Roses and Apples by Jim McVicker

"My painting Roses and Apples was painted on site over several days during the same time of day and lighting conditions. It was painted late summer in our yard in Northern California. I had intended to paint the small apple orchard but as I walked around our yard looking at different angles, I realized the idea needed a focus and something to have a relationship with the trees. My first thought was a figure but as I looked around the yard at the many rose bushes in blossom I thought—still life: a small table, rug and the colorful roses in a vase. My process was focusing on the roses first knowing they would change the most. After each session I put up an umbrella to shade the roses from the sun. I always work all over the surface, developing the painting directly, as I painted the shapes, values and color, all along trying to get a true sense of the light and summer air." – JIM MCVICKER