Shoreline

I have a friend who has been hinting for several years …. so I decided to paint this for her for Xmas.
She lives on the ocean front here in N. Ca. …. I believe the subject will please her.
12 x 16 oil on linen panel.

Seascape

There were many things I enjoyed about painting this seascape... I didn't do it to please anyone's eye but my own.  Surprisingly when I finished Gary really liked it.  We see a lot of seascapes living in the bay area of San Francisco and very few stand out.  He said seascapes are a dime a dozen here but he really likes this one... I was thrilled!!
Size is 16 x 40 oil on stretched canvas.

Say Cheese!

This one I just finished... my intention when I started it was to blend the background and then do no blending on the rest of the painting.... well I reverted back to old habits and kept on blending.... man old habits are hard to break.
12 x16 oil on linen panel

Serenity II

I have been working on this for a few weeks.   It is a large piece 24 x 48 oil on linen.  Gary and I wanted a new painting for above our fireplace and what better subject than a peaceful river scene?

The Eye's have it

When I was in Tn. visiting family a few months ago.... my daughter Lisa ask me to paint her an owl.  She already had a spot on the wall where she wanted to hang it!  Lisa has a "thing" for owls and I have to admit I never really payed much attention to owls before and I found them to be very beautiful.  I really enjoyed doing this for her and I also learned a great deal from painting it.  I did no blending in some areas and lots of blending in others... I like the results.  I feel I got strong clean colors and I like the combined methods of painting.  Size is 24 x 36  (big spot on the wall!)  oil on linen.

No Blend Challenge

I have always done a fair amount of blending as I paint.... I made a new year's art resolution to complete a painting without blending.  I thought this might force me to experience a more painterly style.  OMG this was hard... I found myself just automatically reaching for my blending brush ( which I eventually put in a drawer out of reach) and pushing the paint round on my canvas... so I ended up wiping off and starting over THREE times.  I learned a lot from this challenge and feel quite pleased with myself that I got through it!!

"First Snow"

This is a painting I did of my Aunt Mary's deck.  She lives in Minnesota and still has snow on her deck.     The title comes from the fact that this is my first attempt at painting snow.  One of my new year art resolutions was to paint snow... so here it is!!!  I learned a lot from this painting.  I found it interesting how much color is in snow!  Size is 18 x 24  oil on canvas.

Life is just a bowl of cherries?

Ah if only it were that simple.... I have been traveling and am now back at home settled into my studio once again..
This is a small painting I did for a challenge in one of the on line art forums I belong to.

I just may have to hang this in my new kitchen!
The reference photo was courtesy of Wet Canvas and I enjoyed painting it very much.  I have done very few small paintings so this was a good exercise for me.

Kitchen complete... I can paint again!!

We did a major renovation of our kitchen... it has taken time and patience... but it was well worth the effort.

 I am posting after and before photo's mainly for my family and friends who have ask for it.
We were very fortunate to find a terrific contractor who is honest and skilled at his craft... besides that Sophie liked him!

Now that it is complete I can once again pick up my brushes!
New is sooooo nice!!!