Today was the Art Party at Anton, their big, annual fundraising event. I usually go with my mom, but she is out of town today so I was on the fence on whether to go or not all the way up to this afternoon. A friend had an extra ticket so rather than let it go to waste, I accepted the ticket. I’m glad I went; I watched a muralist working and checked out the Michigan League of Handweavers show. There were some absolutely remarkable pieces. I don’t want anyone telling me that fiber arts are not ‘real art.’

There was a great selection of gluten free foods this year. I left with a full tummy and a couple extra gf mini Bundt cakes. Once I got home though I realized how exhausted I was. I decided to paint some pears since I use pears as my default inspiration. I just so happened to have a lovely Bosc pear from the farmers market.

I set it on my paper in various angles to the light and traced the shadow falls. Then I used different color watercolors for each pear. I added texture over this with a foam roller that came with a cheap kids paintbrush set I picked up a while ago.

Then I went back to the pears and added more color layers to them and the little details at stem and sepal. It actually turned out way more complex that I figured when I sat down to paint. That’s why I love pears, I’ve done so many it’s easy to try something different.

So I spent several minutes racking my brain for what people usually call the bottom bit of pears and apples- what do you call them?