Monday, January 05, 2026

Sneaky

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I will be teaching a still life workshop this fall (Oct 19-23, 2026) in Nashville, TN.

Registration will open in one week: Monday, Jan 12th at 8am, CST. When the time comes, go here.

Important: You won't be able to register before next Monday. FYI, my last two workshops filled in less than 10 minutes, so be there or be square. : )

It's a 5-day workshop, and the cost is $985.

Saturday, January 03, 2026

Just Looking, Thanks

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Portrait of a cheetah in the wild. Looking for potential food. Not acting. Yet. Just like when I go into a clothing store. "Just looking, thanks."

Friday, January 02, 2026

And Breakfast

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

This is another object I borrowed from my friend Patti - the ampersand. It had a lot of neat reflections in it, but also reflected a lot of funny light everywhere. I used my artistic license and left some of it out. My guess is you can't tell?

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Feed Me

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

Thank you all so much! First, to Dan Johnson who graciously allowed me to use his own reference photo for this painting (and paints beautiful animals himself). And to all of you who look at my art, leave supportive comments, take my workshops, and buy from me! Another year is almost done, and I feel immense gratitude that I get to live this beautiful, creative life. Thank you. You feed me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

That'll Do


Click Here to Bid - 5x7in. - oil on panel

My husband came up with the title for this one. He was sure the reference would be obvious. I'm not so sure. It's from a movie our son watched many times when he was little. 5 points if you know it. : )

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Vibrating, two versions

I ended up doing two versions of this cutie. First one is on top. For the second one I decided to play around a bit with more saturated colors. I ended up liking different things about both of them, so I'm posting both and asking - what do you think?


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on  panel


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on  panel

Sunday, December 21, 2025

What!?

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

This guy is trying his best to blend in. Can you see him?
I told him so but he didn't believe me.

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Now You See Me

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x7in. - oil on panel

In the next moment, she's gone.
Bye bye, birdie.

Friday, December 19, 2025

Takes His Job Seriously

 


Click Here to Bid - 7x5in. - oil on panel

Funny to think this guy evolved from a t-rex. Glad to see it hasn't hurt his ego.

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Oh Nuts

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Sometimes I run across a reference image that I really like, but that has a background I'd like to change. This one had a very dark background, and I wanted to experiment with a fun, bright color. But I knew the edges of the chipmunk, being light, would blend in with the background, so I decided to do a more graphic painting, and sort of outline things. A total experiment.

Also, many thanks to my hubby for the title.

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Who Me?

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Feeling a little overwhelmed by the holidays? Yeah, me too.

Saturday, December 13, 2025

Yes Toucan

 


Click Here to Bid - 5x7in. - oil on panel

This probably isn't what you have in mind when you hear toucan, but it is in the toucan family. I just loved the colors. I actually had to UN-exaggerate (gray them down a little) them for it to be believable.

Thursday, December 11, 2025

I Really Mean It

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's a second version of the elephant and cup, from a different angle. I got the elephant from ebay, which I think is a great place to get stuff like this. I've had my eye out at thrift and antique stores for years, but everything I found was way too intricate or cheesy for what I wanted to paint. I like very simple things like this.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Party Cups

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I found this pink stripey cup in Boise when I was there recently. I tried painting it a couple of times, but this is the first one that worked out. I think it's because of the company it's in. I tried with apples before, and my guess is they just didn't get along.

Tuesday, December 09, 2025

Orderly Breakfast

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

These eggs were surprisingly bright orange! And they weren't even the super expensive ones. I thought they paired quite well with the yellow teapot. : )

Sunday, December 07, 2025

Where's the Water?


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I got this cute little wooden elephant recently. At around the same time I got a black bunny the same general size and have tried now 4 times to paint it, with nothing to show. Some things are just hard. My husband had to finally say - let it go. For now anyway.

Saturday, December 06, 2025

Before the Rain


Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x12in. - oil on panel

Back in September I took a trip with some plein air friends to the Tetons in Wyoming. This is the same group of friends I've gone up into the Sierra's with about 5 times before (if you've been following me a while). And although I had a WONDERFUL time with my buds, I didn't mention it here because I didn't come back with any good paintings. It was pretty humbling actually. I reworked each of my paintings using memory and photos, and this is the only one that turned out ok. There is an article about the trip out this month in Plein Air Magazine if you'd like to check out more about it all, and work by the other artists. It's a pretty great article!

About this particular spot: We were on the way back to our house one afternoon, and it was clearly about to rain. But we stopped at the river anyway, and we all set up to paint. Sure enough, about 5 minutes in it started to sprinkle, and then pour. Fortunately I had some photos from right before the rain, although the clouds were kind of reversed (coming in from the right instead of left). So I moved some things around, which is much easier for me to do in the studio, and voilà. It definitely captures the mood.

Friday, December 05, 2025

Big Bird Little Bird

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another thing I borrowed from the lovely Patti - the brass swan. I decided he needed a companion in the painting, and now they are inseparable in my studio. I think some imprinting happened.

Thursday, December 04, 2025

Where'd Everybody Go?

 


Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

When I look for good reference images, I'm primarily looking for interesting value arrangements. I found a lot of these isolated animals with white backgrounds and while I love the simplicity and stark contrast, I didn't know if they would work with oil paint. But I love the result!