Sturdy Cedar

I spotted this old cedar on a recent hike in the neighborhood and thought it would make a great composition.  I loved how the branches, old and gnarly, went out in all directions and how the boulders and plants added to the wildness of the place.  A rocky area,  I knew I would have to be careful setting up my easel.

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Here is the finished painting.  I had to really push the values of the greens to get them to read well, and push the lights and darks to make an interesting pattern through the painting .  I like how the placement of the rocks leads your eye up from the lower right to the upper left and to the star of the show, the cedar tree.

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Rainy Walk

While in Bolivia on a mission, I spent a day helping with a construction project.  Our task was to build a room on to a mud brick home shown above. Because the locals can get a parasite that lives in the mud bricks, it's essential for them to have a safe place to sleep and the single mother of 4 that we were helping, desperately wanted this room for her children.  These people get by with cooking outdoors and their only source of water is collected in a barrel.

While we were working, it began to rain again, and we soon had to leave or face being stuck on the muddy rutted roads.  As we were driving back to town, I spotted some women walking in the rain.  They don't let rain stop them, they can't, they have no choice.  When I got back to our hotel that evening,  I painted this small watercolor sketch.

                                    This is one of the women as she walked in the rain. 
              Now that I'm back,  I turned this sketch into a painting including the other woman.

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Here is the finished painting...I hope I have captured the dreary day and the attempt of the women to keep dry. 

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Market Day I - Tarabuco, Bolivia

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I recently spent two weeks on a mission trip to Bolivia. While there, I spent a lot of time working among the native people and getting to know their traditions. They are hard working, lovely people. This painting shows a Bolivian women in her traditional dress walking home from the market. She carries most of her purchases in her shawl, along with her child.

 The women from this particular region of Bolivia all wear fedora hats everywhere they go.  They wear sandals with leggings in the colder weather along with a pleated skirt.  They usually wear a full length apron over it with a sweater.  They top off their ensemble with a colorful shawl which they use to carry their belongings and small children. These women are everywhere, and they are a joy to watch as they go about their lives.

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These mandarin oranges came from the supermarket with their leaves still intact. I loved how the leathery leaves look next to the bright orange of the fruit. The addition of the blue bottle helped balance the otherwise warm tone of the painting. This is painted on gessoboard that has been underpainted in black.

Because I love autumn so much, orange is one of my favorite colors.  It has a very long history.  It was generally thought to have started by using madder, which most painters recognize as a bright pink.  But if the madder root is pounded, dried,  then put in a dye bath with alum, it turns wool to a vibrant orange, like the hair of a redhead. The Turks figured this out back in the 13th century!!

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Snowbird Waterfall

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This painting is a follow up to the one I did a few days ago.  I enjoyed doing the waterfall portion of that painting so much that I decided to do a smaller version of just the waterfall.   I am experimenting with painting on a black background and am finding that I like the graphic quality of the finished painting.   Somehow the black tends to help your eye blend  some of the colors together and create contrast in other areas.  I can't quite explain it, but I like how it looks and feels.

This painting will be offered on the Daily Paintworks web-site in an auction.  The bidding will engage tomorrow.  Click the above link to be directed to my auctions.

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Snowbird Summer I

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This painting was inspired by a recent hike in the summer at one of our favorite spots in Utah. It was a beautiful day and the hike followed this stunning stream as it rushed down the canyon. The day was full of the sound of the water, the trees rustling overhead and the smell of the pine. It doesn't get any better than that.  I was experimenting again with painting on a black background and I especially like the look of the water.

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"Bee" the Poppy

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Here is another painting of a poppy, this one with a honey bee doing his magic. Again, I love the delicate petals of these flowers and marvel at how they unfold from their buds. It's always amazing to me how those buds seem so heavy on their small stems and yet when the flowers are fully unfolded, the stems are perfectly upright. 

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Sally The Surgeon

I was just notified that my painting shown above, Sally the Surgeon, won 2nd place in the Rockwell Reimagined exhibit and show in Piqua, OH.  The challenge for this exhibit was to take a favorite Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post magazine cover and reimagine it in today's world.

Since my husband is an orthopedic surgeon, we thought it would be a fun project to reimagine the Rosie the Riveter cover as my entry.  There are many women surgeons now, and how they are succeeding in a "man's world"  is encouraging to those of us who have fought so hard to bring women equality in the workplace. The fact that a small woman can successfully do the very strenuous work of an orthopedic surgeon is quite amazing and yet they do it beautifully. Below is the Rockwell painting that inspired my work.

Rosie the Riveter

In doing my research about Mr. Rockwell's idea for this painting, I found it most interesting that his
model was a very small woman, and he purposefully made her much more robust for the work.  He later apologized to her for making her bigger.

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Delicate Poppy

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This beautiful poppy is one of my favorite flowers. I love the delicate paper thin petals that glow in the sunlight. I also love the stems because they are thin and willowy and have little hairs running up and down. I hope I have captured the beauty of the poppy in this small painting. You can click the link above to bid on this painting for a very low beginning bid.  The auction engages tomorrow.

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French Geraniums

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This painting is from a photo reference of some geraniums spotted in France. I love the contrast of the red blossoms with the super green foliage all set against the dark background of the shaded window.  The piece is painted on gessoboard.

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Winter View

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We've been having lots of snow here in the west.  It has been interesting living in an area of the country where they know how to deal with snow. It's been a beautiful season as well. This is the view I get to see in the winter when I look outside our home. The snow glistens against the red rocks and makes the bluebird sky look even brighter. Painting this was so much fun,  I may have to paint it again in a larger size.

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Winter Evening

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I haven't painted a nocturne in awhile.  I've had this photo for a couple of years now and it spoke to me as a painting.  It's from our old neighborhood in Ohio.  I walked by this house frequently on winter evening walks with our dog.  The people living here must have had a dog because it was always a favorite stop for our dog to stop and check his pee-email.  I loved how the light illuminated the icy driveway and lit up the windows, creating a cozy feeling. Click the link above to bid in my Daily Paintworks auctions at an incredible starting bid!!

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Looking Towards Winter

This painting is from a photo I took this fall looking towards the ski slopes in Park City UT.  It's a far cry from what I see out my window today.  We have had the most snow I have ever seen and it keeps snowing.  So much so that the area where I live has had to contract dump trucks to come in and haul away the snow.  But the area is beautiful and I am enjoying winter and all it has to offer.

The farm is near our home and viewable from the bike trail.  I loved the various shades of gold from the late summer, early autumn grasses. The work is painted on stretched canvas, a surface I haven't used in awhile. In some ways I like it because of the blending that can be achieved. 

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Just a Hunch

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This cute cat is all hunched over looking like it is ready to pounce.  This is another photo from The Morgue File and I selected the photo for a reference because I loved the eyes.  It's amazing how getting a good likeness seems to always depend on getting the sparkle in the eyes just right.  I hope I have achieved the sparkle in this one.

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McBully Mugface

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This great Bull dog looks to me like he is posing for a mugshot.  He isn't happy about it but is doing his best to look innocent.  I painted this doggie portrait on gesso board with a blue underpainting shown in the photo above.  I used a Tombow marker to do the drawing.  The advantage of using these markers is that they are water soluable allowing you to make changes in the drawing, but then the mark isn't affected by oil paint or mineral spirits so your drawing is saved.  Pretty neat .

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Winter Aspens

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This is another winter landscape inspired by a hike in the snow in our neighborhood. I love Aspen trees, even in winter. I love the texture and colors in their bark and the gnarly shapes of their branches. This is painted on a board with a black underpainting, giving the piece a more graphic look.
Once again I found that I had to lighten some of the colors.  This is becoming a grand experiment, one that I am enjoying.

Old Friend

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In this painting, I am fondly depicting and old friend of mine. When I lived in Ohio, I frequently took a trail that passed under this tree while walking my dog. It was one of our favorite spots to walk and I loved seeing this tree. It's horizontal branch hung low and I always thought I would hit my head on it, but of course, being short myself, never did. It was especially nice walking here after a snow. It was always quiet and beautiful.  The path followed the river and afforded views of other wildlife as well.

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Winter Hike at Silver Lake

The inspiration for this painting is from a photo I took while enjoying a winter hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City, UT.  It was a beautiful clear day among the pine forest surrounding Silver Lake.  I loved the sharp shadows cast on the snow and the texture of the trunks of the trees.  This piece is painted on a board that has been under painted in black.  One of the most difficult challenges in painting on black is remembering that colors appear darker because none of the color is reflected back from a light surface.  So many times I have had to lighten my colors to make them read the correct value.  It is a welcome challenge though because I love the graphic look of the completed painting.

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Scrub Oak #1

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This small painting is a Daily Paintworks Challenge for the month of January.  The oak trees in Utah's higher elevations are small scrub oaks.  In contrast to midwestern oak trees where I was raised, they don't get very tall and they have tiny acorns.  But the leaves are just as beautiful and remain on the trees well into winter.  I collected this tiny branch on a recent winter walk into the hills surrounding our house. This piece is painted on a board with a black underpainting.

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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

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The inspiration for this painting is from a photo I found on the Morgue File.   I don't know about you, but I find sleeping dogs irresistible.  This bull dog looked like he was deep in sleep and I can just imagine he is having some good doggie dreams.
The piece is painted on gesso board with a black under painting.

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