Second Day of Painting in Converse

I painted a well-known landmark--a Shell gas station on Route 18, the second day I was in Converse. The home across the street had just been sold and the owner granted permission to set up my easel on their property, which offered a nice shady place to paint.

Impressionism in the Still Life

A small piece forces the artist to condense her thinking and her brush strokes. I love how this turned out.

6" x 8"

oil on panel

Another Painting That Takes Advantage of Complementary Colors

My former boss gave me this vase and it is truly a work of art. I have always wanted to paint it. I love the color, the shape---everything about it. There are some silvery dots arranged symmetrically all around the piece and I left those out. I am not saying I will never paint the vase with all its beautiful and subtle variations but it wouldn't work for this painting because there are too many other things going on.

I pulled out something else that has been lying around on my shelf waiting to be painted for quite awhile: a small math primer from the 1800's. It's a book that has been well-used, from a time when books were harder to come by and were valued a bit more than they are now. A stopwatch, some grapes and voila--it was ready.

I've intentionally left the pocket watch suggested. I want it to be a bit puzzling and stop the eye as you try to figure out what it is. I'm learning that less is sometimes more when it comes to this style of painting. If everything is painted with the exact same level of accuracy and detail the focal point disappears. Although this piece is not perfect, it is interesting and very impressionistic, and I can see where I need to go in the future.

Old Primer with Vase

11"x 14"" oil on linen

Jonagold Apples

These apples were in the refrigerator and they were not looking too good. I got them out with the intention to bake a pie. I quickly lost my enthusiasm for that project when I saw how pretty they looked in my old woven basket. So I painted them instead. I can still make the pie tomorrow.

It is great when food does double duty.

I posted it on Facebook and sold it the same day so that is even MORE awesome.

11" x 14" Jonagold Apples

SOLD

Chromium-- It's Not Silver But It Sure Looks Like It

The area I live in had a "snow day" yesterday. In case you've been out of school too long to recall what that is I will refresh your memory. A snow day happens when there is so much snow the road crews can't keep up with the salting and plowing. I think we have about 20 inches total now and the wind chill is -44 degrees so the salt is not melting the ice on the roads. We are effectively trapped in our homes until it warms up a bit. I would be trapped here for a week if I didn't have a husband who was willing to go outside and shovel the drifts that are accumulating in our driveway.

I know I could have cleaned the house yesterday but I really felt more like painting, so I set up an eclectic still life using some of my favorite colors. I bought a chromium teapot, sugar bowl and creamer set off eBay a few months ago for the express purpose of using them for my still life set ups. I did a little research before I made my purchase. Whatever did people do before the internet? I'll tell you what they did, because I am old enough to remember! We used our encyclopedias or we went to the library, looked through the card catalogs, wrote down the reference number and found our reference material. Sometimes the reference material was in the library's basement and the librarian would purse her lips and glare at me before she tromped down the stairs thirty minutes later to locate it. Today I type the word into Google and get eight million hits in less than a second. Is it just me, or is the world speeding up exponentially?

Chromium, unlike silver, never needs polishing, and I immediately decided this was the kind of tea service I wanted  (since I couldn't afford silver and didn't really want to polish silver anyway). My research yielded some fascinating facts about chromium: Chromium oxide was used by the Chinese in the Qin dynasty over 2,000 years ago to coat metal weapons found with the Terracotta Army. Chromium was discovered as an element after it came to the attention of the western world in the red crystalline mineral crocoite (lead(II) chromate), discovered in 1761 and initially used as a pigment. Louis Nicolas Vauquelin first isolated chromium metal from this mineral in 1797. Since Vauquelin's first production of metallic chromium, small amounts of native (free) chromium metal have been discovered in rare minerals, but these are not used commercially. Instead, nearly all chromium is commercially extracted from the single commercially viable ore chromite, which is iron chromium oxide (FeCr2O4). Chromite is also now the chief source of chromium for chromium pigments.

Chromium metal and ferrochromium alloy are commercially produced from chromite by silicothermic or aluminothermic reactions, or by roasting and leaching processes. Chromium metal has proven of high value due to its high corrosion resistance and hardness. A major development was the discovery that steel could be made highly resistant to corrosion and discoloration by adding metallic chromium to form stainless steel. This application, along with chrome plating (electroplating with chromium) currently comprise 85% of the commercial use for the element, with applications for chromium compounds forming the remainder. In other words, the chromium steel coating on this tea set requires little care and will look good indefinitely. My kind of appliance.

Another interesting tidbit I gleaned from my searching: Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. Hmmm...I love Chrome- it is my browser of choice unless I am using my iPad.

It's a wonder I ever get anything done. I am unnaturally curious and enjoy researching and learning new things. I could easily spend all day looking for more information about the curious magnetic properties of Chromium.

Back to the painting: I wanted it to be colorful and I wanted a general loose feeling, so I used big brushes for everything. I did not want too many sharp edges. I tried to manufacture a soft and dreamy feel. There is an interesting occurrence in the reflections on the teapot, with a beautiful juxtaposition of color reflecting from the fruit and the teal colored pot. The roundness of the teapot allows it to reflect more objects. The glass bottle in the background adds another dimension  and makes the orange clementines that much brighter. Accidental complementary colors resonate in the orange/aqua and violet/green of the subjects.

I'm happier with this painting than I am with the one I did last week of the silver creamer.  I know it's chromium plated but silver just sounds richer. I think every time we paint something it opens up new possibilities of seeing, no matter how many times we paint it. That's why I keep returning to the same landscapes. They are always a bit different and I know a little more each time I attempt it.

12" x 16" Oil on linen   Silver Teapot No. 1

The figure in a landscaoe

This is a different kind of painting for me: more impressionistic and less detailed. I started it at a 2 day workshop with Mark Gingrich on "impressionism and plein air". Shana posed at the table reading a book. If the setting doesn't work it's my fault because Mark is a pretty easygoing guy and he told me to set his wife up anywhere on the porch.

It was a challenge to keep everything loose. I had to really lose a lot more edges than I am normally comfortable with and think in a non-linear style. The railing posts especially were a challenge. I had too many hard edges and they were detracting from the focal point- the model. A successful workshop IMO because I learned a few things.

The painting itself had to be completed at home because 90 mile winds and a strong thunderstorm interrupted our session. On the plus side, it did cool off a bit after the storm went through and we had a beautiful day to paint the following day.

Pretty Pink Petals, Painted Impressionistically :)

 

9"x12"

oil on linen

These roses were left on my desk last Friday in a plastic root bear bottle that someone cut the top from and used as a makeshift vase. When I got them they had obviously been in water for a few days already. I suppose they were a gift from a thoughtful co-worker who couldn't bear to throw them away while they still looked so pretty. And while they were absolutely gorgeous I could tell they wouldn't last the weekend so I took them home, found a nicer container and painted them that same evening. I knew they would not retain their good looks into Saturday.

So this is a typical alla prima painting painted very quickly and roses are hard to paint for me when I'm NOT in a hurry, so it is what it is. I was forced to keep the flowers loose and impressionistic, and didn't even try to render a lot of detail. It just felt good to paint after a week or more of dealing with my remodeling projects.

This week I am attending a Paintout sponsored by the Waterville Arts Council and the weather sounds like it will be perfect, so I'll get a bit more painting time in. Then it's back to the remodel project, which will require more priming and painting of walls! I expect the work to be complete by the end of June and then perhaps I can take a few breaths and relax awhile.

I have aqua colored glass in the bottom of the clear glass vase and that's what  gives this painting all the wonderful cool reflections, in addition to the fuchsia colored roses.

First Painting of the Year!

This is a small study for a larger painting I intend to do later this year. It is a 12" x 16" painting of my Compassion daughter, Yasmina. It's based on a photo I found on her Facebook page before the page was removed. I changed a few things but r\tried to remain true to the "feel", although my background is much more interesting and impressionistic than the old school in the photo. She lives in Columbia and I have been her sponsor through Compassion International for four years. This 15 year old loves to dance, and is interested in becoming a lawyer one day so she can help her people fight for their rights. She attends a Christian school and loves God. I am a bit worried. Columbia is a scary place to live in and she lives in Cartagena-- it is even scarier in the cities. I have not heard from her in some time and I usually receive a letter every few months or so. The country has been overrun with drug lords for many years. Yasmina lives in a dangerous place at a very dangerous time and I am requesting prayers to keep her safe from harm.

12" x 16"

Yasmina Pinzon