(60) Snowflakes
6 x 6, oil
I was drawn by the juxtaposition of the warmth of the red globe against the cool of the background.
"Do not be frivolous with the gift of a day. Right now is all you have, yesterday is history"...Robert Genn

(59) Apple of My Eye
6 x 6, oil
I tried to squint and really focus on the subtle value changes with this one. My challenge was to maintain the shadow side of the apples, without allowing the bright colors/light reflecting up from the tablecloth to appear too light--challenging but fun...which brings me to another point. I am stunned by how many artists write about their frustrations and how difficult, agonizing, exhausting, exasperating and utterly painful the painting process is; and, (I'm going out on a limb here) but I'm thinking... really? If you don't love it and it doesn't bring you joy, then I don't get it. If it were all easy, wouldn't it be boring? Do I find it challenging? You bet, but isn't that the fun, the enticement, the joy and the meaning...am I alone in this? Or, am I hopelessly "missing" something? I have to say that even my "worst day" of painting is a grand day indeed.
"All the sorrows, all the bitterness, all the sadnesses; I forget them and ignore them in the joy of working"...Camille Pisarro

(58) 1899
private collection
6 x 8, oil
I apologize for the glare in the photo. It is increasingly more difficult to finish the painting and photograph it before the light changes and it becomes too dark. Or perhaps I'm just getting slower. In any event, I discovered these limited-edition bottles and couldn't resist painting them. The box says the shapes are replicas of those made by Coca Cola in 1899; a time when, as my son so astutely pointed out, the bottlers added a "special ingredient" to the-drink-that-refreshes: cocaine. Where did you think coke got it's name?
"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a passing cloud, from a spider's web"...Pablo Picasso (or perhaps from bottles with interesting shapes and colors)

(57) Better Half
6 x 8, oil
Not as loosely rendered as yesterday's...Good or bad, I find I vacillate between the two styles.
"Learn from your dreams what you lack"...W.H.Auden

(56) Pears, sans Partridge
6 x 6, oil
I love everything about pears: the color, shape, and human-like qualities, the way they can be posed and arranged. My goal with these pears (who appear to be in a huddle) was to avoid overworking the brushstrokes.
Thomas Buechner said it best "I like pears. In spite of their simple geometry, cone on sphere, they seem rather human. Hard or soft, they bruise easily."

(55) Candy "Cam"
6 x 6, oil
private collection
"I dream of painting, and then I paint my dream"...Van Gogh

(54) Pink Roses
6 x 6, oil
Hey, don't forget to take time to... oh, you know already. Same limited palette here. This was fun.
"It is not the language of the painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures"...Van Gogh

(53) Lily of the World
6 x 6, oil
I love the name of this plant. We have state flowers, why not a flower representing the world? It is also very fragrant and lovely, but tougher than I imagined it would be to paint. I "pushed and pulled" paint around for quite some time with this one.
"The things that interest me most about painting are whatever is difficult or unexplored, rather than what I can already do. Following that path results in failures once in a while, but it's much more rewarding when I make a breakthrough'"...Quang Ho

(52) Christmas Cactus
6 x 8, oil
I used the same limited palette as yesterday and again focused on looser strokes.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"...Eleanor Roosevelt

(51) Red Poinsettia
6 x 6, oil
Okay, so my titles aren't all that grand and original...(sorry) but it is what it is. This is another attempt at looser brushstrokes. For the last two paintings I have experimented using a limited palette of two reds, blues and yellows, plus white for a total of 7 colors (lemon yellow, cad yellow, quinacrodone red, cad red lt, ultra blue, thalo blue, and titanium white).
"Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential"...Winston Churchill

(50) Pink Poinsettia
6 x 8, oil
My goal for this painting was to concentrate on looser brushstrokes.
A dear friend once gave me Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way. One of the "exercises" is something the author referred to as an "artist's date." The concept is that you "pencil in" time for yourself - an activity designed to offer a refreshing break from the norm, and an opportunity to "fill the well" of creativity. Well, 10 years later, my favorite artist's date is to visit a local bookstore, choose a stack of children's books and, peppermint mocha in hand, settle into a big comfy chair to peruse the latest offerings. I am interested in discovering the stories within, but (you guessed it), I am also tuned into the illustrations. There are many delightful offerings, but two outstanding discoveries over the years, include the timeless classic Gift of the Magi by O Henry, beautifully illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger; and a book my son introduced to me: Poetry for Young People,W.B.Yeats; Glenn Harrington, illustrator.
During this busy time of year, consider taking some time to "pencil YOURSELF in."

(49) Garland
6 x 6, oil
private collection
The juxtaposition of the reflective garland next to the matte-finish ornament grabbed my attention. I enjoyed painting them, but I should have chosen a more interesting composition.
"Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them"...H. D. Thoreau

(48) Pink 'n Green
6 x 6, oil
Although these are not considered traditional holiday colors, I find I am drawn to them this week--could it be because they are soothing and calming?
"Men cannot see their reflection in running water, only in still water"...Chuang Tzu (women too, Tzu)

(47) All Wrapped Up
6 x 8, oil
The box and the bow were both iridescent, not sure you can see that. An artist who paints lovely bows is Karen Appleton.
"Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz".... Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

(46) Gingerbread Ornament
6 x 6, oil
This is an ornament made of felt, that my mom sewed and embellished with embroidery ( a favorite of mine).
As I painted this, I realized that I am close to posting 50 paintings, and so, I was pondering what I have learned so far, and (drum roll, please) the biggest lesson is that it is easier to let go. Let go, as in, give it your best shot, put down the truth of what you know TODAY, and walk away....detach from the outcome...Ok that is easy for most (maybe too easy for some), but once I take that photo, I am forced to stop tweaking and move on...no choice, the photo writes it in stone.
I know artists who would never consider going back into their work because once you walk away, the chi is gone. The thinking is that you can't correct something because you can't begin at the place where you left off (mentally, emotionally, spiritually), simply because you can't retrieve yesterday--today. Then, there are artists who have things hanging on the walls for years and think nothing of taking them down and making changes once something new is learned. I have always felt that if it isn't exactly as I want it to be, it is never finished, never "good enough"...ouch, I feel like I need to lie down on a sofa and write somebody a check having said that, but, my point is (and there is a point) that the blog is a good thing for reasons I had never even considered. I had hoped to learn about edges, color, value, etc, but I have learned to detach from the outcome because it is the "process" that counts--that zen moment of showing up at the easel every day that I love about it...are you asleep yet? so sorry.
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song"...Maya Angelou

(45) Seeing Dots
6 x 8, oil
private collection
Gee, am I a glutton for punishment or what?...A glass ornament with dots in the foreground and in the distance, with light bouncing into the shadow, AND circular lines of color thrown in for good measure. What was I thinking? Oh, who am I kidding... I loved every single minute of it, but, the real question is, does it read as glass? I can no longer tell--I'm seeing dots.
"Don't wait for inspiration. It comes when one is working"...Henri Matisse

(44) Golden
6 x 6, oil
private collection
This ornament has a matte finish, different from the previous ones, so I wanted to try something new today.
"The lagoon of inspiration may be a material place or it may be a spiritual state of man...the inspiration comes with a spirit of creativity. The creativity comes when is present the moment of investigation and new decisions to investigate"...Yaroslaw Rozputnyak

(43) Playin' the Blues (and greens)
6 x 6, oil
private collection
Whew, if this were any more fun, I'd swear it was illegal.
"Muses work all day long and then at night get together and dance"...Edgar Degas

(42) Mini-Me
6 x 6, oil
private collection
This was fun--can you tell?
"When you go out to paint, try to forget what object you have before you--a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Merely think, here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow; and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it emerges as your own naive impression of the scene before you"...Claude Monet

(41) Pretty in Pink
6 x 8, oil
private collection
My parents gave this piggy bank to me when I was four years old--it is very old and fragile, and evokes favorite memories of childhood--and did I mention it was tons of fun to paint?
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up"...Picasso