The March Harvest Oddity - By Derek Cadena

Last weekend, after the snow had cleared and the ground thawed, Brent and I pulled some forgotten root veggies that had been sown last Spring.  The parsnips and carrots were boiled together and pureed, it was delicious.

One huge beautiful freakish parsnip was saved from the boiling pot, it was a perfect subject for me to paint! I even dressed up the still life set with draped red fabric, creating a proper stage for exploiting my subject. 

The March Harvest Oddity

A Couple of Joes - by Derek Cadena

My most recent still life painting has two G.I. Joes posing with a P.B.R. beer can. Just a couple of Joes having a beer... in the nude.  I don't see any military policy violations happening...

Click here to visit the Joes ebay ad.

Go Joe!!!

A Quick Study of 1964 G.I. Joe by Derek Cadena

I bought a couple of busted up old Joes on ebay this week.  They have no clothes or guns, and one Joe is missing most of his left arm.  They do have some pretty sweet beards and almost all of their hair, however, they smell like decades of musty basement storage.  I had to have them in the studio, they're great art manikins!  Here is a 45 minute study on a 5x7 panel of the first Joe.  Click here to see ebay ad for Joe!

Easy Rider - Still Life of Potato, Onion, and Limes by Derek Cadena

This produce was born to be wild!  I like to play with my food... I used bamboo skewers to attach two bad limes to a potato, then, I carefully balanced the unruly onion on top of the potato chopper.   I was proud of the food sculpture.  I love that the potato has a star shaped sprout on its side, it helped me form the "Captain America" color palette of the background. 

Easy Rider is for sale in our ebay store.

A Painting A Day - Ants on a log - by Derek Cadena

Celery, peanut butter, and raisins were on the lunch menu last Friday, but of course, it became the focus of my painting session.  I was out of raisins, so, I used currants instead... I made tiny ants on a log.  About three hours later the painting was finished and I was finally able to eat my lunch.  I'm very pleased with this little painting!  See the ad on ebay: Ants on a Log

 

 

A Painting A Day - Avocados by Derek Cadena

Avocados are only 39¢ each at Sunflower Market this week!  I've eaten a few avocados in the past few days... after they pose for me!  A bath of lemon juice keeps them from getting too brown while I paint, and it makes them more delicious for my after work treat.  Here are two of the avocado paintings titled "The Better Half" and "Two Halves". They are both listed on ebay, click the titles to see the ads.

A Painting A Day - Another onion painting by Derek Cadena

"In The Can" was painted on 01 29 2010.  I love the can-y-ness of the can, and the name just makes me laugh.  Check out the ad here: In The Can

 

A Painting A Day - Onion paintings by Derek Cadena

At my last visit to the Asian market, I bought a few plump little green eggplants.  They were so cool looking that they had to be painted before I would later roast them with a chicken.  So, I painted "Mutiny Au Gratin".  The crew of eggplant are tossing the young rebel onion overboard...

The following day I painted "Used", a portrait of a drying cut onion.  The new paintings are listed on ebay, here are the ad links: Mutiny Au Gratin , Used.

 

 

A Painting A Day - Still life of Mighty Tonka by Derek Cadena

A couple of weeks ago, Brent's father dropped off a well used Tonka truck that was, once, Brent's favorite toy.  It's beautiful! And now, it's the studio mascot/art caddy, holding brushes and other art making tools.   I had to paint the Mighty Tonka!  You can see the ad for this original painting listed on ebay, and I will be offering larger Giclee canvas prints of this painting on etsy in the very near future.