Lunch in Paris

Dang it! I didn't win the lottery. You didn't either? I know...let's console ourselves. We'll take the afternoon off and have lunch in Paris. I know a place...Restaurant Au Vieux Paris D'Arcole. It's just around the corner from Notre Dame, and right next door to Bertie's Cupcakery. There's a table waiting. We'll feel much better!

Rocky

This is Rocky, my assistant. He holds the floor down while I paint.

Newberg Oregon

Last July we took a walk around an old Newberg neighborhood and were stopped in our tracks by this wild profusion of flowers. I'm glad we thought to take a photo at that time - it was a joy to paint on this cold and foggy day.

Lavender Time - Second Place!!!

Well, guess what happened! I entered the Willamette Valley Lavender Festival Plein Air Paint Out and placed second in the open division! Who knew? I'm gob-smacked! Completely unexpected, and I didn't quite believe it when I heard...I thought perhaps a mistake had been made. I'm just over the moon about this, and feeling so encouraged to keep on keepin' on. What a delightful surprise.

This week I'll be spending four days at the Oregon Coast paint out. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to do some plein air and meet other Oregon painters. Life is good right now!

Shorty

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Years ago, I collected little clay-like figurines created by Tom Clark, Cairn Studios. Clark's little sculptures are whimsical gnomes and wood spirits and each sports a profusion of leaves and acorns, along with an embedded coin, at the base. As time passes, my interests have changed and I'm more concerned with minimizing than with collecting. Nevertheless,  I'm still fond of these little gnomes - they make me smile whenever I look at them.

This gnome is Shorty. Shorty has strawberries in addition to the ubiquitous leaves and acorns at his base.

Clear Lake Creek

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Here is another landscape painting for the "Shared Landscapes" exhibit at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum. The exhibit runs from May 15-June 27.

This painting is a larger version of a sketch done last summer at Clear Lake in Springfield, Oregon. I had found a secluded little trail alongside the creek running adjacent to the lake and set up my easel. It was a beautiful, peaceful day and I soon became so enrapt with the scene that I lost all sense of time and place. I was happily painting away when a voice behind me said, "Excuse me!" A man was standing three feet away on the trail, and wanted to get by. I nearly jumped out of my skin! Fortunately, he was a harmless hiker, but I realized how foolish I'd been. I was all by myself in a secluded area and had been completely unaware of my surroundings. Lesson learned! After that, I resolved never to go plein air painting without friends nearby. (The second lesson that day was to remember the bug repellent!)

Saturday

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"Saturday" is another of my Tom Clark Gnomes. Can you see the penny nestled among the leaves and acorns? This particular gnome is enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon. I know he must be a retired gnome (the beard is sort of a give-away), because he has the time to be lazy on Saturday. If he were a working gnome, he'd have laundry, cleaning, cooking, and errands to get done before Monday. Ahh, the good life!

Duo

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I like the way this painting turned out. The composition is pretty simple, but I like the thick impasto paint on the apples and the thin, grey background with hints of pastel blue, yellow, and red. It was pretty much accidental - I wish I could paint this way consistently and on purpose.

Lilija

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This is Lilija, totally focused on making short work of a ball of yarn. I love that look of intense concentration on her little face - naughty cat!

This painting took a fair amount of my concentration as well. I've never painted shredded yarn before! I used the regular palette of Ivory Black, Transparent Iron Red Oxide, Yellow Ochre, and Titanium White. I also included a little Anthraquinone Red, Cad Red, and Cad Orange.

Mookie

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This is Mookie. He doesn't need words to convey his thoughts. Clearly, dinner is on his mind. I painted him beside an empty bowl, but in truth, his photo revealed both a bowl of food and fresh water as well...hmm, could Mookie be a bit of a con artist?

Mookie was fun to paint, but the perspective was a challenge. I had to keep reminding myself to paint what I see - not what I think I see. This painting was done using Ivory Black, Transparent Red Oxide, Yellow Ochre, Pthalo Blue, and Titanium White.

Boots

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Continuing on with Leslie Saeta's 30 day challenge. This is Boots, my great cat-nephew. He's a very elegant black and white tuxedo kitty.

Laptop

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I was knocked out of Leslie Saeta's 30-day challenge by a bout of the flu - nevertheless, I'm going to pick up where I left off and keep painting since it's all for fun and nobody cares.

This is "Laptop." Such a terrific name for a cat. I really like that this guy looks so relaxed, yet so alert. Only cats can do that!

Laptop was painted using the modified Zorn palette: Ivory Black, Transparent Iron Red Oxide, Yellow Ochre, and Titanium White.

Time for Witches

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This is the time of year to snuggle under warm covers and read a really good, really scary book!

The Chief

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My two little grandsons, ages four and seven, stayed with us this weekend. It was too rainy and wet to ride bikes at the park, so we took a trip to GoodWill to see if we could find some fun toys and puzzles to play with at Nana's house.

Graham, my four year old guy, spotted this nifty red fire truck. It is metal rather than plastic and has a silver bell that rings. A real treasure. He had fun with it this weekend and then left it here for his next visit. Nana got to play with it, too...with a paintbrush!

September Challenge #28

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This is "Autumn Harvest," It's painting #28, so there are only two more to go...hooray! I had so much fun painting this one. It just seemed to flow. The pressure of having to produce one painting every evening has taught me to be more frugal with my brushstrokes. I've been told that paintings come together more easily when there is less fiddling. I need to keep that in mind - fixing and re-fixing is a hard habit to break, though.

September Challenge #26

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I'm crazy about sunflowers -they're just so cheery!

I asked my husband what he thought this painting should be called.  He suggested "Solar Eclipse." I thought that was a great name for a painting of sunflowers. They do look like little solar eclipses.