Chance of a Lifetime and Catching up again.....

12x16 oil on panel "Birches Revisited" $150 click HERE to buy

6x6 oil on panel "Cedar Point Marina" Click HERE to bid.  Starts at $20

"Not all Roses are Red" 5x7 oil on panel Click HERE to bid.

As always I'm playing catch up with my blog, but I'm starting to be ok with that.  Perhaps you all don't want to hear from me everyday anyway eh?  Here are a few of my latest paintings, just kind of plodding along with subject matter and getting through the winter blues.  

I also have a link to share for a friend and fellow artist.  She rec'd an offer that would could be likened to a painter getting the opportunity to study with Van Gogh or Monet. A chance of a lifetime, if you will.  However, in order to accomplish this she has to raise the traveling costs herself.  Click HERE to read the story/fundraising campaign if you are interested.  Kelly Alge she has been a great mentor to me and has taught me everything I know about glass work art, and is just a great person all around.

Still Painting! #12, 13, 14, 15

8x10 oil on canvas panel click HERE to buy

8x10 oil on canvas panel click HERE to buy

8x10 oil on  panel click HERE to buy

6x6 oil on panel click HERE to buy

I'm doing better with the painting than with the blogging, but that's ok, because I know that sometimes when I get a blog EVERY day in my mailbox sometimes I don't even click on it!  The challenge is really making me feel better about my paintings (after the first week anyway) and I'm feeling braver about tackling more difficult subjects....

Candy Apple

6x6 oil on panel click HERE to bid

 I've wanted to paint a candy apple since I saw one painted by fellow artist Kelley MacDonald some time ago.  We have a number of fruit trees on our property and this is the first year we took great pains to spray for bugs and blight and we were rewarded with a great crop of apples.  When I saw the candy apple making kit in the store I had to buy it.  Here's my photo reference, feel free to use it if you've always wanted to paint one too.

Covered Bridge

11x14 oil on linen board  Click here to bid 

Now that fall is finally here I am hoping to post and paint more regularly.  Show season is officially over with the exception of a December widget (craft) show (widgets are things I make that are low in price and SELL, like tiny paintings, magnets, jewelry, etc....Widgets are not real art but they help pay the bills especially around the holidays.  I like making widgets sometimes, it's a nice diversion from painting.)  This painting is from a painting retreat I went to last month in French Lick, Indiana compliments of a wonderful friend and fellow artist Marianne Van Rohr.  We met at a workshop last year and i attended another workshop this past spring with her.  She generously shared her timeshare with fellow artists and we had a wonderful week of fellowship, painting, and visiting.  We took many photos of this idyllic town so I'm certain you will see more of them in the near future.

Sunny Days and Blooms

6x6 oil on Panel 

Bidding Starts at $40 click HERE to bid

It's 88 and sunny here in Ohio, just 5 days after 40 degree temps but I'm not complaining!  The irises are blooming so I have a feeling you will see several Iris paintings in the near future, and I just planted some Dahlias, sunflowers, and poppies! Anenomes tomorrow!...I'm on a flower roll I think......This is the last of the photo refs from the workshop, I think I can safely take my own now....

3 In One Blow!

6x6 oil on panel $50

To buy click here

6x6 oil on panel $50

To Buy click here

6x6 oil on panel Bidding starts at $40

To Bid click HERE 

It seems like forever since I've painted when it's actually only been two weeks, but my head hasn't been in it since my boy left for boot camp, and now that it's over I'm BACK!  I have lots of catching up to do as I have several outdoor shows this summer and fall.  I decided to pick up where I left of after Dreama's workshop.  Our final exercise was musical easels and I decided that when I got home from the workshop I would try it out on my own using some of the photos she provided for the exercise.  I did each painting about 5 or so minutes at a time and then moved on to the next one rotating until they were all complete!  It was fun, and it helped to keep me from overworking each one.   I took a break between each pass of the three and was able to see where I needed corrections.....Now I have 3 little lovelies waiting for a new home.  Perfect Mother's Day gift!   Here's my son and I after his Pass in Review, he is now on his way to Pensacola, FL for more training.

These Boots are Made for Marching.....

8x10 oil on panel

I painted this before I left for my workshop last week but didn't have time to post it, so here it is now.....If you've been following my Boot Camp series, you know my son in in Great Lakes IL becoming a sailor in finest Navy in the world :)  He has less than a week left and I will be traveling to Waukegan to see him graduate...I am soooo proud, there are no words.....


Also, something for me to look forward to when I get back is an art form I've wanted to try for a long time...I used to do a lot of glass fusing before I started painting, and have somehow wanted to try to meld the two together....Kelly Alge has mastered it and is going to give a workshop on the ins and outs of Sgraffito drawing in glass.....Please visit her BLOG , her work is incredible.... Here is what I will be learning

Dreama Tolle Perry Workshop in Nashville Day one

First day of the workshop in beautiful Tennessee and I've never heard more southern drawls in one place y'all. Great group of ladies and the two token men at the Nossi school of art and design.