Another fabulous “tinscape”! These crushed cans are in another landscape formation, with the Folger’s coffee can being most prominent. Being a coffee sipper, I really appreciate the bright red can among the striped soup cans and pull tabs. Lots of movement in this design — all the varieties of gray shapes make the red pop. more »
The third painting of my recycled mashed metal cans. What caught my eye was the red-striped Barbasol can — something used by my husband every day. It contrasted with the Hy-Vee Refried Beans. The ribbed can patterns are interrupted by the top circular sections and reflect surrounding images. The bright colored labels are offset by […] more »
I began this series by taking loads of photographs of the crushed metal cans at the landfill. It was an endless composition of mangled metal — about twelve feet high and six feet wide. Each of my watercolor designs is just a small piece of the whole. I found the ribbed patterns exciting with some […] more »
This design was inspired by a trip to the local recycling center, and I had been thinking about the possibilities of doing more abstract works. I noticed a huge stack of crushed tin and photographed pieces of it. The can ripples and ripped labels were interesting and I wondered about the abstract qualities that were […] more »
The shape and color of this old telephone continues to appear in my still lifes. Also, it is now an antique. I paired it with the game board and cobalt goblets, one of which recently was broken. I love the deep ultramarine blues and the aqua shades — those colors find their way into my setups! […] more »
The fractured abstract patterns of glassware continue to capture my attention and I feel the need to paint these patterns. The designs have an endless quantity of colors and shapes. This one is a simple composition with the glass tumbler and apples and pear with the wood grain table. I usually set up an elaborate still […] more »
What inspires me to choose certain elements in my still life paintings? It seems I’m always looking for the unusual and unique. Instead of using my tried and true goblets, I grabbed some plain, old drinking glasses from the cupboard and added my Chinese sumi-e brushes. I decided the emerald glass needed its complement, so […] more »
I decided to paint what was right in front of me: my curvy, artistic palette, brushes, paint and water jar. The shapes of the pigment splotches were interesting, but very difficult to paint. Also, the wet paint splashes on the palette were a challenge. Sometimes you never think about painting the obvious! The shadow patterns […] more »
What inspired me to paint this still life was the “old” telephone. It is an antique now. The aquamarine blue of the goblets complemented the phone color. I set up the still life with a checkerboard game behind it. I’m intrigued by the abstracted, fractured shapes in the transparency of the glass. The winding cord […] more »
For this still life setup, I wanted to do something really different and unusual. I used a combination from my glassware collection: the bronze champagne glasses; the bubbly, purple goblets; the turquoise goblets; a cobalt blue wine glass; and the red bubble martini glasses. To achieve depth and height, I stacked them on scraps of glass. […] more »