Pomegranates and Pears

I've been in the still life mood lately. These little pieces were done last week. So fun to paint those pomegranate "arils". Plus we had them with dinner and they are pretty good!

Crab Apples

Here are a couple little 9x12s I recently finished using some crab apples I found. I discovered that since we Westerners read from left to right, it is a good idea to leave some empty space to the left in the composition to give your eye time to see the objects. Interesting!

"en plein air" part 2

Here is the second batch of little plein air paintings I've done in the past couple of weeks. Painted in Hernando and Southaven, MS and at the Memphis Botanic Gardens (Japanese gardens). Challenging, but fun!

"en Plein Air"

With the heat of summer now finally over, I've been having a great time going out and painting "en plein air" (in open air). It is such a fun experience! With the light changing so fast, it's necessary to finish a painting in less than 2 hours. The top piece was painted at Olive Branch City Park. The next 2 were at Central Park in Southaven, MS, and the bottom one just off the town square in Hernando, MS. I'll post a few more shortly that I also recently completed.

Two New Exhibit Acceptances!

More exciting news! "Morning Window" above was recently juried into the 2015 OPA Eastern Regional Exhibition and "Shaded" above into the 2015 OPA Salon Show! Coincidentally, I painted both of these from a photo shoot I did of my daughter on the same day at the same location last summer. The place had such great lighting -- it's all about the lighting!

2015 MGAL National Award

I was so fortunate to receive the Suntrust Bank Award for the above painting titled "Vintage" in the 2015 MGAL National Juried Exhibition! The reception Saturday night was well-attended and an enjoyable evening at the WKNO Studios' gallery where I got to visit with so many local artists & friends!

Bright

I know this seems like a strange title for a painting with so much dark in it, but I named it for the brightness of her white shirt. (The photo didn't capture the brightness of it unfortunately.) This was very fun to paint! I tried to make the white shirt interesting since it is the painting's focus. I wanted the face, hair, and background to become one large dark mass. I think it came out pretty good.