Cropping Cherries

"Pitchers with Cherry Trio" 12 x 12" oil on Masonite panel $125

I set up this still life (without the cherries) for my students to practice painting glass, metal, ceramic and drapery. It was tough! and I struggled right along with them. Later, I decided to see if I could make it into something more by adding the cherries for some pizazz, but the composition was still floating in a sea of blue; I felt it needed to be cropped down to a smaller size. Fortunately, since it is painted on panel, I have the option of doing that. I thought you might be interested in the thought process:

Here's the original.










A little too tight..









maybe this is better?










What if I crop a cherry for more tension...









and add some air to the top?



This is what I decided on, but I won't be able to cut it down until it is totally dry so ...


if you like one of the other versions better and want to buy this painting cropped (or not) the way you like it, just let me know.

How's that for interactive art?

Blog use #2 - comments link

I have received a lot of emails from people who are enjoying the blog, and that really helps me stick with painting daily, but many have had problems subscribing or commenting.

On the phone just now, I went through the process of leaving a comment with someone who has valiantly been trying to use the comment link with no luck. We finally figured out that those who opened my blog and tried to use it within the first few days of it's existence probably have the site in their computer's cache, and I mistakenly had the comments function blocked those first days.

If you can't leave comments either, try accessing the blog here: http://leslieleeart.blogspot.com and see if you can post a comment on this fresh page (see the side bar on How to Make Comment). If you can, then your cache is the problem.

To get around this you can link to the blog directly from the email you get (if you have subscribed), which will be a fresh page with a functioning comment link. Or, you may force a refresh of the blog page by hitting the F5 key, or hold down the Shift key and hit the Refresh button in the browser toolbar. This will delete just this web page, and all files associated with it, and reload each again into cache.

I hope these last 2 posts help.

Thanks for sticking with me! Next time a painting-I promise!!
Leslie

P.S. the person I was helping did not realize you could enlarge the pictures by clicking on them. Did you?

A better way to subcribe to this blog

I have changed my subscription server to Google Groups instead of FeedBlitz after hearing about so many of you who could not access the sign-up. I really dislike the ugly box (which I may be able to change), but it seems to be doing a better job and I have more control as well. If you subscribe no one will have access to the list but me and you may unsubscribe at any time.

Big K Ranch

"Big K Ranch" 12x20" Oil on Canvas $250

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting my daughter for an overnight at the Big K Ranch in Elkton Oregon, which is about equidistant from here and Portland, where she lives. We both drove through rain the entire trip until we turned into the 5 mile driveway to the guest ranch house and were treated to that sparkley sunshine that comes through rain clouds in mid afternoon. We arrived within 5 minutes of each other and spent the rest of our time there marveling at the Oregon-ness of the place. I was so glad I brought my field easel and paints!

The sheep were not part of this composition when I chose the scene--they wandered in after they decided I was just a new lump on the land. Although most of the the painting was done on site, I did work on it after I got home, and when the green field was dry enough I stuck little pieces of white paper on it with wax and moved them around until I felt the "sheep" were where they should be. I don't really aspire to being a great landscape painter, but it sure is fun!

On that note, Terry Miura will be coming here to teach a plein air painting workshop June 6,7,8. give a shout if you are interested in attending. I will mention this again with more details.

Early Sky

"Early Sky" 12x9 "oil on canvas SOLD Thanks, A.M.

Last Friday I spent way too much time on the computer. I was disappointed that yet another day had gone by without painting, so after dinner, still feeling glum, I flipped through my photos filed under "landscapes" and this scene jumped out to serve my mood. The digital info says I took it in late October of '06... I so appreciate my digital camera and the computer into which I stash all this stuff! I also appreciated the small canvas I used that my daughter left behind years ago, which she had painted two tones of black, so all that spookiness was just waiting to be revealed with a few highlights. Magic. And not glum at all! I felt so much better when I went to bed.

Harvesting Pumpkins

"Harvesting Pumpkins" 6x8" oil on canvas SOLD

After almost two weeks of glorious spring weather and time in the garden, we are back to cold and rain. Somehow this fall scene of harvesting pumpkins seemed the right thing to post today. I have been busy working on larger paintings, which you will see eventually.

Red Ball

"Red Ball" 6x8" oil on canvas $98 SOLD, Thanks L.B.

Our friend Tom was house-sitting recently, and part of his job was to take the dog out every day for a game of fetch. Tom is not much of a dog-lover, but dutifully took the dog out and threw a ball for him. The dog just sat an looked at him for several tosses until it finally dawned on Tom that this is supposed to be FUN! On the next throw he was enthusiastic, and sure enough, the dog went right after it and they played together for quite awhile. Ah, teachers of Zen abound everywhere.
I wasn't thinking of that story when I did this painting, but that's undoubtedly where it came from.

Shasta Abbey

Last Friday I drove south a couple of hours to Shasta Abbey to attend a Beginners Meditation Retreat for "instruction in the practice of Serene Reflection Meditation, talks on basic Buddhist teachings and on the purpose of Buddhist training, and opportunities to put the Buddhist teachings into practice in daily life". I have been meditating (or attempting to) for years and felt some more in-depth guidance would be helpful, so I signed up and took my place among the other 30 or so retreat participants.

I have to say it was one of the more memorable experiences I am likely to have in my life. The monks were kind, instructive, funny, and very, very human. I got a chance to meditate in a Buddhist Temple, under the gaze of a huge golden Buddha, participate in services and ceremonies, practice "working meditation" (the goal, really), and eat in silence while gazing at the magnificence of Mt. Shasta. The dharma talks clarified and echoed my basic philosophy, which was affirming, and the possibility of approaching my painting with a clearer mind seems real. It might even spill over into the rest of my life! Many thanks to everyone at Shasta Abbey for their generosity.

This little painting is just a passing scene from the Monastery, which gives a tiny taste of the serenity there. I am more interested, however, in painting the pictorial metaphors that are popping up from the weekend. I have one started and will post it when it's finished. Undoubtedly there will be many more.

"Shasta Abbey" 8x6" oil on canvas $96
SOLD Thanks, J.E.