Red Pears

Awhile back I wanted to paint and complete a small picture fairly quickly as I had been having trouble with a larger painting of Yellowstone Falls and Canyon; I needed to refocus on something new. I had never been interested in still life painting but that seemed to be what I was drawn to in my frustration. Thus, the red pears - my first attempt at a still life. Moderately pleased with how it turned out - and really pleased with the process of painting it - I decided to paint a few more and will be posting these images daily now that I have photographed them

It seems that I need to have paintings to post daily entries in this blog even though I titled it Paintings and Musings. My antipathy to writing and habit of ignoring it won out over the idea of "musing" about various related topics. This I will work on and try to make daily entries whether or not I have a painting...or anything to say.

I have been sitting for Richard McKown, my art mentor, as he prepares for an exhibition opening on September 19. We finished Thursday night and this painting is powerful. The whole process of being a model surprised me as it is such a collaborative adventure. Richard and I talked art throughout each three-plus hour sitting and there were approximately 15 sittings. That's the equivalent seat-time of a college course and that was the level of our conversations. I have learned so much that I would never had had the opportunity to do without Richard's knowledge and ability to make it comprehensible and interesting. As I completed each small still life, I would take it to him feeling much like a first-grader giving her teacher a special offering. His critiques were dead on and each succeeding painting improved as a result of his comments. He occasionally gives me homework and perhaps one of these days I'll post those so you can see the exercises that have benefitted me.