orange glow peeled oranges with cherries on rustic ledge

Orange Glow

18x18 inches / oil on canvas
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A spectacularly luminous orange is featured in an overhead spotlight for maximum impact.  The fruit nearly appears to be glowing, hence the title.

nest oil painting blue eggs music with bated breath we await their song

"With bated breath we await their song . . . ."

6x6 inches / oil on panel

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The theme this month in my new group was music, and being that my studio overlooks the garden and fruit trees full of birds, my immediate thought was a nest . . . afterall, what more perfect music is there than Nature's melodies!

annabelle hydrangeas white picket fence rose arbor home sweet home -- my little slice of paradise as the inspiration for my work - painting in zen

As I've been working hard to fulfill all the orders for pet portraits as a result of my recently concluded Summer Sale, and therefore have not produced many still life paintings, I thought it would be nice to keep in touch by sharing a little something special with you . . . a peek into my private world . . . my little slice of paradise for all you garden lovers out there!  Hope you enjoy! 

On Painting in Zen

 "For me it most noticeably occurred about 15 years ago with the creation of the most challenging paintings of my life, my huge, elaborate florals. The process was so intense and required so much mental energy it was peculiarly more work than studying differential equations or chemistry. Those paintings took months to complete as I taught myself how to grow to a new level. What is that Zen feeling for me? Where time is incalculable...observation and skill merge into a spiritual experience. Hurdles are long forgotten and I seem to be in a comfortable plateau in terms of color mixing, composition, balance, etc. The tea kettle boils dry...the promise of only a few minutes at my easel soon brings the realization six hours later that it's 3AM...the insatiable desire to keep recording ideas on panels that stack up by the dozens in my studio before I can find time to get back to them...the meditative state that occurs every time I sit at my easel...I call it auto pilot...the ability to tune out...the familiarity of spending so much solitary time in deep concentration. Only the jarring sound of a phone or the undeniable sweetness of birdsong or fluttering wings splashing in the birdbath can pull me away momentarily from my easel...before my work once again beckons. It's a spiritual experience which I hope my work someday lives up to. Right now I'd say the richness of the process actually exceeds the results...but I'm working on that...." Jeanne Illenye (c) 2010

Orange Burst CLASSICAL REALISM still life oranges, strawberries with blossoms, grapes, branch of cherries, lemon, seeds, dewdrops, realism

Orange Burst

14x18 inches / oil on canvas

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Email here for pricing and more detailed images of painting and gallery quality frame.  Frame also available for purchase separately.  

This vividly detailed oil painting features a voluptuous arrangement of fruit with focus on the orange that appears to have burst open, it's juices dripping.  To further enhance the composition, fresh plucked grapes, a torn branch of cherries with one sliced open, strawberries with blossoms in various stages of ripening, and a lemon half with shiny leaves, seeds and more!