Wild Blueberries - SOLD

Wild Blueberries ~SOLD (Somebody Liked This!)

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on canvas   
$72 (gallery-wrapped canvas, no frame needed)

While hiking up Mount Kearsarge (see Kearsarge Near the Top II), these were one of the little treats along the way.  Lowbush blueberries are everywhere along the trail in various stages of ripening.  For a small nature painting, I was surprised at the variety of paint colors I needed to reach for.  Usually I'm using about four colors plus white.  For this one, however, I added an additional three tubes to my palette.

Beginning sketch in pthalo blue.

I washed the canvas with a warm pink 

and then drew the paint sketch in with 

diluted pthalo blue which leans a little green.  

I didn't want to forget where my darkest darks 

were going to be, so I went a little heavier with 

the brush on the darkest spots. 

Basic colors indicated, but quite flat yet.

The next step was laying in some basic colors and getting placement of values without a lot of fuss. The colors are quite chalky and the details are undeveloped.  Either there's been a frost, or those greens are going to need a bit of work to make them look a little more lively, don't you think?  Except for the initial placement layers, the greens were actually one of the last set of mixtures I attended to.  

Upshift in progress...

Every painting seems to enter a transitional zone where it's either going to upshift and become a real painting or it's going to stall out and just turn into a real pain.  During this stage, I'm reshaping some areas, defining edges, and pushing some unnecessary elements backward so they recede. Color, at this point, becomes more definite and refined.  The blues and pinks get their glow on, and finally, those greens warm up and come alive.  That unripe blueberry in the northeast corner is calling too much attention to itself and needs to take a seat in the back with a subtle color wash that is going to neutralize it.

A real painting!

Nearly there.   A few minor adjustments to the foliage and some rusty reds will bump up the volume on the greens and make them look greener.  The darkest darks in the underbrush need to go a little darker to push the important bits forward.  Finally, the highlights create eye candy on the most reflective surfaces... and we have a real painting.  

Kearsarge Near the Top II

Kearsarge Near the Top II

9 in. x 12 in., acrylic on canvas    
$150 (framed)

This is the second painting of a portion of the Barlow Trail on Mount Kearsarge just before the last crest near the summit.  I first painted this as a dainty 5 x 7 inch study, which lives in my studio.  The image is from a hike last summer, and is particularly special to me, so I decided to paint it again, this time in a larger format.  When moving from a small study to a larger canvas, you must also move up to a larger set of brushes, fiddle considerably more with the details, and maybe spend about twice as long on the painting!

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Rhubarb Pie

A backdrop of ultramarine blue 

cools down the warm pink glaze 

on this portrait of one of my favorite 

pies.  I remember eating bright red 

and green rhubarb stalks straight out 

of the garden when I was a little girl.  

It was a challenge to both enjoy the 

flavor and endure the pucker power 

of this magical stuff.  I make this pie 

in the spring or early summer in a 

homemade crust, with white sugar 

and a hint of flour to bind the juices 

just a little.

Rhubarb Pie

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on canvas 
$100 (gallery-wrapped canvas, no frame needed)

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Blueberries and Milk

This little painting immortalizes an antique

and homey comfort food in my family, passed down to us from my parents, and probably from theirs before them.  When we were kids, during blueberry picking season, we might each enjoy a bowl of blueberries and milk.  Fresh blueberries coated with simple, whole milk and a sprinkle of sugar over all.  My kids and

grandchildren know how good this is.

Blueberries and Milk

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on canvas      
NFS

Savoy Cabbage - SOLD

Savoy Cabbage ~SOLD (somebody liked this!)

12 in. x 12 in., acrylic on canvas    

$165 (framed)

A couple of summers ago, we tripped up to Fort Ticonderoga, a place we had both visited many times as children, but never together.  The King's Garden was a feature that didn't exist until recent years, beautiful flower and vegetable gardens tended in colonial style.  A row of magnificent blue-green Savoy cabbages caught my eye and this rotund gentleman got his portrait painted.  I nearly named this "Head Shot."

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