A PAIR OF PEARS oil on board, 6x6

These are two of the three luscious pears I painted a few days ago. Yes, I ate the missing one. Yum!

THREE PEARS oil on board, 6x6

SOLD I found these beautiful pears this morning while shopping, and I knew at that moment what my painting subject would be today. Even their scent is beautiful. When I began the painting, I had trouble with the shadow colors, but when the painting was finished, it all worked well. When you look at this, I hope you can smell the wonderful scent of fresh pears.

SAGE AND MOUNTAINS oil on board, 4x6

Sage is plentiful in Colorado. It's a pretty blue green color and you can use it in your BBQ grill. Just lay a few sprigs on top of the charcoal. I painted this using a picture I took in Colorado a few years ago.

SNOW FENCE oil on canvas, 24x30

I used photos I took in Colorado several years ago to paint this on stretched canvas. The study which I painted earlier is the same place, but a different view. I hope you can feel the cool summer air and see the beauty of southern Colorado in this.

COLORADO SNOW FENCE oil on board, 4x6

How I love Colorado! I painted this from a photo I took a few years ago. I believe it was in the southern part of the state. This is a study for a larger painting I plan to do of this scene. I have lots of photos I've taken on trips to Colorado. I think it's such a beautiful place which I hope to visit again one day.

GOING HOME oil on canvas, 14x18

Here's the painting yesterday's study was for. As usual, I like the study better than the bigger painting. Studies seem to always come out looser and nicer. I used photos I took near Graham for the horse and rider and most of the background. I used artistic license for the rest.

RACING THE SUN oil on board, 6x6

This is a study for a larger painting. I visited a friend near Graham, Texas about a year ago and we happened by several cowboys practicing roping as the sun was setting. What a photo opportunity it was!

COWS AND CALF GRAZING oil on canvas, 24x30

Here's what I've been working on the past 2 days. I painted it with a palette knife while looking at some photos I took at my parents' farm a few months ago. So, it isn't exactly a certain scene, but parts from 3 photos of the same general place. It is such a beautiful, peaceful place that I just had to try to convey that to you viewers.

SELF-PORTRAIT 5 oil on canvas board, 14x11

I painted along with Susan Carlin this afternoon. What great fun!!! My self-portrait isn't finished. I mean, there are several things I see that I want to do, such as finish the eye on the left. But, I wanted to go ahead and post it and I'll post a new photo when I'm done with it. I used a palette knife.

I've done a little more to this. I could work on it forever and make it look better, but I don't want to spend any more time on it since it's a self-portrait. Like Susan Carlin said about hers, who'd want it but maybe my mommy? So, it's officially finished!

ROW OF TREES oil on board, 4x6

Here's another scene I photographed along the highway between my parents' house and mine this summer. I painted this using a palette knife--so much fun!

365 Daily Paintings

I've achieved my goal of painting a small painting every day for a year. I will continue to paint every day, but I may not complete and post a painting every day. I began on Aug. 10, 2007, but skipped Aug. 13, and began again Aug. 14. (I've actually painted 370 daily paintings.) So, yesterday, Aug. 13, 2008 completes one year of continuous daily paintings. I still plan to post "almost" every day. It's been hard, but not as hard as I expected, to have the discipline to do this. Some of the positive outcomes of daily painting are: learning a lot about painting and about myself and meeting new artist friends. I encourage any serious artist to become a "daily painter". You'll be amazed at how much you learn from these little paintings.

BUCKET OF TOMATOES acrylic on board, 6x6

I used a palette knife to do this painting. It is done from a photograph I took of this bucket full of tomatoes my Dad brought in from his garden a few weeks ago.

EMPTY JUICE BOTTLES acrylic on board, 6x4

These are some of the juice bottles that my mother has emptied. I thought they were too pretty to throw away before photographing and painting them. I did this painting with a nylon brush. The painting is smoother than I wanted. I should have used a bristle brush!

MORNING MIST WITH COWS acrylic on board, 4x6

This is another scene from my parents' farm. I took the picture early in the morning while there was mist over the lake and the pasture. I painted this with a palette knife.

MISTY POND AND COWS acrylic on board, 4x6

8/10/08 I painted this with a palette knife. It's from a picture I took at my parents' farm. It was early in the morning and there was a mist over the lake and pasture.

WELL-WORN MEMORY oil on board 6x6

This softball looks like it was very well worn. I can imagine someone playing with it for years. No, it wasn't me.

EGGPLANT FROM LUCILLE'S GARDEN oil on board, 5x7

8/8/08 My neighbor who has the beautiful flower garden also has a vegetable garden. This is one of the eggplants she brought us.

BY THE LAKE oil on board, 6x6

8/7/08 Here's another scene on Highway 69. You can see just about this much from the highway. Once I stopped and got out of the car and walked closer to see the lake and a house up on the hill.

I'm finally back!

It's good to be posting again. I've been painting every day, but I wasn't able to post. Here's what I've been painting the past 13 days.

RED CUP WITH FLOWERS acrylic on canvas board, 14x11

This was the demo for today's painting class. It's the same cup as before and the yellow flowers are the same ones. But, I bought the purple and white flowers this morning.

BOWL OF FRUIT acrylic on canvas board, 11x14

8/5/08 This was also a demo for the painting class. I love painting and I love teaching painting.

DUCK REFLECTION acrylic on canvas board, 11x14

8/4/08 This was done as a demo for a painting class I'm teaching. I used a brush for this and I may do a little more to it. It isn't quite finished.

LEMON COUPLE oil on board, 4x6

8/3/08 Fruit again! Yes, done with a palette knife.

GAVIN READING oil on board, 6x6

8/2/08 This is my great-nephew. I used a palette knife to paint this from a photo I took in May.

SUMMER PASTURES oil on board, 5x7

8/1/08 This was done from a picture I took along the highway between my parents' house and mine. It's just a beautiful drive!

ALONE AMONG THE BRIARS oil on board, 5x7

7/31/08 I'm not sure where the idea for this came from. I just started out to paint the flower and it ended up like this. This was one of the flowers in the red cup that I painted yesterday. Yes, I used a palette knife.

CUP OF FLOWERS oil on board, 6x6

7/30/08 This is a coffee mug which I put flowers in just for my students and me to paint.

ORANGE AND GREEN APPLES oil on board, 4x6

SOLD 7/29/08 Yes, more fruit! I love painting fruit--the colors, the reflections...especialy with a palette knife.

EAST TEXAS HIGHWAY 4x6, oil on board

7/28/08 This is the highway between my house and my parents' which I've seen a lot of this summer. I usually take pictures (yes, I know I shouldn't) while I drive because there are so many beautiful light/shade patterns, trees, cattle, horses, etc that I see. I've painted several of the scenes on this stretch of Highway 69.

LIME AND TWO LEMONS oil on board, 6x6,

7/27/08 This is a palette knife painting which I enjoyed very much. I love painting fruit and using the palette knife is so much fun!

BILLY oil on board, 6x6

7/26/08 I'll post a photo of this palette knife portrait later. Here it is! Billy is a wonderful young man and we all love him. I thoroughly enjoyed painting his portrait.

WOMAN WITH BLOND HAIR oil on board, 6x6

7/25/08 I did this painting from a photo I took. It was done with a palette knife.