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?