Red Enamelware Pot With Red and Yellow Flowers and Lemons - A Still Life Painting

Red Enamelware Pot -Red and Yellow Flowers

8x8 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Summer is brightness and fun.  Artists express what is around them.  I have many favorite items to set up in still lifes to paint.  In this painting I wanted to convey a mood of  brilliance and brightness - summer in this case with this little daily painting.  Reds and yellows convey warmth so my choices of items were perfect for what I wanted to create.  This painting is listed on Etsy.  You are welcome to visit there or contact me personally about the purchase of this painting.  Have a happy summer!

A Symbol of Freedom

American Bald Eagle Portrait

8x8 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

 

The Eagle is a national bird symbol for the United States of America.  He was chosen as an image to use for the The Great Seal of the United States on June 20, 1782.  Some States use him in their seal as well.   I suppose the bird represents power because of his size and wing span, majesty because of his beauty, and freedom because he can soar and live in high places.  One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Isaiah 40:31: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”  So, the eagle has always been a bird that represents strength.  As I painted this regal bird I thought of freedom, of my country, my family and friends, my church and yes, my government.  I’m thankful for all these things even though not one of them are perfect, but I have the right to choose for myself whether right or wrong.  That is priceless!  I’m thankful most for my Lord and Savior Who gave me the opportunity to choose…..I chose right!  Let freedom ring!

Crock Pitcher and Green Onions Still Life Painting

Crock Pitcher and Green Onions

6x8 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

 

We have had such a lovely garden this year.  In spite of all the bad weather and tornados in Oklahoma much of the state has pulled out of a very long drought.  We have gathered lettuce, onions and potatoes for several weeks.  Now we are beginning to get squash.  Ummmmmm.  Love that fresh food!  As I think of how I'm going to prepare these treasures I can't help but think how they would look in a painting as well.  So, I get double pleasure from my veggies.  This painting was such a delight to do.  It is listed in my Etsy shop if interested.  Click here!

Cow Painting of Ms Petunia

Ms Petunia

18x18 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Lately I have wanted to paint white petunias.  Painting whites are a challenge for me.  As all artists know...to paint whites you need to stay away from white!!!!  I also have so many reference photos of cows.  My son is a commission cattleman.  He also runs stocker cattle year round that graze almost in our backyard,  so I have a wealth of beautiful and diverse breeds and mixbreeds to choose as models for my cow paintings.  That being said.....I came across this beautiful Charolais cow photo and decided to paint her instead of the petunias.  Her name came very easy to me (laugh).  She is my flower for this week! She is listed in my Etsy Store.  Just click Petunia and you'll find her.

Hollyhocks and My Bucket Babies

Pink Hollyhocks

8x8 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Hollyhocks are an old fashioned flower.  Every time my husband and I take a trip to New Mexico I have a desire to have them all over our farm landscape.  This year I planted some from seed in seeding beds.  My sister (who is a wonderful gardener) said that sometimes they are very hard to transplant to the garden from the seedlings, but I think mine are going to make it.  Oklahoma, especially where we live, has such extremes...high wind one day, lots of rain, no rain, very humid, very dry....on and on.  Anyway, I have protected those babies in buckets with the bottoms cut out......until they are very established they will stay in their little "bucket home".  All this to say that I love them.  I love flowers period and I have such a desire to paint every kind of flower.  I have some digital images I took of hollyhocks at our home in Arkansas filed away in my computer.  I took a look at them yesterday.  This one spoke to me and I painted a small 8x8 painting late yesterday and last night.  I am practicing for when my "bucket babies" are grown and I can paint them live.  Until then painting from a picture will satisfy me.  I have this painting for sale in my Etsy shop.  You are welcome to visit there.

Green Pear and Orange Persimmons

 

Orange Persimmons and Green Pear

6x12 Oil on Linen

by

Cheri Wollenberg

 

When I was a child we didn't have "high-tech" tools and toys.  In fact, the year I enrolled in college at Oklahoma State University as a student I was "only an IBM card".  Some readers may know exactly what I'm talking about, but in summary, computers were so large they took up huge rooms in  buildings,  and their information or data was coded on....in this case.....perforated or punched IBM cards or extremely long perforated paper!!!!  If your card was lost....you were lost as a student until they could find the card.  Oh well, to get to my "main" story...losing anyone that might have been interested....persimmons was a mystery to me as a child.  I broke open the seeds and there was a knife and spoon!  I pondered on that a great deal.  In Oklahoma the wild persimmons are small fruit and so bitter it makes your teeth hurt if you should bite into one that is not extremely ripe.  I thought of this as I was painting this little still life!  As noted above, I included the finished product along with the original still life that I painted from although it is very small in the background.  I have more persimmon stories I must share sometime:)  This painting is listed in my Etsy store.  Please visit.

 

Still Life Painting - White Pottery Teapot And Red Strawberries

White Pottery Teapot and Red Strawberries

14x18 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

 

Exciting strawberries!  Why would an artist be interested in painting strawberries?  Why would a viewer desire to look at them?  Inspiration in some form or another always comes from our senses.  Everytime I buy strawberries I think to myself I will have to paint them before my husband and I eat them up!  The color of bright red brings a delight to my eyes.  The juicy, wet quality (touch sense) and the tangy smell of them causes me to remember their delicious taste.  All of these reasons cause me as an artist to record those sensations with brush and paint in hand onto a support (canvas).

Click red strawberries to go to Etsy.