red tea and white wine

Two more pieces for the February show. Beverages this time. Red tea in blue willoware on an Oriental rug (I love that straight-down perspective, especially in a square), and white wine in my mother's beautiful crystal, glowing golden by candlelight. 'Red Tea' may be the most fun I've had doing a painting; it just flowed, and I was surprised to find it finished all at once. The cut crystal tumbler, lower right in 'Wineglasses,' may have been the most difficult passage in all the pieces for this show. I struggled to depict that elegant cut glass, with its colorful reflections and sharply angled highlights, while keeping the look painterly and the edges not-too-aggressive.  I'm reasonably pleased with the result, but will certainly be trying again (and again) until I fully understand. Can't say I like that piece, but it's a finished piece and I need finished pieces.

Red Tea, 12 x 12 inches

Wineglasses, 16.5 x 11 inches

All content ©2011 Kimberly Denise. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

beloved fruit

I can't prepare for a show without making a couple of paintings of fruit.  I love painting fruit, especially apples and pears.  I never tire of either.  I also love working in a square format.  There's something deeply satisfying about a square.

Two Pears, 13 x 13 inches    SOLD

Apple, 12 x 12 inches, private collection.

All content ©2011 Kimberly Denise. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

companion pieces

Pitcher with Apple,  10 x 8 inches.   Available through The Harrison Gallery.

Pitcher with Apple 2,  10 x 8 inches.   Available through The Harrison Gallery.

Two small pieces I did as a pair for my upcoming show at The Harrison Gallery. The antique pitchers are from my mother's collection. My mom has some gorgeous, gorgoeus pieces....and I have open access to them, yet I don't have to dust! Perfect. My son tells me he prefers red apples to yellow (in paintings, as well as for eating), but I like the yellow/blue palette in these pieces. Unfortunately, they were difficult to photograph, so these are not very good images.

All content ©2011 Kimberly Denise. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

stained glass

These pieces will be among those featured in my solo show, opening February 5, at The Harrison Gallery in Williamstown, MA.  The show will hang until the end of the month.

Chalice, 24 x 24 inches, available at The Harrison Gallery

Two Shakers, 22 x 20 inches, available at The Harrison Gallery

The reference images for both of these pieces were shot at the Crossroads Country Mall in Lima, NY (see my previous post for more information).  Mike and I made a trip specifically to shoot reference images on a blisteringly hot Saturday afternoon.  The [non-air-conditioned] store was busy, and I am deeply glad that I managed to get a series of shots--which included standing on chairs and moving small, fragile merchandise with my slippery hands, often while holding my cell phone in my mouth--without damaging anything, including myself!  Other [overheated, cranky] customers were looking at us a little strangely (especially after Mike put on the big feathered hat).  When we got back outside and reviewed the photos, we did a little happy dance right there on the sidewalk.  These two paintings are the first results from that trip.  Each one took over two weeks to paint--an exercise in patience for not-so-patient me!

All content ©2011 Kimberly Denise. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

from my last show

These pieces were in a group show at The Harrison Gallery, Williamstown, MA, in the Fall of 2010.

Iced Tea in the Afternoon, 10 x 15 inches, available through The Harrison Gallery

Iced Tea in the Afternoon was born in the Louisiana summer sun.  I was sitting in the shady green grotto beneath a big palm tree in my courtyard with a glass of iced tea, when I became fascinated by the pattern made by the melting ice.  I knew I had to paint it.

Daybreak, 22 x 30 inches, SOLD

I am an inveterate collector of glass bottles, and they find homes anywhere and everywhere.  Daybreak is a look at the windowsill in the butler's pantry in my lovely city apartment here in Rochester. I was lucky to capture these beauties on a cool blue morning, kissed by the oblique rays of the rising sun.

Stained Glass with Bottles, 24 x 21 inches  SOLD

I stumbled upon the reference for Stained Glass with Bottles at the Crossroads Country Mall in Lima, NY.  This antique/flea market is located in an old church along western New York's Routes 5 & 20, an east-west corridor between the Finger Lakes and the Niagara Region.  (It's an off-the-beaten-path area well worth exploring.)  We were shopping for still life objects on our way to a Finger Lakes wine tour.  Mike spotted some bottles on a high shelf in front of this extraordinary stained-glass window, and I immediately started shifting things around so I could get a photo with my cell phone.  It was way above my head, but I held the phone high and snapped away. When we looked at the images, I was afraid our shrieks of excitement would get us thrown out of the store.  Those few hasty, off-balance shots gave me material for a series of paintings along with a whole new infusion of inspiration.  We've been back a couple of times since.  I wish I could bring home the windows, but at least I can buy the glassware!  The bottles in Daybreak, above, came from the same trip.

All content ©2011 Kimberly Denise. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

down to the bare walls

I pin my paintings up on the wall as I finish them; it's a safe way of storing them so they won't get smudged. In preparation for my February show, I had nine finished pieces stuck to my wall, and oh! that felt so good. It gave me a little shiver of pleasure every time I entered the studio to see the fruits of my hard work (literally--there were several apples and pears). But now they are gone, gone, gone. Of course, I'll feel much better about it once they sell, sell, sell!

A couple of "before" shots:






Time to get busy at the easel and fill those walls again! I feel like I need flowers this time of year; maybe I'll start there.

She actually finished another painting!

Orange Slice, 13 x 13 inches, soft pastel on paper.

At long last. I needed a break, but this was getting ridiculous. I had a lot of fun with this one; now I'm dying to do more.

It looks a lot better on a white background; click the image to pop it out.

Finally, I can ship all the pieces for my May 30 show.

Mason jar paintings

Here are some more pieces I painted during my blogging-break. I thought they deserved to be posted. I'll confess that these are my current favorites, especially the first two.


Jar on Jar, 18 x 24, soft pastel on paper. SOLD



Mason jar/gauze curtains, 16 x 20, soft pastel on paper.
SOLD



Mason jars/glass heart, 14.5 x 15, soft pastel on paper. SOLD

The glass heart featured in the second and third pieces was given to me by my son when he was about 4. He had a dollar to spend on whatever he chose--and he chose that paperweight for me!

Sunflower Soup II

Sunflower Soup II, 12 x 16, soft pastel on paper SOLD

Finally finished it. This one got stalled at the "ugly stage," and then I had an exceptionally busy week at work and left it sitting even longer. I wish I had a better approach to surmounting that no-apparent-hope-for-it phase of a painting. My current approach is to just pick up a pastel and start doing something--anything--until it starts looking decent again. It nearly always ends up working . . . but I always get stopped for a while.

The yellows appear to have desaturated on upload. Picture them a bit richer than they look here!

Filling the gap

I'm going to post a new painting today. Tomorrow at the latest. In the meantime, I have plenty of other work to share, painted during my two-year hiatus from blogging.

Here are some pieces from my first gallery show a year ago:


Essence of Autumn I; 15 x 10 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Essence of Autumn II; 7 x 14.5 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Essence of Autumn III; 14 x 10 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Seven Shades of Gold; 15 x 12 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Afterglow; 11 x 15 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Vase I; 4.5 x 18 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Vase II; 4.5 x 18 inches; soft pastel on paper.
Available for purchase through the Harrison Gallery.


Copper and Crabapple I; 10 x 10 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD


Copper and Crabapple II; 10 x 10 inches; soft pastel on paper. SOLD

hall of mirrors

My work goes meta. While the painting on my easel creeps along ever-so-slowly, I thought I'd share some fun photos I've taken using my own paintings as creative elements. I can amuse myself for hours making these kinds of pictures, usually prompted by group projects at Flickr.


Click here to see some of my favorites among the photos on my Flickrstream.


The glass in this photo is the one from my orange spiral painting a few posts back. It's also featured in the painting it's perched on. Don't worry, there's glass in between. I called this one "glass under glass under glass" (every Flickr photo gets a title).
Sometimes I crack myself up.

Orange Spiral

Orange Spiral, 9 x 7.5 inches SOLD

A beautiful warm day today, with the sun streaming in and setting the orange alight. I almost felt like the orange itself was giving off heat. I've painted this little glass many times before, but I keep coming back to it because I love the way it holds the light. This is a small piece--I had a scrap of paper already prepped that I wanted to use up, so I stepped away from the sunflowers and knocked this out. Note to self: I do not like working small.

see all my work at KimDenise.com

sunflower soup

Sunflower Soup, 15 x 11 inches, soft pastel on paper.

It's past my bedtime, so I'll keep this short. I've been working on this one all week. Floral and glass is a new combination for me. I loved painting the swirls of the petals behind the green glass. I wish I had done this three or four times larger! Uploading seems to have desaturated it somewhat.

see all my work on my website.

Another floral--a bouquet this time

Sunday Afternoon, 18x15 inches, soft pastel on Wallis.

Started this a while ago--finally had a chance to finish it today. I have no idea how this image looks--I got a new monitor and haven't quite gotten it adjusted yet, LOL.

Painting flowers is not my strong suit--but it feeds something in me. I can't get enough. I'm sure you'll be seeing more soon!

another oil pastel quickie

I'm having fun now! This is from a reference at Wet Canvas. I don't get over there often, but it's well worth a visit. I spent a little over an hour on this one. I need more oil pastels....


Iris, 6x12 inches, oil pastel on Wallis.

Big Bouquet!

Big Bouquet, 16 x16 inches, soft pastel on Wallis.

I was further inspired by flowers from the garden. I don't particularly like Asiatic lilies in the flowerbed...but in the vase they're irresistible! This may have been the most fun I've ever had painting. I'll definitely be painting more flowers. Why haven't I done this before?

I'm going to try and get a better photo--this one is a bit dark. This piece is so bright, it's downright gaudy!

15-minute Bouquet

Just had to test-drive some of my new colors! This is 9x8 inches, soft pastels on Wallis.

Portrait revisited

Went and bought a few new pastels so I could fix this up a bit...here's the result. Daniel has approved the new lip color--which doesn't look this red in real life! (We held various pastels up to his mouth at the art store this afternoon.)

You can see I altered the jaw line a little bit, which takes away some of the likeness (not that most of you know what he looks like, LOL). I'll have to fix that. I also need to learn how to paint hair...

Yellow Contemplation--finished at last!

16.5 x 16.5 inches, soft pastel on Wallis. SOLD.

Whoo-hoo! On to the next one! (I changed the name, by the way. Did you notice?)

Yellow and Blue Danube--start to finish

I always think it's fun to be able to see them all together in sequence, but there are many earlier posts with commentary about each of the steps. You can find them below and in the list along the right-hand side of the page.

This was a challenging piece for me. I changed direction a number of times and had to develop some new skills to handle all this high-key color appropriately. I'm really happy to be done--and also really glad that I stuck with it!