Lisa McShane Art

4 Black Mission Figs. Oil on Gessobord. 5 x 7. I have an entire box of figs for painting! Figs and red pears are currently my favorite still life subject.

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 Black Mission Figs. Oil on Gessobord . 5" x 7". Fig season continues in my kitchen. These join colanders of tomatoes and baskets of pears on the counter. I've been interested in the shifting colors of figs as they ripen. These are much bluer than previous paintings simply because the figs are bluer. Less black, no undertone of red.

Open Valley 101. Oil on Canvas. 14 x 28. This painting was fun to paint. First: I love roads and road trips. Second: I like painting fog. Third: the fields and hills are interesting. Fourth: I've been painting the small paintings in one sitting and it was nice to get back to layering. Fifth: it has lots of browns and ochres and was able to use some of the delightfully gritty Williamsburg oils. That's all I've got. I do love the central coast of California.

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.

Three Figs. Oil on Linen Panel. 5" x 7". This one is dark, and the difference between the blue and purple of the fig and the olive green of the background is subtle and hard to see on a computer monitor. But I do love this painting! Funny how we have favorites. Part of it is that I love how figs look. What beautiful fruits! I live at the far north zone for growing a fig tree but I'm planting one next spring. I have the spot picked out. When an arctic blast is predicted, I'll have to cover it, but I'll happily do that to grow these gems. This one is Black Mission, and they came to me from California. I picked out a little basket at the Food Coop, carefully selecting the one that had the most green on the figs. Painted them that day and by the next day, they had lost their luster. I'll bake them for dessert tonight. Another reason I love this painting is that I love to paint on linen panels. I'm switching to all linen panels soon. These are by Art Board and...

Heirloom Tomato. Oil on Gessobord. 5" x 7". SOLD We have had a bumper crop of tomatoes in the garden this year. Yesterday evening I went out to pick a big bowl of them to make sauce and found this giant one dangling from our heirloom vine, hanging over the alley. I had to paint it. I love the satin smooth skin with the bulging sides. I'm planning to have this one for lunch.