Plucked Petunias by the Pitcher

©A.K.Simon - 10"x10" oil on birch panel, 2" cradle - $125

Another still life setup by Donna (well part of it anyway) and I always have fun painting white. So finally today I am posting a pic of the actual set up so you can see my editing. I am pretty much sold on square paintings and rarely paint any other shape these days. I'm not quire sure why. Anyway, the setup usually has to be edited to fit my composition. This piece, as most of the others was started was started from life and finished today in my studio. I just didn't have time to finish it before visiting my daughter in North Dakota. It was a beautiful visit and all I can say is, "Why Not Minot." The visit went "waaaay too fast."

I feel there were some tough decisions in this paintings, i.e., do I include all of those little details on the vase and still include the lace. I did but I'm not sure if I'm sold on the details. This piece is on birch and I find I really love a wood surface even though I didn't "scrape" as much on this one as I usually do.

Fresh Fruit

© A.K.SIMON - Fresh Fruit - 8"x8" oil on linen $100

What can I say? It's hard to resist painting a still life when there are these vibrant red fruits with a strong light source. Still painting on linen but I am experimenting with my new blade tool more and more and have developed a few 10" x 10" pieces that really stretch my "edges". One of the pieces is a larger version of this  piece with less decoration on the bowl. I'll share those works on another day. Right now I have submitted them for consideration for the "All Ohio Exhibit" which is at the Zanesville Museum of Art in September. We'll see, you know how that goes! I have submitted before and been turned down - so I'm "on the fence" about getting my hopes up! I don't care how many times I get turned down, I can never accept it without being a little bummed. It has never kept me from continuing to paint so at least I'm not attaching my sense of accomplishment too much on the jurying process.