Mandarines on Saucer

I've scanned this painting before it's fully dry (I'm off to the country for the Easter break), so it could be called a drying saucer, especially given it's attended by seasonally-alien mandarines (new-season mandarines at least).

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Nashi Pear with Blue Castor Oil Bottle

A nashi pear is a pear that's a bit like an apple (though not related); conversely, a blue castor oil bottle bears very little resemblance to an apple.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Plastic Tulips

I bought some plastic tulips from the $2 shop and painted them the following day.  I was so unhappy with the painting that I came very close to rubbing it off, but instead I thought I'd leave it to dry, just in case it grew on me.  After three days I can confirm that it has grown on me only slightly less than the flowers themselves.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 8"

Self Portrait

The model was hopeless: he wouldn't keep his head still.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Onion with Teacup

Eating raw onions isn't my cup of tea, even if the same can't be said for Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Antique Medicine Bottle with Tea Towel

A medicine bottle rugging up due to illness.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Red Pepper with Antique Poison Bottle

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, but when Peter Piper a pint of poison preposterously partook, Peter Piper promptly puked.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Zucchini with Silver-Plated Jug

Zucchini's are technically a fruit (or so I'm told) but generally eaten as a vegetable.  Silver-plated jugs, to my knowledge, are not generally eaten.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Whisky Bottles

A site so rare in my flat that it needed to be recorded in paint for posterity: two unopened bottles of single malt Scotch whisky.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Wooden Artist's Model

I told my friends I've been dating a model--I'm guessing it was manufactured in about 2012.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Pear with Silver-Plated Vase

Pears and vases are common subjects in my still life paintings; in fact, they are so common as to be almost pearvasive.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Carrot with Blue Mug

Some days I can't help but wonder if daily painting is a mug's game, so every now and again I need to dangle a carrot in front of myself.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Apple with Old Fashioned Glass

An old-fashioned glass with a contemporary apple.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Tomato with Glencairn Whisky Glass

I've just discovered that some folks combine tomatoes with whisky to make a sauce (known unsurprisingly as tomato and whisky sauce).  Sounds like the source of all madness to me.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Copper Vase with Tea Towel

Flourless cake seems to be very fashionable in inner-city cafes these days; conversely, flowerless vases are somewhat lacking in popularity.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Woman with Green Hat

I could attempt to outline the finer points of portraiture, but I'd be talking through my hat, or the model's hat at least.

Oil on canvas board, 12" x 16"

Milk Jug with Onion

It's no use crying over spilt milk, but sometimes when dicing onions you've very little choice.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Bathroom Window at Rosebery Hill, Pipers Creek

I think it was Paul McCartney who sang: "I came and drew the bathroom window, protected by a steel bassoon."  Maybe it was actually something about coming through the bathroom window, but there's definitely something about a bassoon.

Oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

View from Gooch's Lane, Pastoria, Victoria

The most prominent tree in this painting is a poplar, and observant followers of this blog (possibly all three of you) might have noticed two poplars in the previous day's picture.  You might say they're becoming increasingly poplar in my work.

Oil on canvas board, 10" x 8"

Looking Across the Dam Towards Mount Macedon from Rosebery Hill, Pipers Creek

Some paintings are better than others and this one definitely falls into the other category--I just couldn't seem to get the dam thing right (nor the tree thing, nor the mountain thing, nor the cloud thing).

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 8"

Lemon with Leather-Bound Book

According to the ancient Aztecs, lemon juice can be used as a cure for appendicitis, which is just as well, because this book has an enlarged appendix.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Garlic Bulb with Jar of Mustard

Another terrible addition to a string of garlic puns, and I'm sure you're not so keen on this mustard joke.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Miniature Vase with Pear

A pair of pear-shaped objects.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Copper Jug with Nectarine

Padaung women of the Kayan people in Burma (Myanmar) are sometimes recognised for the custom of wearing copper neck rings; somewhat rarer is the custom of painting copper and nectarines.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Antique Medicine Bottle with Apple

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, it is supposedly some type of medicine or perhaps something that repels doctors.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 8"