Yellow Teapot

Isn't this tea pot adorable. Ok, I hate to use the word but...it is!
Yellow is one of my favorite colors... along with red which I would say is my star player color of all time. Yeah, throw a little red in anything and it gets better. But back to the tea pot. Again the asian influence has taken hold of this painting. I'm just feeling very zen these days.

White Magnolia and Fuchsia

What a great color combination . I love the magnolia. We have a huge tree next to our house that is in full bloom right now. I am getting some beautiful pictures of the many blooms.
I enjoy the fuchsia backdrop. For me this painting has an Asian feel to it. It's one of my favorites so far.

Birds Nest

What a sweet little image. Such a maternal quality associated with the nest and eggs.
I decided to simplify the background. The technique I use is so busy itself that I feel some simplification of the image or its surroundings is needed to keep the subject matter from getting lost in the mark making.

Gourds

The colors and textures in this new painting are just amazing. Gourds are a great subject matter for this new texture enhanced style of painting because they have such wonderful texture to begin with. Each gourd seems to have a personality all its own.

Green Apples

Subject matter is always close at hand.
These are the stash of apples I keep on hand for lunch everyday.
I prefer the Granny Smith which also make for a more interesting color palette.
I like the very primary quality of this painting.

Lilly Pads

My new challange today was water. Again, another reflective surface.
I really tried to move away from the expected, "blue water" interpretation and use more color in the water than you would really see. I think it makes for a more interesting result.

Flowers in Vase

I know, it's been done many times before, but I tried something very simple here. For me it was also a little bit of a self-imposed challenge to make the glass work and see how I would accomplish that using my palette knife technique. I am quite happy with how it turned out.

Cone Flowers

I love the droopy leaves of the cone flowers. And again, I am working with my small pallet knife, putting dots of color on in a way that describes the form of the object and the movement of the background. The background color in this painting is an imaginary backdrop.

Marigolds

Tried another palette knife painting today. I really enjoy the texture. Just learning how to control the paint and edges with a knife instead of a brush. It's a fun challenge. I planted some Marigolds this spring. I've never planted marigolds before, I was drawn to the bold primary colors of this plant.

Painting with a Knife - Red Orchids

This is a painting of one of the several orchids my husband and I grow in our home. Orchids have become a continuing collection - they mark anniversaries and other special events. They do extraordinarily well in our home and flower almost continuously (while the others are recovering, there is always one dying to show off its magic) . What a joy!

They inspired me to express myself in a new way. I am learning to paint with a very small pallet knife - with this technique, every painting takes on a slightly different energy. (...it also takes more time and effort).

When you paint with this kind of "brush" you create flow patterns that reflect color rather than just laying down paint. It is a more dynamic way of painting than what you get with a paint brush. It is almost like sculpting.

Red Tulips

Another flower. This time "Tulips" perform their magic. I really enjoy working small. I am applying the paint with a small pointed pallet knife, which creates a very textural surface.This process takes a little longer but I do like the effect.

Calla Lillys

My most recent flowers of interest are the Calla Lillies. I love the purity and elegance of this simple form. They say in art sometimes less is more. I think that is very true of this flower.