52 Weeks 100 Paintings - #59 Hearts

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings - #59 Hearts

8 x 10

Oil on canvasboard

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Happy Valentine's Day!

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #57 Daffodils

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings
#57 Daffodils
11" x 14"
Sold to Pamela Wisneski

One of the things I liked best about living in Minnesota was that onset of spring, when, after a long winter, the green tendrils of the bulbs we had planted the year before would begin to poke through the snow.

Unfortunately, more times than not, this meant that it was May.
One of the many things I love about living in the Pacific Northwest; early-onset Spring.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #54 - Macarons

 

Painting #54 - Macarons
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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Angela told me I had to try a macaron. I thought macarOOn. Coconut? Shaped like a haystack? Okay I guess, but not the sort of thing you go out of your way to recommend. Little did I know. Macarons are little french cookies made with ground almonds with a filling in the middle. Actually, just go to http://www.laduree.fr/en/histoire/macaron. I can't do them justice. Those featured in the painting are pistachio, white chocolate, hazelnut and peppermint, but they come in more flavors than you can imagine. Salted caramel is our personal favorite. If you're in the Vancouver/Portland area, they've got them at Pix Patisserie or Elephants Deli. If you're not in the Vancouver/Portland area and are a fan of perfect little things, Google it. Trust me.

My Still Life Rig

The vast majority of my painting for a long time was plein air, which is to say painted on site. Urban or otherwise, landscapes had become my subject matter of choice. There is an immediacy to painting that way that really appeals to me. The downside to that, though, is the fact that when you want to paint, you have to pack up all of your gear, hope for decent weather, and head out to your painting location. The problem is that, with a full-time day job, a thriving business that I run with Angela which is another full-time job and being a full-time parent, trying to find the time to paint can be a real challenge. I found that I wasn't painting as much as I needed or wanted to. To that end, I decided to switch to still life for awhile. I could paint on a daily basis and still be close to home where I needed and wanted to be. The one downside to painting at home is that the light in my 'studio' aka 'the garage' isn't the greatest. To that end, I came up with a system where I could control the light and set up my subject matter exactly the way I wanted to. If, by 'came up with a system' you mean 'stole from Carol Marine, who is my new favorite artist and inspiration as a daily painter and can be found at http://carolmarine.blogspot.com '.
Here, then, is the place where all the magic comes from, and how it came to be.

The materials

The Boy, added for scale

Bottom and backing panel added

 

 

 

The Final Setup

So there you have it. Thanks again, for all of you that have signed up for my mailing list and have been along for the ride with 52 Weeks 100 Paintings. I'll be picking back up with painting #54 when I get done with all of my painting commissions and other assorted holiday projects.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #50 Sprinkles

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings 

#50 - Sprinkles
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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Number 50. Wow! Halfway there. Time flies. It's been an adventure, and I thank all of you for being here for it. Thanks to you, thanks to Stephanie at Treat for the amazing cupcakes, and thanks most of all to Angela, for all the love and support and for helping me carve out the time from our already crazy schedule to do this in the first place. I look forward to the next 50, and I'm glad y'all are along for the ride. Thanks again for your support! Cheers!

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #49 - Fall Color

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings
#49 - Fall Color
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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52 Weeks 100 Paintings #48 - Cow Creamer

52 Weeks 100 Paintings
#48 - Cow Creamer
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Panel
$48.00 (Plus 5.00 shipping unless within deliverable distance)

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #47 - Tomatoes

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings
#47 - Tomatoes
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
Sold to Laura Flores

 Sometimes when you don't know what to paint, something just falls in your lap. In this case, it was a bunch of Roma Tomatoes from the backyard garden of Bobbi, Molly's piano teacher. Thanks, Bobbi.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #46 Pomegranates

 

Painting #46 - Pomegranates 

7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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Somehow, over the course of my life, I missed out on pomegranates. I don't

know if it had to do with growing up in the Midwest or always sticking to the more conventional WASP-y fruits- you know, apples, bananas, pears, grapes, etc., but pomegranates were always something I associated more with a Gaugin painting or smooth jazz than something you would actually buy at a grocery store, take home, and consume. Curiosity got the best of me the other day, though. I bought two, not so much to eat, but just because they were so beautiful and red and round and I thought they would make a nice painting. I cut one in half. After watching Angela spoon up some of the seeds, I did the same. I was not prepared for the explosion of flavor. To be honest, I felt a bit like one of the cavemen in 2001 - A Space Odyssey, hooting and grunting in wonder and glee and my newfound, exotic discovery. Of course, the fact that this wonder was a reaction to something that to most people is just another piece of produce made me feel even more Neanderthal. Anyway, it was a nice discovery, and one found better late than never. Embarking on this painting series has been really interesting to me. I've made a lot of little discoveries along the way, everything from different ways of seeing light and mixing color to, well, pomegranate seeds. Thanks to all of you for coming along for the ride.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #45 - Candy Corn (and Pumpkin)

52 Weeks 100 Paintings 

#45 - Candy Corn (and Pumpkin) 

7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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'Tis the season. White. Orange. Yellow. White. Orange. Yellow. Always in that order. Like biting the ears off a chocolate bunny, I've been doing it the exact same way for over 40 years.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #43 - Sunflowers II

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings
#43 - Sunflowers II
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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52 Weeks 100 Paintings #42 - Pears 5" x 7"

52 Weeks 100 Paintings

#42 - Pears 5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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52 Weeks 100 Paintings #41 Salt Shaker

 

Painting #41
Salt Shaker 5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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Design is one of those things that you tend not to notice unless it's bad. Which is unfortunate, because there are lots of examples of really nice design that just sit there unnoticed because they just sit there doing what they're supposed to do and looking like they're supposed to look. This salt shaker is a perfect example. I've been picking one up exactly like it for over 40 years now, and until recently, I never really looked at it. That's one of the things I really like about this painting series. I'm starting to look more closely at a lot of things that have always just kind of been there. And I'm finding that there are a lot of really cool things all around me, if I only take a second to enjoy and appreciate them.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #40 - Beets

52 Weeks 100 Paintings 

#40 - Beets
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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52 Weeks 100 Paintings #39 Miss Piggy Pez

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings

#39 - Miss Piggy Pez

5" x 7"

Oil on canvas panel

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52 Weeks 100 Paintings #38 - Zinnias

 

Painting #38 - Zinnias
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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Our first house together after we got married had a tiered garden in the back. We filled it with cosmos, nastirtium and zinnias along with other flowers and the occasional vegetable. The zinnias were the brightest and most colorful and very quickly became my favorite. They still remind me of those early, giddy days of wedded bliss. Of course, now the days are not-so-early, but I'm still giddy and it's still bliss. So I got that going for me.


Which is nice.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #37-Apsco Giant 6 Hole Pencil Sharpener

 

Painting #37
Apsco Giant 6 Hole Pencil Sharpener
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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 New pencil sharpeners don't do it for me. No number of double AA batteries can provide the proper amount of power necessary for me to get the point I need. That's where the Apsco Giant 6 Hole Pencil Sharpener comes in. 6 holes to accommodate everything from golf pencils to pastel pencils to those giant starter pencils we had in kindergarten. Packed full of gears and blades working in perfect harmony to make short work of anything stupid enough to makes its way into one of its holes.

It weighs about 15 pounds. It could be used as a murderweapon in the game of Clue. And for some reason,it is a device that makes me very happy.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #36 Campbell's Soup l

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings

Painting #36
Campbell's Soup I 

5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Panel
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Life imitates art. Imitates life. Imitates art. Campbell's just came out with 4 different cans
of tomato soup based on Andy Warhol'sscreenprints of Campbell's Tomato Soup.
Which I am now painting. One down. Three to go.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #35 - nutella

 

Painting #35 - nutella
8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Board
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I'm not sure how I made it 40+ years without heeding the
siren call of nutella. Trust me. I'm making up for it now.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #34 - Crayons

Painting #34 - Crayons
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Board
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Next week I'll have a 7th grader and a 4th grader. Yeesh. Meanwhile, the cavalcade of school supplies continues.