What the Day Brings. . .

painting in process--woman with a broom

2010-01-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

12"x12"

oil on board

unfinished

I made some headway on this painting today, but didn't have time to finish it. It's such a contrast from doing the ones with the mother/babies! The subject is so hard compared to the others and, too, it's amazing to me to believe that it's the same palette of colors. . . Speaking of colors, I haven't been able to get a good photo of this tonight--but it's not done anyway! I have ended up going into the painting with the palette knife alot. I'm finding that sometimes it just frees me up to do that.

study for woman with broom

2010-01-05T20:46:00.000-08:00

8"x8"

watercolor and graphite

$65 includes domestic s/h

click here to ask about purchasing this painting through Paypal

I have worked quite a bit on this image in oil the past two days, but am having a tough time with it, so I decided to do this sketch for a break! The difficult part of the oil painting is actually the lighting. It is inside a convenience store and the light has a green tint to it. I am standing outside, so am also getting the reflections in the window. I like the effect alot, but will just have to keep working on it to see if I can get the painting to a point where I want to share it.

Study for oil painting (sold)

2009-12-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

6"x5"

watercolor on 300# paper

I began work on a 12x16 oil painting of this subject today, but didn't really want to post it yet, so decided to do this little study. It reminds me how helpful it is to draw and re-draw the subjects--the more I do, the more I see!

"Morning's First Hug"

2010-01-03T18:57:00.001-08:00

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$135 includes US s/h

click here to ask about purchasing this painting through Paypal

Here's another painting from our time with our family over the holidays--hope you enjoy it! That little guy just went flying into his mother's arms on Christmas morning!

As to the painting of the whites on yesterday's post, I meant to mention (for the benefit of anyone whose been in my drawing classes and may be reading this) that I ended up making myself a value scale in order to find the correct values in that painting. It was difficult putting together color and value and I found that I really needed the scale. The values make so much difference in a painting coming out the way you want it to. I find that when something doesn't feel right, it can often be corrected by making something lighter or darker.

"Helping With the Ribbon"

2010-01-02T18:44:00.001-08:00

16"x12"

Oil on Board

NFS at this time--but click here to email me for more information

or to request info regarding commissions

Whew!! Finished! This is one of those paintings that I was SO excited about because I love the image so much, and, experienced the equivalent anxiety of whether or not I would be able to paint it! I like it. I am very pleased. It was a learning experience as I mentioned in my last post--all those whites!! The subject is my husband's daughter and our granddaughter as Mom was helping the little one with the ribbon on a gift she found in her stocking. I always am inspired at their home--I think I said this last post, too--because of all the natural light. Everything just looks lovely. They have lots of neutrals in their home. I love it. Everything fits with the human body, nothing is jarring--except, of course, the legos and Thomas Train toys!

I will be placing this painting for sale at a later date. I am going to hang onto it to enter into a competition. If you are interested in it, please let me know and I'll get back to you with more info about it.

painting in process

2009-12-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

16"x12"

Oil on Board

unfinished

I love this little scene. . .it is of my husband's daughter helping her daughter take the ribbon off a Christmas gift. Their home is flooded with natural light and everytime I visit, I find something/someone I want to paint. One thing I must mention though, is that this is probably one of the most difficult subjects I've painted--all the different whites!!

On Christmas Vacation--Skaters at Vancouver Center

2009-12-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

8"x8"

Watercolor on paper

$75 included domestic s/h

click here to ask about purchasing this painting through Paypal

One last little watercolor from our trip. . .this was outside of Vancouver Art Gallery where we feasted our eyes on paintings by the Group of Seven and saw some very interesting digital photographs by Scott McFarland. I loved the surreal quality of them.

On Our Christmas Vacation #2--Theo's First Christmas

2009-12-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

6"x5"

watercolor/pencil

NFS

Happy Boxing Day! We are in Vancouver, BC, not shopping! This little watercolor is of something much more fun to be doing--watching little Theo play with the ribbons and getting enthralled with the rustle of paper. . .

On our Christmas Vacation

2009-12-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

5"x6"

watercolor

NFS

We are out of town for Christmas, visiting family in Portland and Vancouver, so I won't be posting much until we return. I am trying to do at least a little drawing or painting a day, though, while we are gone. This one is of my husband that I did yesterday morning while we had our morning coffee in bed and talked art--a great way to start a little vacation.

Merry Christmas to all!

"Opening the Gift" (sold)

2009-12-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

8"x6"

Oil onBoard

This is my "getting in the mood for Christmas" painting! It is of a dear-to-me mother and two of her babies at Christmas a couple of years ago. We are leaving to visit them today. I'm looking forward to sharing the holidays with them! Also, as this painting is sold, I am looking forward to painting a larger version of it in a month or so!

"At the TBD Loft"

2009-12-20T12:18:00.000-08:00

8"x6"

Oil on Board

$125 includes domestic s/h

click here to ask about purchasing this painting through Paypal

I did a little reworking on this older painting and am now happy with it! I feel like it has a good feeling of the natural light coming into the room on a mid-winter afternoon.

"Santa Fe Market"

2009-12-19T20:53:00.001-08:00

8"x10"

Oil on Board

$250 includes domestic s/h

click here to ask about purchasing this painting through Paypal

This is a little painting from the "archives", one that brings back great memories from travels to Santa Fe. This is a scene from the Indian Market there in the main downtown plaza.

"Santa Fe Market"

2008-07-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

8"x10"

Oil on Board

$250 includes domestic s/h

Ah, memories! These people are shopping and browsing through the beautiful hand crafted jewelry across from the plaza in downtown Santa Fe--I think it's at the Presidential Palace, but need to look that up! This painting will be on display at and available through Tumalo Art Company through July--click here to contact them if you are interested!

"Mimi" Commission

2009-12-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

7"x7"

Oil on Board

Sold

Commissions--most notably portraits--bring out all the blurts, as Julia Cameron calls all those negative voices!! And this one was not exception! It actually looks just like the subject and I expect she will think it's fine--I'll find out tomorrow! However, until then. . . . .you just do your best and let it go!!

"Swans With Gold Reflections"

2009-12-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$110 includes domestic s/h

click here to ask to purchase this painting through Paypal

I came across these swans and the colors they were swimming in a few weeks ago on a walk along the Deschutes River. One thing I love about winter is the crispness of the light. It's a cold light, but it seems like on a sunny day it so defines things.

"Preparing Her Station"

2009-12-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

12"x12"

Oil on Board

$375 includes US shipping

click here to ask about purchasing this painting through Paypal

I feel that this painting is finally finished. I wanted to tone down the foreground as it seemed to grab too much attention from the waitress. The waitress's name is Meghan, the restaurant is a great little place called "Chow" here in Bend, OR. It was an early winter morning, sun coming through the windows highlighting her. Meghan was still getting things ready before the breakfast crowd arrived. It brings back memories to me of my waitress days, though I was never much of a morning person in those days! Give me lunches and dinners and a good band to dance to when I got off work! Anyway, I fell in love with the way the light fell across her and the room she was in. I hope you all enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed painting!

Still Not Finished!

2009-12-13T20:15:00.000-08:00

12"x12"

Oil on Board

I nearly finished this today then wiped out the bottom realizing it just was too distracting from the subject of the painting. And by then I had to stop for the day. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow, tomorrow's a day away". . . ah, yes!

illustrations

2009-12-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

6"x4"

watercolor and pen on paper

sold

This is one of a set of illustrations I've been working on the past few days for a client--unfortunately it hasn't left me time to work on the painting in my last post but that's tomorrow! These illustrations have been fun to do, though. They go with a poem about a woman's life. This one depicts her as a little girl in WW2 England as she watched the Germans and English fight.

Painting in Process

2009-12-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

12"x12"

Oil on Board

I've really been wanting to work on some paintings larger than the 6x6's and 6x8's, so I'm going through and finding some of my favorite subjects that I want to explore in a larger format. I hope to have the finished version of this for tomorrow's post.

"Talking Art" (sold)

2008-03-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

6"x8"

Nice to be back! And thank you to all of you who have responded to the loss of our pup. It's amazing to receive notes from people you barely know and those you've never met! What a gift!

"Lunch at the Byways Cafe" (sold)

2009-03-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

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. . .

Port Dock Marina, Newport, Oregon" (sold)

2009-03-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

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!

"Sunlit" (sold)

2009-04-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

6"x6"

Oil on Board

This is another painting from my visit to Chow restaurant the other day. Meghan, the waitress here, was stocking up for the rush to come.

"Stewy and Friends" (sold)

2009-04-19T16:04:00.001-07:00

12"x16"

Oil on Board

Here's the finished version of yesterday's post. In the meantime, I found out that the name of my sister-in-law's rooster is Stuey! This was a fun challenge. At the gallery in Bend I show at, we are having work featuring "critters" for May, so this will be one of my offerings.

"Man of Passion" (face #37 of a series of 50) sold

2009-06-04T19:28:00.001-07:00

6"x6"

Oil on Gessoboard

The subject of this painting is a man named J. Chester Armstrong. He is a sculptor primarily of animals and begins his carving using chainsaws! I got to watch him demonstrate this last Saturday and it was really fascinating. After he gets the basic form carved with the saws, he uses a variety of tools to finish his work creating beautiful, flowing figures of animals. He is incredibly intense and passionate about his art. He is one of those sculptors who really lets the piece of wood he's using "release" the form. The photo I used as a reference had him in mid-sentence, but the feel of that expression really captured his personality for me. I am still counting those faces that I set out to do last fall! This is number 37 of 50. Once I was able to paint again, I let them go . . .but still want to finish out the 50!

Another artist I'd like to bring attention to is Dana Cooper. She found my blog the other day, then I found hers' and I am glad I did! Please visit her blog!