Mary B Spires Watercolor & Art Stuff

10"x 8" Oil on Canvas Board Convention is over, classes went great, plus I got to meet new students and visited with old friends. I can't believe it's been so long since I painted and had something I could post. I have been working on landscapes, but it's isn't going well! It's about practice! urg ! I have made a few changes, I joined an on line gallery Artid Gallery. It's a great gallery with wonderful artist in all media. For a small monthly fee you can put your paintings in their eBay store for 30 days. If the painting sells you pay a small commission. I hope to get it up and running this week. I haven't posted anything in my Etsy store, but hope to get caught up this week.

Click Here to Place Your Bid 6" x 6" oil on canvas board Painted this one at class on Tuesday......what a fun class!!! I'm getting ready for the "Lancaster Art Walk" Friday, July 18th.......hope to see a few of you there!!!!

Click Here to Bid 10" x 8" Oil on Canvas Board Susan Carlin wanted me to talk about the "glow" around the objects in my recent still lives. I've been studying Gregg Kreutz book Problem Solving for oil Painters, he says: To keep a picture from looking static there must be a sense of the light increasing and decreasing in intensity throughout. The light area of each object must contain a lighter and a darker part, and the picture as a whole should have a sense of orchestration from either dark to light or light to dark. As in this painting, I've added a lighter value (white, yellow or orange) into the background mix going around the objects in the painting. If you look at artist that work in the "Chiaroscuro Style" such as David A. Leffel or J Legg they always have a glow around their subject matter. I've always loved "Chiaroscuro Style", but never tried to paint that way, but the last few paintings have been so much fun I think I...

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Board I worked on this one for a couple of days....I like working with the "Chiaroscuro Style" it's truly a big challenge to get the light traveling across the painting. My lighting is still not quite up to par....but when you live in the woods the north light is hard to find!

14"x10" Oil On Masonite I'm not completely happy with this one, but I like the reflections on the table.....I have to keep reminding myself these are the exercises for learning!

5"x7" Oil on Board I love painting these Habanero Peppers, reproducing the shapes with the shadows were a challenge. I moved things around in the studio to get a better light for my still lives. I've been studying Gregg Kreutz book Problem Solving for the Oil Painter.....I just love that "Chiaroscuro Style" of the light traveling across your still live.

6" x 6" Oil on Gesso Board This was a challenge to get the shape of the vase correct....... it's still isn't quite right.....Oh, my!

6" x 6" Oil on Gesso Board Well, I have my verizon up and running.......it's almost as good as Florida. These were placed on a shiney surface, but I didn't quite get the reflections I wanted. I can't believe how rusty I feel after not painting for in oils for about 3 weeks. Daily Painting is more important than ever!

6" x 6" Oil on Gesso Panel This is the third in the series......I hope to have time to do a couple more....just love my new green bowl.

Click here to place your bid on ebay 6" x 6" Oil on Gesso Panel With the price of produce this was an expensive still life........the cherries were $6.99 a pound! These babies need to last a few days. I love the blue green with the red orange .......

6"x6" Oil On Panel This is the last one in the series, the lemons are looking so bad! Also I didn't want to spend $1.99 for 3!!!!!! I love the reflections on the B&W Tile....it really was a learning experience...I had to use black paint and the yellow/orange keep getting muddy.....

6x6 Oil on Panel Today is Monday!!!! New Subject!!!! I went to the produce stand yesterday but everything look really bad, but I found these two Lemons in the produce tray in my frig....so I guess they are going to be the subject for the week.

6 x 6 oil on Panel The is the 5 th , yea! yea! I was starting to get a little tired of the onion.....trying to create another set up with the same old onion was getting to be a real challenge!!! Of course this is my favorite.....the fabric is a place mat.....the wonder contrast of brown & blue plus the two different patterns makes the composition more interesting .......I'm still working on the photography.... urg !!!

6x6 oil on Panel This is the 4 th in my Vidalia Series.......I painted it yesterday morning but forgot to take a photograph........the blue & white background is a piece of fabric from my trip to Minnesota....found a wonderful store with lots of fabric.....I love the excitement that a piece of fabric can create in a still life. Since my last trip to Italy a couple of years ago, when I got to spend the day in a small museum with Bonnard & Matisse......it was about color and pattern.....I knew after that day I would be forever effect by pattern in my paintings.

6" x 6" Oil on Panel This is the 3rd in my weekly series of the Vidalia Onion.....what a fun subject. I think the series is the best way to go to get the practice. I still have to get a better way of photographing the painting.....