Floral Oil Still Life

"Summer Medley"Oil on Linen, 24 1/2" x 20"






















It's been a beautiful summer up here in the great Northwest. And though I haven't posted (my bad), I've been busy. Although I'm noted among my friends for having a black thumb and I have trouble growing them, I still love to paint flowers.This one took a while between family visits and other things - among them plumbing woes.

I'm proud to announce that I am a new artist at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend, WA. I showed for the first time this past Saturday for the Port Townsend Gallery Walk. If you get out that way, come and visit. It's a beautiful gallery with a great stable of fine artists. 




Yellow Roses on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 8" x 10"

"LaNice's Gift"


SOLD
My Studio warming party was held this past Sunday. We had around 40 people or so - we had invited around 75. That's OK - the ones who showed were true blue and we had a ball. I turned the studio into a little night club with cozy tables and put a red gel in the theatre spot light on the ceiling. We lacked the darkness of a nightclub in that it doesn't get dark here until about 10:00 PM now, but it didn't seem to bother anyone and, in fact, we partied from about 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM and then went down with the sun.

These roses were a lovely gift of summer from a long time friend and collector. So I named the flowers after her. Here's to you LaNice. Thanks for coming to my party. It's friends like you that warm my heart and bring inspriration on days when nothing else seems to be stirring.

Here's a pic of my friend Coffee (far right) and some of his friends burning up the dance floor, er, studio.



Watercolor of Yellow Roses, 11" x 14" image, matted to 16" x 20"

"Playing with Roses"
SOLD


Just got to playing the other day. Not really wanting to put out my full palette of oils, I reached for a jar of water and splashed some watercolor around. Then I thought, "Hmm, this could use some pastel". So I dug those out too. All in all just a dipsy doodle day. Here's what came of an hour of splash.
This painting come matted in a 16" x 20" matt and ready to frame.

"Rayon de Soleil"



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Price: $385 USD plus $15 USD s/h
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I've just finished this one. Can you tell I'm suffering from a little identity crises? I've been doing a lot of close realism in class but three years of painting in a loose impressionist manner has made a deep and lasting influence on my style. I suppose I'm searching for something between the two. These roses are a bit tighter than my usual. Hope you like them. There's so much more texture on the vase than shows here.

Sunflower in a Mason Jar Painting, 9" x 12" Oil on Panel

"Sunflowers in a Mason Jar"



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Price: $125 USD plus $10 USD s/h
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I spent a few days in Albuquerque soaking up the sunshine this past week. Part of my trip included taking in the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition in Santa Fe. What an incredible show. I got to see so many beautiful pieces of work. I didn't enter this year as I didn't have anything prepared to send out. But I'm busily working away on some entries for next year. I'm inspired!

"Mixed Bunch"
SOLD - 12/29/08



 Yesterday was my wedding anniversary and my husband and I spent the day in Victoria, B.C. It was a sunny 45 degrees and it felt really good to get out in the weather as it's been so cold and snowy here the past two weeks. But I only got back late today and so I didn't get into the studio until almost 3:00 PM. A late start for me.

I'm always so dismayed by how easy it is to fall out of practice. If I paint flowers every day, then I seem to have little difficulty in rendering them. But if I skip a week and paint a different subject, I find that I have to struggle to get them right. I need to spend some time during the week just practicing my brush strokes on roses. These proved to be a challenge for me today.

White and Yellow Floral Painting, 9" x 12", Oil on Panel

"A Sigh of Blooms"
SOLD





Time for another floral today. I'm needing to build up a backlog as I intend to do the festival at Bellingham this summer and will need a score or two of these and others. I'm a bit out of practice with flowers so it's good to stretch my proverbial wings a bit. Enjoy.

Oil Painting of Roses and Nectarines, 11" x 14", Oil on Linen Panel

Diptych IISOLD
Private Collection


This piece was part of a recent commission. It was fun to do because when placed next to it's mate, they form a complete painting. I enjoy paintng lace and so I had double to fun. There's a small ladybug or two in this piece just as in it's mate.
I've been busy the last two days readying pieces for my show - lots still to do. I've varnished and framed and still have prints to run and photos to take. It's the back end of this business that takes so much time...computer and data entry, record keeping and paperwork. But hopefully soon I'll be clear to do some more actual painting!
The last week of September I'll be taking a workshop from David Leffel, one of today's great painters and a modern master. I'm completely overwhelmed just getting ready for this event and look forward to sharing my experiences and the work I do at it with you.