Beauty with Thorns

Beauty with Thorns

6x6in  oil on canvas panel  $100.  SOLD

The beauty of the rose is amazing. Soft, velvety  petals
but watch out for those thorns.
Why are the thorns there - does anyone know?

The White Jug

The White Jug

6x8in  oil on canvas board   $125. SOLD

This is a set-up I have painted before but wanted to do a detail from it
using the fracturing technique.

Artist Note.

 When setting up a still life I am always thinking of how the
eye will move around the painting.
This has a circular eye flow pattern.
At the same time, I am thinking about creating a pattern of light and dark.
In this case, placing a deep amethyst vase and cherries within
the dark triangular shape at the front, works to keep
the eye from spending too much time in an area that is not important.
If you want to try it, you can place
something lighter over the front vase to see how it changes the whole design.

Albuquerque Gate, N.M.

Albuquerque Gate, N.M.

6x8in oil on canvas panel  $125.

This is one of many beautiful places in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The owners have built a rambling adobe wall which accommodates
the existing cottonwood trees by building around them.
It is down near the Rio Grande River where the large cottonwood
trees grow. It is easy to forget you are in a big city when in such
peaceful surroundings..
We lived there for a number of years and still have close friends
we love to go and visit.

Vincent's Pets

Vincent's Pets

6x6in oil on canvas   SOLD

These are two paintings I donated to the local Spay and Neuter
annual fund raiser. Obviously they are based on copies of famous paintings
and I added the animals. I had fun doing them.
They both pre-sold which was nice for me to hear.

Whistler's Mother's Companion

Moonlight Reflections

Moonlight Reflections

8x6in oil on canvas  $125. SOLD

Pretty moody wouldn't you say? I realized that my feeling of loss
over my daughter leaving, had an effect on my painting.
After they had driven off with the cat meowing and two dogs barking,
I reflected back to my earlier years of moving and it was always
a big adventure. I can only imagine what my mother felt about
my move to America!

As if by magic, two nice things happened today.
All the supportive emails and comments wishing my daughter well
and giving lots of hints to make it easier - Skype being number one.
I thank you all.

And then I received this lovely Giclee I had won in Deborah Elmquist's drawing.

 I never win anything so I was thrilled.
Here is a link to her site where she is selling it
and you can see a better image it
Her paintings are amazing and she has a great blog.
Sign up for her newsletter and you may win too!

A Little Watercolor

A Little Watercolor

6x6in watercolor on Arches   SOLD

A quick little study of three Roman glass vessels, painted for a friend
who likes my watercolors more than my oils.
These are very old pieces and covered with a mica type film - which I find beautiful.

My lovely daughter is moving to another state with her job. (sob!) Tonight
is our last night together for quite a while so it will be special.
We will miss her and her companion, Eric. They follow my blog so
I am wishing them a safe journey and wonderful new adventures.

Made in China

Made in China

8x6in oil on canvas panel $125.

It was interesting to get into hard objects -  all made in China.
I own some beautiful pieces, but the blue bowl is on loan from a good friend.
I have painted it quite a few times - using different techniques. I like them all.
My hubby is great at using chopsticks but I still have not
caught on to the trick of not dropping the food before it hits the mouth.
These chopsticks have a beautiful design on them.

Artist Note.

A little bit of structure today after painting soft flowers for a
couple of days, plus I used more subdued colors.
It is the same palette as yesterday - Red, Yellow
and Blue, but worked so the complement colors have been worked
into them to tone each color down.
I mixed an orange to tone down the blue just a wee bit.
I mixed a warm purple to tone down the yellow background
and after mixing the green for the leaves, I mixed it into the red.

Red, Yellow and Blue

Red, Yellow and Blue

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

This week's  Daily Paintwork Challenge is to use the primary
colors. Red, yellow and blue
I placed the cherries in for extra red so it would be the
dominate color. You know how I love RED!

The flowers are lantana's out of my garden. I love them because they provide
color all summer with virtually no upkeep.
As I went to cut some, look what I came across.

A harmless, but pretty scary to look at, tarantula! A big one!
It must be at least 5-6 inches across. It froze in place as another one went
scurrying away with a baby one following it.
Never a dull moment living on the edge of the desert.

Fracturing from the Imagination ll -Demo

Flowers from the Imagination

6x8in  oil on canvas panel  $125.

After scrutinizing fruit for the last few days I needed to do something for the
pure pleasure of using paint.
I am receiving more and more inquiries about the
fracturing technique and this is another way of starting than the one I showed here
http://juliefordoliver.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html


Artist Note.

Painting from the imagination is a lot of fun and you can make alterations
all the way through because you respond to what happens.
I started with flat shapes of color on oil primed linen.

I picked up what was on the palette
from yesterday's painting of fruit.
Using a knife I pressed and twisted
until the random shapes suggested
something to me. The green next to the
orange suggested the center of a flower.

Still not committed, but working with
flowers in mind, I started to add
more colors remembering to
neutralize some with
complementary colors
so the pure colors would pop.

Okay - I could really see the flowers
now so the commitment was made
and the thinking had to begin.
The negative shapes at the left I
liked so I kept them and added color.
Filling in the backgroundwith transparent dark colors
to bring it together. I do not usually
paint this way and I was enjoying
responding and making decisions to what was happening.
After this stage, I worked all over with my angle brush and
handy tool, but a shaper will do. It is easy to see the surface marks I made
on the finished piece. I decided to take the vase right out at the bottom.

Please let me know if you enjoyed this or have any questions.

Yesterdays Mixed Fruit - fixed!

Mixed Fruit

8x6in oil on canvas panel   $125. SOLD

This may look like the same painting as yesterday and it basically is...
with some changes.

Artist Note.

When I saw yesterday's post on my blog this morning
I thought, ouch,...it needs something to break up the
bottom line on the quiche dish.
After painting walls most of the day it was neat to have
something  I could do a little tweaking on.


Here is how it looked yesterday.

See if you agree that the new image has a better eye flow.
The angle of the peach slice breaks up the long line of the base
of the quiche dish and directs the eye to the middle peach.
Just for the fun of it, see if you can spot a couple of other
changes I made to give more movement to the painting.

It does not really matter if it is a better painting or not.
What matters is that I am more satisfied with it now.
We all have to please the artist within.

Mixed Fruit

Mixed Fruit.


8x6in oil on canvas panel
THIS PAINTING HAS HAD A CHANGE - see 7/19/12

This is the last of my fruit paintings... for a while.
I have enjoyed working with the shapes and colors
but the yellow roses are starting to droop and I need to
finish the one I have started.
Painting walls in my new teaching space tomorrow
so may not have time for a blog. Stay tuned!

Fruit Bowl

Fruit Bowl

6x6in  oil on canvas board  $100. SOLD

I enjoyed all the colors yesterday so today I rearranged all the parts...
on a smaller "square"  no less!
Going for another one tomorrow.

Artist Note.

Working within a square worked best when I lowered my viewpoint
and placed a knife and leaf at an angle to offset the  horizontal
lines..

Fruit Plate

Fruit Plate

6x8in  oil on canvas board   $125. SOLD

This was actually inspired by my hubby, Jim, making a fruit salad.
I had come up from the studio and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw
all the rich colors together and asked if I could borrow the bowl and
fruit for a little while... and this, all knowing lover of mine, actually
said, "NO It could be hours before I get them back!"
I can remember the day when anything I wanted to paint, I could have.
That was before he took over the kitchen. Seeing I do not want the kitchen
back I smiled sweetly and picked up my camera!

Artist Note.


There was not really a leaf on the peach, I put it in to link the two
areas of fruit together. I deliberately placed the bowl behind the plate
instead of off to the side, to try something new, and I like it.
I am going to play around with this set-up some more.

Freesias in Plum Vase

Freesias in Plum Vase

*x6in  oil on canvas board  $125.

A visiting friend brought me these beautiful yellow, white and purple
freesias from Trader Joe.
Another friend brought me yellow and white roses...
AND it is not my birthday!
I started to paint them both today -
following some of the good tips passed on to me in my last post.
Hard for me to focus when I have two going but will keep at it.

Oleander Bouquet

Oleander Bouquet

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD

All good things must end, and my trip down memory lane painting Yellowstone
from my sketchbook, is over, and I am rather sad to see it come to an end.
It was very enjoyable painting and then reminiscing with my hubby. He has a
great memory and we spent some happy evenings enjoying the trip all over again.

Artist Note.

Oh boy - after all those landscapes with a specific focus, it was hard
to get back into painting a still life again. I really admire those artists who
seem to be able to switch back and forth at will. It took me a while to get into
the landscape flow and now it will take me a couple of days to get the still
life flow back.
Does that happen to anyone else? Any suggestions?

Goodbye Yellowstone - Hello Jenny Lake!

Goodbye Yellowstone - Hello Jenny Lake!

6x8in oil on canvas panel   $125.

Oh Boy - just when you think you cannot see anything more beautiful,
along comes Jenny Lake and the Grand Tetons National Park.
We stayed at the Lodge and really had  wonderful time...
wishing we had made this amazing vacation years ago.

Artist Note.

This is a heck of a lot to put into a small format, but I wanted to try it.
I painted it from a combination of sketchbook watercolors and photos.
It has a very brightly colored under-painting which peeps
through here and there.
I used a combination of palette/painting knife and brush.
I use a Hobein knife. Trowel shape,  Series S,
and on these small paintings I use a slant brush.
I used my handy tool to move the paint around first.

Lamar Valley - Yellowstone

Lamar Valley - Yellowstone

6x8in  oil on canvas panel   $125.

It was overcast with light showers on and off as we drove through
this long and beautiful valley.
We saw herds of Bison, snow on the mountains at each end
and forested hills on the sides. The valley was pretty flat with
clumps of trees providing some dark vertical shapes
alongside the winding Lamar River.


Artist Note.


This was painted from another of my small watercolor sketches.
I sat in the car to paint after the rain had stopped and the light
broke through the clouds.
In all honesty, everything looked blue/gray in my sketch, so when
I painted this I added pinks and purples with warm browns in the front.
I think I still managed to keep the feeling of the weather conditions
as I remembered them. That is the advantage of painting plein air
sketches. I am sure you all agree that the scene stays in your memory
much better than when you take a photograph.

An Elk and a Bear - Yellowstone

An Elk and a Bear - Yellowstone.

watercolor from sketchbook   not for sale

I painted walls today in the new studio space I am moving into
and didn't have time for a painting on canvas.

Wanting to keep with the theme of Yellowstone I decided to
show a page from my Yellowstone Journal.
I found the wildlife quite exciting...at a distance!!!!

Lower Falls- Yellowstone

Lower Falls - Yellowstone

6x8in oil on canvas panel   $125. SOLD

I am so proud of this one. I kept working at trying to fracture this
famous view. If you having been following my Yellowstone series
then you know I posted this view before - unfractured.
Monday, July 2nd.
See below.

It was not as if I wasn't trying, but every time
I would fracture  a new version, I would loose the foundation.
In this new one, I changed my viewpoint.
I went higher to see behind the falls more,
moved over to the right, a wee bit, and
zoomed in closer.
I am proud of myself for sticking with it
and the reward is achieving a painting I really like.

Run-off Waterfalls - Yellowstone.

Run-off Waterfalls - Yellowstone

5x7in  oil on canvas panel    $100.

These lovely, long streams of water apparently are only running while
the snow is still melting. A Ranger provided that information. I was
very impressed with the courtesy and patience of the Park Rangers.
One entertained a group of us with how long a buffalo lasts if it falls
into any of the geothermal pools. I will not go into the details but I
could tell he enjoyed
watching everyone's reactions to the gruesome facts.

Artist Note.

This was all about values as the sun was high and behind
the cliffs making a back-lit situation.
I was careful not to make the waterfalls too white. I had my sketch
to remind me that nothing
could be as light as the highlight on the top part of the water
even if it looked it. (The sky did)
I was taking artistic license because the waterfalls were the focus.

This sketch was done in a moving
car after we had had a quick look
at the falls but it was enough to help
set the the mood of high sun
back-lighting. The photos I took
were way too dark.

Hot spots along the River - Yellowstone

Firehole River Geysers - Yellowstone

6x8in oil on linen - mounted.  $125.

The Firehole River has an area where it is lined with steaming geysers.
Never would have guessed from its name - right? The banks are beautifully streaked
with colors from the mineral sediments,  but the water has no turquoise,
just the reflection of the sky to make it blue.

Sorry the link did not work yesterday. I have now learned how to placed it on U-Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSYalb-tmq4
If you are interested you may want to see the Grand Prismatic Stream.

I do appreciate all of you for visiting my blog and taking this trip to the waters of
Yellowstone National Park via my paintings.
Only a couple more to go, but it has been a wonderful trip down memory lane for me.