This is an oil on canvas (12x36).  The painting is from a recent trip to New Mexico.  I'm very excited about my palette.

Victory Alpaca Ranch

After receiving Rusty's critique on my Charolais cow painting, I decided to go back to the Victory Alpaca Ranch painting. I feel like I have really improved the painting, especially the tree in the foreground. After looking over the painting, I realized the mountain in the background also needed to be worked on, so I dulled it down more. I am very happy with this painting. It is still not a masterpiece, but I am much happier with it. I am learning so much by going back and working these paintings.

Charolais - edited

After receiving the critique from Rusty Jones, this is what I have come up with. I learned a lot from sending this to Rusty. The painting is now 12x20.

Columbus Charolais

I've been struggling with my painting for almost a year now. The last few months I have been working a little more trying to get my confidence back. This posting is of a painting that I thought was finished until I opened the photo this morning. The photo shows so many things that are wrong .. not all that I know how to fix... (or am I just too lazy?) Anyway, I am fortunate enough to have had a work shop with Rusty Jones and he encouraged us to send him paintings for him to critique. That, I have done and I am now waiting to hear back from him.

Victory Alpaca Ranch

This painting of the Victory Alpaca Ranch in Moire, New Mexico is one that I have been working on for months. It is a peaceful setting and I do believe I have conveyed that in the painting. I would consider it finished, but of course, I see things that aren't just right, but I am not really sure how to correct them. I'm open to suggestions. All that being said, I am happy with it.... but not enough to enter it in any juried exhibits.

Anchored

This is an 8 x 6 Ray Mar canvas panel. It was my entry back into getting paint on a canvas. It is naive, but I did it! And I did it in about 1hour.

My husband had worked into the morning so he was going to be sleeping most of this particular Saturday. I received and email with an attachment of a beautiful painting. I knew that I had to get back to painting, so I through on some clothes and with no makeup ... I ran down to the studio and just started laying paint on the canvas. I felt so GOOD!

I purposely had not posted it at the time I painted it because I didn't feel it worthy of the space on the internet, but since I have set my goals and put them out there for everyone to see, I decided the painting need to be posted.

A New Year

The New Year has begun and I am slowly working on making it a great year. One of the things I am hoping for is that I get back to painting and make great improvements on my skill as an artist.

I took a Plein Air workshop with Rusty Jones this past November. It was fabulous and I felt like I learned a lot. Now I must put it all into practice. He is a great inspiration.

Another inspiration was the goals of Daily Paintworks artist Jacki Newell. I edited her list to fit my goals. Hopefully, by putting them out there, I will reach them.

Goals for 2012

1. Paint a small daily painting days a week, at least.

2. Paint 1 or more large paintings a month.

3. Plein Air paint every Friday.

4. Write in my blog a least 4 evenings a week.

5. Spend time editing photos for future paintings in the evenings.

6. Attend a workshop of a painter that I admire

7. Participate in plein air competions this year

8. Paint with other new artists more often.

9. Keep the clutter out of my workspace and out of my mind.

10. Go to new locations to take reference photos and/or paint Plein Air

11. Paint on DFW Streets

12. PAINT EVERYDAY

Studio Art and Soul at The Wine Therapist - Opening Reception Sept 24, 6 pm

Studio Art and Soul at The Texas Discovery Garden

Shelling on St. Croix

This painting from a VERY old photo. The photo was taken on St. Croix in the USVI around 1981. I came across it a little while ago realizing it would make a great painting. The figure is looking for shells in Great Pond Bay on the Southern shore of St. Croix.

The painting is oil on gallery wrapped canvas 12x12.

Art & Soul at The Wine Therapist

The Studio Art & Soul exhibit at The Wine Therapist will be hanging until June 11. If you are in Dallas please visit The Wine Therapist located on Skillman @ Live Oak.

Arroyo Seco Pottery Studio

Arroyo Seco, is one of my favorite places to visit when in New Mexico. This pottery studio is one a several unique shops in this small village. I wish I could say to painted this En Plein Air, but I didn't. The photo I used was taken a few summers ago. The perfect time of day. Shadows and light.... PERFECT! Painting is much easier when the light is right.
9x12 oil on gallery wrap canvas - $100.00

This painting can be viewed at The Wine Therapist until June 11. The Wine Therapist is located on Skillman @ Live Oak.

Mooo ments

This might have been one of those paintings that was a little easier. After all... you would have thought there was a lighting director...(there wasn't) and you might have thought the cows had a wrangler.... (there wasn't). This photo reference was from an outing with my artist buddies last year. We all met in Columbus, TX.. and three of us took off for the morning. We found these wonderful cows. The sun was in the perfect position... and the cows were as curious about us as we were about them. GREAT models. All three of us have benefitted greatly using these photos as reference for some fabulous paintings.

For me.. I AM very proud of this painting. After all... when my husband sees a painting at the studio and wants me to bring it home.. I know it is a good painting.

9x12 oil on canvas - $100.00 (unframed)

This painting can be viewed at The Wine Therapist until June 11. The Wine Therapist is located on Skillman @ Live Oak.

SOLD

Struttin'

Another crow to add to this series. I got this shot at a great time of day. The light and shadows were perfect. A flock of crows had just flown in to this spot and allowed me to snap several shots of them.

I feel like I am improving with these crows. I really like my soft edges, which is always a challenge for me.

This might be might favorite crow.

A View en Plein Air

Suzy Moritz, Kay Wyne and I spent a beautiful day at the Dallas Arboretum painting. (We couldn't convince anyone else from the studio to join us for a plein air day.) This was a new experience for me. Painting en Plein Air. It was a lot of fun... but a whole new challenge. I attempted another painting with a LOT OF STUFF going on in it.... it was a "wiper". So I moved to another location which allowed a more simple view that was of White Rock Lake. Using a pallet knife, I chose to do an abstract of the lake. I know.. this is REALLY simple, but come on... I'm new at this and have had no formal instruction.

I did enjoy the experience and can't wait for the next outing. This day was a beautiful day at the Dallas Arboretum even though there was very little in bloom and most trees were bare.

I will improve because I will persist in getting it with plein air. I will eventually paint a painting that has detail in it.

Crow on The Green

Well.. I seem to be back in the groove. I would like to do a series of more crows. I do love painting them.

After my last crow "Struttin'"... I am thinking this guy needs to be redone.

San Miguel de Allende - The End of the Day

My my.... I haven't posted since October. I have worked on some paintings that I haven't been pleased with.. but mostly I have been working with this new painting.

This is a painting I have been trying to develope for several years. The photo is one I took while in San Miguel de Allende. I quickly took the photo ... afraid I would lose this woman with SO much character as she turned the corner. I had no idea of the scene... just the woman. When I looked at the photo, I was amazed at the whole scene. The colors you see are the true colors of that scene. The light cast on the wall is what we, as artists, are always looking for.

San Miguel de Allende is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. I wander who is in charge of the pallet used to paint the city's buildings. Obviously, an artist.

24 x 36 oil on canvas

Google Street View - Belfast, Northern Ireland

I painted this from the Google Map Street View as a challenge from Bill Guffey's VirtualPaintout. I don't know why I wait until the end of the month (when the challenge is almost finished). At least I painted it.

San Miguel de Allende Street

San Miguel de Allende is a wonderful city in Mexico. The buildings are brightly colored. The streets invite painters to come and paint the many neighborhoods. The people are beautiful ... each is a painting. This street is in a residential neighborhood. (One of many that have been painted or is waiting to be painted.)
10 x 10 oil on gallery wrap canvas

$95.00
Buy it now

Encaustic Landscape

I'm working on my encaustic blog. It has taken a while for the weather to allow me to produce new work for the blog. Fortunately, the weather has been great ... The last few days I have been able to open the studio for ventilation and heat up the wax. This landscape/abstract was a piece that I finished and was very happy with.

$35.00