"Breakfast at Chow"

7"x5"

Oil on Canvasboard

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I had breakfast at a restaurant named Chow this morning--very tasty! A blend of sauteed grains, spinach and spices topped with an egg--not that you needed to know that! Anyway, Megan, the wait-person, was great about my taking photos so I made the most of it. The restaurant is in a little old house and is filled with natural light--love that!

"Carol" #36 in series of 50 faces (sold)

6"x6"

Graphite on Bristol Board

The more I looked at the painting I began of Carol yesterday, the less I wanted to tackle it again today! I had such a difficult time with the pose--just very hard not to have her look so stiff. I may start from scratch. Anyway, I decided to do a drawing of her from one of the photos I took--this shows her personality and spirit much more!

Painting in Process--Carol

10"x8"

Oil on Board

NFS (unfinished)

Today I had the unusual and great experience of painting someone from life--Carol, who supports the arts by purchasing them, loving them and learning them (along with her husband) offered to sit for me so I could do this. What a challenge! The conditions were so different than doing my studio paintings and I felt compelled to be quick so she wouldn't get too tired of sitting still! In my drawing classes I really stress squinting to help see color and value shapes--it was interesting to realize how easy it is to do when working from a photo when compared to a real model! Too, getting the color was tough. I took photos, too, so will be finishing this painting from those. But there is a likeness of her here--not that complete of one yet, but there's potential. Anyway, I'd really like to do more of this--and I'm grateful that she is a willing model!

Also, I decided to try this with a limited palette like yesterday's: alizaron crimson, ultramarine blue, cad lemon, white and raw sienna because I went off without my ochre nor did I have that yellow I used yesterday. I liked mixing the different blacks.

By the way, that color of yellow I became so enamored with yesterday is Alizaron Yellow made by Williamsburg paints!

"At the Bond Street Teahouse"

5"x7"

oil on Gessoboard

Doing this painting was a source of discoveries for me. First of all, it was done with three colors--alizaron, ultramarine blue, a cadmium yellow and white. I rarely use such a limited palette! I was amazed at the beautiful range of colors I got--hope they show up here! The second thing is the yellow I used. Laura (the one in my drawings and paintings!) was here this past week and left the paint for me that I used in this and the yellow is like nothing I've seen before. She said it was a cadmium yellow, but it has so much depth and absolutely glows! Very different from any cad yellow I've seen. I've got to find out where to get it!!

"Wisdom"

5"x9"

Black Color Pencil on Bristol Board

Sold

Today I celebrate having completed the final drawing for the Bible illustrations I have been working on since October! This is the image I created for the Book of Wisdom. Sophia (or Wisdom) is just about my favorite "character" in the book--the writing about her is beautiful and inspiring. "She is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty", "She deploys her strength from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things for good." More about her can be found in Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus.

"Morning Ritual" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Back to the "archives"! I had to work on illustrations today so decided to post this little painting that I did quite some time ago. Swans are a big part of downtown Bend. I love the sound they make as they fly--powerful!

"Up and Over" (sold)

7"x5"

Oil on Gessoboard

$100 plus $10 s/h

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There's not much to say about doing this painting today except that I really enjoyed it!

"Cowgirl in Flowers" (sold)

7"x5"

Oil on Gessoboard

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I really liked the dress with the boots and the cowboy hat! She was at a rodeo I went to last summer and was with two other girls dressed similarily. They will all three be in a painting one of these days!

"Playground Princesses" (sold)

7"x5"

OIl on Gessoboard

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Spring is in the air--I find myself looking at the reference photos I've got of sunny summer days! These little girls just drew me in with their energy and enthusiasm!

More Faces--#35 and #36 in the series of 50

Woman:4"x 2.75"

Man: 3"x 2.25"

Copper Wire and Glass Beads

Click here if you have questions about these

Sometimes, a girl's just gotta have fun! Right? The other day, I just had this urge come from out of nowhere to do this! So, I thought I'd let them be a part of my series of 50 faces. They just are--they aren't mounted on anything yet, not sure what I'll do with them. Just kind of fun. . .I'm doing illustration work again, so there may be a few more of these in the upcoming days!

"Eggshells"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

I've had a bowl of broken egg shells in the refrigerator for the past couple of weeks because I just like the way they look! I decided to do a painting of them this morning--wow! What a challenge! For one thing, it was great to be working from life and trying to see "real" color! But the colors kept changing! I enjoyed working with the brushstrokes, though. One thing I wish I had done was to put in a whole egg to set up a context for the pieces of shell. Live and learn!

"Waiting For Audrey"

10"x8"

Oil on Board
$225 plus $10 domestic s/h
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Ah. . .finished and a joy to paint.

Painting in Process--"Waiting For Audrey"

10"x8"

Oil on Board
unfinished

Well, I hoped to get this finished in a day, but also had to WORK!! Such is life! Sure is amazing to me what I see in the photograph that I didn't notice in the actual painting--mainly that her expression looks a bit pained!

"Counter Act"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Change isn't very comfortable! I've been thinking about what I said yesterday about needing to do something different and this is a result. As I look at the photo, I see that there's a couple of spots that I need to tend to--I'll have to do that and replace the photo tomorrow. Anyway, I've been thinking how much I love color and that my eye is drawn to shapes, so I decided to take this theme that I've painted before and play with it in a way that addresses that. I like the simplicity, the palette and the composition.

I find it a little disconcerting, though, to do something so off the path I've put myself on!! I have had "have a consistent body of work" so drilled into my head, that doing something outside of that makes me itchy! But, hey, it's only a little painting! It's interesting how much importance one can place on something so UN-important- -importance and expectations. I hope I'm not so neurotic that I'm relatively alone in this!

"Mallory and Winston"

5"x7"

Oil on Gessoboard

NFS

This little painting is of my niece, Mallory, who is going to be having a baby anytime now! The Westie is Winston who loved looking out that upstairs window. I was intrigued with the light and curious to see what would happen with a really dark subject amid all the light values. I like the painting, but I can feel that something is brewing inside. There's a part of me that wants to feel a little more like I'm playing here rather than trying to "get it right"!

"Companions" (sold)

12"x12"

Oil on Board

This is my 300th post!! Where does the time go?!

I decided to try a larger version of the painting, "Reminiscing" that I did last week and this is the result. I am pretty happy with it. I really don't know if the photo will do it justice--I'm having a tough time with my photos these days for some reason!

I really like this subject! I like the composition, the variety of values and the content, too. I've been re-reading Anne Morrow Lindberg's "Gifts from the Sea" and the chapter I read this morning really made me think about this painting. She talks of how when we meet the person we decide to share our lives with, it's so exclusive--that commitment to "only you"--and then how it changes over the years as we grow and our lives get fuller and larger. It's not feasible to have it just be "you and me" anymore! She says, though, that instead we have "only-you-moments" interspersed throughout. To me, the couple in this painting seem to be having one of those experiences.

"Dozing in the Winter Sun"

6"x8"

Oil on Board

$125 plus $10 domestic s/h

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This painting is of a fellow I saw dozing at a sunny window at the library. Which of us hasn't had the experience of trying to read in the afternoon with the sun gently lulling us to sleep? Well, maybe not everyone, but I think it's probably pretty universal!

"Reminiscing"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

click here to ask about purchasing this painting

I saw this couple at a coffee shop in Sisters, OR on a lazy Saturday afternoon recently. As I painted this, I kept thinking of the comfort of a long-established relationship that they seemed to be enjoying. I wasn't really able to put that into words for a title, so took my husband's suggestion of "reminiscing". It's kind of wondrous, though, when you think about it--looking past the surface of a couple of people and start imagining the depth of life that's gone on between the two. We're so close to our lives that we don't get to see the miracle of them, I think.

Painting in Process

6"x6"

oil on board

I am playing catch-up! Didn't have yesterday's painting finished until this morning and it looks as if today's won't be finished until tomorrow! Oh well . . sure is fun to paint!

Port Dock Marina, Newport, Oregon" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

This is my painting on the Daily Painter's Gallery chosen theme for today of "reflections". It's from a trip I took to the coast in February and ended up having a day with many breaks in the clouds and rain and lots of brilliant reflections!

"Lunch at the Byways Cafe" (sold)

6"x8"

Oil on Board

$Before I talk about this painting, I want to mention two blogs--one is Leslie Saeta's who has great little paintings she does with a palette knife. I was so impressed that she could do what she does with a knife!! The other is one I've mentioned before, that of Tracy Leagjeld. She creates beautiful monoprints of landscapes and has an amazing sense of color.

I have painted two other versions of this subject: on an 11x14 inch painting and then a 6x6 inch of the couple. I love this subject!! And each time I've started it, I've thought that there is no way I'm going to manage to pull it off! It is somewhat of a miracle to me how the process of painting happens and what seems impossible just sort of works itself out. Way opens. . .

"Morning Coffee on a Winter Day"

11"x14"

Oil on Board

for purchase information contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery

This is the painting I started the other day with the acrylics. The acrylics ended up being the base for the painting--I just couldn't stick with them to finish it out. I think it's because I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to achieve and wasn't able to get the paints to do what I wanted! I may be wrong, but I think if I paint with acrylics, it needs to be more about working with the paint as opposed to trying to make it act like oils! I see work, though, that is acrylic and very painterly (Jeffrey Boron's comes to mind--see his link on the list on the right) and yet the paintings could well be oils. Also, I'm noticing this photo has a bit of a pink cast to parts of it--I am trying out a new photo-editing program, so will have to see if I can get it right!