Last Oil Commission of the Year

On December 31, it was cold and gray outside. This meant it would take awhile to get heat up near the easels in the painting workshop, so I chose to paint inside the house. 

The lady from Spain who bought a poppy and requested an orange and a pomegranate to match extended her stay here. (Clearly, she is liking our subject matter.) This meant there was enough time for me to paint a pomegranate. It made me wish I could get the orange painting back in order to touch it up, assign an inventory number, and scan it. (I painted the orange in a day while sitting at the Courthouse Gallery.)

It has a few days to dry before it is ready to be scanned and delivered. 

It is very pleasant to paint in the house – I sit at the dining table instead of standing at the easels. The room is warm, Trail Guy is hanging around, Pippin is in the living room (under strict rules), there are tunes. Yes, I can have tunes in the painting workshop but I generally listen to podcasts instead. Maybe I’ll get my hard-nosed work face in place a little later in the new year. But for now, this is my preference. 

Thank you, Señora España, for choosing the art of this Central California artist!

Accepted

The Madera County Art Council notified me that the following pieces have been accepted into their Ag Art Show.

Loves Cotton, Loves To Knit oil painting by Jana Botkin
Loves Cotton, Loves To Knit, 8×8″ oil painting

This will be in the category of Row Crops. It ought to give people pause as they look at pictures of alfalfa and broccoli.

oil painting of pomegranate
Great For Jelly, 10×10″ oil painting

Pomegranates have their own category. I think Madera produces quite a few and has a festival of pomegranates. This might be the 40th painting I’ve done of pomegranates, but it got a real title instead of a numbered series name.

Great For Pies, pumpkin oil painting by Jana Botkin
Great For Pies, 10×10″ oil painting

 

This will be in the category of Vines, which is usually dominated by grapes, vineyards, and wine pictures.  Guess it will stand out – sure hope so!

P.S. I’m not talking about the pieces that weren’t accepted. It will taint them, they will get a complex, and you will not want to buy them.