To continue the produce theme in my painting, I have been working with chili peppers. 

 I continually return to placing the edible on a board or shelf of some sort which began last year when I was painting bird nests in which sat a golden egg.  This was after the stock market plummeted and also after the Madoff scandal came to light.  My  small paintings were statements about the market, nest eggs and about 'feathering your nest'.  The nests sat on a shelf, and I loved the way that worked in the composition, so I have used it over and over with my produce paintings.


Here are photos of the bird nest paintings, which were three dimensional using both sides of the canvas, not only painted on one side but with the use of natural materials collected from my yard and newspaper shreds (from the stock quotes) on the other side. Look closely at the feathers...they are works of art all by themselves and trimmed in orange tones!  The bird flew into one of my windows, breaking its neck, so I plucked it, but not before I thanked the spirit of the bird for its generosity.  


Three of these small works were sold out of the Palm Springs Art Museum's 99 Bucks event and went to an office in Michigan. Others are in homes in Southern California and I kept two in my collection.  

The 99 Bucks event will take place again this year in March.   I will participate again, but with different subject matter....maybe some sort of produce on a board.