Lisa McShane Art

Bosc Pears 4. Oil on Linen Board. 5" x 7". And still, I love bosc pears. Subtle lumps and color gradation. Interesting to look at closely and paint, separating out the various golden tones. My brother-in-law manages orchards of both cherries and pears. They're a reliable source of the most beautiful fruits Yakima and Goldendale have to offer. I started painting cherries last July when my sister arrived for my birthday party (and yes, it was a very significant birthday) with a box of bing cherries from their orchard . I fell madly in love with painting cherries. But back to bosc pears. I've struggled to paint boscs because the colors are subtle and the background colors matter more than with some still lives. Some have turned out well, one was thrown away. I think this combination works. It's pure Morandi , of course. Speaking of Morandi, next up: pitchers.

Bartlett Pears. Oil on Linen Board. 6" x 8". I love the color of these 2 pears. Really a lovely blush on the chartreuse pear. And perhaps it's the dark rain outside, but I especially like these pears against a gray background.

Bartlett Pear. Oil on Canvas. 5" x 7". We still have great Washington State pears at the store. Lovely colors.

December Pears. Oil on Gessobord. 5" x 7". Bosc pears have the more toned down look of winter about them. I struggle with painting these subtle fruits, never certain about how best to paint the foreground/background to make them shine. I do love how pears are rarely upright - they often lean towards each other on the windowsill.

Red Bartlett 1. Oil on Linen on Board. 6 x 8. Red Bartlett 2. Oil on Linen on Board. 6 x 8. This is a rugged, large pear, painted from two different angles. My husband, the brilliant art consultant/geologist, suggested I paint my fruit paintings in groups. Since I'm always inclined to paint two of everything (I have no idea why I do that) it made sense. So I started with this wonderful pear.

Three Red Pears. Oil on Linen on Board. 6" x 8". Two star crimson pears and one red bartlett on the windowsill of my studio.

Red Pears 4. Oil on Gessobord. 6 x 6. I tracked down more red pears. They have such a great color.

Two Bosc Pears. Oil on Gessobord. 6" x 6". Some paintings flow and some are a struggle. This one was repainted 4 times. I was most interested in the space between the two pears and wanted to focus on the movement between the two. So I started with optimism and two underripe bosc pears against a medium blue background. The background was all wrong. So I painted it dark purple and repainted the pears. Even more wrong. Then I painted the background red, twice, to make it the color of my bathroom wall. And repainted the pears two more times. Each time I liked the pears less. A lot less. Then the painting sat, forlorn, on a side easel for a week or more. I thought about putting it in the garbage can. Meanwhile the two bosc pears continued to ripen, I used them in another painting , then moved them back to my kitchen windowsill. This week dozens of delicious pears have come and gone from my kitchen. I put pears in a spinach salad dressed with olive oil, sherry vinegar and pink Hi...

3 Different Pears. 6 x 8. Oil on Linen Panel. Well, I've been finding and painting more pears this week. In this painting are two bosc pears and an almost-ripe bartlett. I struggled with this one a bit. Not really sure yet what I think of it except that I cannot love every painting equally. But this one answers a dear friend's question of whether or not I would support integration of pears. Apparently yes.

Red Pears. Oil on Linen Board. 6 x 8. The same two pears but in a different location. I'd set them on my laptop for a minute while I moved some books around and liked the dark quality of the blank computer screen behind them. Last week I'd ordered the book Color Mixing for Artists and I've been playing with the different color ideas I found in there. The dark background, a color I love on the linen, is a mix of Viridian and Cadmium Red.

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!