Tuesday, December 31, 2013

goldenrod


Goldenrod was the state flower of Alabama for fifty or so years. It is now the camellia. I love seeing pastures of  cows when the goldenrod is blooming.
 I hope this sunny scene will help  brighten your New Year.   This is painted on a 3 x 3' canvas.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my art work.  Your comments and support mean a lot to me.  I hope the coming year brings you good things and happiness! Happy 2014!sold
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Friday, December 27, 2013

emma

 This was the year of painting labs for me.  Think I painted four or five this Christmas. Emma belongs to one of my friend's daughters.  The final painting is a bit different from this because we decided to unfold her right ear.  I did not get a chance to photograph it but we both liked it a little better.  This is painted on an 8 x 10"canvas.sold
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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

jack

 Merry Christmas!  My youngest son's room mate received this as a surprise from his parents this morning.  Painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas.
Hope you all have a great day!sold
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Thursday, December 19, 2013

sugar smash

 This is the first time this baby had had anything sweet.  I think she liked it.  A group of office workers commisioned this to give to their boss at the Christmas party.  His first grand child.  It is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrap.sold
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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

war eagle

 These kumquats came from Auburn, Alabama.  I really did not think of the title until after I painted it but it works.  The Auburn Tiger's colors are orange and blue.  I have a son and alot of friends who went there so I am a fan. I am one of those crazy people who also cheers for Alabama.  Hoping Auburn wins the National  Football Championship Jan 6th. "war eagle" is painted on a 5 x 7" linen panel.sold
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

precious cargo

 And engineer!  This is a Christmas commission for a new friend.  I have a soft spot for Moms of twins so I worked very hard to make this painting work. I tried to abandon ship once but then tried another photo and it came together.  These darling twin girls do not have much hair now so my attempts kept making them look like little old men.  I wish you could see how beautiful these girls are in person.  They all three have huge, blue eyes.  This painting really makes me smile.  It is painted on an 8 x 10".sold
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Friday, December 13, 2013

emma

 It is always fun painting shaggy dogs.  Another Christmas commission for a special someone.  This is painted on an 8 x 10".
Have a great weekend! Are we really this close to Christmas? Better get going.sold
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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Lucky

 Lucky is a camera shy dog so I made a little house call to try and capture his gorgeous face.  He is the companion to one of my friend's parents.  Her Dad recently passed so Lucky is even more special to her Mom now.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" canvas.

My internet has been on the fritz for a couple of weeks now.  I have been very busy painting but not able to post.  I am finishing up my last commission needed before Christmas and then I plan to take a wee break.

If you are in the Birmingham area, I am participating in the Mountain Brook Art Association Holiday show in the lower level of Brookwood Mall.  Lots of wonderful artists represented.  Hours are  the same as the mall hours.sold



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Monday, December 9, 2013

Tennesseans

 These are the children of one of my Tennessee cousins.  My husband's family is from beautiful eastern Tennessee where they live amongst rolling hills with the Smokey mountains in the distance. Can't get much better than that.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" canvas.sold
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Friday, December 6, 2013

vizsla

 First time to hear of this breed.  Similar to a weimaraner.  Yes, I had to look up the spelling of both of these breeds.  This is an 8 x 10" and is a Christmas surprise for someone.sold

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

spring in his step

 This is the second time I have painted this little boy. I have seen three or four pictures of him and he seems full of life in each photo.  It is kind of hard to read in the painting but in this pose his left foot is off the sand.  Similar to the first picture of him with the orange board, he is moving forward without looking.  He is just happy to be at the beach.  I bet we can all relate.  This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas.

Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and get to spend time with someone that you are thankful for.sold
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Monday, November 25, 2013

blind determination

 The grandmother of this young boy loved this photo because it showed him striding toward the water blindly and with determination.  Look out world!  This is painted on an 11 x 14".
Working hard to get several commissions done before I get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Hoping we can get to my parents in Western North Carolina.  We Southerners do not do well with icy or snowy roads. I will be much like this young one with my determination to get there and have fun.sold

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Saturday, November 23, 2013

vanilla

 Pretty stately pose.  All he needs is a crown.  This is a commission piece for a Michigan patron.  I love that she is giving her brothers portraits of their dogs.  I do not know the dogs names so in my mind one was chocolate and the other vanilla.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrapped canvas.sold
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

chocolate

 This is a commission piece for a new patron from Michigan. She is surprising her brother with it for Christmas.  She has two brothers and I am going to paint her other brother's lab tomorrow.  It is fun to paint commissions that are going to make some people's Christmas a little merrier.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrap canvas.sold
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

good hair day

 I am off and running with commissions.  This particular patron has graduated from me painting her family's dogs to painting their children.  This is a painting of her nephew.  His eyelashes and hair make him pretty enough to be a girl.
I travelled to Savannah, GA last week to participate in the  annual Telfair Museum Art Show. It was my first time to visit Savannah and it was quite a treat.  I made some new artist and patron friends.  Happy to say that lots of my paintings have new homes.sold
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

yin and yang

 This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas.sold
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

mottie moment


 Thank heavens for small things and maybe genes.  My kids call my mother Mottie and she is one of the most talented and resourceful people that I know.  She inherited it from her father who could make something out of nothing.
I have been struggling with ways to showcase my small paintings at shows. In the past, I have hauled this long, heavy table around and things would constantly fall or blow over.  Last night I got the idea of looking for an old book or magazine rack.  Right before I was headed out to look at some second hand stores I saw this old and unused shoe rack in my garage.   The shelves were laying down flat so I had to figure out a way to make them lay slanted for better viewing.  Drilling new holes would have taken WAAYY too much time and skill so I used my handy zip ties. I secured the wire shelves to the shelf above it and at the top, to the wood. (Only had to remove the ends of the shelf that are the top part of the slant.  )  I left the bottom shelf flat so that the whole piece could have some support and to lay some more paintings. That was more than a mouthful of words and you are probably still confused.
This is going to make the perfect accessory to my tent which has panels to hang large works.  I will take a picture of my set up this weekend at the Moss Rock Show.  Perfect timing to figure out using recycled goods because this show celebrates the environment.

Thanks Mom for sharing a little bit of your creativity gene with me.

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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

wet walk

 Another rainy day shot from Edinburgh, Scotland. This one is painted on an 8 x 16" canvas.
This is one of those paintings that I photographed and corrected at least ten times.  Think I am good now.??sold
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Monday, October 28, 2013

sienna


 This is a painting that I finished right before leaving town last weekend. It is another large one ( 30 x 40") so I included a second picture to show the scale. I used burnt sienna for the painting.  I added a bit of white and then decided to add a little wash of ultra marine blue in the background.

 I had to include a little of the Alabama Fall foilage in the background.  My favorite time of the year.  The bottom photo is taken from my studio window.

I will have my animal paintings at the Moss Rock Festival this coming Saturday and Sunday.  The hours are 10- 6 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday.  The weather is supposed to be great so come out and celebrate this beautiful time of year.sold
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Sunday, October 27, 2013

pensacola sound view



 I just returned from a trip to Pensacola Beach , FL with five of my female cousins.  We do not get to see each other regularly but were close growing up.  It was so much fun catching up and spending lots of quality time together.   I painted the scenery of the sound from the back porch of the house every morning.  It was so much fun painting in such a beautiful place and listening to them laughing inside while doing so.  I needed a big dose of cousin.
I did several studies of this scene.  The top one is an 8 x 8" and the bottom one a 5 x 7".  The very bottom one is a picture my cousin, Andrea, took of me in action.   It may look warm but I was wearing three light jackets.  Enjoying the plein air painting.

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

brolly day

 I took this reference photo during a walking tour of Edinburgh, Scotland. In case you are wondering about the title, Brits refer to umbrellas as brollies.   This is painted on a 12 x 24" canvas.sold
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Monday, October 21, 2013

ho and hum


 This cow was giving me the "another day in paradise" look.  I spotted him on my way home from Nashville last weekend.  She is painted on an 8 x 8 x 1 1/2" canvas.sold


















These are two small paintings I did at the Frank Serrano workshop last week. We painted in the rain and the sun.  The rain clouds were still around in the top  5 x 7" painting and it was becoming partly sunny in the bottom 6 x 8"painting.


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