Mommy

12" x 9" oil on board  

There are times when a photo just stands out and something about the scene I am attracted to.  This was the way with this photo from Meghan Turner.  I used thick chunky paint trying to capture the appearance of light.

Summer Reflections - SOLD

Open Air Market - SOLD

8"x 8"  oil

The DPW challenge today is to paint something that reminds you of Spring.  I love the open air market at Pepper Place downtown.  We visit on Saturdays and there is lots of fresh vegetables, flowers, music, people and dogs.  I took a picture last year of a basket of flowers inside a tent.  I loved the colors.  

Learning how to paint - The Shed - SOLD

Last week I spent the week at Cheaha State Park with several other artists and the well known artist, Julee Hutchison as our mentor and teacher.  Our goal was to learn from her and hopefully incorporate what we learned into our paintings.  I never seem to "take in" all the information while on site but today I tried to reflect back on several things she taught us.  

Some of her thoughts include:

Paint with passion
Take risks
Have fun 
Revel in the day 
Dont get discouraged - must of have miles of bad paintings behind us and often more is learned from a bad painting than a good one.  

She also told us to think of our brush like a violin bow.  Pressure changes are extremely important...direction of movement matter.  Your brush is your instrument - a bow across strings with the same pressure and the same rhythm would make for a very boring "piece".  Value - If you get the value right it really does not seem to matter about the color.  

I have also heard it said, "once you say what you want to say then quit".  As any of you who paint know, THAT IS SO HARD.  The longer you look at your painting you see something you want to change but all those added strokes take away from the spontaneity that you created with the first strokes if they were laid down with conviction.

Then, there is the need to mix colors correctly and have warm colors and cool colors vibrate when placed next to each other.  

Today I took out a picture of an old shed that was located on a farm we visited last week and I spent time mixing colors from Richard Schmid's color charts.  This practice encouraged me to use colors that I do not normally reach for so it changed up my palette.  I also made an effort to lay down color and leave it.  When we go back over our colors again and again we create mud.  So easy to do but so hard to undo.  


 I am pleased with the results and hope to keep on learning.

The Best Day - SOLD

What a thoughtful wedding gift.

Merry Christmas Mom - SOLD

This is a commission for someone but this little girl reminds me of my Max.  I have to continually remind myself that Max is not a human and make every effort to treat him as a dog.  Those of us who love animals know that they can read our thoughts and seem to understand us when we talk to them.  Max has big black eyes like Sadie and sometimes I believe he is speaking to me through them.

Treat?

Sadie's Selfie

Hazel and Her Blue Blanket

Sweet Baby Girl - Gifted

This little girl was an assignment today from a course I am taking but I wonder if I did not channel my foster baby grandson in the painting.  After having this little fellow for over a year and having him take up residence in our hearts he was recently sent back to his maternal grandmother for his permanent home.  To say my entire family does not feel a void would be a lie.  I have watched my daughter and her sweet family give him back to his family of origin and cry tons of tears but know that they have placed him and his life in the hands of God.  You cannot become foster parents and extended family and decide to only love with part of your heart.  I just hope that seated deep down in his little spirit he knows that he is deeply loved and prayed for by all of us who had him as a part of our family.

We love you little E always.

Southern Hospitality - SOLD

I drive past this little house every week on my way to Recovery Church.  It is very small but has a well kept yard and a lovely azalea bush that was on fire last week.  I loved this little scene.  It reminds me so much of what I think of when I think Southern hospitality.  I could sit on that porch and drink sweet tea all day.  I stumbled upon a blog about Southern Hospitality by a beautiful lady named Rhoda.  There I found a recipe for the best strawberry cake ever.   Talkin' about Southern - thought I would share it here - send me your comments if you bake it.

Painting En Plein Air - SOLD

This past week I painted "En Plein Air" with several wonderful artist friends.  En Plein Air is French for painting outdoors.  This is something I do not do very often and it is quite a challenge with wind, bugs and the need to capture the right scene without painting the entire countryside.  Our teacher for the week was Julee Hutchison.  Julee is an impressionistic painter from Telluride Colorado.  Her work is amazing. 

 Julee has the ability to paint the most descriptive, colorful scenes with unique strokes of her brush and creative colors that she seems to have an innate ability to mix.  (visit her website at http://www.juleehutchison.com)

I named my above painting "Lunch With Friends".  We had the most wonderful time learning to paint better outside and sharing stories, food and friendship....I looked across the field at these cows and thought they were doing the same.

My Brother, My Sister, You Will Always Be - SOLD

This commissioned painting depicts the love between a brother and sister.  Life can present challenges that we cannot understand and we find ourselves wondering, "why?"  The miracle in that moment is that love is strong and when we walk together we see God's provision.