Apricots On Blue

I like to play with complementary colors in still life pictures. This one is a bit bold, however, seems to vibrate so nicely. Apricots are one of my faves.

Thryallis and Crepe Myrtle

A happy and sparkling flower still life to celebrate 4th of July, the U.S. Independence Day. Thryallis and Crepe Myrtle are bushes in full bloom right now in Florida.

Path Leading Out Of The Forest

Despite steamy humidity and relentless mosquitos I was able to finish this in the nearby park. I love the different color tones on the sandy path. The idea was to give the mood of the shady coolness in contrast to the intense sunlight in the background. Hope you like it.

Kirbies

Happy to be back painting. Here a batch of Kirby cucumbers. The crunchy texture makes them one of my favorites and I had to paint them.

Yams

I found these beautiful tubers in an ethnic supermarket the other day. They were labeled as "Japanese Yams". Despite the outer redish color they were white on the inside. Very different from the standard American sweet potato and very fun to paint the different shades of red....

In the Forest

                                                                            Day 1

Day 2

Here a view of a 18 inches x 14 inches oil painting I was able to complete in two sessions on location. Fortunately the weather conditions were similar both days. Day 1: putting in the major shapes and Day 2: focusing on the sunlight coming through the tree canopy.

Near the Horse Trails

It is never boring near the horse rides in the park. Here, I was interested in depicting waiting horses in different positions. The younger one on the left seemed more nervous and kept on wrapping itself with a leash. The calmer and older horses are allowed to walk freely within the fenced-in area under the oak trees. 

Doggy

This cutie used to be my youngest son's favorite, always watching over him when it was time to go to sleep. Recently, I have seen more and more of his stuffed animals piling up in the corner of his room. I wonder if turning 13 had anything to do with that??? Sigh... no more little-kid-stuff.... For me, painting this brought back fond memories.

Sneakers

It seems that these are currently the shoes of choice for teens here in South Florida. Reason enough to take a closer look. It was fun to do this painting, in particular seeing the warm tones of black under the spot light.

"You like Sunshine and Fresh Air"!

... is the quote of the fortune cookie from this painting... I guess it is generic enough to fit any non- night active, non-burrowing creature also known as plein-air painter ;) - This painting is from before I left for Germany, just when the Florida strawberry season came to an end.

I am back in Florida now, re-adjusting to the local time and climate which always seems to be a bit of a challenge for me. I also felt I had to do a couple of painting warm-ups over the weekend, almost as if I forgot how to paint for those couple of weeks - this sounds irrational - playing with paints, however, brought back confidence.

Sweet Tangerines

I am traveling in Germany right now, visiting family and friends. Leaving my oil painting equipment behind, I am filling in with a painting that I did just before getting ready for the trip. Coming from South Florida I am not used any more to ice, snow and cold temperatures. Sipping hot tea, sitting next to the heater is the place for me to be..... nature and people are soooo ready for spring to come!!!! 

Sleeping Girl

The temperatures have been so mild that it was possible to have a model posing for our group of crazy plein air painters. The idea here is to show through the overall lighting that this is "figure in the landscape" and not indoors. I am not so sure if I captured that, however, it was absolutely fun to do.

Tomato Dinner

...and more tomatoes - still studying the color red, this time on a white table cloth with mid toned background. I can not decide which tomato painting I like better... 

Homegrown Tomatoes

As you can see, not just strawberries are in season now - these tomatoes were difficult for me to paint as the color red with all the lights, darks and reflections just seems to challenge me every time. Here they are fresh from the garden just before they turned into a delicious salsa!

Sprouting Sweet Potatoes 2

Another take on the sprouting potato plant. I find that the darker background brings out the greens very well; also, I focused on the foreground more and let the background leaves stay back with less details. I like how this painting came out -

Sprouting Sweet Potatoes 1

I cut a couple sweet potato vines from the school garden. The plan for them is to start sprouting roots in a glass of water and then being planted again somewhere else. The leaves looked so vigorous and inspired me to paint them.

Florida Strawberries

Yay - my first post this year!!! Posing were left-over strawberries from our trip to the "U-Pick" Farm. Now is the season here in South Florida because the summers are too hot. Warm wishes from Sunny Florida to everybody up North in the freezing cold.

Four Onions

I am posting these onions as a symbol for good health and happiness in the new year. Best wishes to all my friends who follow me on this blog. I am looking forward to many happy days of painting!

Board Walk Entrance

The latest result of hanging out at the park on Saturday mornings. Recent snow storms up North are bringing cooler temperatures to us here in South Florida as well, meaning the weather is now beautiful and pleasant. The best of it all is that there are no mosquitos!!!

Fruit for Dessert

I was interested in the melon's reflections on the knife and glass surface. The very strong spot light gave lots of opportunity to play with bright and shadow colors in this painting.

Three Red Pears

I like how this painting turned out. The rough texture helped not to get too fuzzy with details.

Essence of Lemon 'n Lime

This one is on the back of a masonite board as you can see on the rougher looking surface. This kind of painting surface pushes me to keep everything simple and spontaneous. 

Best wishes to all my friends and happy painting!!!

Water Reflections 1

Another take on reflections and plants on the pond. While some pads are above water, others are floating on the water. I am not sure if I was able to get that going here ... One extra comment I want to add is that I learned a lot about water reflections and wearing polarized sun glasses.What a difference! I had to decide which way to go: with my shades on, the water's deep beautiful brown tones in the foreground were stunning; however, with my shades off, the sky reflecting on the water seemed to look more natural. Does any of you plein air painters have something to say about that?

Lily Pads

The challenge of a windy Saturday morning in the park. The reflections in the water kept on changing so rapidly that I had difficulty "to freeze them in time". The fun of painting on location is to put down what is in front and not touch it anymore - even though a million temptations are creeping up..... The key is working rapidly or only for an hour or two if it is a bigger painting and come back another day at the same time and weather condition. I really like the water plants and sky reflections on the water. I plan to come back for those.

Tangerines

Still working with the acrylics. Those juicy fruits are looking even more tempting with the complimentary colored background. Thanks everybody for the support and positive feed back that I have received over the last few weeks. It is very much appreciated. Happy painting to y' all!

Pears in a Cup

... and more acrylics ... I like how the greens of the pears came out. The complimentary color set up is similar to the previous painting, which makes it vibrant and interesting. I plan to paint more fruit and glass still life, hopefully later today. In the meantime a happy day to everybody!!

Prunes in a Jar

Here again acrylics at work. Who can resist the appeal of complimentary colors? Totally fun!!!  I like that the faster drying paints force me to mix the colors more on the palette than on the painting. I feel I have to be more decisive with the values and colors right from the beginning....

Waiting Waffles

My 100th post on this blog!!!  Yay!!! It's time to add something different .... well ... the "something different" is the addition of a new medium: acrylic paints. I thought I give acrylics a try as a collection of donated tubes with acrylic paints accumulated on my desk over time. When people hear that I paint they remember the unused paints they have sitting in a draw. I welcome all donations... and here I am. I added acrylics to my blog's title to reflect my new experiment. Being used to working with oils, acrylics feel stickier and less blendable because they dry faster. The greatest thing however is the clean-up - so fast with water and no smells of paint thinner. Clean-up is the big deal with the oils... so far I still want to explore the acrylics some more but I will not give up the oils. The thing I love about them is what everybody loves: the richness of color, excellent for blending and the consistency.... smooooooth!
Today's subject are 3 left-over waffles from breakfast. They are sitting on a kitchen towel waiting to be eaten with strawberries and whipped cream - sinfully good!

Getting Ready

... and more painting horses in the park under huge oak trees that offer plenty of shade. This horse got saddled and is now waiting to go for a morning ride through the woods. I admire the dedicated horse owners who transport the animals, hay, water barrels and all, to the park every week-end. The county park set up a shaded fenced in area for simple pony rides or longer trips through the woods on special trails. After the horses came back from their excursion it was fun to see how much they liked sliced water melon for a treat.

Crepe Myrtle

These flowers from a shrub turned out to be a challenge in terms of front and back. I learned from observing this still life that it is very important to nuance the colors according to back ground, middle and foreground. When I sat in front of this still life, the pinks of the flowers seemed the same. Now looking at the finished painting I see that different tones, cooler in the back and warmer in the front could have made this mass of pink more three dimensional. Wow, flowers are so amazing!!!

Oak Tree Morning

It is still very hot and humid here in South Florida on this very last September week end. Good thing the weather was nice and I could finish this painting. I like how the early sunrays light up the lower part of the tree.

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...

Breakfast Rolls

This is painted on the rough, gessoed surface of the back of a masonite board which I really like. My favorite part in the picture is... yes, you guessed it... the reflections in the knife. That was absolutely fun to create.

Early Morning in July

One sunny morning, painting in the park and examining how I can make color perspective work. You can imagine painting outdoors in a shaded, wooded area in July in South Florida = Mosquitos!!! I survived and this is what came out of it - hope it speaks to you.

Dragonfruits

Most likely you have never heard of a dragonfruit that grows on a cactus. When I saw these at the farmer's market the other day they were calling to be painted... The flurescent reds with the bright greens made for a beautiful contrast.

Making Apple Sauce

It was absolutely fun to play with the reflections seen on the silver pot and then being reflected again on the kitchen  counter.

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....

Angie's Existentialism Moment

- I PAINT, THEREFORE I AM!!! - Just a take from an artist point of view on Rene Descartes famous quote: "Cogito, ergo sum". As you see I am still pondering this meditation, recreating reality and philosophy thing.... self expression, thoughts and feelings... communication, attention getting from others, and representational, recording a point in time.. is it all just in our heads???

Meditation Under Red Umbrella

Here is my friend in quiet concentration, taking it all in, filtering it, putting her personal interpretation on canvas - recreating reality... being in the moment with deep focus... I call it a form of meditation, an incredible experience. This is why we are coming back to paint outdoors. All you plein-air painters out there agree?

Painting by the Lake

I am having more fun to paint the painter - this view seems so quiet and intimate... during a break I found out that my friend was painting a small tree that was fighting to grow through the jungle of reed. Who knew?? I still like the peacefulness of the scene I focused on -

Painting Horses

Another beautiful morning at the park painting. Can you tell we are having fun?

Morning Light 1

A morning scene from our nearby park with the shadows in cool colors. I tried to focus on the light going down the slope of the ridge creating a nice circular movement. I plan to paint this view soon again as I am striving for a looser, less detailed impression. Any comments on this one?

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...

Morning Walk

Being in the park and painting the beautiful sun light coming through the big oak trees is one of my favorite things. Hope I captured it here - dabbled light and shadows - bright leaves against the sky. 

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.

Firebush

One of my butterfly attracting plants is this firebush, even humming birds seem to like it. I discovered that I really like painting plants and flowers. Besides being quite forgiving in terms of being a recognizable portrait, I think it frees me up to be more playful and creative with it. More flower paintings are coming .....

Thirsty Willow

Something different that I have not done much is painting animals outdoors. This horse is from a group of horses that comes in every week-end for horseback riding on trails throughout the park. My attention was drawn to the morning sun lighting up these yellow water buckets creating delicious reflections....