Misty Forest

 Here's a new painting that was an experiment in layering to create a foggy or misty effect. It was fun to do and I've included a video of the process. Enjoy!

(oil on canvas, 30" x 40")

Michael's Mountain

Here is a painting I completed for a friend. He asked for a mountain and pretty much gave me free range to produce whatever I wanted, as long as there was a mountain.

(oil on canvas, 30" x 40")

Since there are some fun details you can't quite see unless you are up close and personal with it I thought it would be fun to take some close ups for you. 

If you want to see this painting being created here is a start to finish video of the process. Enjoy!

Boats

Here's a painting I completed in the summer of 2017. We were in the process of moving when I painted this for a friend and colleague. She now has it hanging in her office. This is one of those paintings that reminds me why I like to paint. It was fun and not too fussy. 

(oil on canvas, 36" x 48")

Birch Trees

Wow, it has been awhile since I last shared my art with you. A lot has happened in the last few years but I'm happy to be getting back into art and finally making time to do more than my typical permanent marker drawings. Here are two oil paintings I recently completed. Both are painted with water soluble oils on stretched canvas. 

(oil on canvas, 36" x 48")

A Picture, Please

(Photos taken with iPhone 6 and edited in Instagram)

When I was little my father used to travel a lot. Before he would leave each time he would ask us what we wanted him to bring back for us. I always looked forward to whatever surprise he would return with. Since I have been traveling a lot lately I thought I would asked my daughters what they wanted me to bring back for them. To my surprise my youngest asked for pictures of landmarks. 

While flying to Seattle I managed to snap a picture of the Space Needle which she thought was pretty cool. Shortly after that trip, we ended up taking both our girls on an over night trip to Seattle by train which was pretty spectacular. We walked a lot and the girls took tons of pictures. At one point we passed an art gallery and my oldest was happily snapping away with my Nikon D40, there must have been an opening that day as there were a lot of people mingling inside. My daughter stopped right in the middle of the doorway and started snapping photos. One of the people who appeared to worked for the gallery looked up at her. I thought for sure we were in trouble for taking the pictures. Instead of the negative reaction I expected she gave my daughter the biggest smile and two thumbs up. It made my day. I love the support of the artist community and was happy to see it carry over into a setting like that. I can't wait to look at all the pictures they took that day. Especially the ones at the gallery. 

The photo collage above is from another business trip I took recently. Again I was asked to bring back pictures of land marks. You can see the Grand Canyon in the second picture and all the places between Phoenix, AZ and Portland, OR. One of my favorite things is to take pictures of the landscape as I fly so I honestly love that she asks me for these pictures. 

Winter Sunset

I took this photo on my cell phone during a drive one evening. The sunset was quite spectacular. I love how you can see layers in the sky. I'm pretty sure what appear to be black smudges are the result of the lower clouds and the car being in motion (don't worry, I wasn't driving). I just love the vibrant colors. The original photo was muted compared to what you actually saw so I put it in an editor app on my phone to increase the color saturation. I am always amazed at what is lost when you take a picture and what you can get back using a photo editor.

Medium: Digital Photography

Digital Drawing

My husband gave me a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for Christmas. I was a die hard iPhone fan and it was a hard transition to make but I am enjoying it. The one thing making it more than worth the change is the SketchBook for Galaxy. Its not quite the same as drawing with a real pen or pencil but it is a fun alternative. Here is an image I created this week. I think I will have to practice more to get the hang of it, but I do like how this turned out. After drawing it in the SketchBook, I used Pixlr Express, an application I downloaded for free from the play store, to add the boarder and effects.

Happy New Year!

Fireworks

This summer I finally got the chance to take a digital photography class. I learned quite a bit and was able to get some really great pictures using some different techniques I picked up in class.

Here are some of the firework pictures I took in July. I think I fell in love with my camera all over again.

Colorful Trees

In this study I wanted to play with layering using water colors. I used the different colors so I could see the effects of the layers easier. I never intended this to be something presentable, however I like how it turned out.

Medium: Watercolor

Rainbows from Real Life

I actually wrote this post a while back, thought I had posted it and discovered today I hadn't. I love the days I get to spend with my girls so much that I can't help but post this now.

***

 Today we painted "rainbows from real life," as my daughter called them. It was raining on and off throughout the day but the sun was up and shining bright so there were rainbows to be seen.
A fun day all around. I was happy to spend some much needed time with my two favorite girls.

Medium: Watercolor

Hearts

I thought it would be nice to paint something simple but fun. I have seen these posters all over and thought it would be a great way to experiment with color. I don't care for standard color wheels. I like more interesting ways to play with color and color blending. I also didn't want to create a bunch of scrap paper while experimenting, so I think this was a good compromise. I am supper excited because I also think they would be fun to frame and hang in my girls room. 

Medium: Watercolor

Spring

Where I live everything seems to liquify in the spring. Even the air has a cleansing wet glaze to it. I'm sure this happens in many places around the world, so it's nothing special. However, I find when I'm craving art this time of year I tend to lean towards watercolors. Watercolors happen to be one of my least favorite mediums, which means they surprise me each time I dabble in them.

This painting is of a flower, of sorts (not really sure what type of flower it was), my daughter picked for us to paint. I actually discarded it after I painted it, using the rest of the sheet to test a few techniques on. When I came back to it after it dried I was surprised by how much I liked it. 

In fact, I like it so much I might even frame this little gem to remind me to not be so quick to dismiss, to slow down a little, and have a bit more patience when I paint.

Medium: Watercolor on Paper

Summer Lilly in Color - Update

Here she is, all finished. We gave the original to my Mother-in-Law for Christmas this year. After Christmas I took her in to get it matted and framed. I love how it turned out. It is always fun to see your art all dressed up and ready to display. I don't think I will ever get over the giddy feeling that comes with seeing a piece completely finished (frame and all) for the first time.

The mat is actually a Mauve Taupe, similar to this primrose, but the lighting in this picture makes it look brown.

Do you know who invented the color mauve?

Scribble of Trees

I needed a mini vacation so I scribbled these trees on a lake. 

Somehow it helped, but now I want to go camping. 

Medium: Permanent Marker on White Paper with Digital Finishing

Happy Valentine's

Here is another form of art I love to create. Mmmmm.... I love cupcakes and I love making cupcakes with my girls, who also love cupcakes as much as I do.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Medium: Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcake with Cherry Frosting, Edible Gold Glitter, Sugar Crystals, and Pearls

On the Palette

I think it is fun to see the messy side of art so I thought you might enjoy a little peek behind the scene as well. 

The Medium: I have several in-progress pieces, however this palette is for a humming bird I am working on. What you see on the palette are water soluble oil colors. Because I can't work with the cleaning solutions needed for standard oil colors I opt to use these which clean up with soap and water. You might have noticed by now there are two whites on my palette. One of the whites is what is called a mixing white. It is used primarily to mix with other colors. The other white is used by itself as, you guessed it, white. You can still mix this white with other colors. Each white gives a different result. I usually put the mixing white in the middle of the colors so I can remember which one is which. Once they are on the palette it is easy to confuse the two, until you use the wrong one and get an unexpected result.

The Tools: As you might be able to see most of my brushes are really old, some over ten years. I am quite familiar with them which is important when painting. However, I have decided, now that I am painting more often, they are in dire need of replacing. The glass bowl you see in the upper left corner is holding all the colors that are on my palette at present. The wooden box on the right holds the rest of my oil paints, not on my palette, as well as my gouache, charcoal, and other art mediums that are small enough to fit in the drawers. There are a set of shelves above this that hold all my acrylic paints as well as gesso and other items too large to fit in the box. My easel, which is made of wood, sits to the left of this table. I have one of those tall office chairs, which my sweet husband got for me. I use it instead of a stool since it can change heights easily, which means I don't have to worry about adjusting the easel height to suit the piece I am working on. Somewhere I also have a metal table top easel which I have used in the past to help with this. I haven't seen it for some time now but am still hopeful it will turn up. My palette itself is actually a large piece of glass that was the top of a coffee table until the table broke. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of such a nice piece of glass and now I am extremely glad I didn't. It works really well as a palette and table protector. I put a large piece of white paper under it to create a background to make it easier to see the colors. 

Summer Lilly in Color

I decided to try this study again, in color this time. I haven't worked with colored pencil much in the last ten years which has made this adventure even more challenging. I am finding I have to give myself more time to adjust to the medium. Especially since I am used to being able to manipulate color simply by mixing in a little blue or yellow and working them together on my pallet. It's a whole new game when your colors are limited to what's in your hand and how well you can blend them on the page. As you can tell I have quite a bit left on her hair and then I'll move onto her shirt. I am still trying to decide what to do with the background. Should I leave it white or attempt to bring in some depth? Do I stay true to the photograph or do I invoke my artistic freedom? Sometimes there are just too many choices.


Medium: Colored Pencil on Watercolor Paper

Apples and Bannanas

For as much effort as moving takes it is exciting when you discover items you haven't seen in years, and have most likely forgotten about. For the last four months we have been in the process of moving out of, and renovating, our home. We have gotten rid of quite a lot of stuff and have rediscovered even more stuff we had forgotten we had. In one box I ran across some oil painting studies from my college painting classes. It was fun to reunite with them. I had forgotten some of the techniques I had been taught and through this discovery I was reminded how important these simple studies are to developing your own techniques and style.

Recently, I have been collecting portrait pictures to practice with, mainly using charcoal, however after discovering these studies I have decided I want to take this practice to more levels than just charcoal. I feel as if I have rediscovered an aspect of painting I had forgotten. One that supports my desire to push beyond known limits, to expand my understanding and connection to the medium. I love the freedom and flexibility art offers.

This is one example of a technique I had forgotten about. We had painted the canvas as dark as we could and then took a cloth, or dry brush, and wiped away the paint to create the picture.


Medium: Oil on Canvas Board

Faces

Here is one of the first faces, or portraits, I remember drawing. I didn't really get into drawing portraits until after high school. This particular one was drawn in 2001. It seemed to be the start of portraiture for me. Even though I had started drawing babies much sooner, it wasn't until 2001 that I started branching out to toddler and adult portraits. I happen to love the quirkiness of this sketch.

Medium: Graphite on Drawing Paper

Innocence

 

Here's another sketch from some time ago, most likely late high school or early college. I love drawing children because of their softer features. They also have the best expressions. 

Medium: Graphite on Paper