Every year about this time, I start to be a little sad that the summer fruits are on their way out and our selection will turn to the year round varieties...not that they are so bad in and of themselves...but I do miss the fresh berries, plums, nectarines and peaches. Summer fruit salads are like being given permission to have dessert with dinner. The endless combinations are more fun than the fall/winter versions, in my opinion.
At first I thought I might need to highlight the Three Plus One...Plum a little more, but I kind of like it as an "afterlook" so that's the way I left it.
"Trois Plus Un" (Small Study)
8"x10" oil on canvas, $55 + s/h (tax when applicable)
rden of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. We were blessed by a lovely, sunny (!) March day and enjoyed a walk through the Japanese Tea Garden. I remember being slightly disappointed that we were missing all the Spring color that would be present in the flowering trees had we been there a few weeks later, but the koi certainly didn't disapoint with their jewel-like tones.
In a mood to paint something whimsical and fun, I decided to paint my own version of a "Tree of Life" and fill it with symbols that were meaningful to me. This marks a return to a style I used when I was much younger and did far less realistic paintings and drawings. In that sense, I allowed myself to be more creative and less literal.
"Around the Bend" is part of a continuing series I'm doing on roads and journeys. Something about roads grabs me and makes me feel all philosophical. I painted this from a photo we snapped when a car full of kids and I were driving home on County Road 257 from Galveston one morning this summer. A tropical storm was entering the Gulf and the clouds were a fascinating contrast from one side to the other. It seemed that what was around the bend was pretty menacing, but once we came around, it wasn't nearly as bad as we had anticipated. 
