Having a Ball this summer!

My goodness, I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I posted anything here.
I had taken a volunteer position that took up a lot of my time and was not able to fit any painting time into my hectic life.  I have retired from the position and I am trying to get back in the swing of things.  My paint brushes aren't getting wet as often as I would like but I am trying.

Here is my most recent painting.  This piece is titled "Have a Ball" and is currently on display at the Hobee's restaurant on River Oaks Parkway in San Jose, just one of the many paintings hanging in the SCVWS' Summer Palette show.  Stop by before August 26 if you happen to be in the area!

La Meré et L'Enfant

I finally finished this pieces and it is in the SCVWS Member's show right now.   I did not get an award but I did get a lot of compliments from my peers.  I'm very happy with it!  

Red, White and Blueberries

My painting titled Red, White and Blueberries is hanging in the SCVWS summer show on view at Hobee's restaurant on Montague Expressway in San Jose!

(I won first place in the show and sold the painting as well!) 

Painting Portraits

It would seem that I'm doing a lot of portraits or rather, the few paintings that I have done are portraits.  I don't have much time for painting since I took over as Workshop Leader for the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor society (ironic I know!)  

This little girl was having fun blowing bubbles with her mom on Sunday afternoon when I saw her and took the reference photo.  I had a lot of fun painting her but it was a challenge as well because this was done on Hot Press paper, a paper that I didn't have any previous experience with.  I just love the expression on her face and how her hair turned out.

I look forward to trying more portraits on hot press.  

Here is another recent work...

This one still needs some work, the background came out so splotchy, I haven't decided what to do to fix it yet.

Sealed With a Kiss!

This is a painting I just finished of my great niece and her new hubby.  This is a birthday present for her, her birthday is next week.  Aww, young love!  

Kathleen Alexander Workshop

I've had no time to paint lately and it is driving me cray-cray.  Here is a piece I painted this summer in a workshop given by Kathleen Alexander.  I learned so much from her, she's a great artist, I would highly recommend her workshops. 

Here Comes the Bride

I recently took the plunge into painting portraits.  This is a very traditional style portrait I just completed of my great niece on her wedding day.  I wasn't able to attend the wedding but I used one of the professional photographers shots to paint this...her new husband was cropped out...sorry Jason!   

Pretty Ugly?

This painting of oysters at the Chelsea Pier fish market was painted for a challenge.  The goal was to take something that we think is "ugly" and try to paint it pretty.  I used an underpainting to punch up the color and ignored the local color (true realistic colors.)  It could be better but it was a fun challenge. It really pushed me to be inventive with my color.