Gramma's Bowls

When I started this series of paintings, I did it because I liked the look of the bowls. But it turns out that these bowls are much more than something nice to look at. Since the series has been exhibited it seems that everyone's grandmother had bowls like these. Yellow-ware, green window pane, with and without stripes, some with spatters. Which helps explain how enthusiastically people have responded to the exhibit. 

See more photos of the bowl paintings on my Facebook page!

I was fun listening to the stories at the reception. What did YOUR grandmother have? Share your story with me.

Antique Ceramic Bowls

A woman I know has a fine collection of bowls that were her grandmother's. I was admiring them one day, and asked if I could borrow some to use in paintings. I selected three. I took them to my studio, set them up, moved them around, added other props, and started painting. The first one turned out beautifully, so I tried another. Then another. Then, how about one in oil rather than my usual pastel? Soon I had a collection of very nice paintings. I took them up to Ely to show the grandma and her family. They all really enjoyed the paintings. I am now able to share them with every one! The paintings will be in an exhibit :

Gramma's Bowls

Just for the Season Gallery

Holiday Center Downtown Duluth

March 24- April 25

Artist Reception 

Thursday March 26

5-7 pm.

In the Frame

I love creating my paintings. But then comes the framing. It's my goal to have my own framer someday, but for now, I'm the framer. To simplify the process a little I stick mostly to two frames, a warm fruitwood, and a gold plein-air. Simplifying the framing also makes the paintings look better when they are exhibited together. This afternoon I was able to frame about 5 paintings, including this nice little piece that I did last summer.

Moonrise at the beach

I revisited a painting spot over the weekend to double check some elements of the scene: snow covered sand dunes down by The Lake. I knew the moon was going to be coming up, so I stayed in my (warm) car to wait. And it was beautiful! The colors in the snow were amazing: violet, turquoise, ultramarine, orange, and green! Photos come no where near capturing the colors. It is going to be fabulous to paint! 

Finished Painting

Autumn Sky  is painted and framed, ready for display! It is a larger painting, done in the studio. It is a companion to a smaller painting done on-site, or en plein air. 

Painting the sky

I love skies-always changing, beautiful clouds and colors. The sky sets the mood for the painting. Here I've done some more work, trying to capture the fabulous and rapidly changing late autumn clouds.

Starting a painting

Here I have a piece of sandpaper taped to a board in my studio. It is actual sandpaper which comes in large sheets. You can see the charcoal drawing on the paper, and the first application of color with pastels. 

 The drawing is from a photo I took while on a paint-out. I painted another scene from the park that day, and took a photo of this scene for later use in the studio. While painting outside, I use smaller sheets of paper, usually no bigger than 9x12 inches. I wanted to use a larger paper for this painting, 14x18 inches.