Inspired by the Cupcake Queen

Delivered today, this painting just jumped onto the giant naked wall it was made for. Sometime ago, Cupcake Queen Amanda DiCesare mentioned that she wanted to 'do her kitchen' in the cupcake theme that had already manifested itself in cookie jars, candles and more. This kitchen already has a major collection of PINK appliances-toaster, mixer and more. She liked the old fashioned desserts shown on the tray here, so I took it for inspiration & an example of what she might be thinking about.

I drew about ten different plans, including family items like the teapot & bowl before I found a good composition for a 'larger than life' painting-it is three feet wide, the cupcakes are huge.

As I painted, I thought. [That's what I do when painting, even when the music is loud.] How could I put a picture full of sugared foods in the kitchen of a home with three children? Besides, my teeth were hurting from painting so much frosting. That's how the cookies turned into apples & the milk replaced other sweets. This is the milk bottle that I had asked around for, but eventually found & borrowed from 'Kelly's Country Store' on Grand Island.

It's not what I usually paint, but I had a lot of fun doing it, & it was worth it just to hear Amanda when I delivered it today. I brought the tray back, too.

My Mixer is Pink, 24x36 oil, 2010

Can't keep the small ones, so I'll work large

This is another large painting that lived on & off my easel for months. I have drawn this scene & painted this curve every year plein air & decided to try it in plain brain. I used some photo references, but mostly worked with the familiarity of having spent so many hours balanced on the edge of the park walkway studying the water.

I enjoy painting large, contemplating the composition & working on it over a period of time. On the other hand, I also like finishing a painting!

Thinking on Curves (Sound of Water 2) 24x48 oil 2009-2010

Not just a pretty picture

This is quite big for a bouquet & took 3 months on & off my easel. It started as a flat presentation & gradually developed depth & light. I visualize it over/behind someone's buffet or server, or perhaps in an entrance hall, acting like a huge bouquet on the table it is hung above.

The light & fresh life is on the right & the flowers there reach into the brightness, while the other side has a bit of wilting, past their prime. Little bits stretch to get out of the jumbled interior, struggling with the confusion of stems, leaves & flowers.

I appreciated the story telling quality as I painted, giving life & portraying death in what appears to be just a still life of cut flowers. The lights & darks symbolize a relationship. It will be easy to live with, hard to inspect.

I think it is not done. But almost finished.

More or Less Like Life 28x22 oil 2009-2010

Great Lakes Garden at NYS Parks

In the Fall, Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters [NFPAP] met at the Great Lakes Garden. It was planned for dramatic landscape color, so I paint there a few times a year. This day was chilly, and turned into rain as we ate lunch-outdoors, on the park benches. I finished the painting in the rain with aprons & an old Maid of the Mist raincoat over the easel to protect the painting.

Then I misplaced it. A few weeks ago, after it had dried, I took several paintings downstairs to be lightly varnished & left them there. Since I usually varnish outdoors, I forgot about this batch of paintings. I wondered where one of them was every time I saw its empty blue frame, but they were all small & I assumed it was under or behind something else in the studio. Well, out of sight, out of mind-I just found four paintings & they are all very dry.

This is still not varnished-apparently I realized it was too soon & set it aside!

Skyline from Great Lakes Garden, oil 10x14 2009

Lights in the Garage-a Tonawanda portrait

Commissioned as 'the house I grew up in', Colleen Sullivan's parents still live here. The house faces north, so it took a number of visits to figure out the best sun light. It turned out to be 6:30 pm in August, when tree shadows appeared on the side walls & as a bonus, the flags are shading the entrance. However, I wanted the trees the colors of Fall so it is a creative jumble of references. As many times as I drove by, the car was always in the driveway & I felt like a stalker taking reference photos while her parents watched tv in the summer room/garage. Therefore, they are here & silhouetted in the painting.

The second dilemma to create this painting was...what color is the house? Seeing the photos taken in evening light added a lot of gold, but it looked very true blue as well as nearly black at other times. Imagine my surprise when Colleen said it was a greenish charcoal--and I had painted it dark blue. It was an easy change which worked out better than if I had planned it, glazes of cadmium yellow toned the blue to green & emphasized the elusive light while creating additional texture. Success!

Lights in the Garage, 18x24, oil 2009