"Salt, Spoon, Jar" - SOLD

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I did this series of paintings before my advanced workshop last week in order to bone up on some of the more difficult still life subjects. This one is a combination of white, metal and glass. And it was hard, let me tell you.

"Transparent View" - SOLD

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One last pumpkin. Now that I'm done painting them they have all been adorned with scary faces and are sitting on the table all in the row. My son had a ball with that.

"Visiting Day" - SOLD

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Tomorrow I am off again for a painting trip in Arizona. My buddy James and I are going to visit an old airplane graveyard! I am very excited about that. And when we get tired of that, who knows. I won't have my computer but my husband will ship paintings for me, and I am going to prepost tonight for maybe every other day since I am ahead with my paintings. See ya'll in a week!

"Before Midnight" - SOLD

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It took several tries to get this right. And it was the reflected light at the bottom of the pumpkin that was the hardest. It is a challenge to get it light enough but not TOO light ... AND the right color.

"Carving Time" - SOLD

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Pumpkins are a real challenge to paint. It's all the curves and bumps around the edges. They're easy to ... misplace. : ) And when that happens, the pumkin gets mishapen in a hurry.

"Striped Pumpkin w/ Curlies" & workshop photos - SOLD

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And now a final recap from my advanced workshop in Jacksonville. On the fifth day we worked with reflections - we each had a piece of glass that we put under our setups, got it up to around eye level, and painted the setup and the reflections of the setup in the glass (see example). Though I completely forgot to get pictures of that, I did get quite a few from our foray into larger work on the fourth day:


And here are a few of them in the back room smiling after I caught them gossiping about which were the better paintings and which were #%*&!. Ok, not really. Not at all. But check out that pile of still life stuff! And that wasn't even all of it!

And here they are collectively. My crazy (awesome) kids ... minus Wendy (where were you?!).

"Little Leaf" - SOLD

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As usual I have a bunch of wild kids in my workshop and by the time I drag myself back to my room each night after all the partying, I can do nothing but close my eyes and sleep. Let alone post. But tonight I am persevering because I don't want you to think I've dropped off the face of the earth. Tuesday we tackled glass and flowers, Wednesday we delved into metal, and today, Thursday, we hunkered down for larger paintings all day. Or rather, they did. At any rate, here are a couple of my kids, working hard:


And here are just a FEW of the paintings they've produced. Most of this batch is from the metal day. Some nice ones, huh?!

"Loneliness" - SOLD

Today was the first day of my advanced workshop here in Jacksonville, FL and I think it went really well. Today we explored the elusive WHITE. It looks so easy, but oh the hidden depths of white. Ahhh, just try it for yourself. It took a lot of wine tonight to get over it, but I think by tomorrow we'll be ready for the next challenge: flowers and glass. I did this painting last week in preparation for this workshop and figured it was appropriate to post today.

"Apple Attack" - SOLD

Tomorrow I am off to Florida for my advanced workshop. I've been preparing for it for a while and am pretty excited. I will give updates as I go along.

"Take a Hike" - SOLD

Now this couple really is walking off lunch. The reference photo for this painting is from the same hike in Germany as yesterday's. I loved the colors on the path and the patches of light throughout. I've been really happy with this diversion from still life, but tomorrow I'm back to it.

"Walking Off Lunch"

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Actually, the title of this one is completely misleading. I took the photo for this painting in Germany. We were taken out for the day by some friends who said we'd take a 30 minute stroll up to a restaurant and have lunch. Well, after 2 hours, all uphill, we finally got there. Gorgeous though it may have been, a stroll it was not. Can you imagine a restaurant surviving in the states that is accessible ONLY via a 4 mile long trail? So these guys in the painting are walking TO lunch, but I thought off sounded better.

"Table For One" - SOLD

This is from the same overcast day in Freiburg, Germany ... down the street from the market. Freiburg is a really cool city. There were beautiful things everywhere. I do prefer direct sunlight, but some things work without it. Like this. I'm really enjoying painting new things!

"Compelling Read" - SOLD

I spend a lot of time in airports. It's the only part about travelling I don't like. Well, that and the sardine-can airplanes. But, one good thing that has come out of it is the photo for this painting. I can't even tell you how fast I whipped out my camera when I saw this guy. Wow - what perfect light.

"The Perfect Plant" - SOLD

When we were in Germany this last May we took a day trip to Freiburg. Unforunately it was overcast and cold all day, but we visited this cool market and I took lots of photos anyway. This was my favorite and I've been wanting to paint it ever since. It was a real challenge it being so busy, but I really wanted to get the feel of a market in the middle of town.

"And I Was Like" - SOLD

I took this shot when I was in Boston recently. Such a quintessential teenage girl talk moment. It reminded me of a conversation I had in high school with some other girls about - and I swear this really happened - what the difference was between "I was like" and "I was all". You know, like, "She said no and I was all - no you didn't!"

"City Stroll" - SOLD

I've decided to venture into figures a bit. I've always taken pictures of people when I see something compelling, though I see now I haven't taken NEARLY enough. Because I am loving this! And I want to paint more and more and more.

"Assortment" - SOLD

This is my favorite of the oranges. I admit I did a little dance when I got that glow just right. The best way I have found to get that glow, is to put it in first. And make it bigger than it actually is. Then come back in with the "white" bits, (pith) and put that OVER the glow. That works for other things that glow too: grapes, flowers lit from behind, sliced citrus, etc.

"Reflecting on Blue" - SOLD

It was SO hard getting those reflections just right. I think reflections are particularly tough because they're so easy to overdo. The trick is get them just right. You might not notice them in particular, but you would notice if they were wrong. Right?

I just listed a workshop in Canada to my schedule - in summer 2011. Please email me if you're interested, thanks!

"Denuded" - SOLD

Those white bits on the outside of a peeled orange are a super challenge. This is where I concentrate on squinting to an extreme and try to suggest the "white" bits and really focus on the difference in value/color of the WHOLE image, rather than only comparing two things right next to each other. Well, I always do this, but for this kind of subject I do it more. : )

"Munching Apples" - SOLD

This is my last contribution to the mouse book, and my favorite! Steve just posted a bit on his own blog about the book in the works. There will be a smaller, PDF version of the book as well, and I will link to that here when it is ready. I will also let you know when the book is printed. He has gotten a lot of great artists to contribute so I'm sure it will be super fantabulous!

Mouse with Breakfast - SOLD

I've done 2 more recent paintings that include the bronze mouse Chubby. For those of you who missed it the first time, the images are for a book the mouse artist, Steve Worthington, is putting together, the proceeds of which will go to animal charity.

"Sweet Enough" - SOLD

I have a fabulous quote from fellow artist and teacher, Julie Douglas (from Ireland) - it goes like this:

"I tell my students they aren't asking the right question if they say How...? The right question is - What happens if I do THIS...? And there are thousands of unique answers." I love it.

"Singled Out" - SOLD & a painting of me - SOLD

I call this singled out because there is just one of each thing. huh, huh?

The other day I got a delightful email from a recent kid of mine. She had taken some photos of me in class and when she got home she painted one. Her name is Christine Holzschuh, and here is me: (it's called "First Stroke")