The Awning

The Awning Oil on Canvas Panel, 11" x 14" Available at $50.00 plus shipping. Same image as yesterday, but with a tighter drawing to begin. I haven't decided yet which one I like better, but for now, my inclinations to do buildings is satisfied. Buildings are hard to draw, hard to paint. But I really do like this old house, old houses in general. Thanks for looking.

Tattered Lady - SOLD

Tattered Lady Oil on Canvas Panel, 11" x 14" SOLD at $40.00 plus shipping. This old beauty was back in the woods along Muncaster Mill Road, in Montgomery County, Maryland. I think she's been demolished now, but even boarded up and tattered, she had such an elegance to her, whispering of what she once was. The awning was hanging in rags, but the size and shapes of this grand old house made me think of some large family from the early 1900's. Don't you love old mysterious buildings that have such history and character? Thanks for looking.

Mauve Irises Watercolor - SOLD

Mauve Irises Watercolor, Detail Below Watercolor on Arches 140 lb paper, 14" x 19.5" SOLD at $100.00, includes shipping.

Mauve Irises, Detail

I'm pretty happy with this one, especially the way those front petals turned out, with the dark purple and the ice blue. I'm lucky I was able to do most of this one yesterday, as we are hunkering down again today, this time for Ike. I do expect some flooding in the studio, so it's paints away and boxes up off the floor. Stay safe everyone, and thanks for looking.

Hurricane Watch - SOLD

Hurricane Watch

Acrylic on Canvas Board, 9" x 12"

SOLD at $35.00 plus shipping.

Using up some of my acrylics, and with Ike on the news and weather here in Louisiana, this is an imagination skyscape. Just for the feeling of storms brewing. Thanks for looking.

Koi Pond 1

Koi Pond 1 Acrylic on Stretched Canvas, 24" x 24" Available at $75.00 plus $25.00 shipping. Our Koi pond is right next to the patio and pool, so I sit and look at it when I take my little breaks. It has a circulating waterfall system, so there is always movement and ripples, dancing light and color. I am thinking of a series at different times of the day in different light. This one is done in acrylics, not trying to blend, which is hard with this fast drying medium. There is the advantage that you can change and adjust to your heart's content though, so if you work with that, it's a joy. Thanks for looking.

Iris in Blues - SOLD

Iris in Blues Watercolor on 140 lb Arches paper, 14" x 17" SOLD at $85.00 plus shipping. Playing with the opaque blues over transparencies of purple. I've used this photo reference before, but they never do turn out two exactly the same. (You can always tell when I've run out of canvas by the posting of an iris in watercolor, LOL.) Thanks for looking.

Lemons and Avocados NA

Lemons and Avocados Revised Oil on Stretched Canvas, 14" x 14" Not Available (Overpainted) I have such savvy collectors. Some of my subscription group folks wrote me with suggestions for improving the painting I posted about a week or so back. I took every single one of those observations (nothing like a fresh eye, and a canny observer) and revised this piece. Much improved, I think. Thanks for looking.

Deconstructed Pears - SOLD

Deconstructed Pears Oil on Canvas Board, 8" x 10" SOLD I've been in a bit of a rut lately, and feel like I'm not growing in my painting. I also greatly admire two painters that I'd like to emulate, Carol Marine and Karin Jurick , whose individual styles are fabulous. Both of them use clean, unfussed-with brushstrokes, just wonderful. So I'm trying for a bit of that feeling here, but there's much not yet on target. It's very hard for me not to go back and fuss, blending the life right out of the brushwork. But this isn't quite it either. Keep on swimmin'. Thanks for looking.

Pear Diptych - SOLD

Pear Diptych Oil on Canvas Panels, 8" x 8" each SOLD as a Pair of Pears at $45.00 plus shipping. A set together, painted by taping the backs together and doing it all as one. The line in the background is actually straight, but shows off kilter in the photos here. Thanks for looking.

Velvet Peppers - SOLD

Velvet Peppers Oil on Gessoed Board, 8" x 10" SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping. Surfaces have a lot to do with painting, well, I guess everything does, brushes especially. But this surface was so smooth and absorbent that the peppers felt velvety going down. Thanks for looking.

Pepper Shadows - NA

Pepper Shadows Oil on Stretched Canvas, 14" x 14" Not available. These are called Annaheim peppers at the Kroger, and since they were only 50 cents a pound, I grabbed some pretty ones. I liked the shadows on the two colored papers. Thanks for looking.

Citrus Bowl - SOLD

Citrus Bowl Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 8" SOLD at $40.00 plus shipping. We are returned from our evacuation and our three day trip to Oklahoma City. My daughter's home and property had no damage whatever, an answer to prayer. And I am glad to be back and painting. So many people wrote emails of care and even offered to have the whole family, even with the large dog, sheltered with them that I was overwhelmed by the kindness. Thanks to all of you who expressed concern and especially, those of you (collectors I've never met) who offered their homes even without knowing us. God bless you. Thanks for caring, thanks for looking.

Lemons on Polka Dots - SOLD

Lemons on Polka Dots, plus Detail Oil on Stretched Canvas, 10" x 20" SOLD at $100.00 plus shipping. I really like this one. Two shoeboxes and my polka dotted cloth from Hobby Lobby, and of course, the lemons I've been painting for a couple of days. I think it turned out fresh and clean looking. The dots aren't all straight or placed correctly, but I think it works overall (should have seen me with my Q-tips soaked in mineral spirits moving dots around.) Thanks for looking. This will be my last post for several days, as here in Lake Charles, (Louisiana) near the Gulf, we are in the path of Gustav. Tomorrow the decision as to whether or not to evacuate, though my daughter is hunting for a hotel suite that will house 7 people and the 60 pound "puppy" and having no luck at all. The whole neighborhood will be gone, and so we will probably follow suit. (Though where we will go is a good question.) I am spending the rest of the day getting things in the studio off the floor and away from the windows. Wish us well.

Blue Bowl with Lemons - SOLD

Blue Bowl with Lemons Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 8" SOLD at $45.00 plsu $5.00 shipping. Much better on the lemon colors, I think (than yesterday). And as someone yesterday suggested, the olive green background may have been too distracting. Thanks for looking.

Lemons and Avocados - NA

Lemons and Avocados Oil on Stretched Canvas, 14" x 14" Not Available. This one is a little strange, even to me. I loved all the brightness of the lemons and the olive background, and in the painting of it, I was really enjoying the colors, but in the end it looks a little odd. Maybe it's drawing problems with the ovals? Not sure, but I'll call it done. Thanks for looking.

White Onions - SOLD

White Onions Oil on Gesso Board, 8" x 10" SOLD at $45.00 plus shipping. These were tricky to do, with their silverish colors, touches of blue, browns and purples. Very interesting. It was also different again working on the Gesso board, which has a slick surface. You wouldn't think it would take oils, but it does, in a much different fashion than canvas, but it does. Thanks for looking.

Radlo Barn - SOLD

Radlo Barn (detail below) Oil on Gassoed Panel, 12" x 16" SOLD at $75.00 plus shipping.

Radlo Barn (detail)

This is a larger, more detailed version of the painting from the other day, which I named "Glimpse" since it was always a quick peek while driving. The Radlo's liked the painting and requested another one, larger and more accurate to their actual barn, which has a lovely history of rebuilding involving some friends and loved ones. So I hope they like the larger version. Thanks, everyone, for looking.

Plum and Bottle - NA

Plum and Bottle Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 8" Not Available. Practice with glass, and the colors of this ripe, juicy plum. Thanks for looking.

Pink Iris Face - SOLD

Pink iris Face Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 8" SOLD at $40.00 plus $5.00 shipping. No blending! Okay, barely any. Almost none. Thanks for looking.

Skydancer Irises - SOLD

Skydancer Irises Oil on Stretched Canvas, 10" x 20" SOLD at $75.00 plus shipping. I'm tickled to tell you that this one was designed by one of my collectors, who sent me a rough Photoshop image that she wanted, in a format that she liked, with the colors that she wanted, and we then agreed on a size. Isn't that cool? If you have a format and an idea that you want done (in a subject you think I could do, which means probably no portraits or pets) I am open to your ideas. Thanks for looking.