Working on the Square

This week I discovered a box of 12x12x1.5 inch canvases in my closet. I usually order in bulk to save a few dollars, but storage can sometimes be a problem, so the extras end up in the closet or under the bed. Sometimes I forget where they are, so it was exciting to discover a set of four wonderful little square format canvases. The discovery set in motion a series of sketches and a nice collection of square format landscape paintings.  Here's where I began:

I like to make little value studies that help me formulate a good composition. I did several pages of sketches before deciding on a design for the first square in the series. Here is the result of my first square of the week:

The original painting is for sale at Ugallery. Prints are available from my print shop. The rest will be sent to Ugallery as soon as the rain quits falling and I can get some better photos. Below is a quick shot of the four completed paintings. It was so much fun creating these guys that I just ordered some more square canvases. Can't wait for them to arrive.

Fruits and Vegetables

Lots of little fruits and vegetables are entering my Etsy shop this week. I'm loving painting bright colors on these rainy winter days. Hope you will stop by for a visit.

January is Home Decor Month

It appears that January is home decor month. Last year at this time, one of my little landscape paintings appeared on the cover of This Old House Magazine. It was exciting to see my work displayed in a national magazine. As it turns out, this year another little painting was included in the January/February print issue of Country Living Magazine with a link to my Etsy Shop. Check out page 69 of the print edition to see the painting. It is tiny painting of a cantaloupe slice I created on a blue background that appears at the top center of the page. The little painting sold immediately, however, it wasn't the only small format oil painting listed in my Etsy Shop. Stop by my Etsy Shop to see more original small format oil paintings.