Anything That Breathes

Happy me with the merit award for EDWARD in the Venice Art Center’s juried “Anything that Breathes” show! Upon arriving at the lovely reception December 17, I was delighted to find my painting displayed on an easel glowing in great light enhanced by a pretty ribbon! Woo Hoo! The judge was Sharon Tritschler and this unusual and exciting show may be viewed through January 12 at 390 Nokomis Avenue, Venice, Florida.

Jade's Anniversary

Two years ago today we brought a nervous five year old female shepherd home with us from the local animal shelter. We were told her “family” had lost jobs and their home and could no longer keep Jade. After seeing her photo on the website, we just had to go meet her! It was love at first sight!

She kept her name and we began getting acquainted. Terribly insecure and not wanting us out of her sight, we feared she might be a “Velcro dog”. Slowly she gained confidence and started molding us to her satisfaction! German Shepherds always own their people and in no time at all she seemed satisfied we had potential and she could make us a family!

Jade has so enriched our lives - she keeps us walking every day, reminded me how much fun obedience classes can be and we adore her. She is a jewel - we could not ask for a better pet! Happy Anniversary Jade!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Oh Holy Night
Oil on Canvas

Christmas Blessings and Happy Holidays to my wonderful blogging
friends. Thanks to all who visit and leave encouraging comments!
You are appreciated more than you know and I am forever grateful
for your support!

May your new year bring you peace, happiness and good health with
many creative opportunities!

For this year’s Christmas card, the portrait of Starlin and Skylar (see August 29 post) provided inspiration and models! My thanks to them and to Sue and Joyce.

This One's For Me

30" x 15" Oil on Hardboard

Years ago we found two triangular pedestels - probably fern stands - while on a trek through antique stores in Eastern Tennessee. Never got around to properly refinishing them so they have been in and out of the attic or tucked in a dark corner of one room or another. Now I'm finding they make good stands for still life arrangements. One has a marble (broken) top and the other one a smooth top of wood.

A blank wall in the dining room begged for a vertical piece so I painted this one using "faux" fruit to enhance that space. Framed and hanging, it didn't feel "finished" so back on the easel it went. I'm still not happy with the background but tonight it's back on the wall...at least for the time being.

Silvia Williams Workshop

Last weekend I was happy to be one of six artists participating in an experimental mixed media workshop taught by Silvia in her bright well equipped mountain top studio. As a realist painter, I can’t tell you how delightful it was to be pouring paints and ink through coffee filters, gauze, cheesecloth, etc. onto various supports from watercolor paper, foam core, mat board and even my choice - primed unstretched canvas, to watch the magic happen! Various collage materials were used - cheesecloth, plastic screen, tissue paper, etc. Silvia was amazing as she worked on at least a dozen designs while we watched in total awe before giving it a go! I am somewhat reluctant to post my efforts since it’s obvious they are a bit color-wild and somewhat lacking in design. Just fun, fun, fun!

Thanks Silvia! You make it look so easy! Will see what I can do with these “starts” and post them later.

Goodbye Peanut

16" x 20" acrylic on canvas





When we lost our mother five years ago, her faithful and adored little Peanut joined our sister's household where she continued being a sweet spoiled prissy little princess. This week Marcy had to make the painful decision to let her go at fourteen years old. It was time.

Mama was known for her beautiful quilts, so when I painted Peanut’s portrait for her it was fun placing a special quilt in the foreground. She loved this painting which has been posted before but I felt the family might enjoy seeing it on the blog again. The idea for placing Peanut on pillows came from a favorite reference book, “Paint Radiant Realism” by Sueellen Ross.

Mama was thrilled when Florida Artist Wanda Carter known for her portraits of people and pets also celebrated Peanut with a portrait in pastel and even used the image on her brochures and greeting cards!

Goodbye Peanut and thank you Marcy!

Morning Stroll - Kristin and Madison

8" x 10" Oil on canvas

How I enjoyed painting this beautiful young mother and Baby Madison! Little Madison, so animated with ever changing expressions, made selecting a photo reference difficult! The family is delighted with the portrait and so am I! At the moment there is still another baby/parent commission in the works so stay tuned!

Autumn's Shy One

30" x 24" Oil on Canvas


This painting was one of five that went to Susan Livengood’s Sleeping Stones Gallery for next weekend’s county wide Annual Artists Studio Tour sponsored by the Haywood County Arts Council. Susan’s big, bold, energetic art is so exciting as is her gallery and I am honored to have been invited to participate. Thank you Susan! The address and a map may be found on the above websites.

While this piece was started a while ago, turning leaves outside my studio window, a brisk fall nip in the air and Susan’s invitation provided the inspiration needed to get it back on the easel. Seems I can’t get away from painting horses!

Susan and Ella

10 x 8 Oil on Canvas

This mother-daughter portrait was commissioned by an aunt as a gift and painted from photographs. I couldn't resist the bow and frilly dress in this pose. Capturing Susan's personality in her lovely dark eyes and rendering her beautiful teeth were the challenge!

What a joy it was to paint another young mother and her baby! Susan has now received the painting and I am told is thrilled with it! That makes me happy! And - in the meantime, there is still another commissioned mother-daughter portrait on the easel! Life is good!

wip - Starlin and Skylar

10" x 8" oil on canvas

The completed photos and scans of this recently delivered painting are deeply buried in the hard drive of my crashed computer. This one was taken nearing completion - probably about 80 percent. I am so pleased with the finished painting and with the client's positive reaction to it!

Wispy hairs blowing across starlin's face were added at the end and not in this photo. More work was done on precious Baby Skylar's face and the skin tones of both color corrected, blended and softened.

This pose was so unusual making it a thrill and challenge to try and capture the sweet gentle face of this beautiful new mother with her tattoo and piercings in a mysterious woodsy setting! I love being an artist!

The dead computer is going to Florida where a tech-y friend can hopefully retrieve the data from the hard drive and I will post a photo of the finished painting this winter.

Wouldn't a large variation of this portrait make a great competition piece? I may request permission to paint it larger for myself!

Stampede

4" x 20" - Acrylic on Illustration Board

Here is the completed painting...I'm pleased with the way it turned out and feel this is what the client has in mind. These horses were fun but a challenge to say the least! I am soooo ready for larger brushes!

The old computer could not be revived (at a reasonable expense) so brought home a shiny new desktop and I'm a happy blogger once more! It's been about two weeks since I've visited your blogs so can't wait to see what you've been painting/creating while I was "unplugged"!

WIP - Stampede

4" x 20" - Acrylic on Illustration Board



Stampede is a commissioned piece I've been putting off starting because the reference photo is poor quality, and because it's so small and because I procrastnate! It's starting to be fun and I hope to post the finished piece soon. It is to be picked up September 3rd and there's nothing like a little deadline pressure to light a fire!

This post could just as well be titled "August Woes" - since it was one week ago today my computer crashed and was rushed to a tech for emergency treatment. Because I wasn't sure if I wanted to repair the four year old desktop or shop for a new computer was slow giving the go-ahead to order the necessary part (power supply gadget). Maybe it will be home by mid-week! In the meantime my sweet hubby is sharing his notebook - with Windows 7 - a whole new ballgame that I think I'm beginning to like!

So sorry I'm not making it to your blogs with comments but will try and catch up next week when "Old Trusty" is back in the studio! Soooo lost without it...need the monitor to zoom in on details with these horses - not to mention needing recent files for two other commissions! Everything was backed up to July 1! From now on, daily back up of art and photo files will be the norm!

Our local newspaper's WEEKLY GUIDE gave Jean, Silvia and me some much appeciated publicity in Wednesday's edition! Woo Hoo - We are enjoying the comments from family and friends! The show comes down tomorrow.

Happy Me!

"Collecting"
24" x 36" watermedia on illustration board

The Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League 43rd Annual Juried Members Exhibit at the Tyson Library, Black Mountain, NC will hang through August 15 showcasing 73 pieces representing 40 artists. When we arrived for the reception Sunday afternoon surrounded by misty mountains and a hazy sky, it seemed the perfect setting for an art show! Exhibiting artists are not given advance information as to awards - so - I was surprised and totally delighted to find my watermedia painting "Collecting" had been honored with a second place ribbon! This show is extraordinary with brilliant pieces in all seven categories! Judge was Asheville, N.C. artist Sharon Trammel.

Silvia Williams had two pieces juried into the show as did Beth Dix. Jean Baldwin took a second place award in the drawing category, and Karen Paquette a second place for her fabulous mixed media piece! You can just imagine how much fun this reception was for me with so many old and new friends! Family members also showed up and the perfect afternoon flew by!

Yesterday two commissioned portraits left my studio going north! I am happy with both and trust (hope) they will be well received. A bit nerve wracking in the meantime!

Win or Lose

20" x 12" oil sketch on canvas

When our performing arts theater, HART, presented GUYS AND DOLLS local artists were invited to enter paintings incorporating this theme to display in the lobby for the duration of the show. What fun! I did a number of small oil sketches toward working out a composition for a 30" x 24" oil painting. The mat area in this piece is painted.

Currently working on portrait commissions, I'm not at liberty to show the works in progress... so will show you these small pieces and then the completed painting which was my entry for the show.

Celebrating Friendship

Very Rough Watercolor Sketch
4-1/2" x 9"


A life changing event occurred in 2004 when I joined a small line dance class with an awesome instructor, Carol, and met Marlene and Nancy. Marlene and I discovered we lived in the same neighborhood and the four of us became close friends as we continued to dance, travel to line dance events and have great fun! Our husbands enjoyed each other's company but had their own interests that did NOT include dancing! Line dance was keeping me out of the studio and the urge to paint was ever present - so - slowly my dance slippers came off and I began to make up for lost time with the brushes. However, dancing or not, we four had formed a strong bond and have remained close getting together for special occasions and for our annual days at the beach. Two have health issues at the moment - so - this post is let all three know how special their friendship is to me. This little watercolor sketch was done in preparation for similiar watercolor paintings for each of them a few years ago. Nancy is wearing a bracelet since she designed and created friendship bracelets combining our four birthstones, Marlene is reclining, Carol's bag holds step-sheets for practicing on the beach ! I am under the big hat...

These strong women light up my life and I wish them well and happy!