The Path

6" x 12" - Oil on Masonite

Plans are underway for a one woman show in the summer of 2011. While that sounds distant, the days will fly by! Some older pieces are coming out for another look, tweaking and maybe frames. Yesterday this oil on masonite was 16" x 20" - today, thanks to my hubby and his trusty saw, it's 6" x 12"! Nothing of value was lost in content, and the narrow format is more interesting. The scene was loosely adapted from a photo taken at a park near Daytona Beach eight to ten years ago - actually the old fence being replaced by the new one is all that's authentic to the reference photo. Wood and masonite are favorite supports because they are easy to crop! I am seldom so bold with color - and this scene is certainly more romantic than realistic.

Portrait of Karin Jurick

10 x 8 oil on canvas

Via her blog DSFDF Karin Jurick has brought together a family of artist bloggers who participate in ongoing challenges throughout the year. The year end challenge is a portrait swap with Karin pairing participants at random to paint each other's portraits. This is a huge undertaking involving many hours of her time. As a way to let Karin know how much she and these blog challenges mean to us, fellow artist and blogger, Jill Polsby, coordinated a project whereby each of us would paint Karin from the same photograph. She then had a book printed which has just been presented to Karin as a token of our gratitude. Here is a photo page with the 118 paintings contained in the book.

Everyone must have used their best brushes because the portraits are awesome with many interpretations of Karin's lovely face! Thank you Karin!

Jill, this was such a great idea! Congratulations and thank you! The book is wonderful!

Meet Baby Addison

8 x 10 Oil on Canvas

This painting celebrates the arrival of a beautiful granddaughter for our good friends, Joyce and Mike, parents of mother, Jill. I tried to capture the joy reflected in Jill's eyes from the reference photo taken by the baby's dad. Little Addison was born just before Thanksgiving which seemed perfect timing to me! They live in New Jersey and this evening "Grammy Joyce" is flying north with this first portrait of her little angel! I enjoyed every brush stroke in this painting!

Yesterday I learned that one of two oil paintings accepted in the Fort Myers, Florida juried show, Feb Fest, has won an award! Yea & Yipee! The judge,
Greg Biolchini is a fabulous artist whose work I have long admired! It is a thrill being juried in and this award is indeed an honor! Feb Fest is at the Art League of Fort Myers Gallery, 1451 Monroe Street, and will hang through February 25th. I'm looking forward to the reception tomorrow evening!