Happy Birthday Jesus

Every year I purpose to keep Christmas simple and this year I think I actually accomplished it. The weather in the most Northwest corner of the continental US has been challenging and money has been tight, but perfect conditions for a truly simple Christmas. With the snow came the "pulling of the plug" on holiday shopping and the spending that comes with shopping. Feeding the birds became more important than feeding my desire to make this Christmas more magical than the last. My wish for you.... May all your Christmases be white and God bless us, everyone.

Delicious Christmas

What I wouldn't give for these treats right now! There is a foot of snow on the ground and another foot coming our way. Where's global warming when you need it? I actually set this still life up in the backyard (where I drag all my great props) to take advantage of the strong September sunlight and dark shadows. It was so warm, the chocolate was starting to melt. If only I could hold onto that thought .... until June! This is acrylic on hot press watercolor paper with colored pencil.

My New Harley

Well, not really MY new Harley, but I have managed to complete this commission in the midst of the Christmas season. This was done with acrylics treated like watercolor on hot press 140-pound paper with a touch of colored pencil to smooth some of the edges. Once again, as with the other Harley I painted a while back, this was an exercise in abstract shapes and could almost have been painted more easily upside down (for those of you getting a "visual" of that statement, let me clarify that that would be the reference photo and/or the painting upside down, not the painter). I love the way a painting comes together and looks real when you are only focusing on shapes.

Connectiveness

With Halloween behind us and the winter holidays rapidly approaching, I'm reminded of so many memories of my past...the good and the not so great. Dwelling on the good times, I feel blessed to have a family that remains pretty intact...we all have our little quirks. These little pumpkins were carefully crafted by me and three of my younger brothers in our early elementary school years. Bellingham was a small town then and we went to a small school and all had the same teacher at one time or another... who obviously did the same crafts from year to year. These little orange guys remind me of the gift of being connected to family, friends and community by the traditions of the seasons.

Thankful

This is an historic day in our country, voting day. I have so much to be thankful for. The freedoms I enjoy today were fought for by people I have never met, will never be able to personally thank-- my freedom as a woman to vote for the candidate of my choice, the freedom to speak my opinion about those candidates, the freedom to write this blog entry. I hope I never take for granted the gift of freedom in America and I hope I will always strive to preserve that freedom for those who come after me. Some sage once said, in essence "You can judge a country by the number of people who want to get in and the number of people who are leaving it." Judging by the number of people who want to come to America, I'd say we're still a wonderful nation under God.

"Goldfish Dreams" - Something Different

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and I have the necessity to "recycle" about .... a million... frame samples in some artful way. The moldings are so beautiful, how could I let them be tossed into the trash when my favorite local framing shop closed their doors. I got my dad to cut points on pine boards to fit these moldings and let my imagination run wild while repeating the words.."Fun-funky-folk-art". Ten done, 990 to go.

Summer's end

Oh my gosh! Will you look at the date! How is it the middle of September already. I really do have a good excuse for not posting anything since June. Let's see....

I have completed my 7th season as a vendor at the Bellingham Farmers' Market. Once again, it was 4 months of meeting wonderful people and getting to talk about my favorite subject in the whole world...ART!

In April, at the urging of a good friend, I entered a pastel into the Northwest Pastel Society's International Show. As I am somewhat of a novice when it comes to soft pastels, I was surprised and very pleased to be accepted into the show with the second attempt at "Pear with Mini-Blinds." (I will post the image when I have a web-sized jpg available. The jpg I have is HUGE.) The entries had to be very large (by my standards, 22" x 33" is big), so all around this was a challenge for me. Imagine my even greater surprise when my painting was selected to receive the Northwest Pastel Society's Award of Excellence, a generous monetary award and a year's subscription to The Pastel Journal. My subscription had just expired. How timely. Like my friend said, you will miss 100% of the shots you don't take... and she was right. Thank you, Trish.

I recently completed the illustrations for a charming little book by Joan VanWykhouse entitled "Jillian and the Elusive Queen." It is a tale of a young girl named Jillian who is concerned that the Queen may be in trouble, or else why was everyone be saying "God save the Queen" ? I'm looking very much forward to receiving a hardbound copy of my own. The book will be available on Amazon.com by Christmas time, I believe.

High and Dry

Yet another dinghy that was destined for the Downtown Gallery Walk that was held last Friday, June 13, although, at the last moment, I decided to keep this one for myself for now. The gallery walk was very fun! We had a number of people come through and say nice things. Kelcey's pastels were (still are) wonderful! I think we both felt the evening was well worth the effort.

The Bellingham Farmer's Market is in full swing. The "tourists" are arriving, which is a good thing for the vendors. I love hearing from people who live in exotic places far and wide how they JUST LOVE Bellingham and wish they could live here. Hey, I guess I don't need to go anywhere else, cuz I already live in this great place that so many wish they could move to.

Blue Reflection

Yet another in the dinghy series bound for the Bellingham Downtown Artwalk on Friday evening, June 13. If you're in the area, stop by Envy Salon (next to the Bellingham Parkade) and say hello to Kelcey Bates and myself.

Harbor Morning

Another in the dinghy series. Acrylic on hardboard. Framed in a plain black metal floater frame and will be displayed at the Bellingham Downtown Art Walk on June 13.

Salty Skiff

This is another acrylic painting on hardboard from the "Dinghy" series destined for the June Bellingham Downtown Art Walk. I am particularly fond of this one. The original boat was a drab charcoal gray, not anything much to look at, but the inner spines of the boat caught my eye along with the rippled reflections in the water. I just knew I could do something with it. I can't really say how big this painting is because it's currently hanging at Chuckanut Bay Gallery here in Bellingham, but I'm guessing it's about 9" x 12" and framed in a black metal floating frame.

One Oar

Another in the Dinghy series. Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, measures roughly 12" x 12". The original photo reference for this was the whole boat, but after playing with various compositions, I elected to push this one to the edge of abstraction. It has just enough information to say "boat" and enough left out for the viewer to use their imagination. I'm planning to do that more often in the future. Like they say, "Less is more". This image will also be offered framed and for sale at the Bellingham Downtown Art Walk on June 13.

Three Boats at Rest

One of my favorite pastimes has been to wander down the rows of boats at our local marina with my antique Minolta film camera poised and ready, hoping to spot yet another magical nautical composition, usually a small dingy with oars. If the light is bright, I can get great shadows. If the light is overcast, I'll have to make up my own shadows, but can capture great detail. With the weather such as it is in the Pacific Northwest, by the time I come back to my subject in the opposite direction, the light will very likely be the opposite of what I recorded initially. Cool! The image above is from a series of dinghies I have recently completed, done in acrylic on hardboard (Masonite) and framed in a black metal floating frame. This one measures 10" x 10". It is not currently for sale, but will be displayed in June for our Bellingham downtown gallery walk. Stay tuned for a preview of the remainder of the series.

Lemon Souffle

Have I mentioned that I love painting still lifes? I don't know what it is about dragging dishes out of the cupboard, raiding the refrigerator for any possible subject matter, finding a patch of sunshine in the backyard, and photographing various compositions for painting at a later time. This painting is a transparent watercolor on 140-pound Arches watercolor paper. It measures 9-1/2" x 13-1/2", but has been creatively cropped for this post. You can contact me directly for pricing information.

Two Bartletts Plus One

This is another experiment with an acrylic underpainting and pastel. Pears are a wonderful subject for exploring colors, shapes and values. They always seem to look like pears regardless of their various lumps and bumps, freeing me up to concentrate on other elements of design. This painting measures 9" x 13". For purchasing information, please contact me directly.

Playing with Shadows

This painting entitled "Pear with Mini-Blinds" is a recent attempt to think like a pastel artist. With the technique of an acrylic underpainting in a complementary color, it is a bit of a mind bender for me to try to visualize what it will look like with pastel laying over top... which is actually kind of fun... the not knowing and being pleasantly surprised. I think that is why I paint... to constantly be amazed at the results I sometimes get. It is never dull.

This pastel painting measures 9" x 13" and is painted on illustration board. If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please contact me for pricing information.

Still Tweeking - Take 2

Day 3 of my blog experience. I'm still figuring out all the "bells and whistles" on this new toy. If I seem to have repeated myself from my previous blog post, it's because I've re-entered my day 2 post and will try to delete the first one... wish me luck.

This image is from a new series of pastel paintings I'm venturing into. Because I'm so deeply entrenched in the painting-with-a-brush process, I've started these paintings with an acrylic underpainting of wild and crazy colors on illustration board. I've layered pastel ground over the acrylic underpainting and topped with the pastel. I've also applied a liberal coat of workable fixative, which seems to intensify the colors. Stay tuned. If you do something long enough (that includes blogging), you're bound to get better at it.

Giclee prints on canvas are available for this print measuring 15.25" x 15.75 " or smaller. Please contact me for pricing information.

My second post

While this image is not new, it still successfully transports me to a place of tranquility, which I desperately need after tweeking this blog for the last two hours.

Giclee prints on canvas (16" x 20") are available of this image. Please contact me for pricing information.

My first post

I can't believe I'm actually doing this! I am the poster child for the technically challenged.