"Pansies and Fish Vase"

"Pansies and Fish Vase" -- oil on canvas 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

Ah, pansies!  I love them!  The colors are irresistable.  I had to buy a whole flat of them, in every color, a couple weeks ago at the local nursery, Pine Hill.  They remind me of the huge pansy gardens in Nice, on the French Riviera.  I was there in 1994, attending a workshop with Janet Fish.  Seeing pansies reminds me of that wonderful ten days.

My friend Janet Kondziela gave me the vintage tablecloth when she took her annual vacation to Charlevoix -- in February.  Most people find February the month when they'd most like to LEAVE Charlevoix, but Janet finds it very restful. 

The fish vase was a resale shop find, as was the rippled glass bowl.  I love a good challenge -- and wrinkles and reflections are so addictive!  Years ago I realized that I enjoyed painting difficult things (such as wrinkles or reflections) because I could eventually figure them out.  I'd set up a tough still life and just get totally absorbed in it.  The rest of the world could be going to hell in a handbasket, but by golly -- I could figure out "my own little world".   Although I feel so powerless to stop a war, I do feel a certain sense of accomplishment in being able to paint a darn wrinkle!

"Lunch Break"

"Lunch Break" -- oil on canvas -- 24x30" -- Margie Guyot

Pansies are such sweet little flowers, so welcome after the long winter! I snapped up a flat of them one day last week, getting an assortment of every available color. After laying in the basic lines of the composition, I spent an entire afternoon painting in the blooms. They wouldn't last.

From there it was relatively easy. The pineapple pitcher came from a resale shop. I'll have to use it again -- it's just too cool!

The striped glasses seemed to go well with things, although they're pretty tough to paint. Obelisks are always a big challenge.

But where did I stash my gardening gloves? I've had to move everything I own several times in the past 2 years, so it took a while to find them. These gloves were fairly easy to paint, thank goodness!

I'd painted in the outline of the plate but left finishing it for last. What to put on that plate? I've used cookies so often, I wanted something else. The grocery stores up here offer such nasty-looking pastries: electric blue frosting, plastic toys, glitter -- ugh! So I decided to paint a sandwich. Alas, I haven't had bread in the house in over a year. Luckily, my neighbor Pete had some and graciously gave me 2 slices. I slapped some lettuce between and quickly painted it.

The laundry needed tending, so by the time I got back to the studio, the kitties had disassembled the sandwich. No meat -- sorry buddies! I gave the lettuce & bread to the chickens.

Still, the sandwich looked a bit bare. An olive would look spiffy! Rummaged around in the fridge and found a jar. Yikes! It was pretty old. The olives had turned brown. Had to paint the olive from memory.

This painting went fairly quickly, as I've finally gotten a lot better about using Liquin as a medium. Instead of having to wait days for a section to dry, I can usually continue painting the next day. Ah, what is that saying? "Better living though chemistry!"