"Table For Four"

20"x16"

Oil on Board

contact me for purchase information

I've been teaching most of this past week and working on an illustration job, but finally got to paint! I've been working on this for a couple of days and it just isn't the painting I had in mind!! I prepped the board with the venetian red gesso and it was hard to bring it up to a higher key. I think I'll do it again without the dark gesso. I love the subject, the way the light streams in from the east windows.

The classes have been great. My friend, Mary Marquiss and I co-taught a class called "Dance of Line and Watercolor". In the morning, I would work with drawing skills with the students and in the afternoon, Mary would work with them in watercolor, taking the concepts from the morning and using them in paint. We will be offering it again in August through wwww.artscentraloregon.org.

"At the Cafe Counter"

12"x16"

Oil on Board

sold

I just finished this commission of a painting I've done just a few times before! It is still a pleasure to work with this subject. This couple is at a cafe in Portland, OR called the Byways Cafe. It's a great little place with an Americana travel theme going on and looks like a diner out of the 50's. Good food, too!

I'm taking a couple of month's break from being in the Daily Painters Gallery (www.dailypainters.com). I need to be putting my energies towards painting for an upcoming show, illustration work and marketing and it's difficult for me to do that and try to do small paintings regularly, too--if you've been following, I'm sure you've noticed!! I'll be posting whatever I'm painting on my blog, though, so keep on following, or become a follower! I appreciate you all!

Pair of Iris Blossoms

8"x6"

Oil on Board

$125 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I co-taught a class today in which we drew and painted some beautiful tulips. I was so enamored with painting flowers that I plucked these from their stems when I got home and painted them! I'm having a really hard time adjusting the color of this photo for some reason. The background has a lovely pale yellow color, not so reddish as it appears in my photo and the left iris is definitely purple--not dark blue.

Little Will and His Golden Book

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

This is my grand-nephew on his recent first birthday delving into a Golden Book--hard to believe they are still around! I used a panel I prepped with Venetian Red gesso by Daniel Smith and really liked working on it. I've tried black gesso a couple of times and liked it but found it really difficult, too. This is something I look forward to trying again!

"Airplane!"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

I know it's nearly summer, but the way this little girl is bundled up shows you what early "summer" has been looking like in Bend this year! Not that it looks like it matters to her! She's having too much fun. I think I'd like to find a swing myself!

"Erica Coloring With Oil Pastels"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

This little painting is of one of the children in the recent "Portrait" class I taught. She really went to town with the oil pastels!

"At the Wedding Reception"

8"x12"

Oil on Board

Contact me for purchase information or for commissions

I've been working on this painting the last couple of days which is of a couple from a wedding I attended last month. Besides the subjects, I was attracted to this scene because of the lighting and the challenge of the skin tones. The table was sparkling with the light coming from behind as the bride and groom were listening to toasts being offered to them. The wedding was at a vineyard outside of Livermore, CA. A beautiful setting and evening!

Painting in Process--At the Diner

12"x16"

Oil on Board

Commission--NFS

This is a commissioned painting and if you have followed my blog, you'll have seen the subject before a few times! I have always thought of myself as not liking to revisit subjects, but this year I'm finding out it isn't necessarily true. There are a few that I just don't get tired of exploring--the mothers/children and this one are two of them.

"Chocolate Birthday Cake"

8"x6"

Oil on Board

$125 plus $10 domestic s/h

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This little painting is inspired by my great niece and her Dad as he was feeding her at a birthday party. It was a challenge! I may try it again just to work on skin tones--but it won't be right away! I am still very involved in an illustration job, which is why I haven't been posting lately. I miss painting!!

"Cloud Shadows on the High Desert"

6"x6"

Acrylic on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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The high desert gets its green on this time of year, especially when we have had such a rainy spring! This is a scene from southest Oregon, close to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. Lots of white clouds going back to the horizon and deep, deep shadows where they block the sun.

"Hot-Air Balloon Rising"

6"x5"

OIl on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic shipping/handling

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My little dog woke me up at 4:40 this morning and as I was trying to go back to sleep I remembered the "Balloons Over Bend" (hot air balloon festival) that was happening this morning. Every year I think I'm going to get up and go watch them take off, but never quite make it! No excuses today! It was a gorgeous sunny morning and such a joy to watch the gigantic colorful forms fill up with air and begin to rise. I have to thank my pup for getting me up!

"Model With a Blue Tattoo"

Watercolor on 300# Watercolor Paper

22"X11"

$125 includes domestic s/h

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We had our last life-drawing lab for the term today and this was my best effort. I loved the pose--she had attitude! I decided to "play" with watercolor today to loosen up a little. I really enjoyed it!

Guest Artist--Susan Luckey Higdon

"Mirror Pond Idyll"

8"x8", Acrylic

$195 framed

for purchase information contact Susan Luckey Higdon

Fellow artist and friend, Susan has been a huge inspiration to me with my own work for the past 10-15 years. First off, she is passionate about her subjects which range from the Central Oregon landscape to fly fishermen to red-winged blackbirds to vibrant steelhead--and so much else that shows the richness of the region we live in. She does beautiful work with both pastels and acrylics. Too, Susan is a founding member and partner of Tumalo Art Company, a collective gallery here in Bend that brings the idea of a "c0-0p" to a high level. Visit Susan's website for more of her work and the site of Tumalo Art Company to see more of the fine work that comes from our small area.

"At the Carnival"

12"x16"

OIl on Board

I did a 16x20 painting of this subject a couple of years ago and just was never quite happy with it, so decided to try it again. This time, I feel like it really works. It is a more cohesive piece than the previous one. Here's a link to it if you'd like to compare and see what you think: "Carnival Time". The scene is from our county fair and I am saving this painting for a show in August.