"Trumpet Flowers with Silver" Still life painting by Robin Weiss

"Trumpet Flowers and Silver"   16x12, oil   SOLD

While we are on the subject of floral still lifes...This painting was an experiment for me .....to see how effectively I could paint the air between the foreground subjects and the background floral, printed fabric,,,,,which was a pillow case.

I used my iconic Art Deco  coffee pot which has been in many still life set ups in the past. and some spring trumpet flowers I found growing in the lot across the street. While I was happy with the drafting and certain parts of the painting like the reflections and saturated color of the plate, the painting overall is a little confusing and busy. ......Think I could have simplified the backgound ....It's  always good practice ( as in writing) to find what can be edited out of a painting to make it a stronger design.

Hope you're not to busy to create some unique art of your own!  Stay safe and stay creative!

"Quince in Bloom" Still life oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Quince in Bloom" 16x12  oil on linen  $1000

The first flowering shrubs in spring.. around here anyway, are Quince .  I keep an eye out on a large bush that grows in an empty lot near Central Market for the beginning of the season and always stop to clip a few branches to arrange a still life. That usually gets me inspired to paint a series of flower still lifes. You can check prior blog posts to find them.

You can view this painting along with many other recent works created among artists represented by the Cole Gallery in Edmonds WA. The Gallery is still on limited public access due to covid but is undergoing some painting and renovation and will open soon all fresh and ready to show you the best artwork the Northwest has to offer. Until then check out the Cole Gallery website HERE or call Denise to inquire about adding this painting to your collection.   425-697-2787

"Vase of Roses" original flower, still life painting by Robin Weiss

"Vase of Roses" 14x11 oil on panel    $800
Available through the Michael Birawer Gallery, Seattle
206-624-7773

After finishing this painting, which went very fast as some do, I was wishing that I had photographed the process. This time of year I take stock of all the panels around the studio. Paintings that haven't sold or didn't work. Ones that had potential at the time but just stacked up. Hating to waste anything,  these derelicts can sometimes be great foundations for new work. . In this case the painting was a mostly blue seascape, awful thing, that I turned upside down so as not to be too distracted and then used a photograph of a back lit, vase of roses on the porch. Working quickly with large brush and lots of thick juicy paint I blocked in the simple shapes and for once, stopped before overworking the thing.  You never know what can happen! Give it a try!

The Flower Vendor, Pike street market, Seattle

I worked about four more hours on the face of the vendor and I think that will do it. Now I'll set up the painting and live with her awhile, see where I need to make some final adjustments.
sold

The Flower Vendor, Pike Street Market, I.P.

I worked all day, about 8 hours straight through on this painting today and it is almost finished. I am happy with the whole painting except the face of the vendor which is the focal point and key to the entire piece. hopefully I can put the spark of life into this painting that will make it exceptional.....stay tuned

The Flower Vendor, painting in progress

Lets see, alot has been happening that has kept me from painting besides painters block and the fact that my mom got run over in the Albertsons parking lot by another senior citizen who apparently could not see over the dash board of her car. bad news is mom sustained a broken left wrist and right foot but she gained a new friend.

I did get a chance to get some new photos while showing my cousin Sandy, her hubby Rich and my aunt Bea around town last week.

I jumped back into painting with this ambitious (for me) 28x22 inch stretched canvas of a flower vendor at the Pike street market in Seattle. This one will take awhile but I got a good start on it today while waiting to take my mom to the doctors.

This is Aunt Bea from Perry Ohio. Seems my week was full of fiesty seniors. We had a great time!

"The Manure Spreader"," Boat Haven Painters", " Dalias on the Deck", oil landscapes,marinescape and still life

This plein air painting of the "Manure Spreader" kinda sums it up for me this last week. Painting has been such a struggle for some reason. I think I'm gonna step back and take a breather for awhile. ....11x14 oil on panel done down on Big Valley road at the Veterinary clinic.. $200.00
Saturday down at the boat haven in Port Townsend. This guy saw me painting , came over and said, " Hey if you like to paint I'll give you a job", and tryed to hand me his respirator. 8x8 oil on panel, $135.00
These dalias on my deck just keep drawing me in. I can't help trying to paint them even though I don't want to....10x8 oil on panel $135.00

Warm Dalias

I'm pooped. I'll tell ya about my weekend later.. 9x12, oil on panel Sold

Daily Coffee Bar

I've been stopping at this coffee stand for like 15 years . Its got a convenient spot to pull up your big truck. This is the view if you were sitting in the cab. Then you can hop out grab a cheesey dog for breakfast pack it with lots of relish,ketchup and mustard so you get all the food groups that make up a healthy meal .Oh ya throw in a Dr Pepper and a Snickers . Then cruise in for the daily fix at the daily coffee bar...mmmm thats livin! 8x10 oil on panel $125.oo sold
Meet Jolynn, along with her business partner Satara they own the Daily Coffee Bar. I love her smile! Hey JoJo!

Another go at the Spirea

Its been awhile since I spent any time at the studio so Monday afternoon I packed up the paints and went over for some plein air painting. The spirea is in bloom again. Its a lovely native bush that has lavender blossoms sort of like a butterfly plant. I remember painting them last year. It's interesting to go back a year on your blog and see what you were doing and how you have improved...... or not. 7x7 oil on panel , $100.00
My plan was to do several paintings but it was nice to hang out with Jim, Leigh and Pete showed up too. I'm adding a couple sketches I did back when we had life drawing classes going. the top ones are Pete who filled in for a model one day and the bottom one is Leigh who filled in another day when a model didn't show. ( The reason we don't have life drawing anymore, can't find reliable models)

By the way if your a reliable model who needs work , email me maybe we can get our drawing class going again.
Note...... The hand gesture at the lower right corner of this drawing was completely unintentional and I didn't realize it looked that way until I stood back and someone brought it to my attention. .........Then the silence was broken by hysterical laughter.

Day Lily

Day lilys are aptly named. Better do your sketches and color notes , because they won't look that way tomorrow. This one was in my back yard. I used my little guide book to color mixing to get the compliments right. Picking a petal to match the color , I took my sketch and a mental picture to the studio.
A page from the sketch book
I'm posting the reworked " Breidablik Chapel " I did scrape this painting. It was drier than the other painting I scraped so the effect was different. I do think this rework is better but not because of the scraping. I used a photo and was able to add a little of the detail that was missing on the first...... I guess there are some parts I like better and some worse.