Lisa McShane Art

Cherries. 6 x 8. Oil on Linen Panel . Mmmm, more cherries.

First Cherries. Oil on Linen Panel. 6 x 8. 2010 . My brother-in-law manages cherry orchards in Yakima so I have a hotline to the status of the Washington state cherry harvest. They're ripe! So today my grocery list read as follows: cherries, mousetrap, red wine. Why a mousetrap? For years we had a cat named Chester who cleared out everything smaller than him within a 400 foot radius. Sadly, after a happy life hunting animals, spraying my walls and sleeping on the furniture, Chester died on March 5th. He was a tomcat among tomcats, bringing in hundreds of animals to play with and then kill: mice, birds (jays, starlings and sadly, one of a pair of cedar waxwings), bats, rats, possums. Everything. We have great Chester stories. But he's gone and it took no time for the mice to spread the word among whatever social media they use. Twitter?

3 Cherries. Oil on Gessobord. 5 x 7. SOLD This Friday there are two shows hanging at the Blue Horse Gallery in Bellingham and I have a painting in both. First up is 3 Cherries, above. This is a donation to a silent auction, Friends of the Blue Horse Gallery. I checked out the other donated pieces when I dropped off my painting and there were amazing things by Tom Wood, John Cole's estate, Ron Patten, Lanny Little, Laurie Potter and others. Beautiful paintings. These are sold in a silent auction where you put in a sealed bid and the highest one on Saturday wins the painting. The Bellingham Art Walk on Friday should be fun!

Five Bing Cherries. Oil on Linen Board. 6 x 8. $110- and Three Bing Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 5. $80- I bought a bag of bing cherries at Fred Meyer last night. They're less juicy, smaller and more blemished than the lovely gems of early July. This has been the best cherry harvest in Washington State and I've loved painting them. They seem to dance across my kitchen windowsill.

Many Cherries. Oil on Canvas. 9 x 12. Rainier and Lapin Cherries on my windowsill. Yesterday was the hottest day ever where I live. Hot. But this morning is perfect in the studio and I'm finishing several paintings I started earlier this week. This is one.

2 Apricots, 2 Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. $90.

Rival Apricots, Lapin Cherries. Oil on Canvas. 9 x 12. $180- There was beautiful produce at the Community Food Coop yesterday and I bought a few Rival apricots and Lapin cherries to paint this morning. Out the window I can see a tree, sarcococca and a golden barberry. Since the barberry is growing in the shade of a maple tree, it's chartreuse, not gold. Regardless, it's only vaguely painted and I may rework the windows tomorrow. I may spend more time thinking about the balance of color in this one.

Rainier Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. More cherries! Yum!

4 Rainier Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. A late afternoon painting of the Rainier cherries. It's hard to paint them and not simply sit in the backyard eating these.

2 Pairs of Rainiers. Oil on Canvas. 5 x 7. SOLD Cherrypalooza 2009 continues. I LOVE Rainier cherries.

Five Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. The interplay of shadows beneath the cherries interests me. My studio has a glass door facing west. It was cloudy when I was painting yesterday but early evening the sun came out briefly and cast shadows beneath the cherries.

Three Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. Washington state has the biggest crop of cherries ever. The season should go on for another month and I plan to paint a lot of cherry paintings.

Four Cherries. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. My birthday was Thursday and my sister Ellen came to visit. She brought cherries! Her husband manages orchards in eastern Washington and so I learned that fresh cherries have green stems. If the stem has brown spots, or is completely brown, then it's been awhile since it was picked. These are mostly brown by now.