Thursday, July 25, 2013

What is your favorite summer fruit?

One of the many things that stand out in my mind when I think of summer is all the wonderful fruits that are in season, especially watermelon.  I try to buy one a week because there is just something refreshing about cold sweet watermelon on a hot summer day and in Las Vegas the word HOT is an understatement.  So when the City of the World Gallery that I am part of announced a summer art contest amongst the artists for the month of August this idea of a colorful pile of lemons and berries along with beautiful sliced watermelon came to mind.  I decided to add the blue straw to composition and title this piece "Taste of Summer".

It's a big change from my normal gold prospector or Nevada landscape but it was a lot of fun.  I don't think I have used so much yellow on one palette before.  I hope you enjoy the piece and I encourage you to come stop by the gallery on the corner of Casino Center and Colorado for next weeks "First Friday".  I'm sure there will be some great SUMMER art to see and you can probably find a cold glass of lemonade to enjoy.


TASTE OF SUMMER- 18x24 Original Oil Painting

Sunday, July 7, 2013

"Taking a Break"- finally complete

It seems like I have been working on this piece for longer than I care to consider but it is finally ready for a coat of varnish and framing. Yesterday I included the piece on my website gallery and my Fine Art America site.   It has been a challenge not only because it was a more complex painting but because I suffered the loss of my dear mother-in-law during the process.  I'm really going to miss taking each piece over to show her as I complete them.  She was so encouraging to me and really acted as she genuinely loved seeing each and every painting as I finished them.

I've already started another prospector piece but this time in acrylic.  Hopefully I will be able to showcase that one here in the next few weeks.  I have always loved American history and trying to capture the rugged beauty of the American west is a challenge that I really want to pursue.


"Taking a Break"  18 x 24 Original Oil painting