A family anchored in love weathers all storms.

"A family anchored in love weathers all storms."

- Anonymous

"A family anchored in love weathers all storms."

This is how it may look framed.

22.5"x30" on acid free paper, deckle edged, unframed

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 10

Teenage boys have crazy huge appetites...we all know that, right? That just got verified.


Little guy after making a batch of biscuits: "Want some?"

Dave: "No, I'm full."

Little guy: "That's just not part of my vocabulary."


I believe it! And that, my friends, is why we have a Costco membership.



And I finished these paintings!!! What a delightful challenge they were!

Here they are individually and below are the last few stages before completion.

"Side by Side 1"

"Side by Side 2"

I painted over their faces because I didn't want any of the ink
to show. I could still just barely see it to use it as a bit of a guide.
I also decided that I needed to redo the buttons on his shirt
on the painting on the right.

I did a lot of work on their faces and some on their hair.

I continued working on their faces and began adding some
highlights here and there. His buttons are back, too. I added
nails to the bench boards as well.

After struggling with his left hand for the majority of this
process and never managing to get it right with the small
scale I had to work with (and likely my lack of skill),
I made the decision to let his hand just rest. Once I did
that the entire painting relaxed into being ready to be done.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 9

I love accidental eavesdropping. Not that I'm a snoop or anything, but you can't knock a girl for being in the right place at the right time. I was at the gym and had gone into the group class room. There were two young fellas in there working with some dumbbells.


One guy: "I just want to be lean and muscular."

Other guy: "I just want to be hot."


I smiled to myself and silently wished them both well with their missions.



I continued working on these. I'm feeling very near the end. I've got some work to do on their faces and hands/feet, but I can see signing them in my near future. These have been so much fun!

I added a second layer of white to the marks on the back of
the bench. I began adding elements to her dress and I worked
on his shirt.

I worked on shadowing throughout, added color to her dress
and shoes, darkened the back part of the seat, and added
a deeper tone to their hair.

I added more graffiti type elements to the background,
continued adding color to her dress, decided that I needed
to rework her eye in the left painting before I paint it,
and added highlights to the hay bale.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 8

So Dave and I are participating in an artists' market this coming weekend. (We'd love for you all to come, by the way.) I want our house to look festive, of course, so I went out to our shed in the back yard to get a few strings of lights to liven up the joint. I pulled out the box, raised the lid, and saw the most perfect rat's nest ever. It was practically cute, I swear! I raise the lid the rest of the way and the resident of that cute little nest jumped out of the box directly at me, and, well, I discovered that not only do I scream when surprised in this particular way, but I can also run like the dickens.

I went right back in the shed. I was startled, but not deterred. I took the now vacated box to our deck to inspect the contents. All of our lights had been chewed so much that they were a total loss.

Later that night...


Me: " I should put the box back in the shed so that rat will have a warm place to sleep tonight."

Dave: "No." And then he gave me a look that could only mean that the only warm place he wanted that rat to sleep tonight was in one of our cats' tummies.


I continued working on these paintings. It's down to the details and I just want to rework, rework, rework.

I continued working on details of the figures and
I added the graffiti-like art on the bench behind them.

More details on the figures.

I painted over her dress. I'm liking the one on the left more
than the one on the right. I'll probably working to make them
more similar. I also worked some on the wood of the bench,
aging it in some places and reshaping it in others.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 7

The little guy and I visited my mom yesterday and she revealed to us the most wonderful thing. Whenever someone has something nice to say to her (particularly about how she looks so much younger than she is...and it's true!) she asks them to write it down. And she has a cupboard lined with these lovely comments. How delightful it must be to reread those on days she's feeling "less than" in any way. Love it!


And I continued working on these paintings. I'm noticing that I'm entering the "ugly" stage. So...be patient and expect them to get worse before they get better. I actually love this stage!

I added color to the flowers on her dress. I'm just playing with
that. I know that I'll likely totally paint over it sometime soon.
I also added a pink tint to their skin.

I sketched in their facial features so I'd have a better idea
of where I'm going. I also added a lot of details to his shirt.

I began weathering the wood of the bench.

I added color to their hair and details throughout.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 6

I was in the car with the little guy today and he decided to do one of his favorite car games. It's not one of my favorite, however, because I'm typically just so darn awful at it. He pulled out his phone, typed in what must have been "Current Top Hit Music". He always wants me to state the artist and the title. And while I recognized pretty much everything he played I had a really hard time coming up with the artist/song name even though I could sing along with most every chorus. Next, out of pity, wanting to give me a fighting chance, he pulled up "The Top 100 Punk Songs of All Time". This was much more in my wheelhouse and I did quite well. (By the way...Green Day...who knew they were "punk"?) And then after we'd done some shopping he put on "Top Hits of the 80s and 90s". I did pretty well there, too. Happily my brain cells are still rocking' in the past.

And let me just take a moment here to thank Tony Hawk for apparently teaching my kid as many punk songs as I know.


I continued working on this painting. Here's what I've gotten done today.

I combined three colors to create the blue for her dress
and a couple of colors for his shorts.

I painted his shirt white and did another layer of
skin tone on both of them.

I began working on her shoes and I used white to map out
where elements on her dress will be as well as both of their hair.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 5

I took our big dog, Hazel, to the vet the other day. She was due for all sorts of stuff. And, my goodness, she has the best attitude ever!


Hazel: "Oh, you're gonna poke stuff in all the most awkward places! I LOVE YOU!!!!!"

Hazel: "Oh, you're gonna pull up my gums and look at my teeth! I LOVE YOU!!!!!"

Hazel: "Oh, you're gonna give me three shots on my back and one snort of stuff up my nose! I LOVE YOU!!!!!"

Hazel: "Oh, you're gonna give me two dog biscuits! I LOVE YOU!!!!!"


For my next annual exam I'm going to do my best to bring my Hazel attitude.



I didn't get much done today as I was happily enjoying a family gathering, but I was able to do just a bit.

I applied a second coat of watered down
white paint to the figures.
(Sorry the photo is a little blurry.)

I began filling in the first layer of flesh tone.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 4

So a while back I got new glasses frames. Not one person noticed. I know I've blogged about that before, but I had to bring it up again because today they were finally noticed. I was FaceTiming my brother and his family and within a second of first seeing my face he noticed! My wonderful, amazing, and clearly intensely observant brother...for the win, dude!


I only had a little time to work on this today, but I got a very important step done. Sketching out people in my paintings is something I want to be really careful about and it takes me quite a bit of time. And doing two...well, that takes almost twice as long. It's a super exciting stage because I know something wonderful is about to come into being. Love!

It's really, really, really hard to see in this photo, but I
sketched the brother and sister.

I did a very watered down layer of white paint on the figures.
These sweet little ghosts are soon to become lovely children.
I can't wait!!

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 3

Dave and I took the kid out to lunch today. While we were all eating apparently I was going on and on as supposedly I have the tendency to do. (I'm not convinced.) After they expressed their slight annoyance here's how the conversation went.


Me: "Haters gonna hate."

Dave: "Eaters gonna eat."

Little guy: "Idiots gonna idiot."


I think the kid got the last word...and apparently I wasn't the only annoying one.



I kept working on these paintings. I'm almost finished with the background and soon I'll be adding the brother and sister. Yay!

I added some red elements to the background.

There was some lettering in the photo I'm
working from so I added it as well.

I used watered down black to give the background
a more "messy" and aged look. 

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 2

Tonight as I drove through a parking lot I could see a car that kept trying to pull out of its spot, but rather than letting the car out, drivers just got irritated about it and kept blocking it in. As I got closer I found myself saying, "Gosh, just let them out, what's the big deal, people?" So when I got to where that car was I stopped so they could pull out...and guess what...it was my husband! Yay!


I continued working on these paintings. It's really fun to give the impression of wood with paint. Fun and challenging.

I used two different colors to create the wood. I did small
dollops of each color side-by-side on my palette and picked
up the paint from right in the middle getting both colors on
the paintbrush at once. At the tips of the wood pieces I
indicated where the top of the wood pieces were.
I also added a horizontal piece on the bench and added
a second color to the hay bales.

I repainted much of the background so now the bench really
stands out. 

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Side by Side" Part 1

Our cat, Tommy, went all 70s poster style today. He was on the bar and he leapt off toward our kitchen table, missed his mark, and ended up hanging by his paws-n-claws from one of our chairs. He  was an awkward dead ringer for all those cute "Hang in there, Baby" posters I had as a kid.

And while the humans got a bit of a chuckle out of it, Tommy was not amused.


I started work on a couple of commissioned pieces today. These are part of a series and I've been doing two of each of them. You can find the others in my gallery. Just look for the ones that have a near twin. I've loved working on these and while I want them to look similar to each other, I definitely don't try to do exact matches. They each have their own personalities and that's fun.

I've got the paper taped onto a big piece of cardboard. I did
a basic background and did a dark area where the focus
of the painting will be.

I laid down white paint where the bench and hay bale will be.

I began adding color to the bench and hay bale.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Together - Part 4

I'm celebrating a first today. At least a first as far as my life recollection goes. Today I bought myself my first ever galoshes! And I'm way more excited than the event warrants, but deep down I've always, always wanted some. And even better, there's a chance of rain on Monday! So...goodbye soggy socks and shoes, hello fabulous black and white awesomely printed galoshes!!!

I just know you share my excitement.


And I finished these two commissioned pieces. I absolutely love that I reworked almost every single element of these paintings...some parts several times. That is so much fun for me! Here are the two originals and below are a few of the last stages. I also think I like the title "Together" so I'm sticking with it.

"Together 1"

"Together 2"

I sketched the boy.

I began filling in the details on the boy.
I also totally redid the background.
Did ya notice? :-)

I began adding details to their outfits.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Together (working title) - Part 3

My big guy stopped by today after work.


Big guy: "Can I have a bandaid?"

Me: "Sure, where do you need it?"


He held out his hand, palm up, and showed me a big blister.


Me: "You've been doing the monkey bars! I haven't seen a monkey bar blister on you since elementary school!"


He smiled.



I love that! My twenty year old kid has a monkey bar blister. What fun!



And I continued working on these paintings. Working, struggling, and taking care of business. I so love this process!!! Tomorrow will be finishing day, I'm positive.

I added shadows and darkened some areas in the water
and on the sand.

I added clouds and waves.

I sketched out more definition on the kiddos.

I changed the little girl to be looking more toward the
water as her brother is. I also filled in the parts I'd sketched.
I wasn't happy with the boy's left arm so I painted over it.

And...oh, yes, I did...I got rid of the boy altogether.
I just couldn't make him work and decided I needed
a do-over. I cannot tell you how good it feels
to just "get rid" of something that's not working.
But don't worry, he'll be back. :-) And
he'll be even closer to his sister. They are "together" after all.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Together (working title) - Part 2

This is homecoming week for my little guy's high school. While I avoided all school sports themed things when I was in high school, my kid fully embraces them. Course he is a football player. So far this week there's been a mad rush to the thrift store to get tropical clothing and professional soccer player duds (that's what he's got on today), but for yesterday's outfit he was able to raid my clothes. Yes, it was animal print day and my guy wore my leopard print leggings to school. I thought surely he'd wear shorts over them to minimize the feline look, but, no, he wore my leggings, a t-shirt, and sneakers.

And he looked great!

Two hours after he'd gotten home (after a call begging us to pick him up so he didn't have to ride his bike home in public wearing said leggings...we said, "no") he was still wearing them.


Me: "They're comfortable, aren't they."

Little guy: "They are!"


While I seriously doubt he'll be a leggings convert and start sporting them on a regular basis, I'm quite sure it will never occur to him to give me any flack for the high percentage of the time I wear leggings myself. He'll totally get it.


I continued working on this painting. The more I paint the more fearless I've become when it comes to feeling fine about painting over something I've taken the time to work on. It's a blissful kind of freedom!

I painted over the watered down black with a thin layer of white.
My little guy and I loved this stage. We thought it looked like
ghosts on the beach or people that were made of water.
I was almost sad to paint over them...almost.

I roughed in the basic colors of the children.

I painted over the background. I pretty much knew from
the start that I'd do this at one point. For some reason
it was important to me to do a very light and detailed
background at the start. I like listening to what my
paintings want me to do. They're always right.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Together (working title) - Part 1

We held an election in our house last night. You see, ever since my big guy moved out, I've been making him and his girlfriend a casserole or some such thing pretty much every week. Last night I was trying to decide what to make. So...we held the great enchilada vote of 2015.


Me: "I have enough cheese to make only one kind of enchiladas for you guys. Do you want chicken enchiladas with green sauce or beef enchiladas with red sauce?"

Dave: "Make both."

Me: "Seriously, we have a cheese shortage issue."

Dave: "Beef!"

Little guy: "Chicken!"


So I texted my big guy and his girlfriend.


Big guy: "Chicken!"

Big guy's girlfriend: "Chicken!"

Dave: "My vote counts more than theirs!"


And so this morning I made two batches of chicken enchiladas with green sauce. I also made a couple of cheese enchiladas just for me...because yum!



I started working on a couple of commissioned pieces today. I'm actually creating two of the same image. I've done this a couple of times before and it's really fun. I don't get all wrapped up in having them exactly the same. I figure they're more like if you were to have taken a couple of photos of something happening...while the photos would contain all of the same elements, they'd definitely be different. As there are two it does take me almost twice as long, so this post will definitely span more than three or four days.

I lay down the basic beach/ocean.

I added waves and some clouds.

I added a darker part of the beach
and sketched the kiddos.

I taped the paper on a big piece of cardboard so I could
work using my easel.

I used watered down black to fill in the kiddos.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!