The three p's make this drawing alive and well.

Pears and a pomegranate living quietly together although I think the pears want to dance.

Leaves floating in space.

Maybe I don't have green charcoal but I do have green paint and it found its way to this happy lime that dances on the canvas. I love the simplicity of this little painting.

More Limes. These look a little sickly and for some reason I could not find the green charcoal. I love green but I also like these muted colors which is what I was going for. There are still more limes on the tree but probably not for long as it is cool here. I may have to pick them tomorrow.

From my very own lime tree. The fig tree was dead and gone when I got back to Arizona but in its place was this wonderful lime tree. The limes are a wonderful green and they are really juicy. Finally got to sit down and draw yesterday and this is what I did. Fun stuff for me.

What a surprise the other day when the mail man walked under this vine and asked me what these little creatures were. Well it turns out that our "fig" vine produces figs. I had no idea that all this wonderful green stuff that is growing on our house produces figs. I don't think they are edible nor or they like the black figs I have gotten all summer. The most I have been able to do with this new inspiration is to take a couple of photos-hopefully soon I will get something on paper or canvas. Unfortunately there are only a few figs but....... our lemon/lime tree we planted last spring has lots of beautiful green lemons on it (my hispanic gardener calls it a lemon tree hence the confusion.) I do want to get out the green paints and paint the limes!

Another painting with the same palette but also with my beloved fig.

What fun it was to do this painting. I have been taking a color class and this was the one I was most excited about as I have never really mixed these colors with each other or really known what to do with them except use them straight out of the tube. I had a ball mixing and playing with them. Then to spontaneously draw a painting and to fill in the negative space with color was great fun. I may have found a way of doing abstract that is fun and fulfilling to me. I love the feel of the mysterious space in this painting. It has been a long time since I have really been excited about how I am painting what ever. This was fun painting and it felt very real and personal to me. I know all future paintings won't be easy and always successful but I feel I now have a technique to fall back on and play with. Enjoy.

The apple was really fat and colorful. I like it with the fig, lemon and lavander bottle. The gird is doing fun and interesting things.

Fresh figs from the Monterey Market in Berkley are lush and plump. I decided to add a little color to all the objects and see how I like it. I like it. More to come. Now that I have finished reading my marathon book of the summer London there is time and inspiration for lots of other things.

A close up of the objects.

I am really enjoying this little still life. Something new and different for me. Usually I am drawing or painting one object-having more than one object is kind of fun.

Leftovers from last nights dinner. A cut lime, a sprig of rosemary and a bottle of lavender all sitting out on the cutting board this morning just waiting to be captured in a drawing. So as nervous was I was at trying to capture the sprig of rosemary I just did it and here is the end result.

Another grey, black and white project. This yellow cornflower was just waiting to be painted. It really is black and white shades!

Grey House

This weeks art adventure was to take a workshop on color. Our first project was doing a grey scale which I usually don't like at all because it is hard. The instructor made making this scale very easy so it was not as frustrating. I loved making the different greys. The next day while golfing I drew a small pic of a little house while I was was

waiting to play. Yesterday I was itching to push the paint around and play with the greys so I combined the art adventure with the golf adventure. I like doing little houses anyway and this was a great opportunity.

When I photographed this painting it was still wet so I think that is why you see the brush strokes. Fun fun.

More figs. Went to Wholefoods today and there were lots and lots of figs. I feel I need to take advantage of having them while they are fresh and plump. This was hard. I put 5 figs of differing shapes on the cutting board and so wanted to capture what was there. It is a struggle to get the shapes and the position of one fig to another "right". Lots of angles and overlapping to work with. They will be there to work on again tomorrow.

An early morning adventure to Chimney Beach with two little boys and one

doggie. Starbucks helped with the breakfast. Enjoy.

I have always loved drawing the figure and have really missed the figure class I took in Dallas. I have tried a couple of classes but they just don't live up to what I had in Dallas. As a substitute I have been drawing various things from life, flowers and fruit to name a few. As a result of drawing these wonderful peppers that I picked up in Monterey this weekend I think I have found my figure substitute. I am so reminded of the human form and gesture as I draw the peppers. I sure hope the farmers market here in Tahoe has more.

I love going to Farmers Markets and this weekend we went to the market in Monterey, Ca. I had only a few colors to work with as I drew this wonderful pepper. I think it looks like a person all cuddled up. More to do as the peppers change colors and shrivel up.

Each one is different and unique. Their essence is the same but they look different which is all part of their charm. It is fig thyme.

A drawing a day keeps the doctor away. Tonight was a super night to be outside on the deck watching the golfers go by and just enjoying a wonderful Tahoe summer evening. With sketch pad and charcoal in hand I found a little pot to draw. I tried to capture the texture on the pot and the whimsical angle of the flowers. It always amazes me what comes out on the paper.

It is fig thyme again. They seem to be in the market earlier this than last so I had to buy a basket right away. These two figs seemed full of character so I had to put them together and began to draw. Hopefully I will get back to doing a drawing a day but the transition back to Tahoe has taken a little longer than I would have liked but that is life at the lake, also it is summer thyme. The blueberry and strawberry painting is on hold. Stay tuned.

Morning Breakfast becomes a painting

My morning breakfast is yogurt covered in blueberries and strawberries sprinkled with toasted almonds and granola. As I looked at the rich colors of the strawberries and the blueberries I thought I need to see if I can capture the beauty of these colors in a painting. I thought I would post the evolution of the painting as I try to paint these wonderful colors.

Little Green Leaves

This is a painting I did last summer. I did it very spontaneously covering up another painting that was not working for me. I really love what I did here and would like to build on this painting but not sure how to do that so in the mean time I will continue to think about it and maybe even paint my way thru the challenge.

A to go glass of passion fruit ice tea with a splash of lemonade is my drink of choice from AJ's my favorite grocery store here in Scottsdale. I know if I was here all summer they would know me at AJ's by site and the minute I walked in they would begin preparing my ice tea. While at AJ's recently I could not stop myself from buying a lime to draw. They are so round and green which I know you cannot tell-how green they are that is-from this drawing as I was in to the shapes and the composition of the things in front of me all in a box.

Drawing May 2010

I am trying to do a drawing everyday. Usually it is something in my environment or something that my fingers are just itching to record. As I sat in Kathy's family room and searched for something to draw it was sitting right in front of me-Kathy. Kath was sitting on the floor in front of me reading a catalog. I thought okay I will give this a try. Wow. This is one of my better figures in recent months and she was even fully clothed! This was great fun and very inspiring. Today I am off to visit a friend at her studio.