Tangerine

Tangerines are very special at my house. You see, my daughter is very allergic to citric acid.  (Do you realize how many things are made with citric acid? A lot.) She can't have it in her house.  Even being around it or being in the room when someone peels an orange causes a reaction.  So, I have a place in my fridge just for tangerines. Every single time my grandkids come over, they know Gram-E will have a tangerine or two for each of them. It's our special Gram-E treat. 

As they came bustling in the other day, one said, "I'm ready for my tambourine!" 

Ha ha 💕💕

My Weekly-ish Challenge was "Citrus." That made it the right time to paint tambourines... I mean, tangerines.

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Wrapped Canvas.
Click Tangerines if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Fruits & Vegetables under the Umbrellas

Our state has many good roadside fruit and vegetable stands, and we have a wonderful farmers' market around our city's square. The reference photo I used for this painting; however, was taken when I spent some time in Indonesia a few years ago. There were so many beautiful fruits and vegetables and many I'd never seen before and haven't seen since.

Fun fact: I think that apples were a delicacy that that they must have imported from somewhere else.  Each apple on the stack would be wearing a little "jacket" to keep it safe. Look behind the oranges. Those are yellow apples! Each one has a pink spongy wrap. (The pink spiky things to the right of the oranges... who knows what odd kind of fruit that was!)

This might look like a painting about fruits and vegetables, but it's not supposed to be. My Creative Companions topic was "Umbrellas." I really struggled to connect with that one... a lot! I'd go to bed each night thinking... Umbrellas in the rain, beach umbrellas, folded umbrellas in a stand, umbrella plants, fancy umbrella parasols, umbrella strollers... 

Ugh... days passed...

I went to YouTube and practiced drawing every umbrella they had to offer. 

Zero connection...

Then I finally noticed this painting that hangs right there beside my bed!  Umbrellas at the farmers' market!!! Yes! But, I couldn't get by with just painting that one again.  So I went to the other side of the world for inspiration!

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Strawberries in a Bowl (Mini Version)

Each semester, my painting partner, Julie, and I teach a beginning oil painting class for the senior citizen branch of the University of Arkansas. This happy little still life is what we'll be working on this spring... That is, we'll be working on this if we're able to meet. (Please, COVID, just go away! Please unvaccinated people, just change your minds and roll up your sleeves!)

If we're going to teach it to beginners, we need to have a tried-and-true plan that's as simple as possible.  And, I want to feel completely at ease with each step of the process.  That means practice doing the whole painting and also making examples of of each phase of the painting.

The class will take place in two 2-hour sessions.

Here's a little half-minute video of the process we'll be guiding them through. 

I did this little one for my art exchange group where artists from different countries and states take part.  Every quarter we're given a theme then paired up to exchange a postcard-sized piece of art and letter. It was a good excuse to practice painting this one more time.  This mini version of Strawberries in a Bowl is for to my paired partner Hanne in Denmark.

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Canvas Board

[GIFT - ART EXCHANGE]

Basket of Peaches on Blue

There's just something about a basket of fresh peaches that gets me every time.  I want to pick one up and take a deep breath to smell it.  If you see beautiful peaches in the grocery store, go ahead... sniff one.  If you don't smell a thing, put it right back where you found it. If the vendor at the farmers' market has peaches, go ahead... smell them. Then hand him your money and let him put them into your reusable cloth bag. 😉

This isn't the first time I've painted a basket of peaches.  My inspiration is "Basket of Peaches" done by Joseph Decker in 1885. It is my favorite painting in Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  His may be worth a million dollars more than mine, but I love them both.


Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Ruby Red Grapefruit

So simple... so mundane... so everyday... 
     Yet beautiful if only you'll take a moment see it.
          Next time you slice your grapefruit in half, look closely... 

The inspiration for this piece came from Sara's photograph "Roundabout" on Inspiration Collaboration.
She says she loves making intriguing photographs of things that most people wouldn't give a second thought to... everyday items seen in unique ways... 

I love that.

If you haven't already, visit Inspiration Collaboration. Maybe you'll be inspired to create something of your own and join in.  You'll be welcome!


** If anyone besides me is counting... This is my 499th painting!!!  
What will be next???

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 6" Wrapped Canvas
Click Grapefruit to purchase this little painting.

Oranges Still Life 1

I hope this makes your mouth water for the taste of citrus.
Paintings are visual, but I'd like to think that my paintings bring about an extra sense. In this case taste.  Sometimes I hope the viewer almost hears the wind or the cow's moo. Maybe they'll breathe in and imagine the scent of the fresh air or flower. Maybe they'll want to touch the rough paint of a painting done with a palette knife.  Or even better... that magical other sense, the sense of wonder... I wonder who peeled that... I wonder if it's juicy... I wonder if it's sweet or sour... I wonder if she'll eat all three... I wonder why chickens don't like the taste of citrus...

Just some plain old oranges... such a simple, yet lovely (in my humble opinion) still life... 

I guess I don't use the color of orange much in my paintings. While working on this, I used up a tube of orange that I bought for my very first art lesson twelve years ago.  The five other tubes from that set were used and replaced long ago. It kind of made me wistful to squeeze out that last dab of paint.

I used used this same reference photo for a painting about five years ago.  Then I wrote a little poem about all the words like "orange" that don't rhyme with anything.
Words like  purple... orange... silver... rhythm... else... circle... music... 
woman... month... chaos...
Last week my niece was painting oranges with me.  I told her about the poem and asked her if she could think of any words without rhyming partners.  Without a second's hesitation she said, "Rumpelstiltskin!"  Ha ha ha!  Well, I wasn't expecting that, but I guess that's another one.
Are there any others?

Original Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Splash of Lime II

A bunch of limes slices...
What can I say about limes?
As it turns out, I think I can say a lot about them.

I do not remember ever having a lime as a kid.  I don't remember my mom ever buying one or having one in the house.  We were pretty much an apple-orange-banana family. Honestly, I don't even remember seeing limes in the grocery store when I was little.

I remember the first time I fell in love with limes.  (Surely, it wasn't the first time I'd ever tasted one, but maybe.) Ron and I were at a Christmas party with people he worked with. (Yeah, that means I was an adult! And, it was at his current company, so that means I was at least in my thirties.)  The lady hosting the party was from Mexico, and the food was Mexican.  I remember there was a bowl of lime wedges on each table.  I asked what they were for.  She said, "Squeeze them on your food... on everything!"  I thought that was weird, but I did it... and LOVED IT!!!
Yep...
Just a little splash of lime on everything...
Changed my life!

Well, "everything" meant anytime I had Mexican food... until a few years later. At a family reunion, my nephew made corn on the cob.  Sounds pretty normal, right?  But... instead of butter and salt... he'd used cayenne pepper and lime juice!  What?  Why?  But, you guessed it... LOVED IT!

But wait!
There's more!
When I was in Indonesia this spring, they put a lime slice with everything too.  We had rice at every single meal, and beside that rice was what? A slice of lime.  Who squeezes lime over rice?  Well, Indonesians do, and now so do I... LOVED IT 
They also served a lot of watermelon there; a thin slice or two was kind of like the dessert at the end of the meals.  (Seeing them whole at the markets, they weren't the big long ones like we have, but little round ones.)  And on each watermelon slice was a little lime slice? Who'd ever think about squeezing lime on watermelon? I guess Indonesians thought of it. Mmmmmm.... So good. LOVED IT!

I don't drink. (Okay, full disclosure... tried it... twice... was not at all pleased with myself either time... decided that was enough of that. I have enough trouble behaving myself with just plain Coke!) Anyway, I don't drink, but if I did, I'm pretty sure my favorite would be a margarita... I think that's made with lime... wait let me Google that... ... ... yeah... a margarita would be my drink! 

I'm chuckling at myself for having so much to say about such a simple little thing and wondering which section I should scroll up and delete. Nah... I like them all.
Such a simple little painting, but I love it.  I rarely paint with so much blue, but it seemed right for the background of this one.

An Indonesian market -
You can see the limes in the front
and the little round watermelons at the back.

A different Indonesian market -
Same set up though.
Lots of limes for sale.

Original oil painting on 12"x 6" wrapped canvas.
[SOLD]

Grapes & Pear Still Life

This still life is the third painting the four of us did during our painting weekend at Welcome Home Retreat.  

Cheri had us draw it with the trapezoid method, then block in the dark medium and light tones.  Since we'd had practice with both of those twice before, we all felt pretty confident.  But, she had another goal to go along with it.   She wanted us to paint without overthinking, without overworking, and to keep it painterly.  We actually timed ourselves.  From first paint stroke to signature at the bottom, I did it in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Not bad.  I have to say it was really freeing and fun.  Yes, I overworked my pear some, but I was pretty good about laying the paint down and leaving it alone on the rest. And, it was fun to put turquoise in the background, on the foreground and on the pear.  It was fun to put orange in each grape, on the pear, and in the black background.

I wonder if...  
I hope that...
I WILL use this method of painting again.  
I don't see it becoming second nature for me... 
Maybe...
I AM CONFIDENT it will become easier and feel more natural each time I loosen up and just do it.

So special to have my sister to hang out with us.  She didn't paint; she worked on a scrapbook. Whatever your craft, it's all about relaxing... creating... and inspiring each other at Welcome Home Retreat.  


We took a walk to visit the longhorn neighbors between paintings.   
I heard a rumor that we'll be painting one of those longhorns at the next painting weekend in mid June.  Contact me if you want to join us! 

Click "Grapes and Pear Still Life" to purchase this little painting.
Original Oil Painting on 10"x 10" wrapped canvas.

Yellow Apples

Why do students give apples to their teachers?

I've been a teacher for 28 years and have certainly received my share of apples... apple mugs, apple ornaments, apple paper weights, apple note pads... I think my favorite though is when a little kid brings me a real apple, especially on the first day of school.  They usually have that sweet, sort of embarrassed kind of nervous little face like their mom has said, "Take this to your teacher and smile at her when you meet her."  I love that.  

I googled it and found a couple of possible reasons for the tradition.
     * During the pioneer days, teachers were paid with a room to stay in and food brought in by the students from their family farms.  Apples were harvested about the time the school year began.
     * Even before that, Eve gave Adam a fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.  (People usually imagine that fruit to be an apple.) Teachers represent knowledge... Apples represent knowledge... so... that tradition began a really long time ago, right?

When I went to my very first painting lesson on February 22, 2007, I painted a Tree, and I was so proud of it!  I couldn't believe I'd painted something that actually looked like what it was supposed to be!

On that evening, I felt kind of nervous like a little kid on the first day of school.  And, guess what... yep... I took an apple to my teacher!  I did!  I think it surprised her, but it was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

About a year ago, she and her husband retired and moved to their farm in Oklahoma.  In June we got to visit them.  I'll always be thankful for our Monday nights of painting together. :)

To see her beautiful artwork, visit Dancing Brush.

[SOLD] And I love knowing my friend Laura has these yellow apples hanging in her office. :)

Strawberries

Do they make your mouth water?

Whenever I don't know what to paint next, I go to the refrigerator.  This time I had some strawberries that I'd bought at the Farmers' Market. 

I always struggle to set up my still lifes to make them look natural, like the strawberries just happened to be dropped there.  I think this one worked.

And photo-bombing the shots... Really Pounce?... This is the best place you could find to lay around?

[SOLD]

Pair of Pears

How does the last harvest of the year make you feel?

The freezer is full.  There are no more empty jars on the shelves.  School has started, and the busy fall schedule returns.  It's a little sad to put the garden to bed for the winter, but it's kind of a relief too.  

Our last harvest this year came from the little pear tree.  What a great surprise!  Every branch was loaded, and thanks to Dad's lye soap spray, they were all bug free. 

I'm not sure how to save pears - I don't like pear preserves; I don't think you can freeze them, make pies out of them, or can them - But, they're delicious! Sooooo... I've had fresh pears... no... really... lots of fresh pears... every... single... day... 

Remind me in January of the fresh pears that had a perfect combination of sweet/tart and crunchy/soft.  

Remind me next week to appreciate that I have a few left and that I need to enjoy them.

My sweet Momma loves to come sit on the porch to watch when we go out to harvest.  She always gets the first bite of whatever we pick.

[SOLD]

Basket of Peaches

Does this image remind you of something?

Does it make your mouth water for the taste of peach?
Does it remind you of when you got to pick fruit with your grandpa?
Does it cause you to want to stop by the farmers' market?
Does it remind you of another painting you once saw?

I hope so... That's my goal... I want my paintings to provoke an idea, a thought, an emotion, a reaction...

My dad and I picked these peaches from two little trees beside his house in Tontitown, Arkansas.... pick, wash, peel, slice, eat!

I've got to give credit for my inspiration here.  "Basket of Peaches" done by Joseph Decker in 1885 is my favorite painting in Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  Mine may be worth about a million dollars less than his, but I love it just as much!

And, I better give a little credit to the peach trees and the farmer who takes care of them. (Thanks, Dad!)

[SOLD}

Just Peachy

Do they look good enough to eat?

They are... they were!

I hope this is the first in series of peachy still lifes.  

I've written about and often painted about our family garden.  Gardening is one thing my family knows and lives in the summer.  And, this year has provided a bountiful harvest that just keeps coming. 

Spring came early with no late freeze, so every branch on the peach trees was loaded.  What fun to fill a 5 gallon bucket of gorgeous, perfect peaches within 10 minutes!  
(FYI - that's my dad.)

Next comes the washing... sorry, but organic isn't a word that can be used to describe our garden... we have to wash off the same stuff that keeps the bugs off and the worms out.
Then comes the peeling, sprinkling with Fruit Fresh, and freezing.  Peel... peel... cut... cut... take a bite... peel... peel... cut... cut... take a bite...

Oh, but there was another step this year.  Set up some still life pictures to capture these peaches!  I'm fortunate to live in Northwest Arkansas were we have the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  Of all the famous, beautiful, huge, priceless paintings there, my favorite is one called "Basket of Peaches" done by Joseph Decker in 1885.  It's fairly small and not showy.  The first time I saw it, I knew I wanted to do my own basket of peaches.  I like to imagine that not long after the Civil War, Mr. Decker saw the knocked over basket, stopped whatever important job he was doing and captured that simple image.  I realize that his is worth about a million dollars more than mine... but I love them both!

"Basket of Peaches"

Thomas Decker 1885

Visit a lovely, yummy Etsy treasury (collection of related art pieces and vintage items) celebrating Peach Harvest.

[SOLD]

Strawberries & Blackberries

What is the taste of summer?

Mmmm.... that's a hard one...
... so many vegetables and fruits... 

There's nothing like picking a berry, giving it a little blow to knock off (most of) the garden dirt, and taking a bite! Right at that moment when it's still warm from the sun and juicy from the vine, it's the best flavor ever.

When I was a kid, my two neighbors and I picked wild blackberries and sold them on the dirt road beside our mailbox for 50 cents a quart jar.  (I bought a quart of them at the farmers' market last Saturday for 6 dollars! And, I didn't even get to keep the box they were in.)

We had a certain routine for our blackberry picking - and I want to say in advance that nearly every bit of this whole process seems completely unsafe and just wrong now; however, back in the 70s, it kept us from getting bored.

• Walk down the trail behind my house to the lake. (but stay a few feet away)
• Toss rocks into the blackberry patch. (to scare all the snakes away)
• Put in a fresh stick of juicy fruit gum. (the sweet flavor would keep us from eating what we picked so that our jars would fill faster)
• Take high steps so that our feet would go straight down into the vines. (to keep from getting as many scratches on our legs)
• Glance behind and under the berries. (just in case a snake hadn't heard the warning rocks earlier)
• Stick an arm straight in, pick the berries, then bring the arm right out the exact same way. (to avoid all the stickers)
• Fill the jar
• Get the sign "Blackberries 50 Cents" and lawn chairs and wait by the mailbox.
• Hop up and run to the edge of the road whenever a car of big truck was coming.
• Make the sale.
• Split the money.

Well, we never got drowned in the lake; we never got bit by a snake, we often did get scratched by the thorns; we never got hit by one of the oncoming cars; and we never got rich from our berry sales.

I'd forgotten all about this process until I was working on this painting.  It was tricky for me to figure out how to make these purple and red blobs look like actual berries.  I had to stop thinking about them as berries and study the highlights, shadows, lost edges, and reflections.  Then... voila... It still amazes me when it works!

I did this painting as a challenge for Studio Atelier.  Visit the site.  It's fun to see the varied styles and versions all done from the same image.

[SOLD]

Kiwi

Do you remember your first kiwi?

I do.  I didn't even know that kiwi existed until I was an adult!  My students were eating lunch in the classroom, and I noticed a student with an odd fuzzy brown fruit.  He took a bite and the inside was green.  Honest to goodness, I'd never seen one before that.  Not long after that discovered them in the produce section  and had my first taste.  Yum!  

I painted this kiwi for the February challenge on the Paint and Draw Together site.  I love seeing scrolling through to see all the varied artistic styles - and to think that they all began with the same reference image!

[SOLD]

Lemons II

Which tubes of paint have to be replaced most often? 

I paint with greens more than any other color.  It isn't really intentional.  I just paint what I know and what I love.  I like to paint things that look natural... landscapes, flowers where they're growing outside, kids engaged in something that holds their attention (often outside).  So that leads to using lots of greens.

I love green.  It's my favorite color, but sometimes I notice those other beautiful paint tubes that don't get squeezed often enough.  That's actually the reason I chose to paint these lemons.  I wanted to play with the yellow color family.  Blue is actually my least favorite color, (I know, I know... most people love blue best!) but it seemed like the perfect complementary color for my lemons.

Click Lemons, Lemons to visit an Etsy treasury (collection of related art pieces and vintage items) featuring lots of Lemons.

[SOLD]

Pitcher and Pears

Where do I begin?

Well, in the case of still life paintings, this is where I began.  I learned... make that... I began to learn about soft edges and shadows.  It was also my first attempt at a metallic color... yeah, looks like I needed a little more practice at that; my pewter is a little (ok, a lot) purple-y.  I did learn about placing the objects in a pleasing way (overlapping, not straight on), but I hope my next lesson was to use the whole canvas - not just the middle!
I love looking back.  Right now I'm very discouraged with the painting I'm working on.  Seeing how I have grown as a painter reminds me that learning is hard!  Maybe looking back is the encouragement I need to move forward.

[SOLD]

Apples & Grapes

How many paintings must I do before I call myself a real artist?

This was my 100th painting... Wow!  100 paintings with my little HEaton in the bottom corner.  I wanted my 100th painting to be something special.  I think I was disappointed that it was just a plain old still life. But, I look at this one, and how can I be disappointed with it?  I love nearly everything about it.  I love the blotchy brush strokes on the table and the fuzzy edge between the table and the wall.  I love the shadows cast by the fruit.  I love the shape of the grapes, the orange highlights on top of the apple, and the detail of the stem.  And, even though blue is my least favorite color, I love the texture of the background.  

Maybe my 100th painting was special after all.

So, when will I feel like I can call myself an artist?  I'm going to work on painting #166 this weekend.  Maybe at #200... but probably not.

Helen, the one who's satisfied for now calling herself a painter and a student of the art of painting.

[SOLD]

Apple Harvest

How important is the background?

     I think someone smarter or more artistic than me could answer this question with eloquence that would make perfect sense.  There would be words like harmony, value, contrast, and lost edges.
     I just know that I almost always make my backgrounds "too beautiful' to start with.   I used to take my what-I-thought-were-finished paintings to class, and my teacher would say, "The background is too beautiful."  It would make me sad because I'd love the background.  But, I'd  dutifully trust her and fuzz out, tone down, or blur the background.  Then immediately the focus or the important part would pop out, move forward, and take the center stage.
     This painting was an example of that.  I painted it as a challenge piece for Studio Atelier.  Other artists had submitted lovely versions of this image, but I just couldn't submit mine.  I loved the apples, the leaves, the reflection.  I couldn't figure out why I wasn't satisfied.  Something was not right.  When I showed my teacher, she said, "The background is too beautiful."  I took an orange wash, covered the lovely blue background, and... wow!  The apples popped into the forefront where they belonged.
Such a small trick.  Such a big difference.

[SOLD]


Click Apple Note Cards to be taken to the Etsy listing where these can be purchased.

Peaches and Brass Candlestick

Sometimes painting just amazes me. I remember when I went to my first painting lesson about 3 1/2 years ago; my teacher said, "You're going to train your eyes to see things in a different way." I wondered how in the world I could do that and really didn't understand what she could possibly mean.

But, I do see things in a different way now. As I was working on this, I just couldn't get the brass right. I looked again... and I saw it; there was green in the brass! Hmm... Who knew! Suddenly a blotchy, yellowish, lumpy stick became a brass candlestick! Voila!

I painted this as a challenge piece for Rookie Painter. I love the concept of this site - an image is presented then artists are invited to create and share art inspired by that image. It's so interesting to see the diversity in style.