Pepper Pile-up

I got to use a lot of cadmium colors for this, and keep them pretty intense. Pretty fun! I love those happy little peppers.

Radish Bowl

Here's my story - I bought some radishes, not because I wanted a salad, but because I've never painted them. They had lovely green tops at the time. I stuck them in the veggie drawer and forgot about them, until the tops were dark and slimy, so I trimmed them up, and popped them in a bowl and then I painted what turned out to be a complicated maze. The colors in the produce section of your grocery store are so intense! A purple cabbage, for example, or those mini peppers.

Room for More

In real life these grapes are as tired as I am. they've been sitting out since Thursday night and the stems are getting a little brittle. The poor grapes may have lost their luster too, but they've served me well. Thank you grapes.

Beets

I absolutely hated beets as a child, but I think they're great now. Such a useful vegetable - I'll start with the tops and add them to a stir-fry. Then I'll roast the beets and have them maybe with carrots and potatoes.... Then, in a salad. I predict one more painting too ;-) I've painted beets before and I think I did better. Maybe not.

Special Treat

My mama's birthday would have been today, so for the last three years I've painted a treat for her that I think she would have enjoyed. My little memorial.

Number 3

I wanted to paint one that didn't look so sad, but he kind of does, and maybe scared too?  The photo made the color slightly warmer, and there is some glare. Happens with a dark background and artificial light. This is the third one. I am giving myself the goal of 30 - they won't be consecutive because there are some other paintings that need to be done, but I am loving this for the opportunity of painting so many sorts of people. 

Deja Vu

Second painting in what is becoming the mugshot series. When you look at a face for a long time, it's story unfolds.  It's kind of like recusing a dog from a shelter. Over time, the dog will tell you it's story. You know what I mean, right? Anyway, this is fun and interesting and it could be a thing to return to off and on.

Crime Don't Pay

I've been talking about using mugshots to practice faces for a long time - since I discovered Karin Jurik, the master of mugshots.  Then, the other day I saw a posting by my new FB friend, Reed White.  A professor once said to me, "If you're thinking it, someone's doing it." Apparently.  Reed seems to be drawing from the local well, but I don't think I should do that, as a local educator, retired or not, so, my resource comes a community to the south. This was fun and I'm sure I'll do some more.

Friendly Flower

I'm not a gardener. Perhaps I will become one in the future because I'm always envious of the flower beds my friends have. I do have these growing though - I think they're called Cosmos. They look much better now that it's almost October than they did all summer long. Very optimistic and cheerful.  I have one more painting and I can tell you that if I have learned one thing this month, it's that if you are too tired to clean your brushes, you can put them in a newspaper bag and freeze them over night ;-)  I've actually leaned a few more things than that.

Stir Fry

I have been consistent at starting these late in the day.  I guess that means I'm a night owl by nature, but it doesn't leave much wiggle room. I have a time limit, then it's off to dreamland.

Pepper Pals

Three very robust peppers from Saturday's market.  Gotta celebrate this stuff while we have it. Five days left and then Octoberrr! (That also means only 5 more paintings :-)

Keep a Close Watch

It may require patience to be married to an artist. Today Joe was thawing some shrimp for his special salad.  I said, "I'm going to paint these real quick and I'll be done before you need them, I promise." Nope... I was pretty close, but by that time, the shrimps had been out of the fridge for so long that we were both a little nervous about eating them.  There were some more in the freezer, so it wasn't the end of the world, and I had fun painting these weird little guys.

Veg Out

I'm a big fan of okra.  I grew up with it, but it isn't grown around here a lot.  More bounty from the farmer's market. 

Lemon and Water

I have a bunch of lemons, so I'll be making lemonade and/or paintings for a while.  We're past the halfway mark, so I'm feeling pretty good, at the moment.

Out of the Bag

This turned out to be a challenge with lots of abstract shapes. It was fun to paint, but I need to stop looking at it for a while.

Ripening

Nothing better than home grown tomatoes. I love a tomato sandwich, toasted with mayo and some lettuce.  Maybe some avocado, if I have one, or bell pepper.  I'm loving these hot days in September.  We'll be missing them before we know it. Our power was off for several hours today and it got a little warm in the house, but I don't care.

Cicada

A few days ago I painted the shell of a cicada. My super helpful husband found me an emerged version.  Trouble was, it was still alive and I wouldn't kill it.  Thankfully, it obliged and passed away on it's own.  I'm not sure what the cause was, but thank you Mr. Bug.

Flower Bomb

The flowers I bought at the farmer's market on Saturday just keeping getting bigger and bigger!  I think I can get a few more paintings from them, which solves my daily drama of what to paint. So fun to have a reason for this kind of color.

Triple Chocolate with Almonds

A free cookie has been offered to me by Panera since my birthday in mid July. Can you believe I only now went in to get it and my motivation was something to paint!  Am I nuts? I'll ponder that while I nibble the cookie :-)

I'll have what she's having!

It's just a glass of water. Did my alter ego paint this? It was like working a puzzle and I wanted something other than water when I was done.