River of Stones: March 24, 2012

"River of Stones" is an 11"x14" watercolor on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Plumerias: August 11, 2011

This is the beginnings of an 8"x11" watercolor painting. I started it in the watercolor class that I am teaching this summer at River's Mist Gallery of Fine Art. The background was put in using various greens with dashes of black and yellow. The black is a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. The yellow is raw sienna and was also used as the first layer on the nearer leaves.

Zebra: August 11, 2011

This is a 5"x7" watercolor on watercolor paper. This will be a birthday card for my son's friend whose favorite animal is the zebra and favorite color is pink.

Daisy 6: June 2011

Oh, boy, I almost missed adding this painting to my blog! This is a 5"x7" watercolor painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper. This is a larger version of the 2.5"x3.5" series of daisies that I did March 24th.

Plumeria: June 14, 2011

"Plumeria" is finished. This is a 7"x9" watercolor painting. The flowers, along with some of the leaves, come forward because of their contrast and details. However, I would love to continue working the leaves to make the flowers come forward even more but I must get this in the mail. It will be included in the Montana Watercolor Society's raffle book this year.

Plumeria: June 5, 9 & 13, 2011

This is a 7"x9" watercolor. My goal at the beginning was to create great depth to the "busy" scene. Usually when I paint a subject, I like to greatly simplify the area around it. This time, I wanted to leave in all the vegetation. In order to cut down on that busy-ness, I am painting the most distant parts of the plant with more diluted paint and as the objects become closer, I am adding more vibrant color and more detail. Right now it looks like a jumbled mess so I'm curious to see how it comes out when the flowers (the last and closest parts of the painting - the focus) go in.
These are two images of the painting in progess: the very beginning with the farthest vegetation and then one with closer leaves and branches with more detail.

Giraffe: May 24, 2011

"Giraffe" is a 5"x7" watercolor greeting card.

Blue Elephants: May 9-10, 2011

"Blue Elephants" is an 8"x10" watercolor painting. Why blue elephants? This is for my son's friend - elephants are her favorite animals and guess what her favorite color is.

In the Clefts: April 27, 2011

"In the Clefts of the Rock" is an 11"x14" watercolor on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Sour Lemons: April 27, 2011

"Sour Lemons" is definitely finished. This is a 16"x20" watercolor painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Sour Lemons: April 26, 2011

Okay, "Sour Lemons" looks done but I need to make some minor adjustments. Maybe some major adjustments. I'll see how it looks tomorrow morning.

Sour Lemons: April 25, 2011

This is a watercolor painting in progress. The colors I chose are mostly blues with a touch of green to harmonize with the yellow of the lemon wedge.

Daisies: March 24, 2011

This is a series of paintings using the same reference but different color choices. Each one is painted in watercolor on 140 lb. watercolor paper, 2.5"x3.5" (ACEO / ATC - size).

400th Post: July 10, 2010

This is my 400th posting on my blog! My first blog entry was on April 20, 2007, with a painting of a pineapple. My goal was to paint and record a painting a day. After a good year of painting almost every day, I had quite a collection of small paintings. I highly recommend any artist, quilter, writer, singer, etc., to do a small piece of their work every day because I saw a definite improvement in my painting skills.

My blog now shows larger works and projects that I am working on. I have neglected my blog for the past month in preparation for a big art show, my first in a real gallery. I've shown one or two pieces in galleries before but not my whole body of work. My work has mostly been shown in coffee shops and restaurants which are great venues for art. In preparation for my art show, "Flora & Fauna: Wild & Not so Wild", at the River's Mist Gallery of Fine Art in Stevensville, MT, I ordered supplies, matted and framed my paintings and prints, sent out mailings, and other sundry tasks. This photo shows the piles of small framed paintings and prints.

While preparing for the show, I received a commissioned job. The words are from the client's own plaque. She wanted one made for her son with a caricature of his dog. This was painted over a beat up print of folk art. I repainted the frame. You can faintly see the old print beneath the layer of gesso.








The day of the artist's reception, I found out that my painting, "Dane", was accepted into the Montana Watercolor Society's national juried show Watermedia 2010. The show will be held at the Bigfork Art & Culture Museum in Bigfork, MT, from October 1-31, 2010.




July 6-7, 2010, the soccer mural was painted on the kicking wall at the High School soccer field. I designed the mural in May and drew it onto the 8'x24' wall. Some of the soccer players, their dads, and a couple of soccer moms (including me) used exterior house paint to fill in the image.

Dane: March 26, 2010

"Dane" is complete. This is an 11"x14" watercolor painting on 140lb. watercolor paper.

Dane (in progress): March 24, 2010

"Dane" is still in progress, using mostly purples, blues and reds for the dog.

Dane (in progress): March 20-21, 2010

"Dane" is an 11"x14" watercolor in progress.

Reflections (finished): March 17-18, 2010

"Reflections" is complete. This is an 11"x14" watercolor painting on 140 lb.

"Reflections" (in progress): March 15, 2010

This is the beginning of "Reflections", a 11"x14" watercolor.

Pierce: March 13, 2010

"Pierce" is an 11"x14" watercolor painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper.