"Ellie in the Sun"

"Ellie in the Sun"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

Another small painting of my friend's dog Ellie. I love the light on he run this one. Makes for great contrast.

"Ellie"

"Ellie"

study 1

oil on canvas, 6"x 6"

I'm working on this for a friend of mine. I think I captured her but you never know for sure. I may try a few more...

The Meaning of Life

"The Meaning of Life"

oil on canvas, 15" x 45"

commissioned work

I apologize for the great delay in posting on my blog. I have however been very busy painting and raising a new puppy. I have forgotten how much it is like having a baby and how much time that takes out of a daily schedule. However I did just finish this piece, which is quite reminiscent of a piece I painted 2 years ago called "Stacked". I had a client who wanted it then but it sold and he came back and asked me to paint another. It was a real joy. Oreos and milk are just plain fun to work on. I have another couple of commissions to work on in the next month or so and then a huge project of Food Art for our local elementary school depicting the healthy food that they now serve in the cafeteria. 

I especially want to thank all of you who came to my multiple shows in December and January and made it a real pleasure to be an artist! It was my best couple of months ever and I am truly grateful. I will be posting as I paint in the next couple of months and will be fitting in some small works along the way. Once again this year my focus will be large food pieces and I have an exciting show coming up at the end of the year as well as several others. I will post more when it is all official!

"Tongue Tongue"

"Tongue Tongue"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

NFS

So much could be said about my friend's dog Tongue Tongue. He is a rescue and had a terrible brain injury and his tongue never goes in farther than this. He is really something special and a Must Paint for me. Thanks to all the vets out there who help out animals like this one and then can't help but take them home for an easier life. Here's to you Dana!

Patience

"Patience"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

SOLD

"Namaste"

oil on board, 4" x 4"

SOLD

A couple of other small works for me today. It is good to keep working small as this is where I feel most challenged.  It's so hard to get it right in so little space...

"bird"

"bird"

oil on canvas. 10" x 10"

And here is something completely different for me as well. I thought I would experiment. What do you think?

Fresh Fish

"Fresh Fish"

(Pike Place Market)

oil on board, 6" x 6"

SOLD

Here is an unusual one for me. Not sure if it is my best painting ever but it's always good to try new material. I love all the neon in the market area. I might some realistic paintings of some neon signs, large of course. It could be fun.

"In the Golden Sun"

"In the Golden Sun"

oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

Again I painted from a black canvas and found it intriguing. Here is Butterscotch again. She is just too fun to paint with all her wonderful colors. My other chickens are all in dark reds, blues and blacks so they are more challenging...

We are on the cover!

My friend Elaine Summers and I will be on the Holiday Art Studio Tour at my studio for the first 2 weekends in December! Come and see her gorgeous mosaic works and my collection of small works. My large works will be on display at Artswest in West Seattle form November 22nd to January 14th. I'm so proud that we were also selected for the cover art for the brochure for this Holiday Tour. Come out and see all the great artists on Vashon and stop by Artswest this December!!

"Shadow"

"Shadow"

oil on canvas, 10" x 10"

Who doesn't love chicken paintings? This one is on a black canvas to start which is something I never do... It definitely made me feel disoriented and paint in a more impressionistic way. I like it a lot though. This is my Buff Orpington named Butterscotch. I love how her colors catch light. Very pretty.

"Self Sealing" and "Big Bear"

"Self Sealing"

oil on canvas, 18" x 36"

"Big Bear"

oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

Finally have my honey bear done with all the details and 98% done with "Self Sealing". Have been working very hard on these large works for some upcoming appearances in December and beyond. I am definitely heading towards abstraction with these pieces and am loving the idea of that. I will continue in this vein for a while I think. Can you guess what is in the top jar?? Double click for a closer look!

Two New Small Works...

"Many Colors"

oil on board, 8" x 8"

"True Beauty"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

SOLD

I am very excited that my friend Elaine Summers and I got the cover of our upcoming Vashon Art Studio Tour brochure! They chose my Gumball Machine painting and her Mosaic Dog. I will post a copy when it is published. Anyway, I decided to do a couple of more gumball machine pieces in a much smaller size to have available. Somehow I thought this would just take me a few hours as it wasn't that large but who am I kidding!! It took me three days to finish as each gumball is it's own little world of color...

This swan is lives not to far from my house. He was really showing off his beauty for me. I definitely have a thing for large birds after raising our orphaned geese last year.

"Queen of the Couch"

oil on board, 6" x 6" 

Doesn't seem like I can paint Lilly enough. She is just so striking... Same cat, different light and definitely different mood.

"Nesting"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

One small piece and off to work on my large canvas. Butterscotch wasn't really wanting to be disturbed while she laid her egg but I couldn't help myself...

Some Small works...

"Into the Fire"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

SOLD

"Scene 1 from the Tank"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

I've been really busy on some more big pieces after I finished the Big Honey Bear last week but am trying to fit in some small work too. 

I have a bunch of shows coming right up, especially in December and am working hard to be ready. You can check out my large works in December at ArtsWest in West Seattle, or some miniatures at The Blue Heron Master's in Miniature Show on Vashon, and also a piece of mine at the group show in Valise Gallery on downtown Vashon. I will also be showing small works in my own studio for the Vashon Holiday Art Studio Tour with my friend Elaine Summers, who does incredible mosaic work. Also on November 5th, I will showing work for one night only at the Woodinville Winery for the release of their very finest Flagship Red Wine.

Ok. Now I now why I feel so busy!!

Oops- I should also add that I have all my Cat and Dog works at the Hardware Store Restaurant (on Vashon) right now in helping out the upcoming auction for our Vashon Pet shelter VIPP and I have a few other works downtown at the Women Painter's of Washington Gallery in Columbia Tower til the end of the month.Whew. That was a lot of promoting.

Big Honey bear mostly done.

Title???

36" x 48" 

finally covered in paint, final details to come...

I don't have a title just yet and there is more to come but it feels like a huge accomplishment to have it covered in paint. This has been taking me so long due to the complicated shapes and subtle color shifts. I will post the final version soon.

The 3 little pieces below are my series called "Tired of Games" , "Rock", "Paper", " Peace." They are 5"x 5" paintings on board.

SOLD

Max Paintings

Max Too.

oil on board, 6"x 6"

NFS

Max with Ball.

(Never Going to Let Go.)

oil on board, 8"x 10"

NFS

These are for my dear friend Amy. Max is a blast to paint due to his pointy fur. There could be more coming. I'm still working on my huge Honey Bear and hope to finish in a week or so. I will also post some other miniatures I've been working on later in the day. Just haven't had the time to photograph everything.

Recent work

detail of work in progress

I've been working on this painting for weeks now, very slowly I might add. It is very complicated and I was feeling guilty about not posting so here is part close up and  below is the work in progress. The bottom has the most beautiful red and yellow honey in it and I think when it's all finished, it will be spectacular. It is really large, 36" x 48". So I am taking it slow to get it right with all the complicated reflections and distortion...

WIP

Below are a couple small pieces I have fit in at night. I definitely am feeling the difference of my 2 styles, impressionistic when small and photorealistic when large... I guess I can be both.

"Knee Deep in Grass"

oil on board, 6"x 6"

"Riff"

 oil on board, 2.5" x 3.5"
SOLD

a couple small works

"Jeans and Sneakers"

oil on board, 6"x 6"

SOLD

"Loaded"

oil on board, 2.5" x 3.5"
SOLD

Thought I'd toss in a couple small things. I've been super busy as summer nears it's end and school is on the horizon. I'm still working on my really big piece and will post a partial view soon. Feels like slow going...

Standing Stones

"Standing Stones"

oil on board, 5"x 7"

I'm working on a really cool large piece at the moment but I keep trying to do a few small pieces at the same time. Here are some beautiful stones from the beach the other day.

BAM Artsfair Weekend

My booth at BAM Artsfair in Bellevue!

I just wanted to thank all of you who came by my booth and made my show so successful this past weekend in Bellevue. I loved talking and meeting so many people and being a part of this wonderful art show. I am back to painting and thinking about all of your ideas for other things to paint! What fun... I hope to be back next year.

"Warming Buddha"

"Warming Buddha"

oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

SOLD

I painted a much smaller version on this Happy Buddha a little while ago and have also been working on this larger version. This one was lit from below and in front and the other from the top. This made me think on Buddha sitting in front of a toasty fire, warming himself, hence the name. What terrific colors to combine in a shiny object!

"Popped"

"Popped"

oil on canvas, 45" x 15"

SOLD

I have been slowly working on this piece for a month, even as I continued to try to paint small here and there. I think I am finally finished with just some tiny fine tuning and softening. This was really fun and I think I know popcorn inside and out now...Now off to the movies for Harry Potter 7 Part 2! Enjoy!

"Cookies and Milk"

"Cookies and Milk"

oil on board, 5"x 7"

SOLD

This is a teeny, tiny version of cookies and milk similar to one of my large pieces that sold a while back called "Stacked". I still love the idea of this so I thought I'd try small.

"Butterscotch and Caramel"

"Butterscotch and Caramel"

oil on board, 8"x 10"

The new chickens are getting to be full size. Alas, Caramel is obviously a rooster...

"Pliny the Elder Beer"

"Pliny the Elder Beer"

oil on board, 7" x 5"

available at the Bellevue Artsfair July 29, 30, 31

If you are a beer enthusiast, you probably know about this one. "Pliny the Elder" by Russian River Brewing has won Best Beer in the World 2 years running and we happened to find some in our local store just this week. Mostly you can only get a bottle or 2 by adding your name to the waiting list and being patient for a few months but we really lucked out and I have to say that it lives up to it's reputation! Of course I had to paint it while I had it.

"Krispy Kremes"

"Krispy Kremes"

oil on board, 8" x 8"

SOLD

Of course I had to paint doughnuts. They seemed to be missing from my Bad Food list of favorites.

"In the Field"

"In the Field"

oil on board, 8"x 10"

More of Kurt's beautiful cows in the pasture. This young pair and their Mom were so sweet.

"Cloudy"

"Cloudy"

oil on board, 6" x 6"

NFS

This one is for my dear friend Kristen... Isn't he pretty??

"Evidence"

"Evidence"

(Bob's Bakery Cheese and Cherry Danishes)

oil on board, 8"x 10"

So, I live on an island that in order to leave, one must take a ferry. These are big ferries that hold about 100 cars and there are plenty of state ferry workers that man the boats. Just this week there was an incident that made the news about one such person smearing a Bob's Bakery Danish onto the windshield of a regular commuters' car. Very unfortunate but quite humorous actually. Anyway, you can check out the video on Youtube (Danish) but of course it gave me the opportunity to head over to Bob's ( a local standby) and paint the offending pastries. I quite enjoyed myself.