Tools of the Trade

Some of my painting paraphernalia standing in for today's still life -

Waving Ducks

These ceramic ducks are actually salt and pepper shakers. They are so kitschy cute that I could not resist to paint them. They are a hand-me-down from my husband's grandmother and therefore kinda special.

Plums vs. Pepper

I have had not much time to paint recently - reality gets into my way constantly - urgh! Feeling a little rusty I went back to still life for a warm up or as some people call it back to the comfort zone. The complementary colors are creating some nice action here - I plan to make more time to paint...

Mango for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner!

It's that time of year again. Mangoes everywhere in South Florida. After posing for this painting they were cut up to be frozen for those "mangoless" months to come :). I am talking here in the name of the mango lovers group, enjoying many types, some as tender, fiberless and aromatic as ripe peaches and just incredible - they will never last in the commercial trade and can therefore only be enjoyed on location from private back yards. Some unlucky people are allergic to anything mango. Touching one and getting the resin-like substance from the stem on their hands makes them blow/swell up like a ballon - poor souls. I heard that mangoes are a distant relative to poison ivy - now that figures....

Orange on Blue

This is an example of a bad photo that does not give the real impression of the original painting - too much contrast that causes the slices to look as if they have a white frame around them, all subtle greys and light blues are lost. Unfortunately this has to fill in for today as other things are calling me away from what I like to do most which is JUST PAINT!! .... hoping to sneak in a painting very soon...

Ready to Scramble!

...and today for breakfast ... a gift from our own chickens!

Bagel Stack

One American tradition is bagels with cream cheese for breakfast. As I am more a cereal for breakfast person, I took the opportunity to paint this rather rare site when a friend came over with a bag full of different flavored ones... look at the delicious brown tones... and they tasted great!

Water Hyacinth

Considered an invasive plant on lakes here in Florida, the hyacinth made a nice subject for this flower painting. It was fun to paint those thick, waxy leaves.

Honeybell's Limbo Dance

I couldn't resist to compose something with this cool glass bottle. I mainly focused on the color of the Honeybell oranges bouncing around everywhere. IMO Honeybells deserve their name because they are super delicious. They have a very short season around January and February and are not commonly available. Caribbean Limbo music is playing while they wiggling themselves through the tight spot under the bottle .... almost made it!

Papaya Bottle

Back to the old classic still life format... papaya or squash, you decide.... just look at the reflections in the deep green of the bottle that is what interested me the most.

Light up!

Not my usual fruits and vegetables...

Cleaning Day

I have to admit, I do not like cleaning. I'd rather paint of course.... I thought maybe it is more fun to paint the cleaning tools instead of going with them for the BIG SCRUB ;o)

Papaya Slice

The complimentary color combination works very well here. After being a great subject for a still life, this papaya made for a delicious salat...

Glove & Ball

It has been a while ...this baseball theme has been my latest still life. I am also working on some plein-air-landscape paintings that are large format and need to travel to the on-site location a few more times to get finished. I hope I can post them soon.

Story Telling

This is my entry for this week's challenge on the DAILYPAINTWORKS.COM website. I did not think that painting shoes can be so exciting and interesting. These are my old boots that I have not worn for a while. I tried to bring out the rugged character of them. They have been through a lot and would tell you about it if they only could .....

Dragonfruit

This delicious cactus fruit creates a nice center of interest in this painting. I love those reflections in the jars -

Coco Frio 2

This is another take on the coconuts. Now I feel I can check them off my list for a while. I find that green coconuts have quite an appeal and offer a great opportunity for color reflection. The scars from scraping on the palm tree make it more interesting.

Both coco paintings are for sale separate or together at a discount. Again, if interested - e-mail me!!

Coco Frio 1

... my fascination with fresh coconuts continues and resulted in this bigger painting... I am happy with  how it turned out...whatcha think? This one is up for sale too. E-mail me if you are interested -

10-minute-Challenge

This is the result of a timed painting exercise through DAILYPAINTWORKS.COM. Each panel was divided in 4 and the timer was set on 10 minutes for each small painting. The challenge was to work quickly and leaving out unnecessary details. I like the "Less is More" in this way of painting -

Two coconuts 2

Here is a variation of the "Two coconut" theme. I worked with the rough surface of the masonite board's backside. I like the rugged look, though, I find it more difficult to work with it as I am more used to the regular canvas surface. Which one do you like better?