferry SOLD

I've been doing lots of ferry paintings lately and I get bored with painting them all blue sky and green hills, so I I go out of my way to find different colors.  What can I say? it's purple and gold.  This one is in my Etsy store: http://gretchenhancock.etsy.com

Sunset Creek

I enjoy painting late afternoon and twilight.  The colors are harmonious and the whole scene is shifted to warm oranges and reds.  This is a view of a creek near the Nisqually Wildlife refuge. Painted from photos I took on location. 

Glass Jar and Crocuses

We have been having warm weather while the rest of the country is inundated in blizzards and snow.  Here the crocuses are blooming.  My daughter planted lots of bulbs from tiny species flowers to these giant hybrids.  I put a shield above the still life to throw a shadow across the background.  The lights hit the front of the vase and the tops of the petals and make interesting shadows on the tabletop.
See on my Etsy store

Silver Cup Green Grapes on Gold and Purple

I like the translucence of green grapes, they can be such fun to paint.  And I love the brown shadow in between the tabletop and the wall.  What is that color?  It just works.
On my Etsy store

Glass Bowl of Tangerines on Pink

Another bowl of tangerines or clementines, this time with the light on the side and a lovely purple shadow on a pink tabletop.
On my Etsy Store

Yellow Green Grapes on Teal with Purple

I put these yellow green grapes on a piece of glass on top of a piece of greenish paper on my tabletop.  This gave me interesting reflections as well as dark shadows.  I used a cardboard shield to throw a dark shadow across the back of my still life.  And I trimmed the cluster of grapes to make the shape of the cluster more interesting.  And then I ate the trimmed grapes. 
On my Etsy Store

Green Grapes, Glass Reflections on Lavender

When I paint grapes, I do a bit of trimming with a pair of scissors in the clusters of grapes so that I have "holes" to paint.  These empty spaces add interest and give the viewer a path into the middle of the action.  I put a piece of clear glass on top a piece of lavender paper for the tabletop.  And I used a cardboard shield with my lamp to throw a dark shadow across the back of the set up.
 On my ETSY store

Artichoke on Plum and Brown

Another one of Joe's artichokes.  I like the cool lavenders in the shadows, and the warm yellow greens where the light shines through the leaves. 

Red Scallions

We are growing red cipollini onions in the garden.   I  picked this bunch before they got large because I thought they'd be exciting to paint.  I like the bright red plum color. 

Silver Bowl and Cipollini

My daughter brought me these delightful little purple cipollini onions.  Not only colorful, these onions are quite hardy and have lasted for several weeks in my studio. A boon for a slow painter who makes plans to paint but doesn't always get things done.   I like the reflection in the silver bowl.

Four Eggplants Green Polkadots

More paintings of baby eggplants.  I like how the purples and yellow greens complement each other.  Even though I have lots of color in this painting, I did limit the hues; the dots were originally blue but I made them a purple green instead.  The spot of gray in the corner adds a calm note. It was made by mixing the yellow green and purple together-very harmonious.

Silver Bowl and Eggplant on Dark Gold

The background color is actually raw umber, but most people wouldn't recognize it, so dark gold is a better description.    I like the intense top light and the interesting reflection in the bowl. 

Single Pomegranate

I haven't eaten one of these since I was ten,  so it was time to try one.  I split one open, but the seeds were hard and not as juicy and gelatinous as I'd expected.  Was it underripe? or stored too long and dried up?
I like the luscious colors and the lost and found edges.

Three Persimmons and Vase

Three persimmons and the spoon to eat them with.  I like the leaves on the persimmons and the saturated colors of orange and purple.  But I wish I didn't have the end of the spoon pointing out of the painting at the corner of the canvas.  A candidate for my "fix-it" pile. 

Persimmons and Vase 6x8

The persimmons were still good so I rearranged the still life on a different format of canvas: 6x8 instead of 6x6.  I really like the reflected color under the lip of the vase.  It's raw sienna and a little purple - a very dull color but the reflection wouldn't work without it. 

Two Persimmons Purple Vase

I really enjoy the saturated colors of these orange persimmons and the purple vase.    I also like how most of the space is dark, with just a small amount of light value and highlights.