Marguerite Daisies

Daisies in a white glass vase, 16" by 20", March 2008

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Just when I thought I might never find them again, I spotted some Marguerite daisies at my local grocery store. With almost no time before I'm on the road to Atlanta, I decided I had to hammer down a small study of them before leaving. This doesn't actually fall under the category of A Very Small Painting, but it sure is a nice little study.

King Oscar Flat Anchovies

King Oscar Flat Anchovies,

5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, San Jose, California

And today I carved out a small study of a can of King Oscar Flat Anchovies, the secret ingredient in my mother's salad dressing. Oops, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that, I guess it's not really a secret any more, is it? Well, as long as everyone keeps this secret to themselves, it should be ok.

A Tomato

A Tomato, 5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, Raleigh, North Carolina

Of course I had to paint a tomato, what salad would be complete without a fresh and juicy vine-ripened tomato? I'm surprised to see how many colors other than red I was able to find.

A Lemon

A Lemon, 5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, Bristol, Tennessee

To continue my salad series, today I carved out a small study of a single lemon. If anyone is taking notes, you could be putting together the recipe for my mother's amazing salad dressing from this current series of paintings. Some ingredients and processes can't really be captured as still-lifes, so I might have to be creative for once.

Thanks to a heads-up from the inimatable Richard Harrington, the "fresh wet painting in your email inbox" is now working and fully functional. Thank you again, Richard. And for some tragic reason, there are pitifully few of his paintings on his Blogspot page, so for now you'll have to visit the Richard C. Harrington Website to see what amazing and brilliant work he does. Someday I want to be just like him, except taller.

A Green Pepper

A Green Pepper, 5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, West Chester, Pennsylvania

I continued on my mixed salad series with a study of a green pepper. I still have much to learn about green.

An Onion

An Onion, 5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, West Chester, Pennsylvania

Today I carved out a small study of an onion. It seems like I'm putting a salad together.

A Bulb of Garlic

A Bulb of Garlic, 5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, Bristol, Tennessee

Today I carved out a study of a bulb of garlic. A bulb of garlic, the most commonly used part of the plant, is divided into numerous fleshy sections called cloves. This was a fun challenge, working with some different surface qualities.

One Yellow Apple

One Yellow Apple, 5" by 7", oil on linen board, March 2008

Private collection, Potomac, Maryland

With the colors left over from today's landscape study, I did a dark little rendering of a single yellow apple. A few years ago I would explore how much darkness and color really was in my arrangements, and after working with muted and dark colors all day I decided to see how dark things could really be. It's amazing, it just never ends.

A Coffee Cup and Saucer

A Coffee Cup and Saucer, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, London, UK

Today was amazingly dark and dismal. Just to stay busy I decided to carve out a small study of the same coffee cup and saucer I've been using for years and years and years.

A Bunch of Grapes

A Bunch of Grapes, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, London, UK

I carved out a small study of a bunch of red grapes. This is a good exercise in observation, as nothing about it makes sense until it's finished.

Golden Delicious and Granny Smith

Golden Delicious and Granny Smith Apples,

oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Orlando, Florida

Today I decided to carve out a small study of a golden delicious apple and a granny smith apple.

Daisies

Daisies in a blue glass vase, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Yardley, Pennsylvania

Today I decided to revisit daisies, from so many years ago. I even found the same blue glass vase that I used for some of my very first floral studies.

Beer Bottle

Yeungling Beer Bottle, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, West Chester, Pennsylvania

Rather than risk ruining a beer that I might actually drink, I carved out a small study of a bottle of room temperature Yeungling beer.

Landscape

Landscape, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Oakland, California

I then dragged a scaled down version of my painting studio out onto the porch to try my hand at a small view of yard. I suppose this would be called a landscape.

An Apple and A Pear

An Apple and a Pear, oil on linen board, 11" by 14", March 2008

Private collection, Kansas City, MO

Today I realized that my bartlett pears had turned almost the exact same color as my golden delicious apples, so I decided to carve out a small study of them snuggled together like puppies in the sun.

Tomato Soup

Campbell's soup can, oil on linen board, 8" by 10", March 2008

Private collection, Kansas City, MO

Tomato soup? I have to try everything sooner or later, and it was only a matter of time.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

A Tryptic of Chocolate Easter Eggs, oil on three linen panels, each panel measures 5" by 7",

March 2008, Private collection, Richmond, VA

I finished the series of Lindt chocolate Easter eggs. I'm reminded of how much I don't know when it comes to painting foil. When I was painting the chrome top of the salt shaker, I said "this is how Rembrandt would have done it", but I'm still not sure what he would have done with the crazy synthetic colors of tin foil.

A Mandarin Orange

A Mandarin Orange, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008,

Private collection, Prior Lake, MN

In the final hour of sunlight yesterday I carved out this little study of a peeled mandarin orange. I was surprised to see how vivid and bold some of the colors are as the slice is glowing with luminosity from behind. Today I started working on a little Easter surprise.

Two Pears

Two Bartlett Pears, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Prior Lake, MN

I'm about to start on a small commission, but it will be a day or two before these pears turn the right shades of yellow and red. In the meantime, I carved out a very small study. These little studies are just amazing, sometimes I imagine that I might actually capture the same sense of play and energy in the larger ones. Sometimes I have a pretty good imagination.

Two Apples

Two Granny Smith Apples, oil on linen board, 11" by 14" March 2008

Today I decided to try some different things, while using the same old thing to try them out, if that makes sense. At one point I used a tricky little blending brush before throwing it across the room and getting back to hacking it out with the biggest and rudest brushes that I own.

Lemon and a Salt Shaker

Lemon and a Salt Shaker, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Scotch Plains, NJ

Today I decided to pair a lemon with a salt shaker. It's not that I'm a big fan of tequila, but for some reason they seemed to make a nice set.

Espresso

A Cup of Espresso, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Richmond, VA

Today I carved out a tight little rendering of a cup of espresso. Ah, taste the refreshment!

An Apple and Dog Biscuit

An Apple and a Dog Biscuit, oil on linen board, 5" by 7", March 2008

Private collection, Yardley, PA

I'm not sure what I'm doing, but for some reason a pink dog biscuit looked nice next to a green apple.