Lisa McShane Art

Red Pears 3. Oil on Gessoboard. 5 x 7. The last painting of these two beautiful red pears. They've been eaten. By day 3 they were perfectly ripe with small brown spots starting to form.

Two Red Pears. Oil on Gessoboard. 6 x 6. It's felt like fall these last few days. The air is cool in the morning and we've had rain. I'm painting pears this week. These are a gorgeous pair!

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.

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

One Peach. Oil on Canvas. 7 x 5. My cousin's family came to visit yesterday from eastern Washington and they brought a box of ripe peaches. I love peaches. I think I'll make a cobbler tomorrow.

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.

Jude and The Apricots 2. Oil on Gessoboard. 12 x 9. $180. This morning when I went to the studio the still life from yesterday was still on the windowsill. Today the bud behind the larger flower was opening and the big flower fully open. The apricots are fading and a little flatter. It's hot out and they've been sitting in my studio for two days now. I liked them all even better and painted them again.

Jude and the Apricots. Oil on Canvas. 10 x 8. $150- This is a Jude the Obscure Rose, one of the David Austin English roses. Couple of great things about this one: it blooms mid-July when many roses are resting or done, and it has an incredible fragrance. Fruit, vanilla, with a bit of classic rose - lovely and strong but not overly sweet. It's a globular shape, deep gold stamens inside, and this enchanting apricot color. Pictured here with the same apricots from the previous painting. They're a little riper and thus redder. The rose is in a Twin Brooks Dairy cream bottle. We're just around the corner from Nelson's Market in Bellingham and they carry Twin Brooks milk from a Whatcom County dairy. I love walking to the store to get local milk in a glass bottle. Better quality, smaller carbon footprint - all good.

Two Apricots. Oil on Canvas. 8 x 10. $150. Apricots are in season in eastern Washington! This has always been one of my favorite fruits and I have them all to myself at my house. I like them fresh, then they make the very best jam, and dried, it's my favorite hiking snack. Bonus: very fun to paint.

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.