Bent Tree Park 6 x 6 1/2oil on wood panel

Bent Tree is self-explanatory, and I do not know why the tree is bent. I wonder if it could have been struck by lightning many years ago...I made two different sketches in pastel and I did both of them in small paintings for PAD from those old sketches, as they are from different angles. I'll post the other later as I think one at a time is enough ...E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Two Lemons 5x5 oil on wood panel

I have heard that a shot of lemon enhances the flavor of most recipes, and I feel like a shot of lemon enhances my painting because I go back to them time and time again. So therefore my recommendation is when searching for that much needed pop in a painting, try a dash of lemon. E- mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Amber Votives 4x12 oil on wood panel

Votive candles have always fascinated me, because of the light flickering through colored glass. There is almost nothing I know about any real history or even legends about them. Other than using them in the church to signify a petition or prayer, or in someone's home for decoration, they are not even considered important artifacts. But a lighted votive is a thing of beauty and that is important.

BlueCalico Pitcher 6x6 Oil on wood panel

Someone once told me that the principle difference between Rembrandt and any other painter is that Rembrandt had more good days. Me, I have too many bad days to trust that when I get out of bed that I can produce a really good Painting-A-Day. I knew this when I started so I began painting on January l, and by the time I started posting, half way through June, I had a big backlog. About March I discovered that I painted too slow, so I had to speed up, the brush strokes all had to be speedier and I had to simply infer what might be going on rather than paint all that. This painting came out of my pre-March period. There are no swift brush strokes here. The red background is more vivid than this image would indicated. E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Oranges and Apples3 1/2x 11 3/4 oil on wood panel

I have always heard that you should never compare oranges and apples. Botticelli painted The Judgement of Paris in which somebody named Paris was tossing three golden apples to the three Graces, and I once read that oranges used to be called golden apples . I have also wondered what were the last names of the three Graces... You can E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Marshy Landscape 5x5 oil on wood panel

This isn't really a marsh - I call it marshy because it is only that during the heavy spring rains when flooding turns the benign creek - never more than a foot deep in any place - into a torrential body of water than floods the low lying areas. Then we have a marsh. But in the summer droughts this same spot dries into a worthless place where a trailer park once existed but now it is gone- I think it drowned one spring.

Egg Pyramid(white-on-white) 5x5 oil on wood panel

Egg Pyramid shows a big change in my work since becoming a Daily Painter. I have a 5x5 panel and two to four hours to create something that someone might think worth while. I first felt the change when I painted a shell I had brought back from Florida. I just dug right in and without a lot of fore-play, painted the picture. That is still one of my favorites, I enjoyed every un-preconceived brush stroke I made. It was the Impressionsts who threw out the old rules- no more roast-beef gravy colors, no more hard edges, and no more frittering. The result was a much more human and passionate art. I think I am becoming an Impressionist. Sort of. E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Crushed Pop Can 5x5 oil on wood panel

This is the result of my early morning walk. I usually find dandilions, weeds, fallen leaves, clover. But this was parking lot litter. It was still shiny and colorful - like a discarded Christmas tree ornament or a crushed jewel, forgotten but not gone. Deflated, not defeated. Sounds like me. artistjohnwlong@live.com

Mangos 5x5 Oil on wood panel

After two days of producing still-borns, I had to go back to my "Unfinished Business" shelf to find a previous, unfinished painting. One day without product is a recession. Two days could be a depression. In a painting- a- day, one cannot accept a dry run. I go back to my "unfinished business" shelf and find something to rework. This is a pretty good plan. I'm never been sure when a picture is finished, or not quite, or just a bad. My wife is the only person I trust to give me the truth about this. Since she is not an artist her opinion is an intellectual decision rather than an emotional one. I'm perfectly happy with the mangos now. You can E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Nectarine 5x5 Oil on wood panel

The most important aspect of a painting is form. When I was faced with doing abstract painting in art school years ago I would begin to sweat. I just didn't have a feel for it. But one day a professor lectured on Equalized Surfaces, and my abstract light turned on. I did well after that and spent the rest of the semester - and yet another - painting equalized surface abstracts with good results. I have a shelf for my "unfinished business" where I put the paintings that have begun to bore me. I find that a little later I can go back and finish them almost always. Thinking this lush red nectarine could use a good dose of equalized surfacing - which in this case simply meant filling in the background with the same color and texture as the nectarine. On a small 5x5 panel it was simple. The nectarine painting began to sing. I like it. E- mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Ceramic Pitcher 5x5 Oil on wood panel

This little pitcher is something I like to paint because its white ceramic finish is so reflective. I was going to construct it as a white-on-white piece, using a white sheet for the background, but by the time it began looking finished there was hardly a white spot left in the picture. Even the white sheet is pink- blue-gray etc. I'm going to do an0ther white -on -white - maybe something with eggs, and I'll post it when it is dry enough.E-mail me at johnwlong@live.com

GlassCupRow (2) 3 1/2x11 1/2 oil on wood panel

This is my second version of these cups, which have been in my family for years. It is always fun and a challenge to paint transparent glass, and I really believe these cups have never been used - for anything. E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Two Plums 5x5 oil on wood panel

These two plums are not what I was looking for. I was going to paint something blue - it is sort of dangerous to decide in advance what you are looking for- all the plums were purple and I thought that they looked like nectarines. They are plums, and it was fun to paint a purple painting. I think I shall go shopping for some blueberries. artistjohnwlong@live.com

Apple Stillife app 6x6 Oil on canvas board

This is not a new painting. I painted it months ago but I didn't care for it so I put it in my reject box and went on with others. You give yourself so much time for completing the painting, and if it seems not to work, just stick it in a pile of rejects and go back later and usually you can make it be right. artistjohnwlong@live.com

Bear Creek (1) 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 Oil on wood panel

You could say that this place does not exist because I was not able to make a sketch or take a photo which is what I ordinarily do, but I saw it at a glance. It made an indelible impression and as soon as I got home I got it down - in two versions - neither of which is an exact representation of the scene but this painting says what I saw. As a matter of fact I painted it twice and I like both. I'll post the other some time soon. You can E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Crape Myrtle 5 x 5 Acrylic on wood panel

This was going to be an oil painting but it was looking too heavy-handed, so I backed up and began all over with acrylic, which gave me what I wanted. I believe these seeds that replace the flowers are pretty poisonous. Someone cuts them back in the winter clear down to the trunks and they look dead. But in the spring they come bounding back and bloom all summer. You can e-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Radish Bunch 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 oil on wood panel

Radishes are always paintable, the color of the foliage as well as the radishes themselves are beautiful and the tails always look like they are wagging. e-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Blue Bottle app 3 1/3 x 11 1/2 oil on wood panel

This was a garage sale find and I cannot figure out the purpose of the bottle, it looks like a beer bottle but is way too tall and anyway I never heard of a blue beer bottle.Its probably just for decoration. I saw it and wanted to the paint light filtering through the blue glass so I placed placed it in the kitchen window. It seems to me that the coloring in my painting is more intense that the photo, but I tried a couple of times and it always come out the same. If you like it you can E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Cream and Sugar 5 x 5 Oil on wood panel

This is the third or fourth piece I have painted of the cream pitcher - perhaps I am finally done with it. I always liked the shape of it but I was turned off by the front side which had an unimpressive decal design. Fortunately there was the other side, thankfully unsullied by colorful additives.E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Sunflowers 5 x 5 oil on wood panel

Surely among painters, sunflowers are the most popular flowers. Vincent Van Gogh really said it all - one of his sunflower series sold for 4o million another for 80 million (approximately). The 40 million one has a sullied reputation as it has been accused of being a forgery. They are indigenous to the Americas, and the Peruvians worshipped them as symbols of their Sun God. The Mexicans began cultivating them, and later they were found in Tennessee. E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Row of Lemons app 3 1/2 x 12 Oil on wood panel

This was the first Row painting I made, trying to use the leftover wood from cutting 5 x 5 panels to paint on. Citrus and a lot of other fruit trees came from China through Europe to the U.S. E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Two Peaches 5 x 5 Oil on wood canvas

I just found out that peaches and nectarines are the same fruit with the peach having a dominant gene that gives it its color and fuzz. The nectarine has a recessive gene and is redder and smooth. They are actually twins that don't match. You can E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Hanging Pear app 3 1/2 x 11 1/2 oil on wood panel

Some months ago I painted a bunch of grapes hanging because I ran into into some problems getting the grapes look the way I wanted them to. I finally came up with the hanging-on-a-string idea and I like it so much I did the very same setting for a pear the next day. But then I felt like it was not time to post another hanging, so I saved it for later. It's time has finally arrived. Email me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Green Pepper app 6 x 6 oil on wood panel

This enormous green pepper caused me to paint something the world doesn't really need and that is another big green pepper painting. Pardon my redundancy. I have a big red pepper painting that is drying, which I will post later. Click the image for a look at brush strokes. E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Seashell app 7 1/2 x6 Oil on wood panel

The real name of this painting is "Floyd". I once lived in a beachhouse in Florida. I walked on the beach every morning just like the beachcomber that I am. But one day a hurricane called Floyd arrived. First let me say that I had never experienced a hurricane. We decided to get out too late. The highway toward Georgia was impacted and my choice was to stay there, in that bumper-to-bumper nightmare, or to go to a building in Edgewater that was supposedly hurricane-proof. By the time we got there it was dark. Because I felt so out of control (scared) that I just went to sleep. I woke up early the next morning to find out that the storm had almost reached our shore when it made a 90 degree turn north and didn't stop till the Carolinas. When we got back home our beautiful beach was mostly gone. This was the last shell I picked up and in a few days we moved back to the Ozarks. Click the image if you want to see brush strokes. And E-mail me at artistjohnwlong@live.com

Apple and Cup 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 oil on wood panel

Red, black, and white are a always an exciting combination, and almost a year after I painted this one I still get a charge from it. After reading about Duane Keiser's painting a day plan all of my output has been just that. Working toward a deadline keeps my momentum going and if the momentum falters, and I think my day's work is not up to par I just put it aside and keep it to finish later. I can almost always get a painting up to snuff that way. I work for the most part on still life studies with one or two objects close to their actual size.