I saw this scene with the sun coming through the trees one morning, but I didn't have my camrea with me. So, I went back to this location the next day and got several pictures. It was such a pretty day! I think that a lot of my paintings are of the effects of light. I'm fascinated by abstract light and shadow patterns. And this grabbed me. This one is really me.
I took a picture of this stream early yesterday morning when the light was coming through the trees. Today, I took the picture and hung it beside my easel and painted it. I left out a little foilage so the stream could be seen easier.
This is painted from a photo called Companion of Diana on the Different Strokes site. My painting has a good bit of subtle color which doesn't show in this photo.
I borrowed this pot of Tiger Eyes from my neighbor--the one with all the beautiful flowers in her yard. I've painted her flowers many times in the past. She had just bought these and some other plants to add to her flower garden, so I brought these over and put them on the table by the window in my studio. It was such a pleasure to paint them! Now, I'll have to return them to her.
These are the grapes I bought a few days ago. It's hard painting all the colors in red grapes because the dark colors aren't always on the shadow side and the light colors aren't always on the light side. And, there is orange and purple and blue and green besides all the variations of red. It's fun and enlightening.
We've had thunderstorms and buckets of rain since yesterday! I like rain, but I didn't want it to rain today. I had planned to set up in the street for a downtown festival today, to display some art and paint en plein air. Of course, it didn't happen. Hopefully, it will be rescheduled for the near future. This is the view across the street of my neighbor's house with rain falling onto the already soaked ground.
I went grocery shopping yesterday and lingered in the produce department! I came home with these luscious apples and some red grapes...maybe tomorrow's painting. Painting shiny, colorful things with light and reflections is lots of fun. I really like painting on canvas much better than painting on a gessoed board. This is a board that I glued canvas on. I've been painting on gessoed boards a lot lately just because it's easier to gesso than to cut and glue canvas. I need to get back to gluing canvas on my boards. I like the feel of the brush on canvas so much better. The gesso absorbs the paint too much and it just doesn't feel the same as canvas.
What a beautiful day this is! I just had to paint outside today to enjoy the air and sky. This is a plein air painting done from my back yard. It's cool--about 60 degrees and mostly sunny.
I saw this pretty waterfall in Tyler a while back. I like the way the water falls over the different layers of rocks. I painted this from a photo I took.
My mother, a poet and a retired college English teacher, liked to name things. The woods at their farm she named Whisperwood and she used to love to ride her four wheeler and, later, her golf cart on the trails my dad cleared for her. This is a view of one of the trails near their pond. I painted this from a photo I took March 16 after her funeral. I sure do miss her.
This was painted from a photo I took of the flowers in the pink vase. I'm glad I took pictures before the tulip lost its petals.
This beautiful vase of flowers belongs to Danita, but she loaned it to me to paint. And, they smell as good as they look. I set the flowers in front of the window in my studio and thoroughly enjoyed painting them. There was a tulip in the arrangement, but it lost it's petals before I painted this--they're on the table.
I painted this from a photo I took of some Valentine roses my mother received. They were so pretty! I loved painting this. I'm thinking of doing a larger painting from the same photo.
This is a painting I did for the Different Strokes from Different Folks website. My favorite part of the photo was the reflections in the water, so I tried to emphasize those in the painting. I love to paint water.
Yes, I'm back and I'm starting to paint again. It's been a difficult 10 months with my mother's illness, treatments, declining health, and her death on March 14. It all still seems like a very bad dream. 
2/2/09 These are some shrubs in my parents' back yard. They have beautiful red berries on them this time of year.
Several mornings while my mother was in the hospital, a carnation would be on her breakfast tray. We brought them home and they're still pretty. Carnations last a long time.
This the second painting I did for my mother's book cover.
I know, it's been a long time, hasn't it? Since Christmas has just been a blur with a trip, illness, surgery, and my mother's worsening condition. But, I have started painting again and I hope to continue to do so. I painted this and the next one for the cover of a book my mother wrote. I'm trying to decide which of these would look better on a wrap around cover which will have words printed over it. If you have an opinion, let me know.
This is a commissioned portrait that I've been working on. I do love to paint portraits! They're my favorite subject to paint, although I enjoy other subjects, too. It was a joy to paint this portrait which was commissioned by his wife.
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