June 28, 2025 — Elaine O.

Somehow, I feel summer fruit still life paintings should be simple, light and direct. Unlike winter or autumn, where you want a cornucopia of stuff with lots of elements against a deep rich background, summer fruit shines all by itself. Hence these cherries. I only added a classic kitchen towel to give them a feel of summer in a farm kitchen and a crystal coupe to add the touch of elegance they deserve.

Still Life with Cherries        approx. 13" x 9"

Oh, and they were delicious!

My Beautiful Philippines

  I painted the Golden Anniversary of The Celebration of Philippiine Independence from Spain inspired by a downtown flag raising  event  last June 12, 2025 from a Noontime Cultural Show at Daley Center to a Parade with stopover at Millennium park to the final destination at Buckingham fountain. I wore a red dress, one of 3 colors of Philippine flag: red, blue, yellow. I started the scenario with my figure wearing a bright red dress. And then I met a problem of emphasizing the other major figures of the parade instead of me; a past organizer. When I felt that I should relate what I saw and enjoyed at the fervor and majesty of the moment plus the native bamboo and tropical colors, then I knew I got a painting. I included a poem circa 1992 which I wrote when I was a young immigrant professional!

Forgotten painting…

 Totally forgot I did this one in class on Saturday…Needs a little work on rocks and shadows….

A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 Thought I would do a little touching up with this after class.  But it turned out that it needed a lot more work.  One of those times when I was in tune with the painting and it told me exactly what to do.

Matting math….

So here they are, all matted and framed and hanging on the wall. They look great, just ignore the reflections…cutting mats is not any easier than it used to be. I still do the math three times and get three different answers, even with a calculator. And using a mat cutter after all these years is like trying to remember your high school French. But thanks to Pat, I know how to do it! (Remember those awful mat cutting classes?) Now I’m going to have the girls develop fairy tales to go along with their paintings!
 

June 21, 2025 — Elaine O.

I spent much of the morning drawing, so there's only a little to show. If you can't tell, it's a still life of cherries in a coupe on a cloth. More to come next week!

approx. 13" x 9"

Summer painting…

 This is a small one off I painted directly in class. It’s the Queen of Denmark rose in my yard. Actually I painted it next to Joe…

They do kinda of go together!

Still working on this little princess…someone in class suggested I do her skirt similarly to Nora’s in the painting below. I like that idea.

But the background is troubling me…

I darkened the tree shadows on this and also shaded her skirt. Maybe it’s done now…

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

Finished this one this morning,  I jut don't see where I could fit anything else in. 9x12

 5x7.  Crop of one of the trees I found in the Art Institute.  Likely we start a bigger one afterwards 

June 14, 2025 — Elaine O.

It's been a while but it certainly did feel good to be back painting. I'm calling this still life finished. More bad sizing surprises but they're mostly around the edges, so it's croppable.  I'm not sure I totally succeeded at the crystal bowl, but there are things I like. And, for some reason, the peacock feather amuses me. Actually, upon reflection, I might go back and nestle those lemons in the bowl a little more.

13" x 9"

And, with a little time to kill, I played with my watercolor pencils in my sketchbook. I used three colors and all kinds of techniques on this little orange, and I like it a lot better after stepping away for a day. 

5" x 5"

Interesting observation, though—What's my sudden fascination with citrus fruits and warm colors? I also have a bag of key limes at hand. I already used one bag to make a key lime pie. It was delicious, but now I wish I'd painted it before eating it.

A visit to the Art Institute

 Since nobody else is posting I will post again to fill that vacuum because you know how Mother Nature feels about vacuums.  Had a little visit to the Art Institute this Sunday and wandered into a little nook chock full of John Constable and his ilk.  Trees, trees, trees, magnificent trees, magnificently painted trees, proud and plaintive.  I took photos, came back the next day and took more.  I have about eight of them and I am going to do sketches of them on 5x7 yupo.  I had second thoughts yesterday, won't I be just copying? But of course I don't have the ability to do that.  I will just start out that way and after that I will leave my ship to the tides and the storms like I always do.

I just finished the first one this morning, and of course I think it's great.  Here it is.

 And speaking of the Art Institute, you have to make a trip out there soon and see this:

https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/10569/raqib-shaw-paradise-lost