"The Harlem Meer"

12 x 24
oil on cradled panel

Last autumn I was at the up at the northern end of Central Park at the Harlem Meer (Meer is Dutch for lake) with my friend Patricia Peterson who is a wonderful artist. I had never been to that part of the Park before and was astonished at how beautiful it was. Besides the lake there are beautiful gardens and fountains and pathways to see. Patricia and I painted there for a few hours until it got too cold. I later finished this painting in the studio. I tried to not to be too tight in my brush strokes but don't know if I have achieved that. Landscape painting is not something that I do very often but I am hoping that the more I do it the looser I will become.

"Limoncello"16 x 20
oil on cradled panel
Sold

I had fun painting this one but the lemons died several times before it got done. There was too much "life stuff" that got in the way before I was able to finish this one. A little background about the subject matter...the Deruta ceramic wine pitcher was given to my family by one of our cousins in Rome. We had gone to a beautiful restaurant in Castel Gandolfo where the Pope makes his summer residence and my mother expressed an admiration for the pitcher the house wine came in. Eugenio, our cousin, never letting an opportunity to please go by, went to the waiter and asked to buy the pitcher for my mother...a lovely present and wonderful remembrance. The whole set-up reminded me of the Italian liquor called Limoncello that my cousins make with the lemons from their lemon tree. The scarf is actually my daughter's that she bought while studying in Italy...I don't even think she knows I have it...

"Apple Basket"

16 x 18

Oil on cradled board

This is my latest painting. Again, I used one of my mother's treasures, a ceramic basket. Painting these things gives me some kind of connection to her and the past. I'm sure she would be happy knowing I used one of her favorite bowls.

"Chianti and Figs"

16 x 20

Oil on Cradled Board

I had started this one a while ago but just finished it the other day. I kept switching different things in and out of this set up until I settled what you see now. My intention was to work with the colors purple and green...so that limited me as to what I could put in the painting. I actually started out with the artichoke because it was so beautiful and then added the old fashioned Chianti bottle and on and on from there.

"Angelic Arrangement"

16 x 20

Oil on Cradled Board

It has been a long time between posts but I thought I would share with you one of my latest paintings. My mother had this bowl for many years and I never really liked it. When she passed away and I was cleaning out her house I took out the silk flowers that had been in it for years and I instantly realized that it was a gem. I don't know if it was the removal of the flowers that did it or the fact that this piece was a thread that tied me to the memory of my mom. In any case, it is something that I will always cherish.

For pricing information, email me at ritamarandino@me.com