"Wildly Cherry M&M's"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













I did make it out to the Rio Grande Gorge today.

And it was too cold and blustery to paint. :(

I promise to get out there and paint ASAP.

Meanwhile, I had these just lying around. . .

Still one painting behind. . .

"Caribe Pepper"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













"Carribe Pepper II"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













Well, I had all these plans to drive down into the Rio Grande Gorge today to paint, but my crazy dog, Dulce, jumped through a barbed wire fence and now, after an expensive trip to the vet, I'm home with her, painting peppers.

Maybe I'll get to the Gorge tomorrow.

I'm one painting behind. I hope to make it up tomorrow.

"Red Bananas"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord










"Red Banana; Peeled"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













I noticed a lot of people lately painting bananas.

So, of course, I had to go out and find the weirdest version I could.

These are Guatemalan Reds.

And they went bad too fast for me to try one, so I can't tell you how they taste. :(

Sorry about all the starts and stops; we're packing for the move to Taos.

I promise to keep up my picture count; you just might get it in twos and threes for a while.

"My Peeps"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord










"Love Peeps"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord







I warned y'all I might get around to painting Peeps.

It's finally come.

If you're not familiar with Peeps, go to your local grocery store and look at the Easter display.

Trust me, you'll see them.

They're horribly addictive little marshmallow candies that are the opposite end of the spectrum from circus peanuts in that they're light and fluffy and usually coated in granular sugar.

Mmmmmm.

"Weird Little Carrot"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord















"Bunch of Weird Little Carrots"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord






These are from last week's major raid on the produce section of HEB Central Market.

They're just about to go bad; they've been in my fridge since then.

I went to paint the bunch first.

I was setting up, looked away for a second and my dog, Dulce, walked by, casually snagged the entire bunch and went to her bed with them.

Thankfully, I noticed the theft before she'd done much damage.

She did manage to pull the single most interesting carrot out of the bunch, so I ended up painting that first.

The whole bunch reminds me of a rat king somehow. . .

"Blushing Pear"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













I've been packing and cleaning all day and I can't get the colors on this to come out right in this scan.

Trust me, it's got a lot more red and the darks are a lot less dark.

I hate my camera set up right now.

"Six Nekkid Jelly Babies"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord






Still smarting over the loss of the Dougherty Arts Center and nekkid day.

So, here are my very own six, count 'em, six, nekkid models.

And I ate them all up afterward. :)

"Asparagus Spears"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













More odd colors from HEB Central Market.

I just love that salmon pink against the yellow-green.

Can't stand to eat asparagus though.

My Mom, Dad and Husband had this for dinner last week after I brought it home.

I got the leftovers to paint.

When I was a kid I used to catch fish for my parents and siblings to eat.

I'd eat hot dogs.

I loved catching fish. Just couldn't stand the taste.

Guess this is more of the same.

Enjoy!

"Pepino Melon"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













This started out as a fairly straightforward study of a weird Ecuadorian pepino melon I found at Central Market, on a collection of some of the new color drapes my Mother helped me pick out.

Then it got all dark and angsty.

You see, my cat, Spike, has gone missing.

And my heart is all yellow and purple and feels like it wants to burst (in a bad way).

Tomorrow I have to put up missing posters.

I might have to paint Spike a few more times to get me through this. . .

"Three Tangelos"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord







David's been at the fruit section again.

These tangeloes were such an amazing shade of orange and they looked so good against the blue. . . And then he ate them.

I'm afraid it's been a very good week in the produce section, so there's more fruit and veg to come.

The good news is that my Mother has been color sorting for me (she's a professional color consultant) and there's some very interesting color combinations in store.

She pointed out some combos I would never have dreamed of.

You'll have to tell me what you think.

"Black Calla Lilies"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













Wouldn't Georgia O'Keeffe have just loved 'black' calla lilies?

Back when she was painting her lilies (and she was known as 'the lady of the lilies'), the white ones were the only ones available and then for only part of the year. She would spend a week sequestered with them when they finally arrived, waiting for the perfect moment to capture their beauty.

We're spoiled now, and can now get them all year round in an amazing range of colors.

The dark purple of these 'black' ones has been pestering me for some time. I'm glad I finally got around to painting some.

It won't be the last time.

"Raspberry"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord








I needed to paint this before it totally ripened into mush, but it's kinda how I feel after yesterday's debacle with what passes for 'the voting process' in this country.

Rpppththhhhpppppp.

I think I'm going to swear off news until January '09.

And I'm definitely swearing off politics.

"The Lovers"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord













Well, the first nekkid day with no nekkid day.

I'm still pretty bummed.

So I painted some weird, taupe colored pears.

Two more weeks before the move.

I have a vague idea what to try next week. . .

Might be even weirder than usual, so stay tuned!

"Yellow Plums"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord







I saw these at Whole Foods yesterday and had a WTF moment.

I had to have them. They're the weirdest looking things.

Yellow gold hearts.

Then to make things even weirder; tonight David and I were watching Babylon 5, an episode called 'Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi', and the mad Emperor Cartagia had one in his hand.

If coincidences are just coincidences, then why do they seem so contrived?

"Red Plum"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord








I don't think I've mastered plums yet.

Need to paint more.

"Blood Orange Slices"
3" by 4"
Oil on Gessobord






I had no idea blood oranges were purple inside!

The pulp's a gorgeous crimson, but the segments individually are purple!

What a weird fruit! And the smell is just overwhelming! Wow!