They Rode In On The Wind

©A.K.SIMON • They Rode In On The Wind • 6" x 6" oil on gessobord

Thou spring'st a leak already in thy crown, A flaw is in thy ill-bak'd vessel found; 'Tis hollow, and returns a jarring sound, Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command, Unwrought, and easy to the potter's hand: Now take the mould; now bend thy mind to feel The first sharp motions of the forming wheel.

John Dryden

Sometimes I do a painting that I really like and I've found it's the ones that harmonize like a beautiful song or poetry. I feel that way about this piece. It can be hard to create exciting movement on a static piece. Sometimes they fly off the spatula and sometimes they don't. 

Cup & Crock

   

© A.K.SIMON • Cup & Crock • 6" x 6" oil on linen panel

The very "marks" on the bottom of a piece of rare crockery are able to throw me into a gibbering ecstasy.

Mark Twain

I just kept thinking Crate and Barrel and came up with Cup & Crock. It could happen, a store that only sells cups and crocks. I did a couple of paintings with my spatula from this set up. I love pottery! Never knew I had this in common with Mark Twain.

Blue Plate Special

©A.K.SIMON • Blue Plate Special • 6" x 6" oil on linen $75

It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it. Julia Child
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/plate.html

Just Sayin! 

Basil's Best Friend 

(Produce in a Box Series)

©A.K.Simon Art - Basil's Best Friend - 6" x 6" oil on gessobord

$85 includes shipping

Day 27 - 30 in 30 Challenge  https://www.saetastudio.com/30-in-30-blog

The last of the aqua and white series. I just kept adding objects to the scene and painting it to get practice. Through this month I've been working on pattern and remembered after putting the glass in the scene that the glass is a pattern. Just observe the patterns of shapes in the glass and it becomes a glass bottle. Then if you think of that further the whole painting is just a pattern of shapes.

Separated at Birth (Produce in a Box Series)

©A.K.SIMON - 6"x 6" - oil on gessobord

SOLD

Day 23 - https://www.saetastudio.com/30-in-30-blog

Here I am again at 11 PM on Sunday night finishing a painting. This the second in the series of "produce in a box." If I wasn't so tired I'd go through my thought process for the series, maybe tomorrow. Don't know how far I'll take it but It's been non stressful. This was done with all brush this time. I also made a trip to Blick today and they had all their Rembrandt paint 40% off so I splurged on a tube of sap green. I always just mix my green with the blues, yellows and reds but this is a pretty green but very transparent. I'm sure you all know that by now, I'm just slow at adding new colors to my palette because they are so pricy! 

I've been no where near getting 23 paintings done at this point! 

It's All About The Shapes (Produce in a box series)

©A.K.Simon Art - 6"x6"oil on Ampersand Gessobord

Day 20 -  30 in 30 challenge https://www.saetastudio.com/30-in-30-blog

Just taking some time to play with composition and shapes. I've set up a series of tomato still life with the produce in a box. Why? Not sure why but I was playing with shape and spacial relationship then it occurred to me that all produce is shipped in boxes, so why not? And, because I also make jewelry and have some small jewelry boxes in my studio, this tomato (a jewel itself) ended up in a box sitting on a bed of cotton. The background is scrap book paper. Not sure how successful it is to others but I like this painting because it definitely pops from across the room.

Pom du Jour

©A.K.Simon - Pom du Jour - 8" x 6" on aluminum panel

SOLD

Day 16 of  30 in 30  https://www.saetastudio.com/30-in-30-blog

I'm on a pomegranate kick this month. They are quite the challenge and I've posed this one in every possible scenario. I've found it does help to keep with a series because it does keep me a little more focused and floundering less for a subject. 

So, I ran out of small panels and decided I would try the aluminum ones I've been hearing about. This is one. They are awesomely sturdy and just a little bit more expensive! You have the option of either applying a gesso or painting right on the metal (I gessoed mine a mid gray). This is the stuff they make signs out of so it's "gonna" last a loooooong time! If you like smooth surface this is for you. I happen to really like smooth surface but this doesn't move the way linen does so it will be an adjustment if I continue using them. I do like the way the paint just sits right up on the surface though. I got these from Jerry's Artarama http://www.jerrysartarama.com/alumacomp-archival-aluminum-painting-and-mounting-panels  and they are called AlumaComp - the Dibond brand is harder to find. You can also adhere linen, cotton or paper right to the surface of these. The idea is that you're getting a panel that will last 100 years without warping or rotting.