Trompe L'Oeil

11 x 14 Oil on Board
This is a true Trompe L'Oeil painting.  Roughly translated that means to 'trick the eye.'  By keeping the depth of the still life very shallow and painting the objects life size, the viewer is drawn to the images to see if they can touch it.  This painting has fingernail marks in the varnish.  People tried to scrape the paper book cover at the corner.  I consider that a big compliment.

12 x 16 Oil on Board
This arrangement was done by a student for one of my students' annual shows.  All the flowers were in her garden.  The painting has a double significance. First, it is all spring flowers, and at this time of year we are looking forward to these plants.  Also, it reminds me of the show, the good time we always have at our opening reception, and it is time to remind the students to get their favorite painting that they did this year ready to exhibit. 

11 x 14 Oil on Board
The postcard in this painting was sent to my husband in the mid 1970's from his brother in Paris.  The old man looked so melancholy, it made a nice addition to this still life.  The purple rabbit was carved in Oaxaca, Mexico.  We purchased it on a trip in the 90's.  If you add the oriental bamboo and vase and the New England flowers, we have a very cosmopolitan set-up, but you have to look for it.

Grandmother Lucy

11 x 14 oil on board
This is a portrait of my Father's mother, Lucy Ellen Billings Bitgood.  The photo that I copied from was taken when she was 16 years old.  This hangs in my living room, next to the portrait of my Mother's mother, Rose.

Melon with Spoon

8 x 10 Oil on board
Sometimes the simplest images are the best.

Spring Daffodils

9 x 12 Oil on Board
This is an old friend, purchased out of the Lenox Gallery.  The daffodils and tulip were out of my yard and they remind me that spring is almost here.  Time to look for the shoots from the spring bulbs.

9 x 12 Oil on Board
Any ideas for a name for this new painting?  It will be in a show in April for the first time.

8 x 24 Acrylic on board
The surface of this painting was very textured. It caught the light well. The pears are from the trees of one of my students.  They were imperfect and muchmore interesting to paint.  The fruit crock is from another student.  Everything worked together.  From the Collection of Connie Galli.

12 x 16 oil on board
Orange and blue are complimentary colors and create tension and spark when used together.  The blueberries are from my own yare, and we had to scramble to find enough blue in other items to make it work.  My home has very little blue. 

Rose

11 x 14 Oil on Board
This painting won best of show at the Piedmont Art Show in 1991.  It is a Trompe L'Oeil of items that remind me of my mother's mother, Rose.  The photo is my painting of her at 16, and she crocheted lacey doilies and table cloths for all her family.  It hangs in my living room with another one of my Father's mother.

9 x 12
This was a study for a back splash behind my stove.  We still have the brass pitcher, I think it is time to paint it again.  The reflections are fun and the brass is very warm, which I enjoy  This painting was sold from the Lenox Gallery, so I don't know where it ended up. 

Hand made basket and crock jar

22 x 28 Oil on Board
I struggled with this composition.
Originally I tried a toy train and it was too dark and detailed to stay in the forground.  The apples work much better, and I think they brighten the painting.  The basket was in a second hand shop in Florida.  The random design caught  my eye.

8 x 10 oil on Board
This pewter coffee pot was a wedding gift to my sister 50 years ago.  It is classic design, looks good anywhere.  I knew it would be a good painting.  This piece will be on display for the first time at the Crossroads show at the Dane Gallery in Indian Orchard in April.

16 x 20 oil on board
My niece bought this lovely fan at a street  market in China.  It hangs on a wall in her room.  The warm colors reflect throughout the room, which gave me the idea for painting it near a white vase.  I exagerated the reflections just a little, because they are so interesting to me. 

8 x 16 Acrylic on Board
This started out as a demonstration in Open Acrylics for an art association.  I was having so much fun I came home and finished it.  These are railings on my front porch.  Open Acrylics are a new type of acrylics that don't dry as fast on the palette and allow for more time to work.  They are also more transparent than other acrylics so they have a little more of the 'glow' that one see with oils. 

Oil on Board
This is the second painting using this same worn basket and cloth.  Warm colors really appeal to me.  Apples are a bit hit with New Englanders.  I don't know who bought this painting at the Lenox Gallery. 

8 x 10 Oil on Canvas
This was a monochromatic study.  We called it Gatsby because of the sense of style.  It is in the collection of Bob Kadis.  It is still one of my favorites.

12 x 16 Oil on board
This painting started with a wonderful worn basket on a fall day.  The cloth reminded  me of the dish towels my Mom used when we were kids.  Apples are always beautiful, especially at that time of year, when we can pick them ourselves and try some different kinds of flavors than we would normally find in the grocery stores.  A nice reminder of a good time of year. 

16 x 20 oil on board
This painting was done for a special event at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center a few years ago.  The Center made prints and sold them that evening and the Gerena family bought the painting.  It is wonderful to keep my paintings local, where I know where they are.  The items were lent to me by friends locally.  Special thanks to the Santiago family of Santiago's Restaurant in Westfield.

11 x 14 Oil on Board
Peaches are one of my favorite subjects.  The silver makes a nice contrast to the fuzzy peach, the soft carpet and the fringe.  The background is a complementary color to the peaches, so the peaches pop. 

11 x 14 Oil on Board
Apples are a beautiful subject, especially in New England.  The tablecloth has a very slight damask design of white on white.  The painting needed an area with some design in it.
I call this Brass with Apples.  I still need help with a name.

12 x 16 Oil on Board
This is a complementary color schene of yellow/violet with an unexpected dash of Cerelean Blue.  It is fun to paint the mottled backgrounds with more detailed flowers in the forground.  I haven't named this yet except to identify it as pansies and plums.

Oil on Board
Another painting that was sold through a gallery, so I don't know who is enjoying it now.  This was worked from life during the summer, so the veggies had to be painted first.   The cucumber creates a little tension, it is separate from the other objects and might roll away.