Runaway

Runaway

These tomatoes can't figure out where the fifth one got off to, leaving only an empty stem behind.

There is certainly no reason to suspect foul play, rather it is believed that a better job opportunity came along, something to do with a certain chef in a Paris restaurant.

6 x 6 in. oil on museum quality panel

Available framed at One Eleven Main, Aberdeen, NC.
SOLD

Jenn's Hibiscus

Jenn's Hibiscus

This is from a beautiful yard in Charlotte and I painted from a photo.  It was really fun to observe all the variations in color on the delicate petals of this flower.  Since each flower only lasts for a day, it is intriguing to see how many blooms there are each morning, some days many, and some days just a few.  Happy Summer! Let's take time to enjoy it with all it's many wonders.

6 x 8 in. oil on museum quality panel

Green Beans Growing

Green Beans Growing

This is what would have been yesterday's post had I been free of computer difficulties that would not allow me to post.  This is another vegetable garden painting and I picked quite a few of these beans and cooked them so I can vouch for their fresh delicious flavor.  This is my 100th post.

6 x 6 in. oil on museum quality panel

Gardenia

Gardenia
Sultry as a summer evening and as intoxicating as an exotic perfume, the scent of gardenias settles like a memory onto your soul.
Gardenias originated in the Orient but are named in honor of a Southerner, Dr. Alexander Garden, an 18th-century botanist and physician from Charleston, South Carolina
Jazz singer Billie Holiday considered gardenias to be her signature flower and wore them in her hair whenever she performed.
Information from Southern Living Magazine.


6 x 6 in. oil on gesso board

Well-Traveled Asparagus

Well-Traveled Asparagus
6 x 6 in. oil on panel


SOLD

Fortunately for the United States of America and Canada, we have a lot of energy…and we use it freely, easily, and lavishly. If the price of oil were to double, we could cut back…and still live well. We might even live better. Because not everything that contributes to our standard of living contributes to our quality of living.

Take asparagus, for example. If oil is cheap enough, you can afford to ship asparagus from California to Maryland and sell it at a reasonable price. Standards of living go up – at least as measured by GDP. The grower in California earns money…his illegal immigrant workers earn money…the trucker earns money…the grocery store in Maryland earns money – voila, the GDP goes up.

But raise the price of oil and transcontinental asparagus may not make any sense.

We ate the most delicious asparagus in Zurich! Big, white, tender…juicy. “Where did it come from?” we asked our host.

“Why… It’s from Zurich, of course.”

He must have meant the canton. We saw no asparagus grown in downtown Zurich.

It was surely not cheap – nothing in Zurich is cheap. But it was good. Much better than the asparagus you find in the US.

We’re just guessing, but we suppose it was good because it was grown for a local market and did not have to be a variety that travels well. A trip from Sacramento to Philadelphia is tiring for anyone; if your asparagus is going to hold up…it has to be tough.

Perhaps, when prices of energy are higher, our asparagus will not be so well-traveled. Maybe, as our standards of living stagnate, our asparagus will taste better.

Regards,

Bill Bonner,
for The Daily Reckoning

Hotel-California

Hotel-California

This is a study for a large painting and is one that I have been

planning to paint for quite a while. This gives me a good idea of how the composition

will work and what things I may want to change slightly in the large version.

The flowers are just one of the things I was drawn to.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Tulip Tree Flowers

Tulip Tree Flowers

Bill and I were walking the trail around the reservoir yesterday

and lots of these beautiful flowers had fallen from the Tulip Poplars. I brought a few

home so I could paint them.  Their fragrance is very sweet, a little like a magnolia, and come

to find out-the tree is not really a poplar at all.  It's a member of the magnolia family.

They attract all kinds of birds, and the squirrels like them too. Hummingbirds also love the nectar from these flowers.  I'm just glad they were on the ground--I woulda hated to ask Bill to climb

that 30 foot tree.

6 x6 in. oil painting

My Blue Berry Bowl

My Blue Berry Bowl

I guess I am a creature of habit, especially

when it comes to breakfast.  In the cold weather it's oatmeal but when

it warms up I usually go for fresh berries and yogurt.  Just as I have a certain bowl

for oatmeal, I also have this one for berries.  Tomorrow it will be filled with

fresh raspberries we just bought at the market.

8 x 8 in. oil on museum quality panel

"Swan" Iris

"Swan" Iris

The colors of these flowers are beautiful.

They grew in the back yard, shaded by a tree, and bloomed infrequently.

I wanted to get rid of them because they had brown and yellow flowers  (not pretty).

 Bill moved them to the side yard last Fall, where they get sunshine

and they are no longer the Ugly Ducklings of the garden.  They have

completely changed color.  I think I'll be painting more of these!

6 x 6 " oil painting

Blooming At The Beach

Blooming At The Beach

These daffodils love being surrounded by

seashells in the spring when they start to grow

on the porch.  The ocean air is most

refreshing after being underground all winter.

6 x 6 in. oil painting

NFS

Espresso Set

Espresso Set

Two of my favorite things are Maine Lobster

and espresso.  This was a gift from someone dear

who knows all my obsessions.  There are four little cups

and saucers, the creamer, and a sugar bowl. I love using it!

6 x6 in. Oil

Making Salsa

Making Salsa!
We've got the lime juice, got the orange juice, but where
is the mango? We can't make the mango salsa to go on
the fish with no mango.
6x6 in. oil painting on gesso board

   

Watch Out

Watch Out

Better hide, she's talking about making

an apple cobbler. There's whipped

cream in the fridge.

6x6 in. oil on

museum panel

Dogwood Blossoms in Chinese Red

Chinese Red Vase

With Dogwood Blossoms

Last night we went to the opening of an exhibition

of pottery by Ben Owen III and paintings by William Mangum.

It was wonderful -so go if you get the chance during April.

It's at the Campbell House Galleries.

My husband requested I paint Dogwoods today so I 

obliged by putting them in one of Ben's lovely Chinese Red Egg Vases

which was a gift to my husband several years ago.

8x10 in. oil

Mango-Mania

Mango-Mania

I have found the best fruit to paint is also one of my favorite to

eat.  The market on Beverly Lane has mangoes on sale and they

are beautiful combinations of red, green, and yellow.

But the best is yet to come...

6x6 oil painting on museum

quality panel

Carolina Camellia

Sold  Carolina Camellia

It's been a warm and sunny day here,

the temperature now is 82 degrees.

I couldn't resist plucking a cheery,

deep pink flower from the yard.


5x7 in.


Available framed at One Eleven Main,
Aberdeen, NC

Two's Company

Two's Company

Ever think about how great it is

to have fresh fruit available

year round?

6 x6 " Oil

The Last Of The Almonds

The Last Of The Almonds

6 x 6 in. oil

I love to eat almonds-they get me through

the day and keep me from getting too

hungry while I am working.  Now I

need to re-stock because these

were eaten after the painting was finished.