"Kitchen Ledge" or "one of these things is not like the other" oil 12 x 14

 We continue to explore color in my oil painting class.  Yesterday's lesson was about painting through colored glass.  We looked at examples of the "in, on, through" of glass, and the influence of the color in single and double layers as  you look through it.  I encouraged my students to begin with several large shapes determined by color and value rather than by objects.  Wow!  Great results, including some harmonies that reminded me of Thomas Dewing's turquoise tonal paintings.  

I was looking in my files for a painting that would support the lesson, and was happy to discover two versions of  "Kitchen Ledge", painted in Maine alongside my friend Kelley MacDonald, in the coastal victorian house we rented with several artist friends.
I wanted the painting to give a sense of welcome, and the period of the graceful house.  When I brought it home, the porch column (in the top photo) seemed incongruous with the simple pine shelf and window trim.  I decided to add another column and an indication of the porch railing which I had originally added going all the way across the painting, and through the bottle.  However, it created an awkward tangent with the top of the lemon, so I removed a third of the railing.  My motivation was removing unintended geometry, but the result had an added bonus of implied stairs below the window where I could imagine a guest stepping up, onto the porch and into the rustic kitchen to share a cup of tea (with lemon?).  Will be back in this lovely spot for a week in June.  Lucky me.