The Protector

30 x 24
Oil on Stretched Canvas

It's been a long time!

In the past I have not been an ocean painter. It all looked very daunting to me, and still does. But now a couple of people have commissioned me to paint this subject matter. So I guess you can say they were my first experience with the ocean and water on a large scale. I did paint a couple of very small ocean paintings, which are back in my blog a good ways. But painting on a large scale is different. This one and the two commissions were on the larger scale. I guess I did it backwards, but after the fact, I did this painting lesson from Byron Pickering who is a wonderful artist and painter of the ocean. He is fortunate to live on the northwest coast of the US. I might be jealous! His title for the painting is "The Protector". 

Commission for Becky

The photo below is from the first posting of this painting. It has been sitting on my easel for a couple of weeks now, staring at me. This is a good thing as it gives me time to look at the painting casually as I go through my day. I realized that I did not have a reflection of the seagull, so have added that and also did some adjusting to some areas that were bothering me. Also, this is a better photo than the one below. I THINK I am calling it finished.

Oil on stretched canvas
40 x 30 x 2 inches
Finished on all sides

This is why I have not posted in a while. I have been working on this large painting and it is one that is a change from my usual subject matter, so it has been a learning experience for me. It will be sitting on my easel in line of sight in my main living area, so I will be looking at it and likely get the urge to do some tweaking on it.
This was painted from a photograph. The setting is the east coast in North Carolina. 

Purple Trees

Purple Trees
24 x 18
Finished on all sides
Acrylic on stretched canavas
Available
For purchase information please email me.

Carrie and I went to a painting workshop together and this is the painting that we did. It is done in acrylics. I do mostly oils so this was some practice in acrylics and also a reminder of why I prefer oils. Painters will know, but if you are unaware what they say about acrylics - "The good thing about acrylics is that they dry fast. The bad thing about acrylics is that they dry fast". :-/
This painting is available at this time, as is. OR in a while I plan to "edit" it with some oils, after I finish a commission that I am working on now. 

Snow and Fire

Snow and Fire
12 x 9 x 1/8 Inches
Oil on Board
For purchase information please go HERE

The two things that I love to paint the most would be snow and bare trees. Snow gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling and this painting shows that very well. 

Chickadee Spring

Chickadee Spring
9 x 9 x 1/8 Inches
Oil on Canvas Board
For Purchase Information Please Go HERE

     Other than some tiny accent birds, this is my first real bird painting. My daughter Carrie picked out this painting for us to do. That would be Carrie, four of the kids and me. Sue was with us also. We do painting for some of their schooling. Three of the kids that did this one were pretty new. One has been a regular and she has made very good progress. it is interesting to see the different styles that each person has.

   Below are all of the groups paintings together, except Sue. She had to leave and we didn't get a picture of hers, but she did a very good job!

Eleven Seagulls

Eleven Seagulls
Oil on Stretched Canvas
14 x 11
Spoken For

"You are your own worst critic" is a truism. People often look at a painting and say "I don't know how you do that". Well, it isn't always easy, for me at least and I hear the same from even great artists. For example, this painting started out with a bluer ocean but then it became blue green. I think I did five different skies before settling on this one. I am new to painting oceans and water scenes so it is a real learning process for me. Speaking of that, my next commissioned painting is a large ocean scene. I hope to get started on it soon.

For Debi - Comission

Oil on stretched canvas
12 x 24 inches
Commission for Debi

Debi, would you like to give your painting a title? I think there are endless possibilities. Please let me know and I will add it to the header. 

For Debi - Commission

                                                                       For Debi

                                                                   18 x 36 inches

                                                           Oil on Stretched Canvas

                                                      

Lifeboat
Approximately 7 ft x 4 ft
Made up of 12 - 20x16 inch canvases
Commission for a Church Auditorium

Someone selected this scene to represent Jesus as our Lifeboat, having made it through the storm that is exiting of the right side, safe on shore and the calm from the storm on the left side.  Some have suggested that it looks a bit like the sea of Galilee. Some are reminded of the events that took lake beside this lake.

Below are photos of Mike, my husband, hanging the canvases. This was a pretty meticulous job, getting the nails placed just right so that they hang evenly and that there is an exact 1 inch space between all sides. He did a great job! Right up his alley. You can also see the canvases in my painting room. Mike attached these to a large piece of  plywood so that I could see the painting all together as I painted.  Then the pictures of it hanging in the Church Auditorium.

So, as you can see, I could not have done this without Mike!

Lazin - SOLD

Lazin
This painting is SOLD
12 x 12
Oil on stretched canvas
Finished on all sides

Poppies and Daisies - SOLD

Van Gogh's Langlois Bridge at Arles - Commission

After Van Gogh's Langlois Bridge at Arles
Painted for Jeremy to hang in his office

I have done several Van Gogh's for Jeremy and one for Carrie. Jeremy still has another one selected, but I am taking a break from Van Gogh for a while. Maybe at a later time. This painting seemed quite different for the other ones I had done. I love the subject matter of the women doing their laundry in the river.

Cardinals by Lamplight - SOLD

Cardinals by Lamplight
14 x 11
Oil on stretched canvasThe color on this painting is a bit bluer than it is showing up on the photo, on my computer.

The Farm Next Door

The Farm Next Door

4 x 4

Oil on canvas panel

Signed 

For purchase information please email me.

Just a little quickie painting of the view outside of my kitchen window, the neighbors farm in Southeastern Ohio. I get to see it change almost daily from the white of winter, the bright green of spring, the greens of summer and the colors of autumn. Lots of different views of the weather also. I see many beautiful cloud formations there and often rainbow. In these fields I have seen crops of corn, soybeans and wheat, deer, fox, coyote, hawks, Canadian geese, Turkey Vultures and kids sledding down the snow covered hill. They are all beautiful.

Snow is Coming

Snow is Coming

6 x 8 

Oil on canvas panel

For purchase information, please email me.

Again, here are two photos of the same painting. The one below I did with one of our painting groups. I even worked on it a little more afterward to try and get it more finished. I don't really finish a painting with the group lessons. I do that later. So with that said, since I first did this one I have been doing some more self education, finding videos to watch, reading books.  It is an ongoing process. The above painting is a re-do of the below photo. Not a different painting but the same one just revised. I think I like the top one better. No, I do like it better. It is more satisfying and that is a sign that it is time to stop playing with it and call it finished.

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Apples in Autumn

Apples in Autumn
8 x 6
Oil on Canvas Panel

Ocean

12 x 6 inches
Oil on canvas textured board

This is my first serious attempt at this type of ocean painting. I am pretty pleased with the ocean, but I think I am going to work on that dark cloud in the sky. It isn't sitting right with me somehow. Maybe I should stick to snow paintings. The closeup shows glare on the texture so it looks polka dotty, but it really isn't. This is the first time that I have used this textured board and I think I prefer the smooth surface. But for now, I am letting it rest and will get back to it later.

Garden Walk

Garden Walk
20 x 16
Oil on Stretched Canvas
For Purchase Information please email me.

Just a whimsical, fun, sweet painting. 

Mt. Sneffles, Colorado

Mt. Sneffles, Colorado
10 x 11
Oil on Stretched Canvas
Framed and Signed
For Purchase Information please email me.

I painted this in 2004. My paintings are stacking up and I need to find homes for some of them. This painting comes in a very unique frame. It is a western Colorado Mountain scene and the frame keeps with that theme of the west.

Autumn Drive
20 x 16
Oil on Stretched Canvas
Available for $285 plus shipping
For Purchase Information please go HERE.

This painting has been a couple of years in the making. I've been painting it with a friend, doing the same one together.  Sometimes we go months without getting together. So mine is finally finished. May need some drying time. :)

Palette Knife Painting - SOLD

7 X 5
Oil on Canvas Panel
Palette knife painting
This painting is Sold

Palette Knife Painting Class

Today our group did a palette knife painting. Some had not done one before and for some it was their second. I think it was my third. The first one I did was of an old cabin with some sunflowers back in about 1972. This was for a college class. I still have the palette knife that I used for that one. I no longer use it, because I don't really care for it but keep it in my jar of palette knives for sentimental reasons. The second and third ones I did in just the last few months. So it was the blind leading the blind today. We all got a good laugh out of it when I was trying to tell them what to do but then having to say that I don't know what I am doing either. It is very different, but I think everyone enjoyed it and the change of technique. There was less fussing over details. It was fun and I think they turned out very nicely. They are all unique. Thank you Nel for letting us use your painting for a reference. Wish you had been here to teach us what to do. Maybe you would like to make a little trip to Ohio sometime!!
(You can click on pictures to see enlarged)

Below is the original painting done by Nel Jansen. You can check out her other beautiful paintings  HERE.

Autumn Trail

Autumn Trail
Palette Knife Painting
5 x 5
Oil on Gesso Board
For Purchase Information please email me.

This is a small palette knife painting that I did with one of my painting groups. It was quite fun after we got going. I am ready to try another one. Below are some closeups where you can get a better idea of the texture of the painting.

In the Shade of Red - S0LD

In the Shade of Red
16 x 20 inches
Oil on gallery wrapped stretched canvas
 

Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds, after Van Gogh - For Jeremy

Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds
After Van Gogh
30 x 15 x 1.5
Oil on Stretched Canvas

This one is finished and it is for Jeremy. I think this is one of Van Gogh's lesser known paintings. Jeremy likes it because it reminds him of the view from where they lived once in Cheyenne Wyoming. This is number two of four requests. I think I will break from it for a while before starting number three so I can do some other painting. The next Van Gogh will be Bridge at Langlois. That should be interesting!!
 

Crow's in Autumn

12 x 6 x 3/8  inches
Oil on panel with canvas texture
Available for $75 plus shipping
Please email me for details

This is a more impressionistic painting. It is done on a gesso board that has a surface that is like canvas. This is the first time I have tried one of these and I really like it. It reminds me of painting on linen, which I love. I ordered this one from Blick's and I do recommend it. It has pre-drilled holes in the back for hanging without wires or a frame, which is great! The only problem is that I painted this one upside down! So the hole is on the wrong side. OOPS! Well, I did say it was my first time. :)

This one will go on Etsy as soon as it dries, so check there in a few days, if you are interested, or you can even let me know before hand by contacting me HERE.

Winter's Warmth

Winter's Warmth
36 x 24 Oil on stretched canvas

This is a nearly finished painting. I am just still contemplating where else to piddle with it. I started this one about 3 years ago and put it aside until just recently. Below is what it was before that, except I forgot to take a picture before I started revising it, so the sun is in there. Try to imagine it without the sun. It was pretty bland. The two photos below that are just more progression of the new revisions. It might be finished. I will be posting this one on Etsy pretty soon. 
Available, please contact me for more information. 

Country Drive

Country Drive
7 x 5
Oil on canvas panel
For purchase information please email me.

Just a small impressionistic painting, can be framed or set on a little easel.

Home Away From Home, Revised - SOLD

Home Away From Home

40 x 30 x 1.5  inches

Oil On Stretched Canvas

Finished on all sides

This painting is SOLD.

The painting below is the original one. The above painting is the same one below but I have changed some things on it hopefully to improve it. Most of what I did is in the lower one third of the painting. I also brightened up the sun glow area. I am happier with it now. As of this date it still needs some more drying time.

Back to working on a snow painting now!

The Aspens

The Aspens
20 x 16
Oil on stretched canvas

This is a painting that I did originally about 3 years ago. I didn't care for the way the tree trunks looked so I have changed them and I think for the better. I don't have a before photo. I thought I did, but can't find it, so nothing to compare it with. If you like aspens and the feelings and thoughts that go along with them, then I hope you like this painting.
I finished another Van Gogh for Jeremy. I will post that soon.

WIP

It's been a while since I have posted on here so I thought I would give you a peek at what I am doing. I'm working on two paintings in particular right now. One is a large 3 x 2 feet and the above two photos are a little part of the painting. It is a snow scene and has some nice bright warm colors and a naked winter tree, about my favorite thing to paint, along with snow.

Below is a bit of the Van Gogh that I am doing for Jeremy. This sure does use up the paint! And it's not anything compared to the amount of paint that Van Gogh used. I don't know when I will get these finished. Probably not until next year! We have a busy two weeks coming up, but fun weeks!!

Standing in Yellow

Standing in Yellow
5 x 7
Oil on Canvas Panel


I planned to do this one with Sue's group, but at the last minute they were unable to come. So we will get to it later after the Thanksgiving Holiday. This is the one that I did to have as an example for the others to see. This was a really fun painting, again trying to be looser and succeeded pretty much.  Now if I can just get some of my perfectionist to loosen up also!

Snowy Dawn - Not for Sale

Snowy Dawn
12 x 12
Oil on Board

I haven't painted a really good snow scene in a very long time. It seems it used to be the about the only thing I painted. I do love snow. So does this little rabbit. I think I will frame this one and hang on to it, unless someone wants to buy it for $1,000. I think I am safe there. 
Thank you Alan Kingwell for sharing "A Winter's Dawn".