Years of Memories - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Years of Memories 11x14 Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara It seems like every few paintings my wife comments that she wants to "keep that one" so I thought I would do a painting for her for Valentines Day. To keep her guessing, I listed the painting for sale on eBay. Since it was a higher priced painting I didn't really think it would sell on there, especially since that, in my experience with eBay, the smaller, less expensive pieces ($100 or less) sell the best. Naturally then, on the very last day of the auction with about 10 minutes to go, someone bought the painting the day before Valentine's Day. Yikes!   Sheepishly, I explained to my wife that I had sold her painting. She was very understanding about it, but commented that for our anniversary she wanted a painting that would not find it's way to auction. Well, our anniversary is coming up this week so I've been working on this special painting just for her. I've had to sneak things from around the house into the studio and hoped she didn't notice them missing for a few days. Plus, I had to keep her out of the studio. There where a few times when I thought she would figure it out, but luckily she never did.   The painting is dry now, safely in her hands, and definitely not for sale. So since I know I can't sell this one, I thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that I do accept commissions. Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss a commission. Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com

At Least There's Cheese - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

At Least There's Cheese 5x7 inches Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara Click here to bid. I sent this last night, but blogger seemed to be down and it never made it. Hopefully this doesn't show up twice. When I saw this broccoli in the store, I was struck by the wonderful color in it. Full of greens, blues, and purples, I had to buy it to paint. I knew I didn't want a lot of other items in the painting so I could concentrate of the broccoli. Still, the set up needed something else to give it a bit more color and to contrast the organic shape of the broccoli. And what goes better with broccoli than cheese? This was a nice painting for a couple of reasons. First, there was the result of the painting itself. Secondly, it solved my dinner dilemma for the night. Two birds with one stone, I guess. Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com

At Least There's Cheese - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

At Least There's Cheese 5x7 inches Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara Click here to bid. When I saw this broccoli in the store, I was struck by the wonderful color in it. Full of greens, blues, and purples, I had to buy it to paint. I knew I didn't want a lot of other items in the painting so I could concentrate of the broccoli. Still, the set up needed something else to give it a bit more color and to contrast the organic shape of the broccoli. And what goes better with broccoli than cheese? This was a nice painting for a couple of reasons.  First, there was the result of the painting itself.  Secondly, it solved my dinner dilemma for the night. Two birds with one stone, I guess. Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com

Cascading Zinnias - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Cascading Zinnias 8x10 inches Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara Click here to bid.  Yesterday my wife and I took a walk to the nursery right up the street from where we live. We wanted to add some new flowers for our garden. Feeling confident with our new-found ability in keeping flowers growing and alive we walked around the whole nursery looking at all of the possibilities. After about an hour, it was time to make some decisions. In our minds, we must have picked out about 30 plants, but we had to narrow that down a bit. For one thing, our garden isn't big enough for all of those plants. Plus, we walked there and would have to carry back what ever we bought. After a bit of a debate, we settled on 5 or 6 plants, plus two new strawberry plants to help rebuilt our crop after a harsh winter did most of them in.  Once we had them home, I couldn't wait to paint them. I brought them straight into the studio and set up my still life. Once the painting was done, we took them all outside and picked out planters for them, transplanted them and set them in the garden. I'm already looking forward to painting this new batch some more as they grow and continue to bloom (here's hoping).   Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com

Almost A Pair - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Almost A Pair 5x7 inches Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara Click here to bid.  I have to admit I came up with the title for this painting well before painting it. It came to me the other day while preparing lunch for my daughter (18 months). I had cut up about a half of pear for her, and, when I looked at the other half laying on the cutting board the title popped into my head. I knew I had to paint it, so today I got the left over pear out of the crisper draw and set up this still life. I tried a few different things for the background but really liked the idea of the plate and painted tin top since it sort of played off the title as well with both objects being circular.   Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com

American Beauty - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

American Beauty 9x12 inches Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara Click here to bid. With this painting, I really wanted to work on sky and clouds, so I looked through some of my photo reference from a trip my wife and I took to Port Aransas. I remember the clouds being very full on this trip, which is perfect for my goals. After an hour or so of looking at my reference, I settled on 2 images, one for the sky and one for the boat and water. After working on a few thumbnail images to work out my composition and figuring out how to combine my images, it was time to paint.  I gave myself two days to work on this painting for a couple of reasons.  Primarily, I spent the whole morning looking at images and doing thumbnails so I didn't think I could finish it in one afternoon.  I was really able to relax and paint slowly, which was a prime advantage of my timeline. At the end of the day, I was a little surprised to see that it was just about done. The only thing left to do today was to finish the water, add the masting to the boat, and make a few corrections to yesterday's work. Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com

Oranges with Glazed Clay - Original Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Oranges with Glazed Clay 5x7 inches Oil on Canvas Panel by George De Chiara Click here to bid. I've had some problems with my ankle and have needed to stay off of it for a few days, so right before the weekend, my wife and I went to the local thrift store looking for crutches. It turns out, thrift stores are flush with barely used crutches. So with that task conquered,  I just had to look around for some new still life items. Among the new finds is this great glazed clay pot that I just couldn't pass up. I like how it is dark, yet colorful. I'm not sure why, but as soon as I bought it, I pictured using it with a few oranges. I've also been thinking about trying to plant a few bright flowers in it that would really pop against the dark glaze. I guess that contrast is I thought oranges would look good, too.   Visit my web site and blog to see more of my work. http://georgedechiara.com