"Sunny Breakfast"

I can tell it's spring because I'm in the mood for yellow. I decided to include the coffee pot in this bright composition, but didn't want it to overpower everything else. The dark areas of the coffee cup and silverware help offset the coffee pot. I also tried to keep the values of the background objects darker so the lighter brighter foreground objects have more importance. The spoon handle leads the eye into the painting and to the melon slice, the focal point.


"Sunny Breakfast", 16"x 20", oil on board, SOLD

"Farm Eggs and Tea Cup"

My friend Stacey raises chickens that lay the most beautiful colored eggs. The gray carton was a perfect neutral background for showing off the variety of muted greens, blues, and rosy browns of the eggs. The pale yellow of my favorite tea mug complimented these soft colors. The eggs were delicious, too!


"Farm Eggs and Tea Cup", 12"x 9", oil on linen, SOLD

"Green Apples in Blue Bowl"

"Green Apples in Blue Bowl", 6"x 8", oil on linen, SOLD

"Bottles & Green Apples"

"Green Apples & Bottles", 8"x 6", oil on canvas, SOLD

"Box of Tissue"

Here's another composition with a dark background. The translucent quality of the tissue paper is interesting and challenging to paint. Light goes through the paper as well as bouncing off it. To capture the crinkles and planes in the tissue, I used all the painter's tools such as: lost and found edges, value shifts, changes in hue. The one I found particularly important was color temperature. Often I saw an edge without a hue shift and not much of a value shift. To create that edge or plane, I used a warmer or cooler version of the color. For example, one plane would be a yellow-orange while the plane next to it would be more lavender. Light going through the paper is usually warm; light reflected off it is usually cooler. This painting was a good exercise in observation.


"Box of Tissue", 12"x12", oil on board   SOLD

"Clementine & Jar"

I decided it was time to compose a painting with a dark background. My idea was to achieve a sense of atmosphere and space. I wanted the jar to emerge from the darkness by painting just a few of the highlights and reflections. Then I added a blast of color with the clementine. I've been painting a lot of oranges. It's a welcome color in February when everything outside my window is white.


"Clementine & Jar", 8"x6", oil on linen, SOLD

"Oranges on Marimekko"

I'm a fan of Marimekko designs. The fabric's color palette of warm and cool reds with purple was the starting point for this painting. I also like the way the orange wedges repeat the leaf pattern.

"Oranges on Marimekko", 6"x8", oil on linen, SOLD

"Cute Couple"

Before packing them away after Christmas, I decided to paint these cute Danish Nisse dolls.  I wanted to capture their characters and ended up painting "mini portraits". Remind you of anyone?

"Cute Couple", 6"x6", oil on canvas, SOLD

"Electric Blue"

Inspiration comes from surprising places. I was trying to compose a still life of blue objects for the "Very Cool Blue Show" at Art Beat, but nothing seemed to be working. The bulb in my stand light burned out. I went to the cupboard for a new bulb and there it was — a blue extension cord. Inspiration struck. The show runs from February 12th through March 5th at Art Beat in Hayward.

"Electric Blue", 16"x20", oil on linen, Sold 

"Birch and Juncos"

This pastel painting is a little different for me. Instead of working from life, I painted from memory and my imagination. I often see this white, gray and black composition when I look out my window in the winter. This piece is part of the exhibit "All Things Birch and Beautiful" at Firefly Trading Company in Cable, WI.


"Birch and Juncos", 16" x 20", pastel on board, SOLD