Fresh Picks for Inspiration

Ah, summer Farmers Markets: an endless source of inspiration. For most people that probably means fresh ideas for healthy meals featuring local ingredients. For me, it's also about capturing colors and textures on canvas... rather than on a plate!

Purple Peppers ©2014 Dorothy Lorenze (8x10" oil on linen)

These peppers were so strikingly beautiful, I couldn't wait to paint them. Their rich, plumy, purple is striated with a delicate, celery green. Since those colors are basically opposites on the color wheel it was an interesting exercise to delicately blend without making mud. I'm slowly learning to mix more subtle gradations of hue and value to find the right color. It's a little like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"...this little pepper is too purple...! With patience, it should eventually be "just right."

Value is as important as hue and often more difficult to pin down. The grey-blue of reflected light on the shadow side of the pepper is a good example because I kept wanting it to be lighter than it really was. But I think it's working now.

Fortunately, my models were cool about my slow learning curve. They chilled in the refrigerator during painting breaks and remained fresh and glossy for the entire week it took to finish this painting.

Purple Peppers is one of several fresh produce paintings that will be included in my exhibit in the Main House Gallery at Muscoot Farm throughout September. The Gallery is open from 12-4, Saturday and Sundays only. My work will be for sale, weekends, from September 6th thru 28th.

Thanks for joining me on this painting journey.

summer minis

Hello again!

It's been awhile since I've posted - due to a busy summer schedule and the fact that I'm trying to master Mail Chimp so my blog will be sent in all it's graphic glory. Look for that next week month. I'm going to assume all my supportive friends and cyberfriends will be happy to hear from me... but if that's NOT you, there will be an easy "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the post via Mail Chimp.


So for now...

  Tiger Eggplant  • 2012 dorothy byers lorenze

Here are my summer minis. No, no... not mini skirts!!! mini paintings! Featuring bounty from twice weekly visits to farmers markets.

Between having company and being company, and working on the house and gardens, studio time came in smaller, less predictable bits.
So, to avoid being totally frustrated, I worked small: 6x6 to 8x10.

Small paintings are rewarding in their own way because you can focus on a particular area of interest - like the stripes of this funky Tiger Eggplant!

 Cabbage Peach  • 2012 dorothy byers lorenze

Another attribute of small paintings is that one object can truly be the star of a painting. Peaches were amazing this summer and this one was so gorgeous and luscious that it really needed special treatment. It's wrapped in tissue paper (a subject I have wanted to paint because of my attraction to folds, which are like puzzles and labyrinths... but I digress)

The tender enveloping of this succulent peach reminded me of a cabbage rose. But that wasn't quite accurate. My favorite 11 year old suggested "Cabbage Peach." And so it is.

If you can't wait for the full color version of this blog (and you shouldn't wait!) PLEASE click on the title "summer minis" at the top of the email and you will go to the web version... much prettier!

Thanks for visiting!

This beautiful red cabbage was an unexpected find at the farmers' market in Charlotte on Tuesday. 
On Wednesday, it was a finished painting! 
(Well almost.)

There are artists who regularly do a painting a day and, believe me, I'm impressed! I could never imagine how on earth they manage that. I'm learning.

It's not about speedy brushstrokes, more about accuracy. To finish a painting in one day the drawing has to be correct at first pass. Then there is the challenge of color mixing and determining values. Sometimes that comes easily. Sometimes... not so much!

Anyway, it sure feels good to have accomplished so much in one day! I could have left it as it was above but, the moment of truth, for me, always comes the next morning. I decided the color cast was not quite right: not quite purple/red enough. It just didn't have that "red cabbage personality".

So here is the final purple-ier red cabbage. I hope you agree that the color is more authentic.

Doesn't it look like the cabbage is peeking out at the lemon slice? Maybe it's a little jealous of all that "zest." Although, redheads are known to be rather zesty themselves, don't ya think!?

Eggplant Escape

Four mini eggplants sitting on a table...
Along comes a frying pan. 
Two curious young'ns are dazzled by the shine and they take a peek. 
But the other two know what's coming and they're ready to roll...

Eggplant Escape by dorothy byers lorenze, 7/2012

 
Who could resist these guys! 

You never know where inspiration and opportunity will come from. Happily, my daughter's babysitter's Dad and home re-modeler (did you follow that?) is also an avid cook and gardener who likes to share his vegetable bounty. He gave Tara these wonderful, shiny, purple eggplants.

Of course her kids thought they could be put to better use in my studio. I have to agree!
 
So, thanks to Aim Improvements of Charlotte, these purple cuties have been memorialized in oil paint instead of, well, sauteed in olive oil!

Tribute to Produce Pete

I start my day with tea and the NBC Today Show. And you never know where it will lead.

Last month Produce Pete was talking about asparagus. You know Produce Pete - he's the vegetable guru on the Today Show and he's pretty passionate about his veggies. He has caught my attention more than once (St. Patrick's Day cabbage inspiration, for example).

Of course it's quite possible that I just enjoy the organic forms of fruits and vegetables but Produce Pete gets me thinking about all the beautiful colors and shapes of the season and it's a great way to start the day.

So last month, at the end of his segment on the stately asparagus Pete held up a bunch, stuck in a glass of water and said, "THIS is how you keep asparagus fresh!"

Like a trophy in his hand. And all I could think was "Here's to you, Produce Pete!"

So there you have it - my Tribute to Produce Pete. (if anyone out there is best buds with Pete, let him know that somewhere, there is a painting with his name on it!)

I don't know if Pete was thinking about the refraction of light through water and glass - probably not - but look how the straight stalks of asparagus shift underwater and behind the different thicknesses  of glass. Love it!

That Pete sure knows asparagus!

Heirloom Painting #2

I just love to paint.
But now and then I'm convinced, like Luke Skywalker, to use "the force" for good. So I've made a few special, wedding paintings for nieces. This one, is full of family history.

The couple in the photo is my parents (my niece's grandparents) looking cute and dapper - Mom in her 40s full skirt and Dad in his Airforce uniform. They were married during his airforce training at the start of WWII. Mom and her mother took a bus from NYC to Greenville, GA. This was 1943 - way before AC in vehicles - what a trip that must have been! Once they got there my parents had 36 hours to get married and "honeymoon" before Dad's leave was up. Not to mention, they had to wait all afternoon to get hitched because the local priest was napping! (how does this compare to today's wedding planning - I'm just sayin')

Anyway... the brass frame in this painting was made by my father's grandfather, or my niece's great-great grandfather! The vase is one of my mother's prized Lenox pieces. And the medal? Well that's my Dad's Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for dangerous missions as a fighter pilot in the Pacific. Lots of pride there.

With our large family, there really aren't so many family momentos to share with the next generation  so maybe these paintings will help sustain the memories.

...and I should be in the studio because there is another wedding this spring!

Of course, in the true spirit of the "shoemaker" my own children do not (yet?) have a nostalgic, family heirloom painting. (I think they know I love them anyway.)

Get Framed!

Making art can get expensive so I'm always looking for "quality bargains." Sounds like an oxymoron but not really - if what you're buying isn't decent quality, then it's not a bargain. More importantly, it won't compliment your artwork!

If you think of art as food for the soul (essential, really good food!) then the main course is your artwork. The frame?... well it's not quite the icing on the cake, more like a condiment! But if it's the wrong choice, it could be a disaster. Fries with... mayo? NO.

Local framing stores are far too expensive for a daily painter (so sorry, I do buy local whenever I can). I've tried chain craft stores, and other online frame companies but my go-to suppliers are Dick Blick and Art Supply Warehouse for quality, simple, plein air style frames that compliment without competing. Both come in a variety of finishes. The ASW frames are great in black, gold or silver. I prefer Dick Blick for wood colors. Popular sizes are available from both but only ASW has 6" squares and only Dick Blick has 8" squares. Go figure! Both offer bulk discounts and there is a flat fee for shipping (or no fee over a certain $$ amount). Get on their mailing list to catch a special sale for even better bargains.

Here's an example. This little "plum pedestal" was selected for the Mamaroneck Artist's Guild Small Works show next month. Stop in during the reception May 19 from 7-9, say hello, enjoy the art and check out the quality of these frames for yourself!