hot shoes

Recently visiting a creative friend; commiserating about how things just seem to pile up around us. We both tend to collect. As artists we see the potential in things or we admire the aesthetic of an object and seem to have the need to possess it. Others recognizing our needs and reaching out to aid us, often as a drop off point for there no longer desired objects. These shoes given to Cloe because they could not be worn comfortably. What's comfort has to do with it when these suede Guess stilettos are this luscious persimmon color. I had to borrow them to include in a painting or two. Shades of reddish orange are Hot.

Toe to Toe    8" x 8" oil on board

Heal to Toe   8" x 8"  oil on board

I love the shoe's color. They work so well on the painted table top. I especially like the way the art nouveau vase is rendered in this one. This vase has made it into many paintings already and this may be my favorite rending to date.

jingle bell

The white satin ribbon tied to a ball of a bell. Sitting on the edge of a painted table the reflection of the ribbon within the shadow caught my attention first. The cool tones of the table and ribbon make the warm reflections upon the silvery bell appear golden. This caught me by surprise, I knew it's chrome surface I typically see as being cool. I studied the painting realizing that I captured the actual color relationships and not a preconceived notion of what it should look like. Maybe, I pushed the warm tones to enhance the overall color harmony of the painting. Guess I like that way.

8" x 8" oil on board

Trumpet's bud

One of my favorite flowers Angels Trumpet has large trumpet shaped blooms that hang down from it's branches. A friend gave me a cutting of his angels trumpet with a small bud hanging under one of the leaves. The flower began to form but fell off before it developed. I hoped it would open more but found the star shape of the closed flower intriguing enough to paint. My cutting seems to be taking root, but it may be a while before I get to paint one of these again. The vase is sitting on a leaf shaped Royal Haeger plate.

8" x 10" oil on board