Old Friends

They'd been friends for a very long time.

"Old Friends"

Watercolor

3”x3” - painted on a small card

Please visit my online gallery.

Making Connections

 A dear friend who holds an incredibly special and magical place in my heart commissioned this piece. 

May we all create connections, from the most microscopic to the broadest reaches of our imaginations.

"Making Connections"

Mixed Media

20"x14" on Watercolor Paper

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog

Think...Vote

Thank you for casting a thoughtful vote.

Elements

I've been swamped with work as the school year has begun, but thankfully I've had just bits of time here and there to continue painting. I'm working on a series of nudes. The female form is so beautiful...in all our shapes and sizes.

She embodied the elements.

"Elements"

Original available here for $40

14"x10" on recycled watercolor paper.

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.) 

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.

It Lights the Whole Sky

Even after

All this time

The sun never says

to the Earth, 

"You owe me." 

Look what happens

With a love like that

It lights the whole sky.

-Hafiz

"It Lights the Whole Sky"

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.

Follow the Bouncing Ball

Monday marks the start of my 14th year of teaching. I've been super lucky to work with 3, 4, and 5 year old children who happen to have disabilities and who also consistently show me that they have the most amazing super powers. When I finished this painting it reminded me of a ball bouncing...and then I thought of my classroom filled with my students which at times reminds me of a whole room full of bouncing balls. Let the fun begin!

"Follow the Bouncing Ball"

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.

Skepticism

Looking at this painting has me wondering. There are some rather uninformed, in my opinion, humans who are skeptical of global warming and humans' part in what I consider to be a scientifically backed fact. I wondered if the earth is just as skeptical of those particular humans. "Are they for real?!?!" I figure this is the look the earth would be giving them.

"Skepticism"

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.

Sometimes Love is Messy

Sometimes love is messy. 

That's part of its charm, right?

I adore using small canvases as my pallets when I paint. They get all lumpy, bumpy, fabulous and then I paint something on top of all that "mess". With this canvas the word "love" was there for quite a while. I'd used my pallet to make sure my India ink was flowing from my brush and had written with it. So when I decided to turn the pallet into a painting, the word "love" and all that "messiness" spoke to me.

"Sometimes Love is Messy"

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.

Take Pleasure in the Adventure

This is another closed eyes sketch. I imagine the little reddish oval going on an adventure. I wonder which road she will take.

"Take Pleasure in the Adventure"

And if you know me, you know I LOVE upcycling things. Recently I was given two lovely candles that came in this tin and this jar. After using the candles I decided it would be fun to clean them out and paint the lids so they could go forward in life as whimsical little keep-sake containers. I've given them to two friends to take them for "usability test drives" and give me feedback.

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.

Love and Whimsy

When David and I were in Oregon recently, love and whimsy defined our days...made possible in huge part by our dear friends and hosts. This tiny piece lives there. Lucky little canvas!!

"Love and Whimsy"

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.

Paths Connected

Looking at this piece I thought of a dear friend of mine. I just put it in an envelope and this morning it will begin its journey her way. I'm so grateful that our paths connected many years ago. What a wonderful gift friendship is.

This was sketched with my eyes closed and then later I added some thickness to some lines and then I added watercolor.

"Paths Connected"

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.

The Art of Observing

I drew the black lines with my eyes closed and then with eyes opened I thickened some of the lines and added color. To me, the figure on the left appears to be taking in the beauty of the figure on the right. I'm in awe of the delight and pure bliss of taking the time to observe our world, with both closed and open eyes.

"The Art of Observing"

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.

Embracing Minimalism

I'm craving minimalism these days. So, so much so. I've cleared out about half of my clothing, have not purchased any new clothing this past school year (except for 3 pieces with my art on them because I like to see what my products look like before other people purchase them...this, my youngest says, totally means I blew it on my no purchase plan...), have only been using found unused dog poop bags (I blog about that here), and have been making my own shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and lotion since March.

So when I came upon the work of Melissa Dinwiddie as a part of a course I'm taking, her work drew me right in with its minimalist aesthetic. Feeling inspired, I created this three panel piece using hand-me-down canvas panels. To me they radiate joy and simplicity, and right now they're gracing my grandmother's beloved piano. Clearly my sweet cat, Ruby, finds them soothing. I concur.

"Embracing Minimalism"

Ruby loves art.

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 a prints of these pieces.

  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.

Overflowing with Happiness

Here's the fourth in my series of sweet little potted plants. Love creating these!

This painting is part of a year-long online art class (instructor Martha Lever).

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.

Filled with Joy

Here's the third in my series of sweet little potted plants. So much fun!

This painting is part of a year-long online art class (instructor Martha Lever).

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.

Embracing the Sunshine

Here's the second in my series of sweet little potted plants. These are pure bliss to create.

This painting is part of a year-long online art class (instructor Martha Lever).

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.

Blissful Blue

When I first started painting in 2011 I fell in love with watercolor and ink. I'd endlessly draw pictures with ink and then color them in with watercolor, pretty much creating my own coloring books. And sometimes I'd get a wild hair and do the watercolor first and then the ink. Such fun! I switched to mostly acrylic and mixed media about a year ago and have loved where it's taken me, too.

Last weekend I went down memory lane. I pulled out all of my old paintings (the ones that I hadn't given away or sold), took photos of them, and began posting them on facebook offering them for $2 or under. Spring cleaning!!! (Here's the link if you're interested in seeing them and possibly purchasing.) Seeing them reignited my love of watercolor and ink...so when the year long class I've been taking introduced the new lesson on Monday and it was a watercolor and ink project...well, AWESOME!

Here's the first of several I painted. More to come.


This painting is part of a year-long online art class (instructor Martha Lever).

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.

"With Wand" Part 4"

Me: "Don't have a cow about it."

Little guy: "What does that even mean?"


What?!?! The youth of today don't know what that means? I considered referring him to the urban dictionary site, but I'm sooooo glad I checked it before telling him to look there. I nearly had a cow when I read what that site said.


All of this might mean that I'm officially getting old.

I finished this painting. It was a great learning experience. It was originally a much bigger piece of paper, but I trimmed it to 12x9. 

"With Wand"

I painted her dress two shades of blue.

I added some purple and darker blue as well.
And before the final version I painted her wand
and per ponytail holders as well as giving the
top of her dress a lacy effect.

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

"With Wand" Part 3

I received a text this morning.


"I see an elf at the bus stop! Is that your little guy?"


Well, of course it was! My little guy wore his elf costume to school all week long. So awesome!!!



I continued working on my painting. With each stroke I can see her personality emerging.

I gave her pupils and a sparkle in her eyes. I also
outlined her irises and her upper lids.

I painted her hair black. For some reason
this took a really, really long time. I guess
I wanted to make super sure that I stayed in
the lines. The shine is from the flash. Her
hair is a solid black.

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

"With Wand" Part 2

Last night when I was walking my dog, Hazel, a fellow passed me on his bicycle, got a little bit ahead of us, and made an attempt at a jump. Well, he ended up flipping all kinds of ways, mostly sideways. He turned and looked at us right away and took a deep bow. Hazel and I caught up to him and asked if he was OK. He was fine, though perhaps a little humiliated. I told him not to sweat it and that it reminded me of the time when I tried jumping something and flipped in front of a whole crowd at the state capitol building. And I suggested that maybe he might want to start wearing a helmet. I'm such a mom nag.

I continued working on this painting. It's so fun watching her come to life.

I used a wet paintbrush to smooth out the marks.

I added some brown marks...

...and smoothed them with a wet paintbrush.

I used white acrylic to highlight parts of her
face and added some color to her lips.

I added more definition to her mouth and
painted her eyes blue. She's coming to life!

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