"Dark Kisses" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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Hershey's Kisses has got to be one of the greatest culinary inventions of all times.  These bite-sized pieces of chocolate, shaped like flat-bottomed teardrops and wrapped in shiny foils, have brought so much pleasure to kids of all ages.  You can pop several of these into mouth without going overboard with your dietary budget.  My favorite is, of course, Dark Chocolate Kisses, wrapped in royal violet.  How about you?

Another great virtue of Kisses is that they are fabulously paintable.  Put them on a colorful fabric, like passionate scarlet in my painting.  Crinkled foils start reflecting confetti bits of colors all over.  If you position the chocolates with flags strategically, they look like a couple of lovers!

"Bird's Nest" (oil on linen; 5" x 4") sold

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This is a cupcake for which resistance is futile.  One has to surrender to the bird's nest made of pale pink coconut shavings sitting on top of clouds of icing.  Did I mention jelly bean eggs?  The moment my husband saw the cupcake, he said: "It's mine."  He mumbled something about its richness, but didn't leave a crumb.  I guess he could handle it.

"Bird's Nest is the 19th in my February challenge paintings.  ONE MORE TO GO!  If you want to win a painting from my "Pastry Pleasure" series at the end of the month, please sign in to follow my blog.  Thanks!

"Chocolate Mousse Cup" (oil on linen; 5" x 4")

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After I was finished with the painting, I sat in front of it for a long time in deep satisfaction.  Perhaps it was the red raspberry dusted with confectioner's sugar; or, the yellow green ground.  Or, chocolate. Something about this little gem makes me very happy.

"Ten Happy Donut Holes" (oil on linen; 5" x 4") sold

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Okay, technically speaking, donut holes are inanimate objects, therefore, incapable of emotions such as happiness.  Happiness was felt by the person who ate them, i.e., my husband, and the other person who painted them, i.e., myself.  I hope that you also experience the same euphoria while looking at the painting of donut holes covered with cinnamon sugar and ready to be dipped in caramel sauce.

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"Chocolate Caramel Cupcake" (oil on linen; 5" x 4") sold

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Reference photo

The other day my husband and I had a hot date at a local joint called "Rock Bottom Restaurant Brewery."  After dinner, I ordered this delicious-looking dessert and, of course, I wanted to paint it.  The original picture  taken with my phone had a black shadow, but no matter. Thank god for Photoshop.  Thus was born "Chocolate Caramel Cake."

Cream cheese icing was delicious.  But what really made the cupcake visually appealing was the sauces.  Today's forecast is partly caramel sauce and partly fudge sauce!

"Cherry Brownie" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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A maraschino cherry cradled in a dollop of whipped cream on top of a homemade brownie.  This is a sweet offering from my kitchen and studio.  I have never eaten a brownie this way, but it was delicious!

"Sprinkled Chocolate Donut" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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This is my daughter's favorite donut.  Technically, it is a sprinkled and chocolate-glazed donut, but hey, that's a very long title!

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"Fruit Tartlet" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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I have become a connoisseur of pastry.  I haunt bakeries these days. I've noticed that there are many styles of fruit tarts, but they all seem to feature strawberries and blueberries, I guess, for their punchy colors. The fruits are often glazed with a gooey transparent glaze for protection.  Yum....

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"Mardi Gras Cupcake" (oil on linen; 7" x 5") sold

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What I learned from my February Challenge of "Pastry Pleasure" so far is that the best job in the world is the pastry chef.  I mean who is having more fun: the artist who painted this sassy cupcake or the pastry chef who designed it?

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HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

"Two Hearts" (oil on linen; 5: x 7") sold

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When even the cookies are in love, you know we are very close to the Valentine's Day! I first painted the ground in lavender, but it didn't tell the story loud enough. So I changed the color to pink!

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"Sexy Donut" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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Can you resist this sexy donut?  I couldn't.

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"Key Lime Tartlet" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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This key lime tartlet was so small that it could go straight into a mouth.  Doesn't the raspberry look like a red flower in a green field?

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"Be Mine" (oil on linen; 7" x 7") sold

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February is the month when I can indulge in my two afflictions--chocolate and pink.  When I found this adorable mini chocolate cake at the local Whole Foods store, my joy was unbounded.  My daughter, who is becoming more sophisticated by the day, wanted to eat the half of the heart with the rosebud!  So I ate the other half with "Be Mi."  The cake was as delicious as it looked. 

"Blueberry Smile" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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When I turned the mini fruit tart around, I saw three blueberries looking like smiling.  For a different look, I switched to a yellow orange fabric for the ground.  Which ground do you like better, orange or green?

"Mini Fruit Tart" (oil, 4" x 5")
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"Lemon Tart Love" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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Some people don't like the orange color.  To me, it's like a burst of sunshine.  Put a mini lemon tart on a yellow orange fabric.  Look at the blue purple shadow.  I am about to swoon!

In case you missed my blog yesterday, I am going to repeat my goal for February.  It is to paint 20 small pastry paintings, five a week.  At the end of the month, I want to create another collage like the one I did for the January paintings.  So please follow my blog to see if I live up to my promise.  Hopefully my blog will hit 40,000 pageviews by the end of the month so that I can give away one of my delicious food paintings.

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"Dark Kisses Confetti" (oil on linen; 5" x 4") sold

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Okay, you've seen my Kisses paintings and want to move on.  But I had to explore the theme further, at least one more time.  The little dots in the Kisses in "Love is in the Air" reminded me of the confetti thrown at weddings.  So I put the Kisses closer and formed a diamond shape between them.  I exaggerated the little shapes in the Kisses like confetti; the reddish pink ground has confetti-like brushstrokes all over too.  The Kisses are getting married!

"Love is in the Air" (oil, 4" x 5"; sold)

"Love is in the Air" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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I had so much fun painting Kisses yesterday that I decided to do another.  I chose a different Kisses with the paper strip standing kind of upright.  I put it in such a way that it still pointed toward the Dark one. Unlike "Dark Kisses," I pushed the ground toward pink.  I think there is a more color harmony in the second painting.  What do you think?

"Dark Kisses" (oil, 4" x 5")
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"Dark Kisses" (oil on linen; 4" x 5") sold

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I bought two bags of Kisses while back, thinking that they would make a fabulous Valentine's paintings.  I finally got around to paint them before they disappeared.  When I told my husband what the title of this small painting was going to be, he said "naughty"!