Brownie: September 17, 2012

"Brownie" is a 22" x 28" original acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Lily: August 15, 2012

This is "Lily", my son's beagle. The painting is 11"x14" acrylic on stretched canvas.

Secret Garden desk: July 29, 2012

This is an old school desk that will be auctioned off this week to benefit the North Valley Public Library here in Stevensville, Montana. Seven desks were painted by local artists. This one, painted by me, is inspired by "The Secret Garden", a classic story written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Br'er Rabbit: July 23, 2012

 This Br'er Rabbit leather checkbook cover is a collaborative piece by me and Howard Knight of Rocking K Custom Leather.

Howard is a master at tooling and creating one-of-a-kind custom leather work. 

Br'er Rabbit was first burned into the leather (by me) and then painted with acrylic paints. And of course most of us know about Uncle Remus's Br'er Rabbit made famous by Walt Disney.

Kirby: July 14, 2012

"Kirby" is an 11"x14" acrylic painting. He is a surprise birthday present. Shh!

George: July 8, 2012

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

Watercolor blocks: June 2012

"Leaves" was an experimental 11"x14" watercolor painting inspired by quilt blocks. The leaves continue through each block but change color within those blocked areas.

Playing with leftover paint: June 2012

"Feather" was an experimental painting using oil paint left on my palette after painting "Perseverance". The purple, yellow and green were in the flowers. I hated to see the paint go to waste so I scraped it off and applied it in blocks onto an 8"x10" canvas. I went for a trompe l'oleil (fool the eye) rendering of the faux grommets holding the color blocks together with faux lacing and stuck a faux feather in the lace. This was done in 2010, right after "Perseverance" was completed but I just recently signed it, officially claiming it finished.

Bigfork Bay: June 2012

"Bigfork Bay" is an acrylic 30"x48" painting. The reference photo was taken by Julie Helmer of Red Dog Photo Works.

River of Stones: March 24, 2012

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

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.

Jack the Movie Star

Jack the Bitterroot Beagle has posted an article about my portrait of him on his website: www.bitterrootbeagle.com. What a star!

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.

Killer Cobwebs: January 7, 2011

"Killer Cobwebs" is acrylic on a 12"x12" hardboard. This is a sign for someone's front door. In North Carolina, where I grew up, these Black and Yellow Argiope spiders were a treat to find. I liked to try to decipher the messages within their webs.

Five Bears: December 27, 2011

"Five Bears" is an 18"x36" acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Monsters: December 2011

"There are No Monsters at Grandma's House" is a childrens' book by Kathy Dufresne, a retired teacher. She is writing stories inspired by her grandchildren. The illustrations of "Monsters" were done by me. They were created using mostly digital media. You can purchase Kathy's book and others on her 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.

Bryce: December 17-18, 2011

"Bryce" is a 22"x28" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. Bryce was a constant companion and he passed away this year. This is a Christmas gift from Bryce's "dad" to his "mom". Every Christmas, I received a photo card from them. The photos always had Bryce---and only Bryce.

Lila's table piece: December 5-6, 2011

This is a wooden board that will be attached to a Lila's table. Her name and "Calico Critters" were painted in acrylic.

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.

Dove: September 3, 2011

"Dove" is an 8"x10" acrylic painting. This is a commissioned painting of a beloved pet.

Clegg Winery: August 25, 2011

"Clegg Winery" is a 14"x32" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. Many thanks to the client who commissioned this piece.

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.

Studio Tour & Workshops

This weekend my studio will be one of 26 participating in the Artists Along the Bitterroot Studio Tour. The artist reception is Friday, June 3, at River's Mist Gallery of Fine Art, 317 Main St., Stevensville, MT. Maps of the tours can be picked up at River's Mist as well as at the Frame Shop & Gallery, 325 W. Main St., Hamilton. The tour is free and studios are open from 10:30am-6:00pm Saturday & Sunday, June 4-5.
I will also be teaching workshops in acrylic and watercolor this summer. Subjects will include exploring limited palettes, textures, pet portraits and art trading cards. The workshops will be fun and informative. Workshop descriptions and applications can be picked up at River's Mist Gallery or via email (keecojo@bridgeband.com).
Have a great summer and hope to see you during the tour and the workshops!

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.

Pretty in Pink: April 21, 2011

"Pretty in Pink" is an 11"x14" acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Pretty in Pink: April 19, 2011

This is a painting in progress. I started it months ago. The image with the greenish background was the painting as it sat for all those months. I wasn't happy with the background color, so I sampled different colors and settled on the purplish-brown background that you see in the second image. I'm pleased with how it's coming along. The purple is much more complementary to the flamingo's pink plumage.

Logo Contest: March 30, 2011

The Stevensville Art & Sculpture Society (S.A.S.S.) had a logo design contest for their annual Bitterroot Artists Showcase. I just received word that I am the lucky winner! This is the logo and you can see it in use on the S.A.S.S. website: www.SASSart.org.

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).