"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!