"Pastel Poppies"

Happy New Year!! I hope the new year brings you all

much happiness and joy. I've had a great year and look forward

to many more paintings and shows in 2011. Painting keeps me

happy and I love sharing it with you. All the best!!!

Pulito III

This is another abstract I did of the Italian laundry. It's 3 little separate 4"x4" canvas block paintings that are spaced about 1/4" from each other. All of them are then fitted into a frame. I won another little prize for this painting from the Waterloo Group painters at our Christmas
party painting competition yesterday. This is the kind of laundry I like doing!!

The Gift

This little oil painting is currently on display at Round Rock ArtSpace Gallery.

If you live anywhere close to RR, please come out and visit us tonight. It's

Christmas Family Night and the town will be packed with strollers, vendors,

food and fun. I will be at ArtSpace, located on Main Street across the street from

the public library throughout the evening and would love to see

you.

Molly & Sweetie Pie - Photo

Once upon a time, Molly was just a baby pup and Sweetie Pie,

the big cat, use to swat her across the room. Poor little Molly

could be heard yipping down the hall. Then she grew up and times

have changed. Molly is now one year old and they have finally

become best friends. This is a typical pose where they both roll

on their backs and do a little head hug and smooch. If one of them

moves to another room, the other one will go searching. We never

believed they'd ever get along, but they truly love each other now.

I'm pretty kicked back this month and will resume my regular

posts in the new year. Hope you all are having wonderful holidays

and enjoying the all the parties and goodies.

"Waterfront"

This is a small watercolor I did that started as an exercise

in doing wet in wet washes. I wanted to add a punch of

contrasting color in between and it suddenly appeared

to look like a waterfront type skyline; hence the name. I

enjoy when I take time to fool around and just see what happens.

Reception Invitation - Tonight!

The Capital Art Society (of which I am a member) has a beautiful

exhibit at the Round Rock ArtSpace. The reception is tonight from

5:30 - 7:00. Please swing by and meet all the different artists

and enjoy their work. Looking forward to seeing you!!

"Anderson Mill"

Last week we had a plein air paint out at the 'real'

Anderson Mill. I had no idea this spot existed.

The mill and the original land owners have a long history.

This is a watercolor/gouache painting I did from my original

plein air sketch on location.

"Floral Fantasy"

This is a half sheet watercolor. I am playing with washes and

transparencies. I call it "Fantasy Flowers" because I took a

photo of silk flowers on my front porch. From that photo

I did my creative tweaking and came up with this painting.

With the deer problem in this neighborhood, I'm unable to

plant the real thing; only make believe.

"Pulito" - Best of Show

This is my painting that just won Best of Show at the Waterloo Watercolor

Group Fall juried show. Our juror was water colorist and author, Elizabeth Kincaid.

I was stunned when I found out and am still floating a bit. Winning provided my

first cash prize ever! Whoopee - now I can reimburse myself for all my art supplies.

"Pulito" is Italian for "clean" - it's my abstraction of laundry we saw hanging outside

a home in a small Italian town during our last European adventure. The entire show

is now on exhibit at the NWH Gallery. The address and directions are written in red

to the right of my blog.

Going to the Oasis - Plein Air Study

Our painting group met yesterday morning at the Oasis. I did this pastel study of the entrance. If you haven't been to the Oasis lately, you won't recognize it. It's undergoing massive construction. They have already completed a 4 story parking garage and are in the process of building a very large hotel and additional shops. The one consistent thing - great views and mediocre food. This is the 2nd pastel plein air I've recently done. I like working with pastels because it lightens my load. Much less to carry and very light weight. I like easy!! 9x12

Round Rock Library - Plein Air Study

Several people asked me to show the painting I was working on in the previous post. This is my pastel study of the library entrance. It wasn't a particularly easy painting to do. Besides straddling that rock wall for several hours, I was sitting so close to my subject it was difficult to scale down my drawing. It ended up being 12x9.

2010 Chalk Walk & Plein Air Paint Out

This is yours truly painting the front of the library. After
straddling this rock wall all day, I could barely stand up and
walk when I finished.

These are my dear friends Beryl and Glenda. (Beryl on
the left) Our plein air group had an exhibit this past
weekend at ArtSpace. Beryl managed to paint 2 local scenes,
watch the chalk artists and still attend another art reception.
She's super woman! Glenda is such a great supporter. She
always manages to show up at my art events & I appreciate
her support so much.

This is a photo of another one of my artist buddies; Zanne.
She spent 2 whole days on her hands and knees producing
this beautiful artwork. I think she's probably still in bed nursing
her aching body after completing such a difficult feat.
She's a true artist an so much fun to be around.

"Elation" - SOLD

This is a large abstract (36 x 36 acrylic) that I painted for Steve & Bobbie. Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to paint this commission for you!! I do miss it, but it couldn't have gone to a better home.

"YMCA" - SOLD

Why would I paint the local Round Rock YMCA?? Good question. This is for an upcoming fund raiser and the request was for a painting of the YMCA! There you have it. It was a challenge because this is not a particularly "beautiful" structure. It's a functional structure but I took a photo of the most attractive part; the entrance. I hope they like it. 11x14 acrylic on canvas.

"Grand Marais Lighthouse"

This lighthouse is so far north, it's just minutes from Canada. It's a small sleepy little town with a lot of summer tourists. There was a sea plane giving rides, this wonderful big sailboat drifting by and some fun shopping. This is a 20 x 16 pastel on paper.

"Two Harbors Lighthouse"

This is another lighthouse I passed on the way up to Lake Superior. I unfortunately failed to get the name of this one. However, one of my great art buddies who knows her lighthouses emailed me the correct name - so I'm reposting it. I liked it because it looked like a comfy house the lighthouse keeper had when he was not on duty. I imagined it was a very quiet peaceful job, although an important one at the time. This is a 16 x 20 pastel - the messiest medium there is to paint with!

"Split Rock Lighthouse"

As many of you know, I just got back from a very cool trip to Minnesota. I got the opportunity to travel north and see some beautiful country that I never saw before when I lived there. I discovered Lake Superior up close and personal and was awestruck at its size and beauty. I kept referring to it as the ocean. I also discovered there are many light houses along it's shores and I captured a few photos which I will paint. Split Rock is pretty famous and I thought I'd paint it first. This one is a 16 x 20 pastel.

"Austin Morning" - SOLD

I finally finished this 12 x 12 last night. This is from a photo I took one morning on private property, on my knees, with the geese, almost falling in the water. I pushed the colors for fun. I love our skyline!

"A-Town"

Our town has so many wonderful and unique buildings - I love our skyline. I decided to paint these 3 but would like to do some others from different locations. This one is a 9x12 acrylic on linen board.

"Sunflower IV" - SOLD

This is a funky little sunflower painting I did some time ago which I never posted. It just found a new home so I wanted to thank Miss Nancy for adopting it. It's one of those "out of my head" paintings where I didn't have a photo or flower to look at while painting. I like to do that sometimes - it feels very free.

"Guess Who"

Look what showed up in the mail!!!! Back in December when we did the "Different Strokes" portrait paintings, my partner Kris Wood sort of lost the portraits she did of me. Well, just like magic, they showed up and what a wonderful surprise to receive ALL of them from her in the mail. Thank you Kris and I love them all.

"Austin Summer" - SOLD

I painted this today with my buddies out by the lake. This was painted alla prima (painted all at once) and was still very wet when I photographed it. There' a little glare on it. This is a pretty piece of land located in back of the 4-Seasons hotel on Lake Austin. Perfect place for a picnic - don't you think?

"Back Yard Fountain"

It's that time of the year when you want water around you to stay cool. I was inspired by this little backyard fountain and kept the air conditioning on high while I painted it. So I guess it's a cool painting.

"Snail Fountain" - SOLD

I've been hearing some grumbling that I don't do enough landscapes (you know who you are). So last night I painted this one Alla Prima (all at once) with oils. It's from our trip to Vancouver several years ago when we visited the Butchart Gardens on Victoria Island in British Columbia. The gardens are beyond description; they are so stunning. I haven't had my oils out for awhile and really enjoyed using them again.

Waterfall Abstract"

This is a long 12x24 acrylic on canvas. I was really into the colors on this one when I started painting. After a couple of hours I began to see a waterfall, hence the name.

"Arkansas Bend" - SOLD

Thank you Lois for purchasing this painting. I'm thrilled to have met you and hope to see you in the future.
This is a small plein air painting of Arkansas Bend at Lake Travis. This year it has beautiful water. Last year you could walk across it. Love that rain!

"Mechanical Thinking"

This is another large abstract I painted right before my show at ArtSpace. It's all done in transparent watercolors. This type of painting takes much longer to paint than an oil painting. I think this one took about 4 days to complete.
On a personal note - the new hardwood floors are in and I've chased most of the dirt and dust from the renovation. I feel like I can get back to painting without so many interruptions. Yea!

"Sunset"

This is a 16 x 20 pastel I painted of a sunset at Lake Chapala, Mexico. The original trip was to Ajijic, but Chapala was just a short distance away and was such a colorful fun town. Since I probably won't be returning to Mexico any time soon, I thought I'd paint one of my fond memories.

"Summer Storm"

This is a 16 x 20 pastel painting I did for my show. I photographed these clouds in Georgetown one day when a big one was coming. I apologize for not posting. I have been doing some home renovations and have been totally consumed by all the chaos. I will attempt to get back on my regular painting schedule next week when all the dust settles around here.

One Woman Show!!

I am having my first "One Woman Show" at ArtSpace in downtown Round Rock! We had the opening reception last Wednesday and I was so thrilled at the turnout.
There were speeches . . . an official ribbon cutting for the new ArtSpace and many friends who came and wished me their best. Such a fun event.
My show will continue to run until the end of May. If you haven't had a chance to see it, please swing by. ArtSpace, 231 E. Main Street, downtown Round Rock. Open Thursday's thru Sunday's - 11 am to 6 pm.

"Brushy Creek" - SOLD

THANKS JEAN & KYLE - I'M GLAD THIS LITTLE PAINTING HAS FOUND YOU. This is a tiny plein air painting of Brushy Creek. As some of you know I live on Brushy Creek and this was my first attempt at painting it en plein air just down the road.

"Emerging"

This abstract was just juried into the Waterloo Watercolor Spring Show. The show is located at 700 Lavaca Street in the old Chase Bank Building. The artwork is on display on the lower level corridor. I have 2 paintings in the show and I got a peek of all the artwork the other day - it's a very good show. If you are downtown and would like to stop by, the show runs until July 10th.

"Good Morning"

This is the companion piece I did to go with "Morning Thoughts." Again, an experimental watercolor done in 2 colors. I haven't been posting faithfully because I've been really busy getting ready for my debut one woman show. Trust me, I've been working!!

Morning Thoughts

Well, here's something a bit different!! I did two of these figure type paintings the other day. This is 2 colors on bristol board; neutral and gold watercolors. Another one of my experiments. Hope it's not too risque for the blog!

Big Red

I guess I must of had Easter on my mind when I decided to paint this one. It's a big 24x30 Acrylic painting, so he's pretty much in your face. I snapped a photo of this guy a couple of years ago at a local farm here in Austin. I can't remember the name of the farm but this guy was very fat and very happy!

"Twilight IV"

Happy Easter everyone! This is the last of the "Twilight" series. These small originals will be at our upcoming art show and sale to be held this coming Friday & Saturday, April 9th & 10th. The 620 Group Painters will hold this show at the Apache Shores Community Center located at 14919 General Williamson, Austin 78734 from 10 - 5 PM both days. Please come by and see some amazing art. Directions: 620 to General Williamson. Turn left on General Williamson. About a mile on your right is the community center. (General Williamson is the next street light past Hudson Bend Road) Hope to see you there!!

"Twilight III"

Oops - I accidently uploaded the wrong photo. Don't know if the first one came through or not. This is the "real" one.

"Twilight II"

This is the second in my Twilight abstract series. I have been busy getting ready for another art show which anyone in the area is invited to attend. More to come on date and location in my next post.

"Twilight I"

This one's part of a series of abstracts I recently painted in Corpus Christi. I originally went down to attend a workshop, but the workshop was a total bust. We all just ended up painting whatever we wanted. This is one of four. The workshop may have been a bust, but I enjoyed 3 wonderful days with my two painting buddies, so all was definitely not lost.

"Black Grapes" - SOLD

The inspiration for this painting came from a close up photo I took of dark ripe grapes while we were in Italy. I merged that image with my imagination and came up with this painting. This one is watercolor and colored pencil on Bristol board.
THANKS STEVE FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. I APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

"Player"

This is a little painting I did of a woman I photographed in Ajijic, Mexico. I tweeked my painting (from the original photo image) to create a more design/abstract painting. I painted it with watercolor and gouache on bristol board, which is a flat smooth paper surface.

"Imagine 2010"

What a wonderful night! The Round Rock Area Arts Council chose my painting "Whispers" to include on all the programs and art posters. It was a fun filled night signing and absorbing some great art.




Thanks to all involved at the RR Arts Council. The event was first class and enjoyed by hundreds of people.




Meeting and making new friends is always a plus too!!

"Portrait of Karin"

This is a portrait of a fellow artist Karin Jurick. Her blog Different Strokes From Different Folks has been the leader in presenting painting challenges to other artists all over the country. As a thank you to Karin, over 100 fellow artists painted HER portrait as a thank you for all she does. Click the link for Different Strokes and you will see all the portraits. Thanks Karin!!!!

"Pennsylvania Grass"

I'm participating in the February paint challenge where people from all over the country do a painting of a particular photograph. At one point I was trying to encompass the entire photograph, but then decided I didn't like it. So I'm only showing the part I like. Also, this was a new experiment for me to paint with gouache. Gouache is a translucent to opaque type watercolor material that can be layered. My first attempt with this medium was also a learning experience; this painting has many layers. It was a fun challenge, but I'm glad it's over.