Moo - An original farm animal painting by George De Chiara

Moo ©

8x6 inches   Oil on panel

George De Chiara

Click here to bid.

Being the father of two young kids, a four-year old and a two-year old, I hear my fair share of old Mc Donald being sung around the house. Sometimes I'm also privy to variations of the song including "Old Mc Daddy had a farm", one of personal favorites. I must have heard the song quite a bit over the weekend because without thinking out it I went to my studio today and  painted this cow. The whole time mumbling to myself E-I-E-I-O.

www.georgedechiara.com

Pom Poms - An original floral painting by George De Chiara

Pom Poms ©

6x6 inches   Oil on panel

George De Chiara

Click here to bid.

 Anyone out there good at identifying flowers? After painting these,  I spent sometime online trying to figure out what type of flowers these are, but couldn't find them. If you have a guess, let me know. I believe they are some type of wildflower, but I'm not sure. At one point during the painting process my wife mentioned that some of them sort of looked like pom poms, that's where the name came from.

www.georgedechiara.com

Beach Flowers - An original floral painting by George De Chiara

Beach Flowers ©

6x6 inches   Oil on panel

George De Chiara

Click here to bid.

For the last several years, my wife and I usually take a vacation to the Gulf Coast to enjoy some time on the beach. It's become a tradition we both look forward to each year because the sun shines, the water is warm and you can walk for miles on the beaches. On one of the first trips we made, I came across a small patch of morning glory flowers blooming on one of the sand dunes. I snapped a few photos of them, but never did anything with them. Recently, I stumbled on the photos again and decided they sat in my photo reference draw long enough.

www.georgedechiara.com

Then There Was One - An original still life painting by George De Chiara

Then There Was One ©

5x7 inches  Oil on Panel

George De Chiara

Click here to bid.

This winter weather has really challenged my usual plein air habits. The unusually cold, wet outdoors has kept me in my studio looking for inspiration around the house. After a few minutes of rummaging around the kitchen, I noticed this one tomato still on the vine and knew I had found my subject for the day. It took a little fidgeting to get it to stay in this position. I really wanted the stem to go up at an angle toward the top of the canvas. I actually had to use a small piece of putty to keep the stem pointing where I wanted and to stop the tomato from rolling over.

www.georgedechiara.com

Winter Blooms - An original floral painting by George De Chiara

Winter Blooms © 

8x6 inches   Oil on Panel

George De Chiara

Click here to bid.

 A couple of years ago, my wife went to a baby shower for a good friend of hers. As a thank you gift, the hostess gave everyone a small potted flower. When she brought it home we added it to our garden plants and over the years it's continued to grow. We've transplanted it into a larger pot every summer and every winter I bring it into the studio so it doesn't freeze. Last winter, I noticed the oddest thing, it actually bloomed when I brought it into the house. It kept the flowers all winter, but as soon as I put it back outside in the spring, it quickly lost all the flowers. It stayed this way all summer and fall. Again this year when the weather turned cold I brought it back into the studio and again it bloomed. Not sure why this happens. It seems backwards to me, but I'm not complaining, I love having fresh blooming flowers in the studio to paint!

www.georgedechiara.com

Avocado - An original still life painting by George De Chiara

Avocado ©

6x8 inches   Oil on Panel

George De Chiara

Click here to bid.

 It's been sometime since I've posted anything on this blog, so please accept my apologies. Not to start a pity party for me, but the last few weeks have been...well, full of surprises. First off, my main computer crashed a few weeks before Christmas. After several attempts to revive it, I finally had to just let it go. Luckily, I had backed up its content to an external drive fairly regular, so only a small amount of data was lost. Then after the new year I got pneumonia and was laid up in bed for several weeks. Not a fun way to start the new year, but finally I'm feeling well enough to get back into the studio and paint.

 I've noticed on sunny days that there is a small window of opportunity where the sun shines into my studio in a most wonderful way. I've never been able to find a light that can illuminate my still life set ups in the same way the sun can. Unfortunately it doesn't last for very long, maybe 2 hours at the most and it moves quickly, but if I'm ready for it I can paint a small painting like this one under the natural sun light. I do have to move my still life once or twice to keep the lighting the same, but other than that it works like a charm.

www.georgedechiara.com