Original Oil Painting Worry Bird

Worry Bird

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10" x 10"

Painted on gessobord.

This is a painting of a ceramic worry bird. I have heard of worry stones that people would rub with their thumbs when they are worrying about something.  Kind of like rubbing your worries away. Well, my brother gave me this worry stone bird that he bought at a craft fair. I am lucky that I have not used it much for worrying but I did enjoy painting it. Now I am waiting for that magic lantern with the genie inside. I guessing he is keeping that one for himself.  

Original Oil Painting April Bouquet

April Bouquet

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10" x 10"

Painted on gessobord.

I love the variety of shapes in these flowers. The tiny little white flowers with their dabs of color, the daisies with their strokes of color and the pink flowers with their fractured color. I made a lot of premix color for the pinks. Taking a petal at a time painting each color I saw. It drove me a little crazy with all those bright colors but I do love color! At first I thought they were a little to shocking but the colors grew on me. Probably  because we had so may grey days lately, the bright colors give me hope that brighter days are ahead. When I posted this the sun was out, yeah! Bring on the sun!!!

Original Oil Painting Sewing Notions

Sewing Notions

10" x 10"

Painted on gessobord.

Why the clothes pin? Well it just happen to be in the sewing box when I was looking for objects to paint. I liked the wood and metal straight lines which helped the composition since my goal was to create a balanced design with curved and straight lines. The little mouse was made by my mother decades ago and added a little whimsical notion to the whole design.  

Original Oil Painting Crocus Flowers

Crocus Flowers

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10" x 10"

Painted on gessobord.

I saw some crocus flowers growing right in the grass yesterday and I knew what my next painting would be. When I have trouble thinking of what to paint I usually try doing something else and ideas just come. I am always thing of art even subconsciously so that is no surprise. But to be able to act on it with out worry about making dinner, house work etc. is.

In this painting I tried to make the colors pop out using a blue discord color. There was a blue flower any way so instead of changing it to gold, I went with it. I added hints of blue to the grass like leaves that were pushing through the flowers to carry the discord through out the painting. In the background I painted broken pieces of  warm grey purples to compliment the yellow. 

The composition of the painting  looks like the crocus flowers are fighting through each other to get to the sunlight. I can not blame them. Sunlight is something we treasure in Wisconsin winters.

Original Oil Painting Daffodils and Strawberries

Daffodils and Strawberries

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12" x 12"

Painted on gessobord.

My daffodils are getting a little old but I managed to paint one more still life. I added a vintage sugar server I found at Goodwill. I love how the tin top reflects the daffodils. The two glass containers are interesting: one with vertical lines and the other smooth. The star of the show is the center daffodil. It took quite awhile to get it just right. The hardest part was the shadow the objects cast and adding the hint of violet to the background wall to contrast and compliment the yellow. Even thou the wall and table are similar the hint of violet and the red strawberries make everything pop!

Original Oil Painting Grandma

Grandma

11" x 14"

Painted on stretch linen. 

Commission Portrait 

Original Oil Painting Daffodils

Daffodils

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12" x 12"

Painted on gessobord.

 When I think of Easter, I think of eggs, bunnies, jelly beans and spring flowers. Here is a painting I made using a couple of my Easter ideas: daffodils and eggs.

 I always found daffodils a challenge to paint. I found that if you do not get the right warm hue, or do not keep your colors clean they look terrible. It just takes patience. Another challenge was the ceramic pot. I love the shinny glaze and how it reflects the objects surrounding it. Tricky to do these reflections because of the texture of the thrown pot and the dark glaze. Again just with the flowers I just took my time and worked it until I was satisfied, working from the darkest colors to the lightness.

Happy Easter Everyone