Small Fruits

A Small Cluster tied in a Window, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

It was a Veery

It turns out, the young Robin in my painting last month wasn't a young Robin after all. Bruce Morrison was kind enough to comment and identify it as an adult Veery. The image on Cornell University's "All About Birds" site matches my bird to a 'T' and their birdsong recording is one I've definitely heard outside my window. So the painting has a new title: Nature Morte; Late Veery. Thanks for your help, Bruce.

On the topic of birds, these two art weblogs have been catching my eye lately: Kit Eastman's and Frank Gonzales'. Both of these artists have a very sensitive understanding of the bird's form. Their multilayered approaches create environments where the subject seems secure and at ease - making it all the more enjoyable to view them.

If I had a Tattoo . . .

. . . it would look exactly like the grease mark, left by my bicycle's front gear sprocket, on the inside of my right calf, back when bicycle gear sprockets were greased.

I went to see the Minnesota Orchestra play in Excelsior last night - with a spectacular fireworks display over Lake Minnetonka afterwards. Maybe it was because I biked there - or because there was such a wide variety of tattoos parading past me as I sat listening to the orchestra - or maybe it was recently seeing Pretty Lady's lovely tattoo and then being reminded of Steven LaRose's one with all of its layers of meaning, or it could be, I was simply missing the good ol' days when we all used bicycle grease - for whatever reason, I found myself thinking about, and designing, my very own tattoo.



Fireworks seen from the bike path, over Lake Minnetonka - 2008, photo by Robert Klein

updated July 7, 2008: For more images, information and history of Lake Minnetonka, check out Chip Drewry's blog, Minnesota's Lake Minnetonka.

from 2005

Peonies in a Glass Bowl with Marbles, oil on panel, 16 x 10 inches

This is the painting that was in the background from a few posts back. It was so dark in that photo, I wanted to take another lighter one. The beautiful quarter-sawn oak frame was made by Holton Studio Frame-Makers especially for a vertical painting.

Small Fruits

detail of A Long-Stemmed Strawberry, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

This is a detail of the image in the preceding post.

Small Fruits

A Long-Stemmed Strawberry, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

There is a little secret behind the long stem on this strawberry - and a little peony bud at the end of it.

Small Fruits - first steps of a new work in progress

A Strawberry with an Immature Peony Bud threaded through It

This is my model set-up for my latest painting. Long stemmed strawberries come in a tray lined with bubble wrap and are carefully arranged in a single layer, 3 by 4. I guess to pay for that special treatment, they're almost twice as expensive as strawberries picked without stems that are packed one on top of the other.

To save a little bit of money, I studied the long stemmed strawberries at the fancy grocery store. Then I looked around the garden to see what might make the best strawberry stem approximation. This immature peony bud, no larger than a blueberry, with its stem, seemed to fit the bill. After piercing this no-stem strawberry at an angle, I threaded this tiny peony through it.

You can also see the stabilizing thread that goes from the rice paper ball to a heavy rug on the floor. I actually thread a needle with this stabilizing thread and pass it through the rug with plenty of thread to spare so I can pull it tight as time passes. This thread, with a bit of blue masking tape, keeps the strawberry from spinning as I paint.

Small Fruits

A Cherry Note III, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

Small Fruits

detail of A Cherry Note III

Another Cherry

A Cherry Note II, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

This is the finished painting that was shown in progress in the post three posts back. You can see a detail in the previous post.

detail of A Cherry Note II

detail of A Cherry Note II

Small Fruits

progress, early on, on another cherry

The canvas is backlit here, like the cherry, so it's hard to tell what's there. So far it's only the drawing settled into its spot on the canvas.

The rice paper ball is where I've been suspending these smaller things from. It's lit for this set-up creating a little highlight on the cherry in addition to the backlighting.

Small Fruits

A Cherry Note, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

This is the first time the background has felt so vertical to me. Before, the horizontal feel to the ground along with the severe-vertical-taut thread helped to create balance. The cherry stem's shape is so lovely here - I think it needed a simpler space to balance the sweetness of its curve.

Small Fruits

Small Fruit in Progress

Here is what was on my mind yesterday. It's not finished but the idea is coming along.

The small pieces to the right are from my first blog. The cherry in the teapot created such a wonderful-colored-light within the white-porcelain pot - I couldn't resist trying to capture it. The peonies (to the left, in the distance) are from my garden and were painted 3 years ago. That part of the photo is so dark and it's hard to see, but there's an Arts & Crafts quarter-sawn oak frame on the peonies that is absolutely beautiful - the craftsmanship is amazing. It was made by Timothy Holton. I'll try to get a better photo of it for a future post.

Green Steps

Beside/Below the Shade Garden in June 2008

I've got a canvas on the easel and its idea swimming around in my head. At 11am I've vowed to begin it. But in the minutes before, I'll catch another glimpse of the garden where it seems my energy, both physical and otherwise, have concentrated lately.

Last month I carved these steps into the hill in the woods, beside and below the shade garden. I tried to work gently around the trees' roots and planted grass seed afterwards in hopes of it rooting before the rains could wash too much of the loosened dirt down the steep slope. I got lucky - the hard rains came after it sprouted. Eventually this stairway will get used - my plan is to embed stepping stones into the bare spots that I make. Those spots may differ depending on whether I'm going up or going down. I imagine I'll get a juxtaposition of the two patterns.

Convention - an Exhibition

Last night I helped hang some of the work for this exhibition - including this piece of mine. I'll be back again today to see if a few more small pieces are needed. And then again on Friday night to relax and see some old friends and hopefully meet some new ones. Please stop by and say 'hi' if you're near Saint Paul.

A Tractor-Tire-Tread Doughnut

French Cruller, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches