Lemons on Turquoise - SOLD at the Spring Art Tour

It's time for the Spring Art Tour.   I like the saturated colors and shiny reflections in this one.  The turquoise and yellow dominate, but area of lavender-blue in the background keeps it from feeling like just a one-note song.  On display at Dockton Pottery 25913 99th Ave SW in Dockton just opposite the old Dockton Store - May 4 & 5 and 11 & 12 from 10 to 5.

Silver Bowl with Limes

Limes are tropical and summery even in the midst of power outages and wet fall storms.  These are painted from a still life I set up in my studio.  I used a piece of cardboard to cast a shadow over part of the bowl and put the background in deep shadow.  This painting has a very limited color palette mostly shades of green, blue green, and yellow green, with just touches of orange and brown for contrast. 

Mini Daffodils and Two Vases SOLD

Both miniature daffodils and regular daffodils fill these two square glass jars.  We planted hundreds of bulbs last fall and surprises are popping up all over the yard.  I like the combination of yellow and gray and even put some yellow into the gray background  to make it all warm and harmonious.  I also like how the big piece of gray in the background follows through the foreground shadows and unifies the whole piece.  There are lots of light speckles but enough solid gray to keep it from being totally jumpy. 

Opening Daffodils

Spring has been early and this is the last of the field daffodils from the supermarket, though we still have many other varieties in our yard.  I can't resist these, they are so inexpensive and such a glorious riot of yellow.  I painted this with a cool dark gray background, but when it was done I added yellow ochre to the still wet gray to warm it up and make it all more harmonious. 

Gold Ferry

A painting of the Vashon-Fauntleroy ferry near sunset when the distant hills dissolve in yellow light​, The sky is light enough to put sparkles on the water and the far side of the ferry is hit with light.15" x 12" oil on panel.

Red Camellia, Round Jar SOLD

This camellia is just fabulous and flamboyant.  The leaves are stiff and shiny and the flowers have such strong contrast between the red petals and the yellow stamens.  Red is a difficult color to paint because it is so intense; to paint a dark red in shadow, the shadow has to be almost black and the light struck areas aren't really pink, they're still red.  It's as though the colors are vibrating in a spectrum that can't be captured by mere paint. 

Yellow Daffodil, Square Glass Jar, on Blue

These were tiny yellow daffodils, multiple flowers on a single stem.  I'm really enjoying seeing all the varieties bloom; we planted so many last fall that we lost track of what was what, and now we've got surprises in white and yellow and orange.  I like the spring colors. 

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.

Daisies - Just Opening

Daisies again - these are just opening and the petals still bend upwards.  I like the glass jar and the way it disappears against the tabletop. 

Square Jar and Daisies

All the daisies are in bloom in the garden, so I must rush to paint them while they last.  I like this the lost and found edges in this bottle.

Silver Bowl Lemons Lavender

Another painting of a bowl of lemons, this time on a lavender tabletop.  I placed the bowl on a piece of glass on top of a sheet of paper.  There are some lovely reflections in the silver bowl.
On my ETSY store.

Silver Bowl Lemons and Blue Wall

A bowl of small lemons in the bright light of my spotlight.  I really like the reddish brown of the shadow as it crosses the tabletop.  On my ETSY store

Daffodil Bouquet on White

A spring bouquet against a white background.  I love the bunches of daffodils in the grocery store.  I bought four bunches (40 flowers) to paint, but when I put them in the vase I found I had to take some out to have some "holes" to make an interesting shape.  Otherwise the bouquet looked like a solid yellow lollipop with a fat green stem. 
On my ETSY store

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

Three Orange Tomatoes

Most of the tomatoes are over, but the cherry tomatoes are still producing.  These orange tomatoes have lovely sharp leaves and saturated color. 

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

Vashon Ferry Terminal

I've been trying to paint ferries in a different setting.  This is the view from the dock of the Vashon-Fauntleroy ferry.  I've included the drawbridge and towers because I like the shadows and lights on the structure. The lighting is very frontal and flat and I think it goes with the squareness of the buildings and towers.  I like how the painting seems light and sunny. 

Yellow Rose Bush

The Father Hugo rose bush was filling the yard with perfume and color.  I reduced the number of individual spots of yellow color and massed the flowers to give it a center and a focus.  This one went through lots of re-paints. 

Bowl of Lemons on Black and Teal SOLD

The yellow color of the lemons harmonizes with the deep green of the background.  I like the reflections in the glass bowl that obscure the lemons and the dark background.  Most of the lights were painted by wiping out.

Lemons in a Glass Bowl

When life gives you lemons, first paint a light-drenched high-key still life painting of the lemons in a clear glass bowl; then make some lemonade to celebrate your efforts.  I like the warm and cool colors of the lemons in light and shade and the lavenderish grays in the bowl and on the tabletop.