Works in Progress

I really need to finish one of these......

Early Morning Smoke

9x12 Oil on hardboard panel
$85.00 + $10.00 shipping (unframed)

This was an experiment of sorts. If you look close you will see that the board was heavily textured before the painting was applied. Its a different approach than I have used before -
Although this painting is dark it is very rich in color. Reminds me of early morning when the sky is waking up.

Ranchos de Taos Church - Darkest Hour

SOLD
8x10 Oil on Canvas panel.
$100.00

St. Rose of Lima Chapel

11x14 Oil on stretched canvas
$200.00 (unframed)

This is a little something new for me...but I think I really like it.
I was sitting in the waiting room at a doctor's office thumbing through a magazine and I saw this tiny photo of a painting. The image was about an inch square; a corner of a barn with minimal landscaping around it. The painting was done in what I call (because I don't know the correct term) color block style.

As small as this image was it immediately caught and held my attention. The barn was bright yellow, the sky was a shocking blue and the ground was flat (I guess you realize I don't remember the color of the ground...but it was flat).

I knew I wanted to give this a try and I knew what my subject matter would be. This little chapel is a landmark in my home town. Sadly, today only portions of the wall exist, the rest has succumbed to time and weather. But its design its very basic and boxy and that "squareness" is echoed in its gate. Perfect!

Commissioned work

Commissioned painting
12x16 oil

Normally I wouldn't do a painting of something I had already done. But I had a special request for this. A dear lady had seen it on my site and pleaded with me to do one for her so I did. I have to say - it was a very interesting experience.

What happened was that I was able to see my growth by doing this painting. My perspective is 100% better - my texture int he stucco and the wooden window frames is much better and I even like my hollyhocks better.

All in all - I'm really glad I did this.

Pumpkin 2011

Pumpkin 2011 - 8x10 oil SOLD


Last year I painted a pumpkin and sold it - thought I'd see if lightening would srtike twice - lucky me - it did.

Pear Study...for breakfast

This is a little gem I did yesterday morning at the breakfast table.

Next painting!

I sketched this out on an 11x14 canvas board today - its the beginnings of a study for a painting.

Blue Door and Chamisa

8x10 Oil Painting on canvas (SOLD)

Small "bluffs" study

(SOLD)
Here's a small 4x6 study I did on canvas board - I liked it so I framed it! By the way - I now have a PayPal "Buy it now" button. I will offer my posted paintings for sale on my Blog for three days before moving it to auction on eBay.

"Bluff Study" - sold framed (small scratch on the bottom of frame as seen in photo)
$25.00 plus $10.00 shipping and handling.

Today was a good day...

Another turning point - a fork stuck in the road......

I have spent so much time feeling sorry for myself because I have to work for a living and saying how stressful my job is and that since my heart attack I am so weak that all I can manage is to go to work - crawl home - eat supper and go to bed. Weekends were for errands , laundry and housework as well as a small part time job. No time to paint or write or do anything that resembles creativity.

BLAH BLAH BLAH - I was not only depressed but also boring.

Well - to quote the Green Day lyrics - "time takes you by the wrist directs you where to go."

Last Friday at 4pm the president of the company I worked for (for over 5 years) met with us to let us know that our program had been de-funded in Washington - one quarter of the staff lost their jobs effective immediately. Guess which group I fell into?

But here's the strange thing. It was totally unexpected but immediately recognizable for the opportunity of a lifetime. While everyone else was wandering around wiping tears from their eyes I was busy packing up my office and thanking my director - no sarcasm here - I appreciate the opportunity I had to work for that company and will miss the job and coworkers but.....

It was all I could do to contain my excitement.

With my severance and unemployment I will for the first time in my life have the chance to see what I'm made of. To paint and write and market myself...and still pay my mortgage - WOW!
How lucky am I?

I spent this first week wrapping up loose ends - taking advantage of insurance before it ran out (which it did June 30th) I painted my bathroom and got new carpet, met with a contractor about a small remodeling job in the kitchen. I have company coming for the 4th of July but when they leave it will be time to launch my new career as a full time painter and writer.

Did you hear what I said? Forgive me while I say it again for my own enjoyment....I'm self employed as a painter and writer...... full time....ah, I love the sound of that.

"So make the best of this test and don't ask why...it's something unpredictable but in the end is right....I hope to have the time of my life."

A real painting ..for reals

Red Hollyhocks 4x6 inches oil on canvas

Loosening up my brushes (finally) This was a quick little painting of my all-time favorite - red hollyhocks and yellow stucco. I have been studying Stapleton Kearns blog - tons of wonderful information. Like taking a workshop. I enjoyed using some of the things I learned while doing this piece.

A new confession...

The reason I haven't been painting much is because I've been writing.

For some reason its easier for me to paint a picture, good or bad, and post it on the blog for the world (yeah, right) to see than to admit that I am also a hopeful, maybe a capricious,  writer. 

I have no illusions about my artistic ability - I have moments when my mind seems to be able to clearly communicate to my hand what it wants out of the paint and brush and for that I am very grateful. I also have many moments when my brain and my hand don't appear to be on speaking terms. That's just the way it goes for me.


But the truth is I think I'm a better writer than painter.  I'm an unpolished stone in that I lack a lot of formal training in grammar and punctuation but I think I have a talent for conveying whats in my mind and heart onto paper with far more accuracy than canvas.  Now lest you think that last statement reeks of ego let me tell you something, I have far more insecurity about putting my written work "out there".

Seriously, I have had my first book written for a long time and can't seem to manage to finish the editing in order to have it read by those who's opinions I trust.  And that's a shame because its a good and fun little story.  I'm also about half way through the second book which is a little gem but again - can't seem to get on with it.  The format for the third book is already laid out.

I don't know what my problem is, I'm open to suggestions.

I don't know if its lack of focus, lack of discipline, exhaustion stemming from poor health and working both a full time and part time job.....

When my first marriage was breaking up my then husband asked me to go to marriage counseling.  I agreed and he picked out a therapist and off we went.  After a couple of visits my former husband realized that the doctor wasn't going to take his side and make me behave so he quit going but I kept on.  I had always laughed at folks who went to therapy but I have to say, it was one of the best things I ever did for myself.

The reason I'm telling you this is because it was this doctor who first alerted me to the possibility that I lacked the backbone to put myself "out there" and that was the real reason why I never seemed to finish up my book (s) or the half painted canvases that are laying around my studio or the half crocheted tablecloths in the closets.

And here's the hard part.  I know better.  I have sold my paintings.  Won ribbons in shows for both my painting and my crochet work (are you surprised?)  Recently I sold enough of my handmade jewelry to help finance my trip home for Christmas.  I receive a steady stream of confirmations from a variety of people in a variety of fields encouraging me to write for a living.

So what's my problem?

In the meantime while I'm writing, editing and trying to sort it all out and find my backbone I'll entertain you with some more photo's that I've taken and kind of like...a lot.  Feel free to critique my issues - apparently I need to get used to it and overcome my insecurities.....

I'm still here

I'm not ill I just haven't been well lately.

Dana took me home to New Mexico for Christmas in hopes of giving me a spiritual shot in the arm.  Although winter, I took lots of pictures and this is one of them.  Look for upcoming painting (I promise) coming along soon.

I know, these aren't paintings....

...but they're nice to look at anyway. We've had a couple of beautiful weekends and these are some of the photo's I've taken to capture the mood.

Desert Blossoms

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas - Damar Varnish for a high gloss finish.
5 inches by 5 inches square - painted wrapped sides - 1 1/4 inches wide.
http://team.etsy.com/images/downloads/buttons/as_seen_on.jpg



I don't paint flowers - love them, but no good at them. Then several weeks ago we got a new channel on our cable line up. A great channel called "Create". There's a program called Passports and Pallets and two Saturday's ago they ran a marathon of that series. One of the artist was from Santa Fe and she painted flowers in her garden. I watched and studied and said - I think I might be able to do that.

I was surprised at the results - very surprised and very satisfied. (Nice combination) I decided to but a coat of Damar on this little jewel. I used to put it on all my paintings but stopped because of the drying time. As soon as I opened the bottle the smell enveloped me .... I had forgotten how much I like that smell. It brought back the memories of studying at the Southwest School of Art. That studio always smelled like Damar.

Coming soon -

I will be posting a new painting this weekend - something special..at least to me.

Believe it or not!

Pine Tree Branches in Winter 9X12 Oil on Canvas/ Palette Knife

TOTAL SIZE: 12X14

This is a odd canvas. Today you see many "wrapped" canvases that allow you to hang a painting without a frame. This is along the same lines only instead of a 90 degree angled wrap this canvas curves back. For the record - I didn't like working on this canvas - it was difficult because the edges are still too much of a part of the painting. The color is a little off in the photograph. This painting is much warmer than it appears. I tried to fix it but couldn't.

This painting had been sitting on my easle for months. Started in the dead of winter I forced myself to finish it up this afternoon. Hard to get in the mood to do a winter scene when its sweltering outside. But I have other things I want to paint and wanted to finish this up before moving on.

Its been a very long time since I have painted. I got way too busy with my job and some other things and lost my way for a while. Last Thursday I had a total melt down at work. I was asked to take on yet another task and I lost it. The task itself was small and insignificant but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I left my office and went to Sonic to have a little break. I called my Dana on the phone and cried so hard that the poor car hop stood as far as she could away to hand me my order - she was really freaked out but that's okay - so was I.

One of the things that came out of that good cry (which my sister Vicki would call a "soul cleansing" - great name for it) was that I refocused on the fact that I need to paint even if its just a stroke a day - I NEED to paint.

Believe it or not....

....I'm finally back at the easle after a long absence. I have been incredibly busy at work for months. Many nights (most night and weekends too) I brought home a card board box full of paper work to work on here at home. But we (my agency) completed our daunting task and now I have time to breath. Hang in there, I should have something posted by the weekend.

A work in progress

Patience has never been a virtue I was familiar with. This morning I found the time, energy and drive to do some painting. I have to say I really excited about the painting so far.
I stopped myself even through what I really wanted to do was put the snow in and the dry grasses. For a change I was able to control the impulse knowing that the white would never stay white when the rest of the work was wet. I'm just as proud of my unusual discipline to stop working as I am the work that I did do.
(There is a glare on the left hand side of the painting due to a hasty photo)
I'm going to be away for a few days so I won't be able to finish up this painting until next weekend when I lay the snow in and cut the sky and branches back in. Still, I wanted to let you have a peek at what I got accomplished.

Neat photo and inspiration for future painting

This morning I decided to venture out into the snow and head over to the park to get some winter reference photos. I happen to see this group of trees and shot the photo from inside my car - through the passenger side window. Just a quick shot to get started, nothing special...

When I got home and downloaded it to my computer I decided to play with it a little.
My computer has a neat photo program with special effects and this is what I ended up with. I love this - love love love this - I saw no potential at all in the original photo - nothing inspiring - but now....

I realized that I'm too immature as an artist to see the potential in a scene - I think I'll be using this photo program to help me isolate shapes and colors instead of choking myself with details.
Look for this picture to end up in oil very soon.

Simply Moonlight (finished)

Simply Moonlight (SOLD)
11X14 inch original oil on stretched canvas

Ta Da! Here it is - finished and I really like it. As I mentioned before I intend to do more night skies. I'm a little obsessed with other artist who do them so well. I thought I'd try my luck at a few.

For my first completed work of 2010 I feel like I'm getting a pretty good start.

This year I also intend to change the way I market my work. I will post my paintings on my blog along with a purchase price and if anyone is interested they can contact me directly. After a week or so I will move them to eBay. This give those who follow my blog first chance to buy and avoid the whole bidding process.

I also intend to take a class on website building so I can establish a website for my artwork. I had some great advice from Donna Clair. She recommended I start doing some larger pieces and develop a website.

I also intend to "try" to be more focused and disciplined....quit laughing....seriously - I need to be more structured.
So now you know some of my goals for 2010 - wish me luck!

P.S. Just a note to let you know this paint sold shortly after being posted - my sincere gratitude to the buyer - Thanks so much and enjoy.

Something different...sort of....

Framed Miniature - $25.00 - free shipping

I was straightening up my studio and I ran across some watercolors in the bottom of a box. I never had the knack for working with water colors but I decided that I could keep them in the kitchen and when I'm sitting around the table I can play with them a little. This was what I came up with - obviously a repeat of my most recent oil but I really liked the feel of it.

Its a tiny little jewel. The watercolor itself is about 2 inches by 2 inches and framed its about 4 inches by 4 inches.

Simply Moonlight (not quite finished)

I have suddenly decided I like "night time" paintings. This is my most recent attempt to convey this new interest. Those of you who are familiar with New Mexico will recognise the famous Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Rancho de Taos.

I still need to correct a small patch over on the left hand side but other than that its almost done. Forgive my impatience but I really wanted to post something this evening.

The Road Home

This is a painting I did several years ago. I reminds me of home.

Cerrillos Daisies (Sold)

TWO PAINTING IN ONE MONTH - I'm on a roll!

When I was home on vacation I took this photo and knew that I would be painting. I also knew that it reminded me of Dee Sanchez (who's blog is listed on the right) and I love what she did with it. Make sure you visit her site and give it a look.

My painting is 9x12 inches and may end up being one of my personal favorites.

Back to painting.....finally!

Wonderful things - balms for my painful spirit.

Wonderful performance

Watched the Georgia O Keefe movie Saturday night and again Sunday afternoon ( another wonderful thing) - I want to go back in time and have Mable Lujan to invite me to rest and recover my soul at her her house.

I'm back (from New Mexico)

This is a photo, not a painting but it will be a painting one day soon. I have posted it mostly for Dee Sanchez - it reminds me of her work.

I went home for a rest and did everything but rest. I think I was foolish, came back very tired and have been a little extra fatigued every since.

But it was good for my soul and I enjoyed every minute of it. Hope to put brush to canvas soon to show you what I saw and experienced.