55. On the Way Back

I painted this on the Way back from picking up work at a gallery. Hence the name! 

I had passed a park where I thought that I might paint, so I turned down a road in order to turn around (rather than shooting a U on the highway!) Before I could turn around, I found this lovely scene. I painted until catastrophe struck: a fly bit my dog, (who was under my easel), he jumped up and bumped into me, and I bumped into my jar of mineral spirits. So I stopped painting. 

When I got home and looked at the painting, I decided I really liked it, just as it was.

54. Bucks County Plein Aire event

 I just finished a weeklong event painting in Bucks County PA.  While it was their first year to host the event, it was very organized, and everything seemed to go smoothly.  I sold 5 paintings at the event!  I painted 10 altogether.  I will be posting those later this week.  Here are the 5 that I sold:

 " Dancing Allium",  8x10  This was painted during the "Quick Paint" event.  They are usually 2 hours - but this one allowed only ONE hour to complete a painting!  I was really nervous about this event (I kept thinking to myslef:  just don't think about it!)  I liked the way that I turned out and it sold!

 "Shadow Play"  9x12  Painted at the Mill at the George Washington Crossing Park  This was my favorite painting from the event

  "Before the Storm"  12x12  This a terrible photograph!

 "In the Shade"  9x12  Painted early in the morning at Peace Valley Park, a particularly lovely place, deserving of its name!  Another bad photo though!

Into the Blue Hills 9x12  I was lost when I found this place to paint - simply a road in Buck County.

53. Dusk at Central Park

 This is a large commission of Central Park.  There are 2 panels - each is 40"x 30" .  So the final painting is really large!  I am not sure that I would have tried such an ambitious painting without the commission - that is one of the things that I really like about commissions!  This is still not finihsed.  But it is fun to see the progression, I think.

52. No Seeds

This is another pomelo - I loved the shadows and reflections.  So I kept the setup really simple!

51. Orange Pieces

I had fun with the shadows and reflections on this one!  

50. Pomelo (with seeds)

We bought this at an Asian market. It had the color of a lime, but the shape and size of a grapefruit. I had to try it! Inside, it was pale yellow. It tasted slightly of grapefruit and apple. Really good - but a thick rind.

Since I have finally admitted to myself that I am more of a fair-weather plein-aire painter, I have decided to turn to some still-lifes this winter! This is one of 5 that I have recently completed, and maybe my favorite one.

49. Aglow

 I finished this little painting (6x6) of a pomelo last week. It was great fun!! And I got to taste a pomelo - they are really good! I took a workshop this fall with Lori Putnam (she is really good, if you ever get the chance to take her workshop, do it!), and she said that the fastest way to improve in painting is to paint from life whenever possible. So, while I consider myself a landscape painter, I am really a fair-weather landscape painter. In winters past, I have painted a lot from photographs and plein-aire studies. But this winter I plan to paint a lot of still lifes! I hope that this will be the first of many!

SOLD