Three's A Crowd

6"x6" oil on archival panel

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day."

- W. Earl Hall

I'm finally back home, and have some groceries, had a chance to paint, be overwhelmed by emails, and just in general, feel great to be back in the studio. There's rumors of another round of snow in our near future, so I'm lucky I picked up a nice bouquet of sunflowers & larkspur at the grocery store!

This grouping of apples came from some sketch book ideas - I had been staring at a painting I had done earlier this year of a pair of apples, "Dueling Grannies", and I really loved the color & dynamics between the pair. The color just gave this such dimension, I knew this would be a subject worthy of further exploration. I was in one of those times where "life interrupts" & has other plans, which happened to include some plane & train travel. So I sketched out more ideas for interesting groupings of apples...Funny thing, I kept the focus fairly simple, and the ideas kept coming. Now THAT was a fun way to explore (and for me, use limited time wisely). From these little sketchbook ideas, I still set up the apples, cloth, lighting, etc. (just to make sure my original plan still holds up). It was so nice today to have the thought process already in gear.

Lots of good things coming up; I'm planning a another 12"x12" floral with the flowers I bought today, I've got a wedding commission to start (sketches are already done), and can't wait to paint some more of my fun little apple sketches (exploring color in these have been a great delight!).