Art Tells a Story - Seeing Red

It’s amazing how a color can make a difference in the mood of a painting. In my painting “Seeing Red”, the entire mood would change if I had put this still life onto a light background and it would tell an entirely different story. It would also send a different vibe if the glass in the lantern were clear and the rose was pink or yellow. It might still send a bit of a moody feel with the dark background but it wouldn’t have as much drama as the red presents it with. Do you read a story when you look at artwork? You may not always sense the same thing that the artist did when they created the piece, but each painting will still begin to tell you a story when you view it. In still life I like to imagine who would be the owner of the objects and what was taking place when they were all put together. In my painting “Seeing Red” one could wonder where the items are and why are they placed there? Are they preparing to light the lantern or has the event that was to take place been abandoned? What story comes to mind for you?

Layers of Summer - A Monochromatic Still Life

One of my students brought me a purple Mason jar and asked me to use it in a still life painting. I had never seen a purple mason jar before and I don’t work in purple very often so it was intriguing for me to use it. My first thought was to look at the complimentary color of yellow on the color wheel to set up the still life. So I thought about yellow pears but it did not seem delicate enough. So in order to keep the transparent sense of glass I decided to stay with a monochromatic choice and put some plums along with the jar. Then the addition of a white cloth or doily with the jar would help the purple colors to really stand out and create a crisp summer feeling to the painting. (And notice that the lace has summer daisies embroidered into it…wink.) Layering the colors creates depth in the still life elements. There are several wonderful cool colors used; blues, red violet, magenta, and dioxazine purple.

Summer is such a joyful time and this painting is a reminder of the lightheartedness of the season.

Sweet Summer Plums - 11 x 14 Acrylic painting by Tracy - UPDATE: this painting won an award at the NAA Fall Members Show “Best in Excellence of Craft”

Coffee at Panera

I was sitting in Panera having coffee with two friends and kept glancing back at the bagels. There was such a great variety (the vanilla cherry are just delicious) and with their bumps and toppings I couldn’t resist. Once the time to leave came, I went to the counter and ordered a half dozen to take home. I know its odd but everything is about painting for me. I bought the bagels not because I wanted to eat them but because I wanted to paint them. I can’t come home from a store or a flea market or a restaurant without something that I want to use in a painting. It’s amazing how being an artist makes me so aware of everything in a different way. Although, honestly, eating my still life subjects is a bonus of buying food for painting. So before I ate them, I arranged the bagels in a basket with a dish towel and this was the result.

Christmas in July

Vintage ornaments are perfect specimens for my kind of still life. They have shine, reflection, texture and color! So once again I created a grouping of these beautiful bobbles. Since I painted this in the middle of summer it had to be Christmas in July.

This painting is 9 x 12 acrylic on panel.

Pink Gerbera Realism Painting

This painting took me a while to finish. I had started it before I left for vacation and then when I finally got back into the studio I worked on it for almost a week. Every time I thought it was done, I could see more and more to work on. It was one of those that I could probably work on forever. Don’t you love the way glass looks against black backgrounds? and especially the way it reflects on a black surface.