"Hyrangea" 6x6

Oil on Hardboard 6"x 6"
SOLD

I can’t believe 2010 is just a few weeks away!! I am putting my brushes down for the rest of the month and turning my attention to family, friends and the holiday season. I’ll be back to painting and posting in January.

Thank you to everyone who purchased a painting from me this year and to everyone who took the time to check out my work. I truly appreciate every single comment and email I received. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

"Black-Eyed Susan" 6x9

Oil on Panel 6"x 9"
SOLD

Last year I planted this vine in my garden. It was very pretty but got way out of control. At the end of the season I pulled it out -- to my surprise this summer it reappeared in full force.

"Red Shoes" 10x10

Oil on Hardboard Panel 10"x10" NFS

"Orchids" 6x6

Oil On Panel 6x6
SOLD

"White Flower Paperweight" 6x6

Oil on Panel 6"x 6"
SOLD

Like most painters I am always on the look out for interesting subject matter. Flea markets are a great source of material for still life paintings. I found this hand blown paperweight at the flea market in Long Beach.

If you are interested in purchasing the painting “White Flower Paperwight” please email me at collierart@hotmail.com

"Tick-Tock" 6x8

Oil on Panel 6"x 8"
SOLD

This clock has been floating around my studio for a while. I’ve held off on painting it because I knew that, when I did paint it, I wanted it to be more than just a painting of a clock. It finally struck me last week. I adding a few ingredients and was able to take this clock from humble timepiece to representing a perception.

This is my take on the Doomsday Clock. The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face, maintained since 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at University of Chicago.

Originally, the analogy represented the perception of how close the threat of global nuclear war was, but since includes climate-changing technologies and "new developments in the life sciences” that could inflict irrevocable harm. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is to global disaster.

"Peony" 6x6

Oil on Panel NFS

I have wanted to paint a Peony for a while. My main concern was to capture the delicate nature of the petals. It helped to not be to heavy handed with the colors in shadow.

"Lilies" 30x30

"Lilies" 30"x 30" Oil on Panel

This was a big painting for me. At the beginning, looking at a blank panel 30x30 made me a little nervous, but as the panel started filling with color I became more comfortable. It got me thinking -- hmmmm – what would it be like to paint something REALLY big.

July Challenge "Never Again" 6x6

M Collier "Never Again" 6x6 Oil on Panel
SOLD

Jelaine Faunce "Never Again #2" 6" x 6" Oil on canvas

Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong. That is how I felt while I was painting “Never Again”. I don’t know if it was the subject matter, the weather, the season. Sometimes there are paintings that you just can’t let go of until they are completed no matter what. This was one of those.
“I am going to finish this painting!!!”

If you are interested in purchasing the painting “Never Again” by M Collier please email me at collierart@hotmail.com

"Lemon In Silver" 18x28

Oil on Cradled Hardboard 18"x26"

I liked the “Lemon in Silver” composition so much that I decided to paint it on a larger scale. The only part of this painting that gave me much trouble was the yellow of the lemon. There are only a couple of colors that I really don’t like painting – yellow is one of them. I usually paint wet on wet and when working with a transparent I find it can be tricky. I’m happy with the results but I’ll be staying away from lemons for a while.

“Lemon in Silver” 7x10

Oil on Hardboard Panel 7"x 10"
SOLD

I don’t think there is a backyard in Southern California that doesn’t have some kind of a fruit tree in it. Grapefruit, orange, lime, kumquat, loquat, plum, apple, Asian pear. Everybody has a fruit tree. Mine is a lemon tree. The thing is probable 40 years old and stands about 18 feet tall. The tree gets very little water and is only pruned every other year, but despite this neglect it produces an incredible amount of sweet lemons. There are hundreds on it right now. It flowers and bares fruit all year round. I occasionally think about cutting it down but then I would probably miss it.

June Challenge 6x6x2

M Collier "The Early Bird..." 6x6 Oil on Hardboard SOLD

Jelaine Faunce "With the Worm" 6x6 Oil on Canvas

We’re back to our challenges. The subject this time was a gummy worm.

The little bird in my painting is a German wind up tin toy. When you wind it up its beak opens and closes while it turns its head, sings a song and flaps its wings. Busy little thing. I have been trying to get this guy into a painting for a while.

The last few months Jelaine hasn’t been feeling well and we decided to put off any new challenges until she was back to her usual sassy self. SHE’S BACK!!! I miss our monthly brain tease and am looking forward to getting back to it.

"Hydrangea" 18x18

Oil on Hardboard 18" x 18"

Haven’t been posting much lately, have been working hard on some larger paintings. I have a couple more to go then I will turn my attention to some smaller paintings I have been wanting to do.

I love hydrangeas and thought I would revisit them on a little larger scale. The petals had me going for a while but I got thought them and am happy with the out come. WHEW!!

"Cherries On Linen" 6x6

Oil On Hardboard 6"x 6"
SOLD

Recently I have been concentrating on completing some larger paintings and have not had time for any small pieces. But when I saw these cherries at the farmer's market this week I couldn’t resist. These are the first I have seen this season ---they were so sweet.

"Lilies in Shadow" 10x10

Oil on Hardboard 10"x 10"
SOLD

"Yellow Vase With Freesia" 6x6

Oil on Hardboard Panel
SOLD

"Tulips" 24"x24"

24"x 24" oil on cradled panel

March turned out to be a very busy month for me. I had two large commission pieces to complete, spent a wonderful week in San Francisco and finished the 24"x 24" Tulip painting that was inspired by the small piece I painted at the beginning of the month. Whew!!

I missed being a part of this months Artists Challenge, but have been assigned to choose the April subject. Surprisingly, I have already found an item that I think will be a lot of fun to use.

"Eucalyptus" 5.5"x6"

"Eucalyptus" 5.5"x6" Oil on Panel

Last week I spent a few days in the Temescal Valley taking photos for possible landscape paintings. This area of Southern California is covered with large groves of Eucalyptus trees, California Oaks, mountains covered with poppies and large open meadows filled with emerald green vegetation. It’s a perfect place to find inspiration.

I thought it might be interesting to present this painting showing the stages I went through to produce it. This is not my usual painting process but I have wanted to experiment with some different techniques and I thought this little painting would be a good subject. For this painting I tried a more painterly approach. I also did some under painting which is something I never do. I don’t know if I really like doing under painting. Maybe I need to do more to figure that out. Usually I get going with the color right away. But this is just an exercise so I thought I should try. I have a long way to go with landscape paintings but I did enjoy producing this little painting.


A couple of lines to get me going.

Under painting.

Final painting.

"Tulips" 6x6

Oil on Panel 6"x6"
SOLD

While I was working on “Tulips” it became apparent to me that this is one of those paintings that works in the intimate 6”x6” format but could also work as a larger scale painting. So tomorrow I will begin that process. This is a complicated painting so I think it may take some time but I feel it will be beautiful 24"x 24".

February Challenge 6x6x3

"Dice" M Collier 6"x6" oil on panel

"Camouflage" Jelaine Faunce 6" x 6" oil on panel

Otto Lange

The challenge this month was one red die. Jelaine's pick. Not to hard, right? But sometimes what appears to be simple turns out to be the more complicated. I decided to take a more graphic approach to this painting. Looks like Jelaine and I had the same idea. It was a great exercise. This is what the challenges are all about. To experiment and work in different directions.

If you are interested in purchasing "Dice" please email me at collierart@hotmail.com

"Radishes" 6x6

Oil on Hardboard Panel 6x6
SOLD

"Rose No. 2" 6x6

Oil on Hardboard Panel 6x6
SOLD

"Bowl of Music No.2" 6x6

Oil on Hardboard Panel

If you are interested in purchasing “Bowl of Music No.2"” please email me at collierart@hotmail.com

January Challenge 6x6x3

"Nectar Detectors" M Collier 6"x6" oil on panel SOLD

"Son, we found this in your room, and..." Otto Lange 6" x 6" oil on panel

"Female Pills" Jelaine Faunce 6" x 6" oil on panel

PHEW!!!! We made it. Here is our January Challenge.

For a while now I have wanted to incorporate butterflies into some of my paintings. This seemed like a good time to start. Though they were a little trying to paint I am happy with the outcome and hope to find more ways to get these little guys into future pieces.

"Untitled" 8x10

Oil on Harboard Panel 8x10 NFS
Landscape paintings have always held an interest for me. They are seldom the subject matter of my paintings but occasionally I find myself drawn to giving it a try.
I usually sit down when I paint but for this one I stood up, and just let go. It felt great.

"Two Figs" 8x8

8x8 Oil on Hardboard

I am back in my studio, after my Christmas break, working on some larger paintings, but I wanted to take time out to paint and post “Two Figs”. I don’t eat a lot of figs but the colors of this delicate fruit keeps my coming back.

Our “Challenge” for this month will be coming a little later on in the month. Jelaine has picked the subject and Otto and I have it in hand. Can’t wait to see what those two come up with.

SOLD