Painting in the 21st Century

I love working on these small florals. They're great for making me feel my way around the shapes and colors of the blossoms. Daisies have lovely abstract shapes that make them so wonderful to paint.

Copyright © Rita Curtis

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A casual get together. Just friends hanging out, drinking coffee, and listening to another friend across the room.

11 x 14 

Oil

The small town of Oxford on Maryland's Eastern Shore is a great place for walkers and cyclists. Each year the town celebrates its 400 year heritage with Oxford Day, a full day of old-fashioned fun for folks of all ages, including a parade where the bystanders often mingle paraders. 

I painted "Summer House" on Smith Island, Maryland. It's a closeknit community of "crabbers" who have worked the island's waterways since the 1600s.  The glancing summer sun combined with the periwinkle tree shadows really brought out the fuscia tones of the house.

"Summer House" is the featured poster art for 2012 Oxford Fine Arts Fair on Memorial Day weekend.

Oxford is a lovely waterfront town on Maryland's Eastern Shore. 

Summer House

Oil • 9 x 12

I returned to Scott's Cove in the late afternoon to see how different the view would be from my morning painting adventure. The late afternoon sun has moved to my right and here lights the left shore while the colorful boats peek out from the shaded side of the beach.

"Scott's Cove in Late Afternoon"

8 x 10

Oil on panel 

As summer winds down, its harsh greens mellow into heathers and lavendars that signal autumn is on the way. 

"A Hint of Autumn"

6x8

Oil on panel

At mountain's peak the noon sun bleaches rocks and road, and tall pines, whose needles have dried, appear violet or fuscia before they fall away.

"Mountain Passage"

14 x 18

landscape

Why "Winter Bouquet"? In the summer you can pick flowers like these from your garden. In the winter you can find them in many florist shops thanks to our global economy. 

Since most of the country is in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave, these semi-abstract winter flowers might remind us that cool weather is surely on the way!

Among the lovely rolling hills north of Baltimore you can still find working farms. Who knows how long it will be before the farms disappear under the cover of urban sprawl. 

When I painted this I was squeezed between two barns that abutted fields of freshly hewn hay. Straight ahead I painted the distant hills. Though still lovely, the view included one of those newer homes encroaching into farmland.

"Hill Farm" might have been painted in Anywhere, USA. 

Oh for a piece of rich chocolate cake to perk up the mid afternoon blahs!

Voila! Chocolate cake and a cuppa. 

Deep chocolate velvet and bright fresh fruit. 

Something about it makes you feel like "everything will be okay." It sure was a challenge getting the paint right on the canvas before the frosting melted under the warm spotlight.  

Visit my gallery at Daily PaintWorks to see available small works.

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