Wild Flower - Echinacea - Wild About You

Sometimes a painting just doesn't work. Last year I took a workshop with Vicki McMurry and she said if she didn't like a painting she'd sometimes sand it and work over it until she felt it was right. Much to our horror she took a painting and sanded it right it front of us!! Well, no fear - this one wasn't working so that's what I did with this one. Originally it had been a painting I'd done with a brush. The background was dark and it was also a 5 x7 inches. It just didn't feel right. I cut it down to 5 x 5 inches and then sanded it. Then re-painted the purple coneflower with a palette knife. This time it feels a lot better.

"Wild About You"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Raymar Board

Waiting for Christmas - White Poinsettia

The first photos I took with a digital camera were close-up macros photos of flowers. Running out of flowers in my garden I was at a garden center one day taking photos of flowers and was asked my the sales clerk to stop it. And now, I paint them.

"White Christmas"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Available on Ebay

Paintings of Purple Marguerites

I did a pair of small paintings today of the purple marguerite, painting with the palette knife. I love using the palette to paint the petals of the flowers; it's loose and almost abstract. I hope you like the titles.

"Happy"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Available on Ebay.

"The L-Word"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Shining Stars

I donated a painting "Remembering Cortona" to the Arts League's Fundraiser. On Thursday evening the group hosted a Shining Stars VIP reception. It was a fun evening. This is a photo of me and my artist friends Rosemary Achepol on the left and Nancy Medina .

To see our paintings please check out the Arts Leagues's website: http://www.shiningstarsartsleague.com/

Smile with Me

I'd decided to paint a series of these flower paintings - same size, same sort of style, palette knife, same limited palette colors. I've done six now and although I wanted to keep the same-ness, I found myself changing the process slightly each time, learning and building from the last painting. The title is always the hard part for me.

"Smile With Me"

14 x 14 inches on stretched canvas

Love Quote of the Day

I've got a widget on my sidebar that changes daily called "Love Quote of the Day". Some of the quotes make me smile but today's quote with a little change could be appropriate to artists and me!

The quote is:

"The art of love is largely the art of persistence." by Albert Ellis.

But, change the words love/art to "The love of Art is largely the love of persistence". It reminds me a recent post on Lori Woodward Simon's Blog in which she writes: “EACH DAY I MUST DO SOMETHING, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, TO MOVE AHEAD WITH MY ART”.

Happy painting!

The Wind - Painting of a Small Home

Back to using the palette knife for painting. I wanted to paint some clouds into the sky but as I was painting the sky it looked more like a windy sky so I named this little painting "The Wind".

"The Wind"

6 x 6 inches, Oil on Board

Available on Ebay

$34.95 + $6.00 s/h

Click here to bid.

Itty Bitty Yellow Bikini

"Itty Bitty Yellow Bikini"

7 x 5 inches on gessoed board

$30.00 + $6.00 s/h

Available on Ebay.

Val Gardena - The Dolomites

Here are a few more photos from the recent vacation I took to the Dolomites - Val Gardena area. The area is known for wood sculpting and here is an example of one atop the mountain over Ortisei. We rode a chairlift to get up here and hiked 30 or so minutes. The cross is carved of wood. The mountains provide a wonderful place to for hang gliders - there were many up there with their colorful sails.


Here's a veiw of one of the cable cars we rode. This one took us up to Mr. Siusi. These little cars look like jewls hanging on a necklace from.

The Gift

"The Gift"

5 x 5 inches on gessoed board

Available on Ebay.

Ladies Room Mirror

I couldn't decide if I should call this little painting, "Ladies Room Mirror", my first thought, or "Mascara" or even "Lady in Red"...

I've opted for "Ladies Room Mirror"

7 x 5 inches on Gessoed Board

$39.95 + $6.00 s/h

Click here to bid on Ebay.

Reisling - A Painting of a Blue Wine Bottle

I painted this last week at Barbara's house. We often get together and paint, meeting either at my house or hers. This is the beautiful bottle of a Reisling; the actual bottle is such a rich blue.

Oil on Board, 5 x 5 inches

On Ebay.

Where I've Been - Italian Dolomites

I was out of town this past week visiting and hiking the Italian Dolomites. The views of the mountains and high plains were breathtaking. The valleys were a beautiful velvet green. The weather perfect for carrying a knapsack, a picnic lunch and camera.




For our first day of hiking we went to Pordoi to catch a cable car to take us up the Sella mountain. Here is the road, Passo Pordoi, that leads to the parking lot where we caught the cable car...Reminds me of the Mazda TV Ad that says "Zoom Zoom". This photo was taken from the cable car.



This photo shows the trail to the first refugio. We didn't go a long ways since it was the first day of hiking and I am such a couch potato...my heart was really thumping hard on the uphill portions of the walk as we were up on the mountain.

A sign post in front of the refugio at Pordoi on the Sella.

And here is a dish of local salami, ham, and cheese as a reward for a little walking....

Chardonnay

"Chardonnay"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

Painting of a Wine Bottle

I had fun painting this one. Often at our house we drink wine out of drinking glasses instead of stemware. So the hour is late and the bottle is empty.

"Midnight Blues"

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board

On Ebay