Primary Ingredients

A word of warning…never set up to paint the ingredients you plan to use for dinner that night!

I have grown to really love cooking. I love all of the shapes, colors and textures of the ingredients and the feel of the tools. I love all of the preparatory work and the act of cooking and then sitting down to eat what I have made.

It occurred to me that a “food” still life might be just the ticket. Everything is gray and brown out doors and after looking for someplace to paint on Saturday and early Sunday I decided to instead move indoors and set up a still life.

I had already been shopping for what I was going to make Sunday night and had many different ingredients to choose from. I grabbed my cutting board, my old Chicago Cutlery knife, some fresh parsley and a lemon, a tomato and garlic and set it all up in my studio.

The problem was that I had intended to get the painting done “alla prima” or in one sitting thus making my ingredients available later for dinner. Unfortunately this was not the case but I thought this was OK as all I really had to replace was the lemon. I ran to the local food market just as they were getting ready to close, bought my replacement lemon, and headed for home confident that my troubles were over.

Wrong again! I started to get set up when I remembered that my cutting board and favorite knife were still set up downstairs and could not be disturbed. So, no problem, I can improvise. I used the back side of my wooden pizza peel as a cutting board and my less than favorite inexpensive Sabatier knife. Everything was moving along fine until I came up about a tomato short of the required 2 cups of diced tomatoes. As the local market was now closed I had no choice but to raid my still life for the necessary ingredient.

Monday morning found me at the market early to purchase my replacement tomato and the painting was finished without further inconvenience to either my self or any of my “models”.

The title of the painting, “Primary Ingredients”, refers to the fact that the three so called “primary colors” red, yellow and blue are all present here at full strength.

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.

Alone On The Beach

Here I am pushing winter aside again on a day when I hear that some of my FaceBook friends in Vermont are suffering through 2+ feet of snow! There is nothing like that happening here today but it is still not ideal outside painting weather.

This painting was started last summer during a one day trip to the Fire Island National Seashore. It was a great day with an even greater sky and I love a sky full of summer day cumulous clouds. The conditions didn’t allow me to finish it on site that day but I finally had the chance to get a little more paint on it as well as pick out some of the sand particles that had blown into it while on site.

My family and I used to vacation on Fire Island when I was younger and, in some ways, I think I have been painting this particular view in my mind for many years. It’s nice to finally see it on canvas!

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.