Spot light on fruits of the season

I enjoyed a timed painting exercise yesterday using two freshly sliced blood oranges from none other than my neighborhood NEW SEASONS of course. Their produce is so juicy good and weekends often have seasonal fruit tastings prepared for you as you walk into the store.

Frequent flyer/buyers like myself have gotten to know when Brittany is making one of her gorgeous displays of sliced and diced fruits to entice the senses. Even though I didn't need these warm colors to chase away the Portland gray, one slice into this blood orange inspired me to go for it! If I hadn't taste-tested these delectable creatures they may never have come home with me to be immortalized. Instead they inspired their immediate portraits and became a treat to share before dinner. Using a small canvas and my favorite paint colors I set a timer to see what I could accomplish during my "happy hour"! I hope you enjoy this visual display but I must say they were as much fun to eat. Perfectly sweet and juicy even when they had been warmed a bit from my studio spot light! I have to stop getting side tracked by these fruits of the season when it is looking and feeling like plein air painting season is in the air. So many temptations calling to artists armed with wet paints and brushes....Spring is finally here!

nostalgic moments

This past weekend was a health scare for someone very important to me and I began reflecting on some special shared moments together. In the fall of 2008 I was very lucky to be able to travel to Italy for painting and for a vacation with my husband. There were some magnificent landscapes in our favorite area of Tuscany that are so memorable but also city scenes that were so different from our day to day lives in the states. This rich variety of colors, textures, foreign sights and sounds, transported us into a dream world that seemed surreal. The cafe scene that I chose to share here was an incredible splash of color as we rounded a turn in the maze of streets in Venice. My camera did not do it justice but it is a vivid memory for me that I wanted to capture on canvas. Not just because of the autumn colors of the arbor foliage or the light and shadow that usually draws me into a scene, but more so the quiet early morning conversations among the locals who gathered there. Before the bustling crowds hit the piazza a simple cappuccino was sipped slowly and quietly; shared with a friend or loved one. I felt like we had come upon a private moment yet this was a public place which revolved around their daily routine so different from the one we left behind. I realized these were the moments cherished by my husband; the peaceful simplicity that we hope to find in our mornings when we reach retirement "someday". I recognized how precious this trip was for him as a vision for simply 'being' rather than always working, moving, doing. I have been able to find that in my second career as an artist and painter. He finds it in these quiet moments during our time away that he can dream about experiencing again when he leaves his first career behind. I look forward to that time for him too. This painting became a commission piece for friends of ours who frequently mention how much they love it and how it fits into their home and lifestyle. I not only agree but know as fellow travelers they have discovered this same value of quiet moments that enrich our lives and become dreams and nostalgic moments.

Lost art work

Since this is February and "heart month" I perused my inventory of "red"paintings. I didn't realize how many I actually had. This one jumped out at me more because of the story behind it. It was memorable for many reasons but mainly because it disappeared. It vanished along with another similar piece I had painted the same day. They were going to be given to my two children since I managed to paint each of them during a painting trip. I painted each while talking to my children on my cell phone. Imagine that. I was explaining to them what I was doing and that I was thinking of them and hoping this would be a great memory for them one day. I recall placing both paintings in a wet painting carrier to dry. It was a homemade carrier made out of foam board. They and the carrier have never been seen since. I had visions of the carrier flying out of my van into the vast wilderness around Sun River, OR. (I also felt guilty that if that had happened it would be bad for the environment.) Maybe if I had signed them it could be considered a great promo stunt! Is there a lost and found site on the web? Has anyone else had an experience like this?