Stoplight Peppers, 12x12 oil

You're pushing your cart through the produce section and there they are: a colorful blaze of satin-skinned beauties. There's probably not an artist in the world who hasn't been tempted in the produce section by these colorful peppers. Here's my version. I painted them, then I ate them. Win-win. 12x12 gallery wrap canvas.

Shih Tzu Terrors

I scared the shih out of my little shih tzu, Precious. I have a show coming up this weekend. That always means lots of last minute framing. The sound of the electric drill scares Precious. I turn on the TV, radio for background noise, but she can STILL hear the drill and screwdriver going in my basement studio. I don't know why it frightens her. Some day, when I am a rich and famous artist, I can just paint, and let someone else take care of the framing.

Isn't she the world's cutest dog?

Fruit and Silver, 11x14 oil

Thrift stores can be a great resource for still life materials. This silver sugar bowl looked terrible when I picked it up for $4. A little silver polish did wonders. Painting reflective surfaces is challenging and fun.

I couldn't come up with a more imaginative title than Fruit and Silver. It's 11x14, oil.

It's All About the Beans

My artist group was showing in a coffee shop. The owner of the shop requested that the paintings have a theme of "coffee." Since I have a mug collection of coffee mugs I've purchased all over the world, I had trouble deciding which of my 50+ mugs to feature in my painting. As I was grinding the beans for the morning pot, the sun was shining on those dark French roast beauties, and, of course, I realized its all about the beans!

Workshop on April 21,2007

I will be teaching a workshop on mini paintings (6x6 or 5x5) using acrylic mediums to texture the canvas. I have taught this workshop to people with very little painting experience with amazing results. For complete information, please see "Events" in my website, http://carolnelsonfineart.com

Mini Abstracts - Simple Elegance 3

My husband hates my abstracts. He likes to be able to "see something". I think abstracts appeal to people who like pleasing design/composition. They like the way the space is divided and are attracted to colors and textures in the piece. I also like to have a strong geometric element in most of my abstracts. When I see abstract paintings that are just swirls of color, I often wish there were a few straight lines, or squares, or rectangles somewhere. As they say....different strokes for different folks.

SOLD

Mini Abstracts - Simple Elegance 2

Working with aluminum is problematic. I bought it at Home Depot where it is sold as flashing. It is very thin, so I can easily cut it with an ordinary scissors. They have heavier aluminum and tin that you need a tin snips for, but that would be too hard to work with in this context. The leather I bought at a craft store. It comes in every color and is beautiful to work with.

As with all my abstracts, I don't know what it will look like when I start out arranging the different materials - that's the fun of it!

SOLD

Mini Abstracts - Simple Elegance 1

I have been absent from my postings for a couple weeks. I had (still have, but better) a sinus infection that wiped me out. Couldn't even paint. Total veg. Anyhow, the past couple days I could work on a few paintings for short periods before I had to collapse.

Continuing with my small size paintings, I wanted to try some an abstract theme. These paintings are 6x6 and use aluminum, leather, and acrylic paints.

SOLD

Still Life Studies of My Stuff: Blue and Green Vases

I realized that if I only paint my stuff, I will never get to paint anything in the cool end of the palette. So I picked up theses two vases at a thrift store. Their sparkling blue and green colors actually complement my terracotta kitchen very well.
They remind me of some beautiful ocean colors I've seen that are a very long way from Colorado.

Still Life Studies of My Stuff: Cream & Sugar 2

This creamer and sugar bowl was given to my mother as a wedding present, so I remember it vividly from my childhood. What always fascinated me about it was the color intensity of the red glass. It is just a vivid today as it was the day it was given.