Wednesday, May 27, 2009

THE LAST FLOWER oil on board, 6x4


This turned out to be rather surreal. I just sat down and quickly painted this scene in my studio and when I finished, I was surprised. It isn't how I had planned to paint it at all. I didn't really think about it or concentrate on it like I usually do.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

KALANCHOE FLOWERS oil on canvas, 6x4

This is a cactus type plant growing in my back yard which has pretty little bell-shaped flowers on it. The common name for it is Maternity Plant because it has little baby plants growing on the edges of the leaves. These little ones drop to the ground and grow where they land. Although sunny earlier, it's now cloudy and looking like rain here. Hope you all had a nice, patriotic Memorial Day weekend.

Friday, May 22, 2009

LANDSCAPE FOR DSFDF oil on canvas, 4x6

This little landscape is from the Different Strokes from Different Folks site. It was fun doing this from a black and white photo.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

ROSES BY THE FENCE oil on board, 6x6

Ok, here's today's plein air painting. I'm still not very happy with it. For some reason, I just can't make it look like I want it to. Actually, it looks like the subject, but that's not how I wanted to paint it. The brush seems to have a mind of it's own...

SUNNY RED FLOWERS oil on board, 6x6

5/20/09 This is the painting I did yesterday (Wed). The flowers are from the same arrangement as the daisies I painted Tuesday. Sometimes it seems like I've forgotten how to paint. I'm not very happy with any of the paintings I've done this week, today's included. Maybe I will rework today's and post it--and maybe not.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

PAUL'S DAISIES oil on canvas, 6x4

These are some of the beautiful bouquet of flowers my son brought me. There are several kinds of flowers in the arrangement and I had trouble deciding which ones to paint first.

Monday, May 18, 2009

LILLIAN'S FLOWER BED oil on board, 8x10


This is a plein air painting done from my back yard, looking through the fence at my neighbor's yard. Lillian's flower bed, once immaculate, is now overgrown since illness forced Lillian into a nursing home. I hope the new owners will also take pride in their yard like she did, providing beauty to the neighborhood.
Gracie, my outside cat, lay on the grass beside my easel while I painted this and 2 mockingbirds fussed at her the whole time we were there. Maybe you can see my frustration with the constant noise in this painting.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

PEDERNALES RIVER oil on canvas, 4x6


I painted this from a picture I took several years ago near Austin. It's the Pedernales River in the Pedernales Falls State Park, a beautiful place in the Texas Hill Country.


Pedernales River
6" x 4" (15.3cm x 10.2cm)
Oil on canvas on panel
$79 plus $6 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

SPRING CREEK oil on canvas, 16x20

I painted this from a photo I took a while back. The scene was very busy, so I simplified it quite a bit.

Spring Creek
20" x 16" (50.8cm x 40.7cm)
Oil on canvas

Monday, May 11, 2009

MOTHER'S DAY CARNATION 6x4, oil on canvas

Yesterday, my husband took me out for breakfast and the waitress gave me this carnation. How sweet! I have it in a pretty bottle and I spent quite a while making sketches before I decided on this composition.

Most of my paintings begin with sketches and value studies. Then after I've chosen the composition, I draw on my canvas with a paintbrush and paint thinned with terp. Then, I do a 3 value painting usually with a complementary color of the main subject. Then, after it dries, it's time to apply thicker paint.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

I had a very nice Mother's Day and hope all of you did, too. It was a beautiful day here--sunny and about 90 degrees.

Friday, May 8, 2009

ALMOST IN THE SHADE oil on canvas, 6x4

I took a picture of these two guys at a festival I went to last fall. I love the backlight and couldn't resist photographing them.


Almost in the Shade
4" x 6" (10.2cm x 15.3cm)
Oil on canvas on panel
$79 plus $6 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.


Thursday, May 7, 2009

TOURIST oil on canvas, 6x6

I painted this from a photo I took in Mexico about a year ago. We always enjoyed going across the border for the day to shop and eat until it became too dangerous. We don't go over there any more because of the violence along the border. This is Nuevo Progresso where shops line the streets for several blocks. I imagine they have lost a lot of tourist trade in the past year or so. I wonder if it will ever be safe again.

Monday, May 4, 2009

TAXI! oil on canvas, 6x4

I did this from a photo on the Different Strokes site. It's the first time I've painted a subject like this and I didn't think I'd like it, but I did really enjoy doing it. I think it's good to change subject matter occasionally.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

SELF-PORTRAIT STUDY oil on canvas, 6x6

I guess I must be in a strange mood today seeing how this came out. I did it very quickly looking in a mirror and decided not to change or "fix" it. Instead of reworking this one, I'll just consider it a study and go on to the next painting...

Saturday, May 2, 2009

M'S IRISES oil on canvas, 6x4

I painted this from a photo my dad took last week of my mother's irises in their back yard. For some reason, the photo seems washed out. The colors are richer on the painting.

Book Illustrations, 3x2, oil on canvas

VIOLETS, BLUE MESA, BROOK BESOR, CHRISTMAS TREE, POPCORN, ANGEL IN CLOUDS

Friday night: I've spent most of the day working on book illustrations. These are some of the oil paintings, and I've also done some watercolors which I'll post later.