"Sunflowers on Hot Summer Day" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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No other flowers say "summer" as loudly as sunflowers.  In the depth of winter, or on a cool summer day like today, if I want to feel the hot summer sun in my heart, I just have to think of these big, bold, in-your-face, flowers.

By the way, I am back to painting oils.  You wouldn't believe how exciting it is to switch back and forth between mediums.  Watercolors do something oils cannot do; there are things one can do only with oils.  As I told a friend of mine, by renewing my watercolor ways, which were my first love, I doubled the fun!  I am sharing the collage of the paintings I created during my explorations on Yupo painting last month.  Enjoy!

Collage of my Yupo Paintings created in July 2013!

"Golden Gate Bridge on Sunny Day" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

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The famous Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day.  Fluffy clouds float by in the sky.  A red ship in the distance is about to glide under the bridge.  The red bridge casts colorful reflections in the choppy water.  I thought of Claude Monet's "The Bridge at Argenteuil" when I was working on the above painting.  I wrote about how much I admire Monet's painting three months ago.  Something about a bridge, boat, clouds in a blue sky, and reflections in the water makes a happy painting.  Don't you agree?

"Beagle Siblings" (oil on linen; 8" x 6") sold

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Reference photo

Last Friday night, I was at a party.  While talking with other guests, I kept getting distracted by a pair of handsome beagles.  As I have been dying to paint dogs, I tried to take pictures  with my BlackBerry.  Unfortunately they were camera-shy.  I managed to take a few snap shots, but couldn't get my "dumb" phone to email them to my laptop.  (No wonder that RIM, the producer of BlackBerry, is in trouble.)  What you see above is the picture I took of the image on my phone's screen!  When there is a will, there is a way.

"Spring Bouquet with Azaleas" (oil on linen, 14" x 11") sold

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I thought I would paint some azaleas before they die out.  What other flowers would complement them?  I found chives, sweet williams and blue pincushion flowers.  After the latest still life project, I learned my lesson, so this painting is smaller, the vase a simple blue mug, and the cloth just a backdrop.  As the azaleas were already showing signs of stress, I also took a picture as a backup.

I zoomed in to fill the canvas with the setup.  The design employs a classic cross shape.  The white azaleas in the shadow had to be repainted a couple of times so that they were keyed correctly.

"Orange Sail" (oil on stretched linen, 14" x 11") sold

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It is chilly today; the weather forecast is threatening snow tonight.  Time to look at a summery painting to cheer up.  A photo I took years ago became a reference for this studio painting.  It must have been a perfect day for the couple who sailed on the Potomac that day.  The river never looks this blue; its colors are a range of grays, to put it politely.  The sails were really those bright oranges--one of my favorite colors.  Orange and blue are complementary colors, so together they vibrate.

"Pink Cherry Blossoms" (watercolor on paper; 5" x 7 1/2")

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A dusting of snow last night, and quite chilly today in northern Virginia.  More images of warmer days to cheer you on.  "Pink Cherry Blossoms" is another watercolor painting that was juried into the Small Works Show at The Art League in 2002.  I was busily uploading my old artwork on paper onto my website over the weekend, and kept finding these small paintings.  Perfect!

"Agapanthus and Yellow Wall" (oil on linen, 5" x 4") sold

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This is a wall of a motel in Eureka, CA--painted in bold yellow.  Then the management had had the ground landscaped in a complementary color scheme with blue flowers.  Their color sense was impeccable.  I love California!