Pear Up 4 x 4"...Back to Oils Yesterday

"Pear Up" 4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord
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Back in the studio yesterday after a few days off, and back to oil painting after a couple of spins around the dance floor with pastels the last couple of weeks.  It's going to be one of those years, some oils, some pastels and maybe even a colored pencil piece thrown in.

I met with a close group of artists friends last night and we were talking about rendering vs. feeling (or more precisely rendering and feeling.)  All of us are at a certain age where the fame and fortune is elusive and probably not in the cards in this lifetime.  However, we did feel that being able to have art to express ourselves beyond words is extremely more valuable anyway. 

While I've painted lots of still lifes, landscapes, and a couple of figurative works (my grandchildren), there is something for me in painting fruits and vegetables.  I'm not sure why and I don't really have to have an answer, but for me they are organically beautiful, and in a healthy way very sensual. 

One of the ideas we had last night was to write about a painting before we paint it, "what is it that we want to capture?"  I'm looking forward to taking part in this exercise and will keep you posted.