Limon Pasado

Limon Pasado, 2005 reworked 2008 - 2010, oil on canvas, 7 x 6 inchces

In May of 2005 I completed a small still life of a dried up lemon. Around this time I was getting back to painting representationally. I had titled it Study of a Lemon, I knew then that I was not really finished with it. Nothing about it was right, although I did like the small size and the subject of a decaying fruit, which is something different than the pretty and glossy onions and tomatoes I had started painting. I set it aside and after looking at it long and hard in 2008, I decided it was time to rework it. I thought the background was wrong. I changed the light grey green to a deep grey red. The surface where the lemon sat on top of changed to a dark grey. Since that day the painting has been laying around my studio, waiting for the finishing touches. That day was yesterday! I have been trying to get back into painting and I gave myself small tasks as a sort of warm up. One was to keep working on the small grisaille painting, I also covered an old panel with grey paint. This was another unfinished painting that was never going to be completed. The panel was still good so I saved it for another painting. From there I moved on to the lemon, and there was no separating me from it until I finished. I punched up the red in the background and changed the yellows in the lemon. After a short while I had something I was happy with. This may not be a masterpiece but it's still a pretty little painting to look at...I think!

Study of a Lemon, 2005 (original painting), oil on canvas, 7 x 6 inches