Green Shadows and Zorn Palette Portraits

"Green Shadows"

10 x 10 inches, oil on panel

$400

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It's been awhile since I've painted my glass float collection, but I'm back in love! You can see a couple more new float paintings on Instagram.

Also - I'm really excited for my newest video workshop! It's being released tomorrow, August 5th, and I'm super proud of it. Are you interested in exploring the Zorn palette? (Or, as I like to call it, "training wheels for flesh tones?") Join me!

Watch the trailer here!

Distance

"Distance"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas on panel

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This year has not been what I expected.  If you've been feeling stuck, blocked, sluggish, or lost your creative motivation, know that you're not alone. I'm slowly returning to a semblance of normal - beginning to teach in-person while still teaching online, and planning to spend July and August doing a lot of painting. 

I'm grateful for the beautiful things that have come into my life this year, and for the perspective that all of this change/uncertainty has brought me. Warm wishes to you, thank you for reading.

Green Juice

"Green Juice"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Click to buy

I fell in love-at-first-sight with this little green guy at a workshop in Florida last week, and my hosts graciously gave it to me! That kind of thing actually happens pretty often - being a still life painter does tend to create object-obsession - and simple gifts (or long-tern loans) tend to turn into painting subjects I can mine for months - if not years! 

Chopped Choy

"Chopped Choy"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$450

Click to buy

Another look at this Bok Choy - after the knife treatment! Loved observing the enfolded shapes of the white stems contrasted with that fluttering "skirt!"

Did you get my last newsletter? It's the best way (besides Instagram) to keep up with my biggest announcements. In this edition, I hint around about a sweet giveaway I'm hosting on Instagram this week. Sign up here if you'd like to get the next one!

Bound/Unbound

"Bound" and "Unbound"

Two canvases, each 10x20 inches, oil

$600 each

Link to "Bound" 

Link to "Unbound"

A two-for-one blog post today! I didn't really begin painting "Bound" intending to do a follow-up, but the more I got into those gorgeous leaves, the more I wanted to try them from the other direction - and slice one in half. Those leaves were pure joy to paint, from both angles!

Green and Blue Glass

 "Green and Blue Glass"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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Click here to watch a short (51 second) video of my process!

Green Salsa - A One-Dollar Auction!

 "Green Salsa"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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I taught some GREAT workshops in May,  capped off with Memorial Day weekend at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, on the Oregon Coast, with a wonderful group of artists. 

Here was their value demo, in black and white, which later became this painting!

Oil Painting Boot Camp is turning out to be a really fun workshop - we use only three colors and white (artist's choice!), and do some of my favorite quick exercises - Twisted 20's, Stroke Economy - and of course, work from fun, colorful still lifes!

Beautiful studio, isn't it?

My next Oil Painting Boot Camp will be July 26-28th, at The Oklahoma Academy of Classical Art in Edmond, OK. Join me!

Pink Ring

"Pink Ring"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas on panel

$350

Click to buy

Experimenting with color in this one - Burnt Sienna and Sap Green, plus white! Proving once again that everything in painting is relative - a tube of "brown" creates gorgeous pinks when offset by its complement, green. 

Greensward

"Greensward"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

Hello, it's been a while! I've been teaching a lot lately - both workshops and online - and having a blast. My studio panting time has been falling into two categories - quick studies and oil sketches, both for personal research and as teaching tools - many of which can be seen and purchased directly through Instagram -- and larger works, of which this is one. 

Thanks for looking!

Winter Greens

 

"Winter Greens"

18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

Click to buy

A bit larger than I usually work! Here's a shot of the finished painting in my studio, with the still life:

 

 

I've got a workshop coming up March 2-3 in Portland, OR, and I could really use some help spreading the word! If you know an oil painter - of any skill level - in the area, please consider sharing it with them. Here's a link to all the info. Many thanks! 

- Sarah

The Jungle

"The Jungle"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$400

Click to buy

I gave my online students a challenge this month to paint interiors....and then, I had to try it myself! Proving that my green thumb is not just stray Pthalo, (though it is that too), here are just a few representatives of my plant collection.

Silver Kiss

"Silver Kiss"

8 x 10 inches, oil on linen panel

$250

Click to buy

The metal teapot is new to me, thanks to a very productive antique-mall outing. This kiss won't be the last you'll see of him, I'm sure! As the saying goes, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

 

 

Seeking Sunlight

"Seeking Sunlight"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$400

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This is the season for Black-Eyed-Susans - they are everywhere! So, it's no surprise that a dive into my painting archive turns up several paintings of this lovely flower, from this week in history.

Here is my first one, from August 2008:

 "Black-Eyed-Susan" 5x7" oil on canvas panel, 2008

I am still fond of this painting! I lost the vase in a wax-spilling accident a couple of years ago. It's quite remarkable, the relationships I develop with my still life objects, living with them and painting them over and over for years. I could show you half a dozen paintings of that vase, and now there won't be any more.

This green beauty is a recent gift from a friend. I wonder how many times I'll paint it in years to come?

The Letter

 "The Letter"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Grapes are so much fun to paint. Every time I try it, I wonder why I don't do it more often. 

Here's a work-in-progress for this one, with its black-and-white oil study. 

Thanks for looking!

Radiate

 

 "Radiate"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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For this one, I did a quick study with black sharpie and grey Pitt pen on white paper - just three values. When you have your composition all planned out before you get to the canvas, painting is even MORE fun!

Sorrow

 "Sorrow (Three of Swords)" 

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

$600

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I'm loving learning about Tarot by researching each card as I use them in my paintings. This one, the Three of Swords, when it's in the upright position, is kind of a bummer - but not entirely without sunshine. Yes, the card represents a painful episode in life, but pain can be seen as an opportunity to grow stronger, to change the direction of your life. While the pain may cloud your vision for a certain period, it will eventually allow you to see clearly and to put the past behind you. 

If you let them, the Swords cards can rid you of your denial and teach you valuable lessons.

...And if you paint them, they can teach you valuable lessons about color mixing and edges!

As always with a piece this large, I began with a black and white study. This one has already gone to a collector who saw it on Instagram, but you can see a lot more of these oil studies in my Etsy shop.

Black and white studies really help me plan my paintings - specifically, the way my big value shapes will affect the composition. What shape and gesture do the darkest darks make on the canvas? How dark are my cast shadows, really? And where is my area of strongest contrast? I keep the study close to me while I'm painting the color version, to remind myself of my intentions.

Purple Coil

 

"Purple Coil"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$400

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When I posted this color scheme on Instagram, a friend in Louisiana shouted, "Mardi Gras!" I'm fascinated by the psychology of color - especially color combinations, and why some appeal to us and others don't. Purple and green is one of my favorite combos - and orange completes the triad of secondary colors.  

 💜💚🧡

Fun fact: did you know that in ancient Rome, purple dye was made from snails? 

 

Sketch for "Purple Coil"

oil paint on Arches oil paper

approx. 8 x 8 inches, unframed

$100

Emerald Orb - and Workshop Announcements!

"Emerald Orb"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Available via Brackenwood Gallery, click to inquire

My strange little offering from Still Life Open Studio last week. It's always such an adventure - I never know what I will come home with, even though I bring all the objects and set up the still life! 

This painting may be strange, but I love it. It just lingers in my eye.

I want to give you all a last-minute heads up about two still life workshops I'll be teaching soon - one in Park City, Utah later this month, and the other in Oklahoma City in October.  Spaces are still available in both, and I'd love to have you join me!

Green Flash

"Green Flash" 

10 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Available, click to buy

My latest! Here it is, on the easel:

I did a black and white oil sketch for this piece, as I often do before beginning larger works. This time I actually managed to stick to the plan! If you squint, the values between the grayscale and the color painting match up well. That's the goal! 

The black and white piece is 6 x 12" on Arches oil paper, and it's available. Click here to bid on it.

Thanks, as always, for looking!

Go Green... and Yellow!

 "A Dish of Green Olives"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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Interrupting my stream of residency paintings to post a piece from one of March's Still Life Open Studio sessions. Is it a coincidence that I'm posting this very green-and-yellow painting on the eve of the big Oregon Ducks final four basketball game (green and yellow being the U of O's school colors)? 

 Yes, it is. 😉

These two daffodils took a turn as daily sketch subjects the next morning, looking fresh and rested, even after their rigorous evening modeling session. The lemons, too. Troopers!