Noel: February 26, 2012

"Noel" is an 8"x10" acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Maggie: February 20, 2012

"Maggie" is an 8"x10" acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Panda: February 3, 1012

"Panda" is a 5"x7" acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Bosco: January 17, 2012

"Bosco" is a 5"x7" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper. He is a Havanese dog.

Jack: January 8, 2012

"Jack the Bitterroot Beagle" is a 5"x7" acrylic on stretched canvas. Jack is the star of two videos: The Adventures of Jack the Bitterroot Beagle and The Golden Bone. To see more about Jack and his sister, Jill, or to purchase videos, see Jack's personal website.

Tank & Sophie: November 5, 2011

"Tank & Sophie" is an 11"x14" acrylic on stretched canvas. This wasn't blogged about when I painted it because it was a Christmas present and I was afraid the secret might have gotten out. The owner of the dogs is a glass artist working with fused glass. She started with stained glass, thus the stained glass look of the painting. You can see her work at Amy Knight's Glass Obsession.

Jack: November 19, 2011

"Jack" is an 8"x10" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. This is a commissioned painting for a Christmas gift. Jack is a very active chocolate lab.

Rez: October 15-17, 2011

"Rez" is a commissioned painting, 8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas. Rez was an abandoned dog that chose her current owner who loves her dearly. Rez is enjoying the large bone that her owner's previous dog had discovered and carried out of the mountains.

Roo redo: September 1, 2010

The backgrounds for "Roo 1" and "Roo 3" have been redone.

Roo 3: August 30, 2010

"Roo 3" is 2.5"x3.5" acrylic on watercolor paper.

Roo 1 & Roo 2: August 26-27, 2010

"Roo 1" and "Roo 2" are two of a set of three miniature paintings. These are each 2.5"x3.5", acrylic on watercolor paper.

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.

Mural and Painting Addition: May 21, 2010

This is a design for a soccer mural. The mural wall is used by kids to practice their kicks.

I painted this saw last November for a client who was giving it as a gift to her son-in-law. He was happy with the saw but felt that it was missing his packing companion who has passed on. I added his border collie who liked to lead the pack team whenever they were in the wilderness.

June (complete): April 29, 2010

"June" is finished. This is an 11"x14" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

June (in progress): April 28, 2010

"June" is almost done. She just has one ear left.

June (in progress): April 27, 2010

June's collar and part of her face have been painted in.

June (in progress): April 26, 2010

This is an 11"x14" acrylic painting in progress. The background and body are done. I like to start with the eyes because they contain the animal's personality which means their accurate portrayal is very important.

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.