Please note that "Peonies and Pears" will be on auction for five days instead of my usual 10. Thanks for looking.

Floral Oil Painting of Pink Peonies and Pears, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

"Peonies and Pears"
SOLD

I was in the mood yesterday for something a bit more complex, so I chose to do a full bouquet of Peonies in a pretty detailed vase. I wanted to give a good painting lesson and demo on my other
blog and this seemed a good way to do it. The flowers have some great thick paint on them and were glazed to bring them to life. I was really happy with the way they came out. The satin cloth came to life here as well. As complex as the design on the vase appears, it really only took a few minutes to get it in with a glaze. The overall effect is quite convincing though. Hope you enjoy it. Check out my other blog to see how this painting was done.

"The Filigree Stone Vase" 



I've had this Asian stone filigree vase for a very long time. It was my mother's. Because I grew up with it, I was accustomed to seeing it on the shelf but never took the time to examine it. Until I tried to paint it. It's amazing the amount of detail the artist who carved this vase was able to achieve. But what is really amazing is that it is made of stone and yet appears so willowy and light. I couldn't get all the detail this deserved but did manage to capture most of what was obvious to the eye.

I know that the audience for classical realism is not as extensive as that for abstract and contemporary pieces. But this vase taught me something important. My work, like the vase, takes patient observation and a quiet soul to appreciate.

Still Life Oil painting of a teapot and poppies, 11" x 14" on canvas panel

"The Crystalline Teapot"SOLD








I love crystalline glazed pottery but can hardly afford to own much. This teapot was a gift from some friends and I treasure it. It's quite difficult to paint in an ala prima session, so I took a little extra time with it and applied the glaze and design on a second session the following day. This allowed me to get the more subtle changes in light and temperature on the delicate finish. The flowers were painted pretty much ala prima on day one with only a touch up on day two. Enjoy.

Floral Oil Painting of Roses in Cut Glass Vase with Nectarines, 8" x 10" on Canvas Panel

"Roses and Nectarines"
Click here to bid.





Felt like roses today. After my students left, the light was sweet and cool coming in from the north windows of my studio, so I set this up. Oh...and look at that! I found Nectarines at the market! So in they went for a little color. The painting looks a lot brighter in life. I don't seem to be able to get my server to make them appear as lively as they are in person. It looks perfect on photoshop and then just doesn't cut it once I upload them. Well...I hope they look good on your screen. Here's a little detail.

Flora Oil Painting of Magnolias and Asian Jar, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

"Asian Floral"Click here to bid.



Had some fun here and took a little extra time. I had to split my "daily painting into two short sessions due to schedule overload. I taught two classes back to back today and worked on this little pretty in the morning so I'm pretty whipped about now. This one has a little more detail than most of my pieces. That's probably because I came back the second day for another look. The flowers have lots of thick paint on them and the jar is pretty true to the actual jar without losing the painterly look I'm stiving for. Hope you like it. See the detail below. Now I gotta go cook dinner. Sigh.

Some changes to "Morning Dreams", Oil Painting of a Nude Reclining, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

"Morning Dreams"Click here to bid.

"Morning Dreams" indeed. More like morning light! I went into the studio to look at last night's painting and saw all kinds of things that needed correcting. So out came the brushes and palette. Here's the much improved piece.

The core shadows on the figure around her hips appeared at first to be too dark. I softened the core shadow line and increased and smoothed out the shadow to the left of the core. Now the rest of her needed some adjustment so I darkened and glazed into the other core shadows on her along her legs and arm. This improved things dramatically. I also extended her fingers which are bent and in shadow, but looked odd in the first painting. A little scumbling to the highlights fixed things up just fine. The finished piece is much better. Thank goodness for second chances. The photo of the improved painting has been revised in EBay as well. Phew.

Oil Painting of Nude reclining, 11" x 14" Oil on Canvas Panel

"Morning Dreams"
Click here to bid.

My favorite model helped me out on this project. This painting is actually a small study for a larger piece I've just started. I thought it would be fun to do a small study of it first and I'm glad I did. I learned quite a bit from the process. While this is an "Ala Prima" done in a short session, the finished piece with be quite large and will be done in many layers of glazing and scumbling. But this one is still lovely and I hope you enjoy it. You can click here to see how it was painted.

Pastel Still Life

"Millard Sheets Demo"

I had a bunch of computer/technical stuff to catch up on today so, sigh, no studio for me. So, just for entertainment, here's a piece I did some time back as a demonstration at the Millard Sheets Gallery in Pomona, CA. They ended up purchasing one of my pieces for their permanent collection - but not this one. It was, however, sold so it's not available. I thought it would be fun to show this piece as it is a pastel. It's a lot different than my work as of late. My specialty for a long time was transparencies and reflections. I'm currently working on a "how to" book for pastel artists on this type of rendering. Enjoy.

Oil Painting of Pink Peonies and Asian Bell, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

"Peonies and Asian Bell"
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I've been experimenting with doing another blog where I show a little about how each piece was painted. I also talk a bit from time to time about the whole business of painting. It's just started so there isn't a lot there yet. But you can see how this one was painted by clicking here.
I get a lot of requests for Peonies. They seem to be the favorite bloom for a lot of people. I'm happy to do them because I like Peonies. They brighten things up a bit for me. In Washington, we don't have a lot of bright days in the winter and colorful blooms add go a long way toward cheering me up. Hope these add a bit of sunshine to your day. Thanks for dropping by.

"Sunshine on a Winter's Day", 8" x 10", Oil on Canvas PanelClick here to bid.

Click here to see how this painting was done!

It snowed last night! Not a lot but even a couple of inches can keep me stuck as my care doesn't have snow tires. Dumb, you say? Well, maybe, but it hardly snows here at all so it doesn't seem worth it to put out those dollars for one or two days per year. Anyway, I retreated to my studio and brought a little sunshine into it. Honestly, it's amazing how many different kinds of flowers are available in the supermarket these days! My husband got these at Costco, of all places.

I've just started a new blog, called "Susan's Musings and Painting Tips". As one of my first posts, I've put a step-by-step, photo by photo, of each stage of this painting. Thought it might be fun to share my technique a bit. Look for more of these kinds of posts in the future.

Floral Oil Painting of Hyacinth in Cut Glass Vase, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

"Hyacinth"Click here to bid.




I love painting these guys. No matter how you display them, they're always lovely. I plunked a bunch into a cut glass vase for this painting. There's tons of thick paint on these. It's so thick, as a matter of fact, the paint actually helps to create shadows on the canvas. Take a look at the detail.

Original Floral of Pink Peonies, Grapes and Silver Vase, 9" x 12" on Canvas Panel

"Peonies and Grapes"
SOLD

Just had time for this piece today. I was in the mood for Peonies and thought combining them with the silver vase would be interesting. I used to paint a lot of highly reflective objects and transaparent glass in pastels. I was using a very realistic technique. But over the past year or so, my technique - especially in oils, has changed. I rather like the way this came out but think I've a ways to go yet before I obtain the look I am striving for. What do you think?

Original Oil Painting of Asian Statue and Fruit, 12" x 12" on Canvas Panel

"Offerings II"
SOLD

I have a friend who owns lovely Asian things. She lent me this statue. I really enjoyed painting this piece and it shows. I put lovely thick paint on the statue in order to "sculpt" it. Take a look at the detail piece below. I especially like the way the objects reflect on the glass topped table. Enjoy.

Floral Oil Painting of a Persian Vase and Magnolias, 11" x 14" on Canvas Panel

"Magnolias and Persian Vase"
SOLD

A friend lent me this Persian vase. It really deserves more time than an Ala Prima Painting can give it, but here it is anyway. Still a pretty thing. The Magnolias seemed to fit right in. I put a floral tapestry under it and hung some behind also. I like the way the painting holds together. Hope you do too.

Floral Oil Painting of White Roses and Tangerines, 9" x 12" on Canvas Panel

"Roses and Clemintines"SOLD

Tangerines are one of the nicer things about Winter. I love their rich color and the way they glow in the light. I decided to place them with some roses to bring a hint of promise to the studio today. I haven't painted ala prima in a while so this was a bit of a challenge and warm up for me. The vase is a loaner from a friend. Enjoy.

Oil Figure of a Nude, 9" x 12" on Canvas Panel

"Black Lace"
Click here to inquire about this painting.

I have been painting a lot of figures lately. In part, this is because I participate in a figure drawing group every week. But mostly it's an outgrowth of my interest in portraits. This model is one of my favorites and most of you will recognize her. She has such a lovely back, that I had her turned away from me for this pose. I love the way the light plays on her. This is just a small study for a larger piece I plan to do. Thanks for looking.

Pastel Landscape of Old Barn in Early Morning, Image size: 16.5" x 12"; 27" x 23.5" Framed $350

"Morning on Old Olympic Hwy"
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Early every morning (almost), I drag myself from my warm bed and go walking with a friend. Sometimes I remember to bring my camera. This one particular morning this fall, the fog was just lifting off of a field behind an old barn. The sun was low and was spreading out over the field lighting up the fog. The light effects were spectacular! Oh crap. I forgot my camera. Soooo..this piece is from memory. I think I pretty much got it the way I remember though. I stood staring at that scene trying to commit it to memory as much as possible. I gave two sizes here. The bigger size is of the painting framed. The price includes the frame. If you're interested, just click on the e-mail link above. Shipping is extra. I'm happy to e-mail a picture of the piece framed as well. Thanks for looking. Have a GREAT New Year!

Still Life Oil of Ginger Jar and fruit, 34" x 38"

"The Ginger Jar"
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Although I've taken a break from daily painting in the last two weeks, I've still been busy at the easel. Here's a piece I just finished for an upcoming competition. As you can see, it's polished but lacks a lot of the spontaneity of daily pieces. I'm working on retaining the freshness of brush stroke in my larger pieces but have a ways to go. It's very easy to get too involved in detail on these larger pieces. I am happy, however, with the light here and with the color and values. My edge control was good and I like the composition.

"Home sweet home"

"My Studio"

OK. So it's not a painting. Dailypainters.com asked all its participating artists to post photos or paintings of their studios today. As I've been working on a large project for Oil Painters of America's annual juried competition, I was too engaged this morning to get into a painting of my studio. This afternoon was figure drawing, so a photo it was. Besides, I'd rather paint in it than use it as a subject. My studio is rather long and narrow - about 30 feet by 17 feet. I didn't bother turning around here, there's not much to see behind me except for some flat files and a large cabinet. I actually manage to squeeze five students in here on Wednesday mornings. It's tight, but we're a cozy bunch anyway. Hope you liked the brief tour. Thanks for stopping by.

I'm taking a brief break - actually started a few days ago, to finish my project and won't likely post again until after Christmas. Have a wonderful holiday! Susan