Shade

6"x6" oil

Sitting on a bench in the shade, watching the river go by, this couple has found their piece of paradise today.

6"x6" oil

It is so sad when roses fade.  They just look pathetic and droopy.  I showed my granddaughter my wedding pictures and she said, "oh Grandma I wish you still looked like this!"  I guess I look a bit faded and droopy too!  I am glad I got these roses at their prime!

White Roses II

6"x6" oil

I took a bit of a different approach to this and my granddaughters were also painting with me, which was fun but a bit of a distraction!

White Roses

6"x6" oil

I got a beautiful bouquet of white roses for my birthday and was able to get a few paintings from it.  Roses and Peonies are a challenge for me and I know it will take a lot of painting of them before I am confident.  In the meantime, I am just going to have fun.

Right Touch

6"x6" oil

I think there was a lot of golfing this  holiday weekend, however I was entertaining my granddaughters and did not have time for photographing anything but them. 

Putting Practice

6"x6" oil

I hope to do a series of golfing paintings, but that means I need to get out on the golf course and ride around finding landscapes and figurative positions that are interesting.

Sand Play

6"x6" oil

I do love the simplicity of this. I didn't fuss at all and kept the value areas clean.  I call it a success.

Well Prepared

6"x6" oil

This little guy was all geared up and ready for his adventure, but he was waiting for some grown-up help to arrive.

Picnic

6"x6 oil

I love this little scene.  You don't see too many cowboy hats in Vermont, so it is even funnier that it is her sunhat.  It is always good to have a little picnic at the beach.

3 White Lunch Boxes

8"x10" oil SOLD

This is a painting I did 5 years ago at a Karin Jurick workshop.  It was what inspired me participate in the daily painting movement.  I haven't always painted or posted every day, but it has convinced me that consistency and focus on the goal creates momentum.  I love this painting because these women were clearly on a quick lunch break with their cute little white boxes of food.  They were all color coordinated and sat so close together.  So I am posting this to celebrate 5 years of relatively consistent painting.

Pink Peony

6"x6" oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my third attempt at painting a peony.  I am understanding the structure of these flowers better.

Embracing the Story

6"x6" oil

I thought it was interesting that this woman was turned away from the lake.  Her purpose there was the shaded breeze and the ability to completely give herself to the story.  Not a bad moment!

Meditation

6"x6"  oil

Swimming is not what she is here for.  She may not even reach critical midpoint, but getting the legs in cool water and just breathing in the refreshment, peace, relaxation, and joy, are enough.

Can't Wait

6"x6" oil

I know you have been there.  That moment where anticipation turns to kinetic energy and you are flying towards your long awaited moment.  I can say that she wasn't disappointed!

Naia

6"x6" oil

I couldn't help but smile the whole time I was painting beautiful Naia.

Trio

6"x6 oil

This is my second attempt at peonies.

Pink Peony

6"x6" oil

This is my first ever peony.  I have been wanting to paint some after seeing so many beautiful paintings by artists I admire.  I am happy with the results, but know that I won't really get it, until I have painted a gazillion.  So mastery is a gazillion minus one for me!  Here are some links to peonies that have inspired me:  Jonathan Aller,  Jo McKenzie, Shawna Lampi-Legaree

Moonlight Ritual

30"x48"  Acrylic  SOLD

This is a lot different for the paintings I have been doing for several years.  It is quite large and is very stylized.  I envisioned this painting over a year ago and have just now finally painted it.  Although it is very simple in design, it took a lot of editing and revision for me to get what I wanted, so there is a lot of paint on the canvas.  I am really happy with it and I believe it tells the story I wanted to tell.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

6"x6"  oil

I love the pose on this one.  Babies and old folks (like me) know nature's way of amplifying the audio mysteries of the world...just scoop your ear into a better sound catcher!

Goats View

6"x6" oil

These goats looked as happy as any goats I have ever seen.  I am not sure I could correctly describe what a happy goat looks like, but they sure looked confident, well fed, and like they got a lot of attention.  I don't think they are the easiest animals to have around, but they sure are fun to watch.

Waiting

6"x6" oil

Waiting for the wave to crash!

Work of Play

6"x6" oil

When watching kids at the beach, it is easy to be drawn in by their wild enthusiasm. But, it is hard work having that much fun.  There is the digging and the pulling and the riding of the body board and the fighting with the waves to regain air.....so much work of play.

Pink and Green

6"x6" oil

Can you hear the music of the waves?

Also Keepers of the Beauty

11" x 11"  oil  SOLD

First I must give my apologies to Dreama Tolle Perry because I stole her title.  She is a phenomenal artist and writer and posted on her blog about those who are "Keeper of Beauty."  I was doing this commission at the time I read her post, and knew that the owners of this lovely garden are one couple Dreama was referring to.  There are a lot of details in this composition, but I wanted to tell the story of the architecture of the plantings, the allure of the koi pond, the babbling of the brook and bird songs, and the sculptural references.  Unfortunately there is a glare on both sides of this photo, making the edges look washed out.

Courage

6" x 6" oil

A 3 foot wave may not be surfable, but to a pre-schooler, it is daunting.  The child on the right is crouching down like a prowling cat ready to pounce on the wave if it gets close enough, while the toddler in pink is fascinated by the little rivulets of waves lapping at her feet.  Gramps is ready to grab the first one to get in over her head.

Coffee and Tidal Pools

This is another painting with tiny little people.  So I asked myself "why" did I put this burden on myself????  I guess the answer is that I liked the story and it was a challenge.  I like how the rocks, thick with sea weed and moss, turned out.  Grandpa is enjoying watching his grandsons look for critters in the pools, Dad is carrying the baby and trying to drink his coffee.  Mom is having one of those rare breaks.  She is focused on enjoying her coffee and a view that sweeps her away to a lovely sailboat in the distance.  Nice story, don't you think?

Focused View

She is determined, trying to see through the marshland viewfinder but is just a bit too short.  Daddy is there ready to steady her or aid her in the process.  I hope to illustrate the tension in each of their bodies and their concentration but I also had fun with the railings and marshland background.

Going Up

6"x 6" oil

This makes me think about the song "The Bear Goes Over the Mountain."  The excitement of going up, up, up, but not knowing what is on the other side. I think there is magic being in a cathedral of trees with little girls. These figures are itty bitty.  I have been doing a few paintings lately that have miniscule people in them.  I am not sure why I have chosen these subjects, but I am sure that if I do enough, I will figure out how to do them without sweating!

Pear Pair16"x20" oil

16"x 20" oil

This was so much fun to paint.  It is larger than I have been doing for a while and it is on canvas which isn't my surface of choice.  I like to paint on slick hard panels with lots of smooth layers of gesso. So, I felt like I had nothing to lose with this and just cut loose with a wide brush and colors that spoke to me at the moment.  I make a lot of mistakes along my creative journey so it is nice to have something turn out that makes me happy and was a joy to paint.

Music

6"x6" oil

This took me a bit to figure out the floor and finally I just decided to add a red rug and that seemed to pull it together.  It is interesting that when I struggle with a painting, somehow the struggle just shows up in the painting.  Sometimes it helps and sometimes it just looks fussy and ruins it.  You decide.

Rosie

4"x6"  oil

Sometimes they just have these moments when they look so adorable you can't help but fall in love with them!

Diner

4"x6" oil

Some paintings almost paint themselves.  This was one of them.  I wanted to capture the way the light bounces around in an environment of stainless steel surfaces.

Mirror Illusions

This was tricky. The idea of painting a concave surface made of multitudes of hexagonal mirrors was daunting, but in the end, it is all illusion anyway!  Someone said, and I often repeat it to myself, that it is all just shapes,  lines and values on a 2 dimensional surface when you apply chemicals that reflect color.  This simplifies it for me when I am feeling overwhelmed.

Want To Be There

One of the wonderful things about seeing fine art is that it can transport you to another time, another place, another state of being.

Barn in Early Spring

This is Furnace Brook Farm barn in early spring with the hillside budding out in a soft magenta and the crabapple tree, not yet blooming.  This is one of those quintessential Vermont landscapes.  This farm has a very interesting history, which you can read about here.

Dance of the Peppers

6"x6 oil

 love the play of colors in this.

Roses in Bottle

4"x6" oil SOLD

I am happy with this painting!

Radish Rose and Onions

6"x6" oil

I set up this still life outside under bright midday sun and I was looking down on it.  I downplayed the highlights because I didn't want it too seem too bleached.  I put the radish rose in it because it was just so amazing.  It came from left over Chinese food from a really nice restaurant and I just had to take the radish rose.  There are a lot of things I like about this but truth be told, I have a lot to learn about setting up still life compositions.  It takes a lot of patience to do it right and my ability to be methodical and patience does not lie in that direction....at least yet.

Babbling Brook

6"x6" oil

Last week I painted this; today everything is leafed out and in full bloom. 
What an amazing change! 

My View

6"x6" oil

My studio is a converted garage so n warm weather I can open the garage door and see this view which changes dramatically with the seasons, light, and atmosphere.  I feel very blessed.

RR Crossing

4"x6" oil

It's a Joke

10"x10" oil

Aggressively Monet   8"x10" oil

A Private Moment 12"x12" oil

These are three paintings I am entering into The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center members show.

#316

6"x6" oil

I really like industrial landscape paintings, but since I am always drawn to a high key and saturated palette, it doesn't easily lend itself to the smokey grays of industry.  This engine, #316, is a very happy train!

First Daffodills

4"x6" oil

Happy, happy, happy with this one.

Catching

6"x6" oil

I am really happy with this.  I did what I wanted to do and it worked out.  Of course I love the subject too.

Rad Dishes

6"x6" oil

I have been working on larger panels for a while and it was really fun to return to this small 6"x6".  I can't seem to get the variety of colors that are in the painting to show up in my photos, which is a little frustrating for me.  This was a fun painting to do and it reminded me of some of the things I really like doing when I am painting.

Escape

11"x11"  oil

I could paint reflections in water all day long!  I tried a different approach to the process of doing this painting by starting in the middle with the people in the boat and painting that first.  Then I just worked out from there.  I am always a bit intimidated by painting little itty bitty people as it is very easy to try and put too much detail in them which looks unreal and fussy.  The trick is to keep it loose but have enough detail to identify them and their postures.  I used a fairly limited palette in this piece which does seem to unify it.  Even though it is a rather silly scene (a giant swan pushing a boat) it also is very bucolic I think, which is the whole point.

Listening

11"x11" oil

My niece lives and works in Antarctica.  Although I am fairly sure she was just goofing when this photo was taken, I think it expresses a lot about her and about life in general.  There are those moments when we are in the frozen tundra of existence and we are seeking that voice to guide us.  Rebekah's life is certainly driven by that desire.  She is also a very brave woman who wants to see it all and experience it all!