"Nativity Cross"

18"x18"

Linoleum Block & Watercolor

I'm realizing that if I have time to paint today it will be to rework some areas on yesterday's post, and, too, that this is the last post I will probably make until after the holidays.

I'd like to offer this piece as a wish for all of you for a beautiful holiday season!

"Rhiannon"

12"x9"

Oil on Board

Yesterday was not a good painting day--wiped off what I'd begun after an hour or so, then decided to tackle this portrait of Rhiannon that I have been afraid to start! I did a study for it a while back (see Nov. 16 post) and have been very hesitant to try a "finished" one. I think the failure of the first painting I began yesterday took the pressure off and I realized I had nothing to lose!

"Bull Rider" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

It's too late in the evening for me to be trying to think up a better title for this one! I would like to say something profound tonight about the experience of painting so often and how much I am getting out of it, but right now, all that comes to mind is how good it feels to move the paint around and that I just love the whole thing! Life is good!!

"After the Rush" (sold)

8"x8"

Oil on Board

This brings back many memories of my years of waitressing--getting the room back in order, the tables reset, everything ready for the next rush of customers. I was attracted to this scene from a restaurant in Portland, OR, though, by the beautiful and subtle natural light that filled the room.

"Early Morning Shopper" (sold)

8"x6"

Oil on Board

This little painting is from a visit to Vancouver, BC. . .a weakly sunny morning in winter.

Illustrations

The past few days have been filled with illustration work and these are a couple of them. I used a black prismacolor pencil on a Strathmore plate bristol--very, very smooth! The illustrations are of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Br. David Gonzales. Two people from very different times and places, but they had in common a deep concern for and service to others.

I am itching to paint! Hopefully I can get up early enough in the morning to do so before I go to work! We'll see!

"Little Old Mickey"

7"x5"

Alkyd on Board

$90 includes domestic s/h

I came across this painting the other day--it's one of the first ones I did a year ago after I had discovered the "daily painters", all their wonderful little paintings and had decided to try it myself. I was so inspired by all the different subjects people worked with, the things that I would never have thought of painting. Discovering the daily painters really gave me a huge shot of adrenalin as far as my artwork went! And it still does. Posting this painting is a bit of a celebration of all that. The figurine is one I found--or at least claimed--from an old building on a farm my dad bought years ago. I'm pretty certain it is pre-WWII Japan. Painted porcelain.

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still in process!

Well, I wasn't sure I was going to do this to myself--post this, that is! Oh well!! This was my painting time today! I am challenged by this project, though--getting color, getting likenesses, trying to stay at least a little loose. I need to repaint Sarah. . .at any rate, I am learning!! And enjoying it, too. . .

"No Two Alike"

8"x16"

Oil on Board

Doing this painting brings to mind "Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing" by Frederick Franck. He talks alot about how drawing/painting is such a great way to be totally present to our world, to really "see" as opposed to just "looking" as he puts it. One of the many great gifts of doing artwork!!

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"Triads"

12"x12"
Oil on Board


A trio of pears and a triadic color scheme. . .this painting has been a couple of days in the making and I didn't get a chance to post it yesterday. I like what's happening around the stem area--the brushstrokes and the interaction the shapes. Pear stems make me think of quail--it makes it easy to imagine them in some sort of conversation we're not privy to!

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Hiram, King of Tyre

5.75"x5"

prismacolor on paper

Today was a "do art for income" day, so this illustration of Hiram for St. Anthony Messenger Magazine is my post for the day. Among other things, Hiram was instrumental in seeing that Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem contributing in the areas of expertise, materials and artisans.

"On a Striped Plate"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Hmmmm. . .titles are not my forte.

I had a difficult time getting the elipse to read right and ended up putting paper behind my board to be able to draw the entire plate out and that helped alot.

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"Sliced" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Too many things to do today to be able to paint! My ideal life is not happening--oh well, I guess we're all in the same boat! I have to admit that it's a pretty good one, anyway! So, this painting is one I did not too long ago. I was intimidated by the subject, but it came together quickly. I can see some things that I learned in Carol Marine's workshop and I like that about it!

"Red Hot!" (sold)

6"x8"

Oil on Board

$100 includes domestic s/h

I really enjoyed painting this red! And I was also very surprised to find all those colors in the taffy--and I'm sure I didn't get them all! This was fun!

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"Salt Water Taffy"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

I thought it would be fun to try to paint this taffy on a piece of silvery gray fabric--no problem! Mix a nice gray and go from there. Well, hardly! There's things about this little painting I'm pleased with, but definitely found myself a challenge here that I think I ought to address again!

I enjoyed showing alot of my "daily" paintings at a Christmas fair yesterday--just want to thank any of you who were there and are reading this for your wonderful comments and your purchases! I am truly grateful!

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Ornaments

5"x4" each

Acrylic on Wood

Well, today's painting was to make a couple of ornaments for the Christmas tree at a gallery I have my work in. Quite a switch to work in acrylic rather than oil! And no, it's not your eyes! The picture's a bit blurry!

"At the Fajita Stand"

8"x10"

Oil on Board

Well, on such a cold, cold day it felt great to paint something from a hot day in Santa Fe! It seems that after I photograph a painting,THEN I see little things that need to be changed! I'll have to fix them and re-post! But I had a great time here--it's not been like me to be able to leave out alot of detail. I think painting every day --well, trying to!--is so great! I am LEARNING things! This painting is slated to go into a show next week, but if anyone out there is interested in purchasing it, let me know. And thanks to all of you for looking!

"Jacqueline"

8"x6"

Oil on Board

A banner day! Time to do another painting, too! I really enjoyed working with larger shapes here. I got to know Jacqueline when she was working with a program that put cancer patients and artists together. The artists created paintings that were meaningful to the patient and were placed in the chemotherapy center here as part of plan to make the center more hospitable. It worked!

This painting, too, will be in a show in December. If you're interested in it, you can contact Tumalo Art Company after December 4.

"Lunch in the Sun"

6"x8"
Oil on Board

Finished! I really had a good time with this painting--I used to paint very, very thin and really control my brushstrokes--so much so that you wouldn't see them. I am so enjoying each step I make to letting brushstrokes be brushstrokes. I like the neutrals in this painting alot, too. And, by the way, it is of a couple I saw at Granville Island at Vancouver, BC on a chilly but beautifully sunny day.

This painting will be included in a show in Bend in December. If you're interested in it, click on Tumalo Art Company.

painting in process!

6"x8"

Oil on Canvas

Well, today got away from me and I'm not able to get this finished as I'd hoped! I had a hard time getting started today--sometimes it feels like I won't be able to enjoy and get into painting when I have other work hanging over my head, so I'll do that work first. However, I'm beginning to think I need to let it be the other way around!

"Little Dancer" (sold)

6"x6"
Oil on Board

This painting is of some performers at the Bend Summer Festival. I loved the color, the movement and the music! This is the second time I've painted this subject. The first was last summer and was 12x12 inches. I like this one much better! I am pleased with how I managed not to put in unnecessary information and the focus is on the little girl. In the earlier painting, I had alot more background information (people and trees) and it was more of a distraction than anything!

"Barrel Racer" (sold)

6"x6"
Oil on Board


Another painting from the rodeo--these women are amazing to watch as they speed around three barrels as fast as they can and how they and their horses are so much one unit!

Backgrounds in these paintings mystify me. I think if I wanted, I could do a fairly realistic rendering of them, but I need to explore being alot looser than that! I'm enjoying these challenges.

"Feeding the Ducks"

8"x6"

Oil on Board

This painting is from a visit to Vancouver, BC, at Queen Elizabeth Park. There was something about her stance that was so beautiful to me--the simplicity and the confidence of it. This was supposed to be yesterday's painting, but I didn't have time to finish it! To be able to do so this morning, and to be able to paint at all are among the things I am very grateful for on this day!

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"Made It!" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Another rodeo painting! They are fun and a challenge! In this one the 8-second buzzer has sounded, he's made it and the ride is winding down.

"Hangin' On" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Well, looking at yesterday's painting made me want try this again! I'm glad I did--just doing this second one has helped me to see what's not working with the first. I wasn't sure if this composition would work--I didn't know if the horse's head and front legs would just lead you out of the picture, but I thought I'd see what happens, and I think it works well. I also like how this horse has more of a feeling of being off the ground. It was fun! I just might have to rework yesterday's painting!

"On a White Horse"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Sisters (Oregon) has a great rodeo each summer--I used to go to them growing up and it was great to be reminded how much fun they are. So much energy! And this was fun to paint, but I think I'd like to try it a little larger since I seem to want to include so much detail! Or I could try to leave it out, I suppose--it would probably be harder to do THAT!

Study for "Rhiannon"

8"x6"

Oil on Board

I mentioned earlier that I had the great opportunity to take a workshop with Carol Marine in Santa Fe last September at the Andreeva Portrait Academy. It was an excellent experience all the way around--from Carol and her teaching to the other students to the people who are Andreeva Academy and treated us so well. The day after the workshop was finished I spent the afternoon looking at galleries on Canyon Road when I came upon this "painting waiting to happen"! This little girl looked like she was just out of a Sargeant painting or something with her beautiful coloring, white summer dress, silver bangles and magenta parasol--and standing next to a pond with magenta water lilies blooming, no less! Her parents were kind enought to allow me to photograph her and I finally had a chance to begin working with it. I hope to do a larger painting of Rhiannon soon.

"Satsumas" (sold)

6"x8"

Oil on Board

I intended to paint something totally different today, then I saw these great little satsumas at the grocery store--and they had their leaves on! Now I get to eat one. . .

"Leaf Study"

6"x8"

Oil on Board

This is the painting I couldn't finish yesterday. . .my thought while I was working on it today was, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!"

Actually, now that it's finished, it seems OK to me--and OK's not a wow, but it's Friday after a very long week and OK is good enough!

One of the things about deciding to do this blog, for me, is accepting the idea of putting work out for others to see that I might not think is so terrific. It's hard on the ego. Of course, I thought that "well I could always post something I did awhile back that I like better and not even have to put this up here". But I think that situations like this are, for me, a good opportunity to let go a little bit of whatever kind of image I'd like to portray and be happy with--hey! I painted today!! YAY!!

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"Sun on Sage"

5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Mixed Media Drawing, NFS (yet)

Between illustration deadlines and teaching, I see that I'm not going to be able to finish the painting I began this morning, so I decided I'd post this drawing instead. It is from the Steens Mountain area in southeast Oregon--high desert country, wild and open. I used graphite, pastel and color pencil in this piece.

A note to you who have commented: I have tried to reply to your comments, but my replies are mostly returned--I'm not sure how all this works yet! But I want to let you know that I really appreciate your taking the time to leave me a note! Thank you!

"Reflections of LIght" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

I wasn't able to paint today so decided to post this little painting I did this past Sunday at Smith Rock State Park here in central Oregon. The sun was going down quicker than expected! I learned something here, too. I had a hard time getting the light on the rocks bright enough and I think it was because I had put down a cobalt blue underpainting--any thoughts on that?

"At Milagros' Window"

12"x6"

Oil on Board

This painting is done from memory of a woman in front of me at the bank yesterday. It was a kick to paint from memory--I really enjoyed the freedom of it! I found I was able to change colors, shapes and to improvise more than I do when painting from life or using photos as references. As far as the subject goes. . .me being a short person, I am always kind of in awe when I see someone who looks like her!

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"Rest Stop"

6"x6"
Oil on Board

There's something about these ladies I must really like looking at--this is the third time I've painted them! Each time, though, it seems like it's a process of getting more clear on what information I want to put in and trying to understand how to do it. What's necessary, what's not? And then, of course, when I think it's finished (like now), I see things that ought to be tweaked. . .is there a 4th verson on its way?

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"Morning Ritual" sold

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Just a lovely sight, watching the swans groom themselves in the morning light. . . .

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"Santa Fe Afternoon" (sold)

6"x8"

Oil on Board

On the plaza in Santa Fe. . .now that it's November and pretty chilly here in central Oregon, I love remembering the light and warmth of the autumn sun!

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"Native Treasures"

6"x6"

Oil on Board


Another painting from a recent trip to Santa Fe. . .this one shows one of the native artists displaying her work across from the plaza. I like the contrast of the woman in the bright sun to the artist in the shade.

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"Chrysanthemum"

8"x6"

Oil on Board

Dinner guests brought over a bunch of lovely fall flowers and I challenged myself to paint this chrysanthemum. I love how those flowers are like little fireworks!

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"Summer and Fall"

6"x6"
Oil on Board
contact River Bend Fine Art for purchase information


The autumn colors have been truly outstanding this year. Then again, I think I say that every fall! And every fall, I think "Wow! What a great subject to paint!!" like I've never noticed them before.

"Little Pumpkin"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

"At The Ore House"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

This painting is done from a trip to Santa Fe to attend a great workshop by Carol Marine. It was a great experience! I'm trying to translate what I learned from watching Carol painting her beautiful still lifes to how I paint figurative pieces--a challenge!

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Smith Rock in October

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day, nice and warm and I had TIME! I went to paint here at Smith Rock State Park--one of my very favorite places.

The painting is 8"x6", oil on board.