Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler
7 x 5
December 2008
Signed giclee print $29.95
Note cards available


I am back to the birds! I found the reference photo for this bird on Mike McDowell's Birding and Digiscoping Blog. I haven't seen all of Mike's birds yet but he has many wonderful photos. He also has amazing video footage and provides a wealth of information. Visit him at Mike's Blog. Thank you Mike!!

New England home in Autumn

New England home in Autumn

11 x 15

Commission completed Dec. 20, 2008

I finished painting this Canton, Connecticut home on Friday after many long hours. If you recognize the house, please don't rush out and call the owners because it is a surprise for one of them! The person who commissioned it hasn't even seen it yet. Jeff just taught me how to take a photo of the painting with indoor lighting, and here it is. I thought I was going to have to wait for the snow to stop to shoot outside like I have done in the past. Thanks Jeff!

Sorry for the lack of posts this month. Thanksgiving, lots of no school for the kids and a zillion other things have limited my painting time. Now I'm ready to paint more and the kids have 12 days off of school in a row starting 1:10 on Tuesday! I WILL paint anyway! Now that this painting is done I am going back to the birds. I am almost done with a Yellow Warbler. :)

The Three Bears

Backyard Forest

12 x 16

2006
This was an attempt at a plein air painting of the woods in my back yard. I started outside and then spent weeks in the studio tightening it up. I never really liked it much. It didn't have a center of interest.

I finally realized that what the painting was missing was bears! Several weeks ago, Momma bear and her cubs visited our yard and spent the evening in the neighborhood. It was too cool! I was inspired.

Revised painting:

The Three Bears 2008

12 x 18

$295 with mat and frame

After I added the bears I changed the shapes of some trees and branches, added texture to the bark, and worked on the foliage and the sky. It was challenging to get the bears in over the foliage without having them look green. That is why they are so dark.

On the left: Momma Bear with her fancy ear tags.

On the right: The three cubs, posing on our street. They spent a lot of time in a neighbor's trees but the pictures didn't come out.

Sorry for the blurriness.

Tri Color Heron

Tri Color Heron
14 x 11
Sold
2008

I finished this painting today. Photo reference by Alan Wilson at Naturespicsonline

Stellar's Jay

Stellar's Jay

10 x 8

2007 - 2008

Sold

Reference photo by Jared Hobbs

I painted this in December 2007 and never have been happy with it. One day I lightened the dark head and added some color. Today I did some finishing touches and finally have a prettier bird perched on the birch.

Flowers

As the weather gets colder and winter approaches, I thought it would be nice to post some spring flowers. The reference photo for the crocus was taken in Farmington, CT, by my friend Sherry Perrie. I took the photo for the pansies in Rheinbeck, NY.

Purple Crocus
8 x 10

2007

Sold

8 x 10 signed giclee print: $55

Note card: $2.50

Pansies
5 x 7
2007
Sold

Note card: $2.50

Another German Shepherd Portrait

Sophie
16 x 20
2008
Commission



I finished Sophie this week and my customer seems very happy. This photo was taken when it was cloudy out and she looks better in the sun.

Loon Lake

Loon Lake

9 x 11.5

2008

I finally finished this painting. It started as a plein air painting in July at Loon Lake in the Adirondacks. I do not excel at plein air painting. The painting is only complete because it is a gift to our friend Jeff who lets us stay at his lovely camp, and this is the painting that he wanted. Many hours in the studio pretty much salvaged this attempt at a plein air painting. Jeff says he likes it so I guess that is all that matters.

Sophie, the next German Shepherd is close to being done!

German Shepherd Portrait

Elsa Marie
2008
16 x 20
Commission



I finished this painting today and I sure am glad that it is done. It took about 30 hours over 3 weeks. I used my own photo as a reference. I am doing another 16 x 20 German Shepherd for the same customer. Sophia will be a bit more challenging because I will work from old, less than perfect photos, since she is no longer with us. I guess I am a portrait artist now! :)

Tomorrow my show starts at the Gallery at the Mill House in Chester CT. For more information got to MILL HOUSE. My art will be on display there for the month of October, with an opening reception Saturday, Oct. 4, from 2 - 5. Sunday I plan on displaying prints, note cards and a few paintings at the New Hartford Festival of Arts, on Main Street in the center of New Hartford. Yesterday I met with the staff of Piccolo's restaurant in Farmington and made plans to display my art there and at the Peppercorn Grill in Hartford, starting in November. I am in the process of having giclee prints made of some of my favorite bird paintings, and I have sold three paintings in the last 10 days! So, the lack of posts on this blog is because I am crazy busy being an artist and promoting my work, and occasionally acknowledging my family, not because I am slacking off!

Bald Eagle

This is a PHOTO, not a painting. (Yet.)

I took this photo while paddling on Lake Wentworth, in Wolfeboro, N.H., over the weekend. It will make a great reference photo for a painting, when I get a chance to do it.

I apologize for the lack of posts. I do have another Loon Lake painting, complete with loons, that I will post as soon as it is done. Meanwhile, I have been commissioned to paint two 16 x 20 German Shepherd dog portraits which will keep me busy for a while, and possibly a third dog. I went to New Hampshire this past weekend to take photos for a painting my friend wants me to do. We are deciding on a view of her camp from the lake and/or a panoramic view of the mountains as seen on the far side of the lake. It is great to have commissions! I just don't know when I will get back to the Neuschwanstein Castle, or my bird series. Life is good.

Gregory the Corn Snake

Last night I found Gregory, after she (or is it he, we don't really know) was lost in the house for three days! After ransacking and searching through the whole house and cellar for a large portion of those three days, I found her in a box of tissues in Leif's bedroom, right near her cage.

The first photo is Gregory on me, minutes before I put her away without remembering to put the heavy books on the lid of the cage. The second photo is Leif and Gregory this afternoon. We are all very happy. Special thanks to Darlene, a California psychic, for her remote viewing to help find Gregory. She assured me for three days that he was alive, still on the second floor, and most likely in Leif's room. Check out her site at Psychic readings by Darlene. She specializes in finding what is lost, and has a host of other very cool gifts. She is a fabulous resource.

Ducklings again

Follow the Leader II

4 x 10

2008

$135 with mat and frame

Finished this just now. At least, it may be done. Same photo reference as last painting.

I have been very distracted. Two days ago I didn't put books on the top of Gregory's lid for his cage, and he got out. I have been searching for him every since. I have lines of flour on the floors to try to track his passage and even have two live mice positioned at strategic points to tempt him out of hiding. So far, no sign. I am distraught and can't seem to focus on paintings. :(

Ducklings

Follow the Leader

4 x 10

$135 with mat and frame

2008

I finally finished another painting! I completed this today and have already started another using the same reference photo, which I took at Loon Lake in July. (See July post about Loon Lake.) They are Mallard Ducks.


I have been busy having giclee prints made and producing new note cards. This involved a bit of traveling, as well as folding, packaging, and distributing. My newest note cards are: Cardinal, Tanager, Hummingbird with Thistle, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Costa's Hummingbird, Goldfinch with Flower, Crocus, Delicate Arch and Lava Canyon. Cards are $2.50 each with discounts for larger quantities. Wholesale price is $1.25. I now have 47 different note cards, which are all listed on my web site, except for these latest additions.

I plan on finishing the Neushwanstein Castle at some point, as well as at least one of three plein air paintings of Loon Lake as seen from my friend's camp. I better get painting!

Black Snake

Black Snake

8 x 10

2006

Note card: $2.50

Jeff shot the reference photo for this painting at Omega Institute in Rheinbeck, NY. I loved the photo and had to paint this. It sold at my first solo show, in April 2006.

Today I got a beautiful corn snake for my son from Freecycle. The snake is friendly and gorgeous and even came with a huge and well equipped cage. Leif is thrilled. Gregory will make a lovely subject for a watercolor.

Loon Lake Camp Painting is done

Loon Lake Camp II

16 x 20

2008

I finished this commissioned painting today after about 40 hours of painting over 3 1/2 weeks. The reference is shown in the July 6 post. I sure am glad it is done! Now I need to get it to the Adirondacks, possibly after having Giclee prints made first.

Crocus Bay Boat

Crocus Bay

8 x 10

2006

$225 with mat and frame

Note card $2.50

I think this is the third painting in the Anguilla series. Crocus Bay is where you go to get a boat ride over to Little Bay, another one of my favorite places in the world. This is not the boat that took us. I took the reference photo. I tried to post the paintings, Little Bay and Walk on the Beach but they post sideways. You can see them at my web site gallery.

Katouche Bay

Katouche Bay

11 x 14

2006

Note card: $2.50

This is the second or third painting I did in the Anguilla series. We stayed at a Villa that overlooks this bay. There is a fairly steep goat path leading from the villas down to the sea. This view is from part way down the trail. Very quiet lovely beach with few visitors. This is one of my favorite places in the world. (The photo isn't great and had to be severely cropped because of distortion. I can't take a new photo because the painting is sold.)

Evening in Anguilla

11 x 14

2007

$450 (with mat and frame)
note card: $2.50

This is the same beach viewed from down on the sand.

Coral Beach

Coral Beach

8 x 10

2006

Note cards: $2.50

This is the first painting from my Anguilla series, which now totals seven. Anguilla is a lovely, small island in the British West Indies, next to St. Maarten. We love Anguilla. I originally called this "Rocky Beach" but it is actually coral. This is a view from Katouche Bay, which is the title of another Anguillan seascape I have done.

Jeff rafting the Grand Canyon

Jeff in the Canyon

11 x 15

2005

I painted this for Jeff as a Father's Day gift in 2005. The photo was taken on a Grand Canyon rafting and kayaking trip by one of the other boaters. This is one of Jeff's favorite paintings of mine. The face and hands were quite a challenge.

Lava Canyon

Lava Canyon

16 x 20

2007

Sold

Jeff and I have kayaked and/or rafted the Grand Canyon several times. It is a wonderful experience. Jeff took the reference photo on his last canyon trip. It is a side canyon along the Colorodo River. This painting was the largest one I had painted at the time, and when it was finished I wasn't sure I ever wanted to paint another rock. I have recovered and still enjoy painting rocks in moderation. Lava Canyon was one of the first paintings I got into a Connecticut Watercolor Society so it helped me become a member. It has been in several other juried art shows. It is one of four Grand Canyon paintings I have done so far.

How the Leopard Got its Spots

Leopard

11 x 14

2007

$450 (with mat and frame)

Limited Edition Giclee Prints: $95

Note cards: $2.50

Reference photo from Scotch Wildlife Photos

This painting took over twenty hours and these photos give you an idea of the progression. I think it would make a great jigsaw puzzle. The reference photo was from the "mixed animal" package I got from Scotch. There is an elephant from that package that is waiting for me to paint it. Now you know how the leopard got its spots.

Kayaking to another commission

We are back from a week in the Adirondacks. Had a nice time with the loons and ducks. I got some beautiful photos out on Loon Lake. My favorite is Mommy Mallard duck and her ducklings. I look forward to painting it. I'll crop it and make the water more interesting and it should make a sweet painting.

I won't be getting to it very soon though...








This photo is a Loon Lake "camp". The tennis courts are behind and to the right. I went kayaking around the lake and found myself another commission! (See post dated April 1, 2008 for the first one.) I love the stone chimney. This is going to be a 16 x 20 and is going to keep me busy for a while! The Neuschwanstein Castle and the duckies will have to wait.

I'll post other paintings now and then so you will have paintings to see while I am busy with this commission. Maybe I'll post the work in progress.

Jeff took a video of Loon Lake. I think it is one of his nicest! It even shows a loon. Soon Jeff will be buying a real video camera! View his video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppbwg6M6Vnw

Salamanders

Salamanders

8 x 10

2006

Original Sold

Signed 8 x 10 giclee print: $55

Note cards available

I have loved red eft salamanders since early childhood when we would find them at camp. Now my children enjoy finding them with me. We were in Milford, Pennsylvania at a family camping weekend when we found the models for this painting. My mom and my kids took a hike with me in the rain and we counted over 100 salamanders. I think they are lovely. We gently "borrowed" a dozen or so and brought them back to our cabin for a photo op before returning them where we found them. We find plenty of them in the woods close to home, too.

The painting has an abstract element in it that is unusual for me. I just wasn't interested in painting dirt, leaves and pine needles at the time. I was compelled to paint the little creatures and went loose for the background. I almost named this "Salamanders in Space" or "Space Salamanders". I just had more note cards printed. The proof showed the image a bit saturated and I decided to go with it because they are super bright orange in these note cards and I like them even better. The purple is more intense too.

I am leaving for the Adirondacks tomorrow morning on vacation. No new posts coming for more than a week. I am not high tech enough at the moment to bother learning how to tell the post to post while I am gone, plus I haven't finished packing and I have ice cream churning. (The ice cream is made with our fresh raw organic goat milk, our fresh raw eggs and local maple syrup! More about that on Jeff's "Wanna Bee Farm" blog someday maybe. It is almost midnight. Good night!

Frogs

Frog

8 x 10

2005

Sold

Note cards available

This was my first professional frog painting. Jeff took the reference photo at Omega Institute in Rheinbeck, NY. The original sold, as well as a couple of hundred note cards so far. Frogs are quite popular. I am not as strange as I thought for loving them!

Buddies
5 x 7
2006
Sold

Note cards
available





I got the reference photo for this paintings from Wetcanvas.com. The contributor has a strange screen name like Zarustor. I would check on the name now but the Website is down for maintenance. Wetcanvas is a place for artists, and includes an image library that members contribute to for the purpose of providing reference photos for other members. They have great forums and posts too.

Not Speaking

8 x 10
2006
$225.00 with mat and frame

I shot the reference photo at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton. My mom gave the painting its name.

Goldfinch with flowers

Goldfinch with flowers

5 x 7

2008

Sold

Signed giclee print: $29.95

I finished this painting today. I like it much better than the Robin posted on Wednesday. I went a little wild with the pink and purple! The photo my camera took showed a light pink and blue background. I adjusted it to look as close to the actual painting as possible, with moderate success. I used another reference photo from Allan Wilson of Natures Pics Online. The photo reference did not have a pink and purple background. I can't wait to make note cards with this image!


I am going to take a little break from birds. Today I started the drawing for a 16 x 20 watercolor of Neuschwanstein castle. I have a photo I have been considering using for months but chose a better one from Wikimedia. This one looks like a magical fairy tale castle and shows the mountains behind it. This may take a while!

Robin Red Breast

Robin Red Breast
7 x 5
2008
$115

I just finished this painting today. Reference photo by Marie Read. (I think the photo is better than the painting.) She has many gorgeous photos at www.marieread.com. Thank you Marie!

Pumpkins, Pets and Playing Cards

I finished this painting yesterday. It is a 5 x 7 commission for Newt's Playing cards, and they now own this image and the painting. This is the 5th painting I have done for them to use as the card back of decks of playing cards. This deck is called "Pampered Pets of Pickaway County". It is still in the production stage and won't be out for months. They hope to make lots of decks like these as fundraisers for animal shelters and humane societies. I plan on having some for sale when they are done.

This is a 5 x 7 painting of the Ponce Lighthouse in Florida, painted for Newt's lighthouse deck. I painted this in May and these cards won't be available for a few months either. I'll post when I have them for sale.

(Update - January 2009 - Lighthouse deck available!)

I like this painting and deck best so far. It is the "Vintage Pumpkin Deck" and I was more creatively involved in the composition of the painting, another 5 x 7. I researched vintage tractors and looked at lots of pumpkins before painting. I like the pumpkin art images on the fronts of the cards. You can learn more about this deck and see some of the art by going to Newt's Cards. This deck has already been produced and I am selling them for $5.99 each, same as Newt's Cards does. The smaller picture shows the card back now that they put the title and "Pumpkins" on it.

The second card back I did for Newt's was for the Delphos Canal Commission Museum. The cards are a fund raiser and sell for $10 a piece by the museum. It was a little different taking a very horizontal building and putting it into a vertical painting. That is why there is so much sky.

Newt's Cards used this image as the back for the the Cumming County Historical Society playing card deck, another fund raiser. The museum used to be a train depot and still has a caboose.

Keep Newt's Cards in mind if you need a different kind of fund raiser for your organization or club.

Cheetah

Cheetah

11 x 14

2007

Giclee print $95

Note Cards available

I was Artist of the Month at Flatbread Company in Canton for October 2007. I showed 15 paintings and came in three evenings to demo. Cheetah is what I worked on. The lighting was poor and with all the distractions I didn't get very much done there. It was still kind of fun, and after spending many hours on the painting at home it is one of my favorites.

My friend Alan Perrie took the reference photo while on safari in Tanzania. Flatbread bought the painting from me and auctioned it off for charity, in this case to benefit a local food bank. My sister-in-law was the highest bidder and now owns the painting. I have prints and note cards. Flatbread has a new manager and discontinued the artist of the month program. Too bad. They still have great pizza though.

Autumn Splendor

Autumn Splendor

14 x 17

2007

Sold (again)

I refer to this painting as the "loose tree". The official name was suggested by someone when I was hanging it in a show. I hadn't put it on my web site because it doesn't look anything like my usual paintings. I actually never even took a photo of it until this morning. I considered naming this post "And now for something completely different".

I went to a Jeanne Carbonetti watercolor workshop last July at the Omega Institute in Rheinbeck, NY. Omega is a wonderful place and Jeanne is absolutely lovely. Overall, I think that loose is overrated in watercolor, but Jeanne's paintings have vibrant colors and look gorgeous. She is a splendid teacher too. Many artists talk about wanting to "loosen up" and many people like loose paintings. I rather like tight, realistic watercolors but do see how a little looseness could enhance a painting now and then. I could also see how it might be nice to complete a painting in a couple of hours instead of twenty.

I did this painting in class based on a photo I took in West Hartford. I like the painting, had a friend cut a mat and here it is. I actually sold it last month at the little outdoor art event to a woman who loved it. Now I own it again because her check bounced and she says that her fiance won't let her keep it. Go figure. So here it is for the world to see, and maybe somebody else will give it a good home. :)

Hendricks Head Lighthouse

Hendricks Head Lighthouse

11 x 14

$450 with mat and frame

2008

I finished this painting today, and submitted it to the Connecticut Watercolor Society 68th Annual Exhibition. I had borrowed Cheetah, a painting owned by my sister-in-law to enter in the show in case I didn't get the lighthouse done in time. Friday I was looking over the entry form and discovered I could enter two paintings. It was a busy weekend, but I squeezed in four or five hours of painting and feel good about entering both paintings. I have a better chance of getting in with two. The opening reception is next Sunday. I hope to be there.

This lighthouse is in Maine and the reference photo was taken by my friend Allan Perrie. He is the same person who took the photo of the Cheetah while on Safari in Tanzania. I will post the cheetah another day. Now that this painting is done I can go back to birds! I have a goldfinch already drawn out and a robin photo I really like. :)

Sharon in the Hartford Courant

Reflections

11 x 14

2007

$450

Note Cards available

I am famous! Well, not exactly, but at least I just got a lot of exposure. :) Yesterday, I was the cover artist for the Farmington Valley itown section of the Hartford Courant. There is a large color photo of Reflections, one of the Barkhamsted Reservoir paintings featured in my April 22, 2008 post. (I was not going to post the image here but the post looked so boring and empty without a painting so here it is again.) On page 3 is a photo of me and a nice little bio.

I am collecting copies for Mom and Dad who are very excited about this. They don't have a computer. You, however, can see what was printed by looking at their web site http://www.courant.com/community/news/fv/hc-itowns-cover0525-fv,0,940835.photo. I tried to make this a tidy little link but it didn't work and I still have to prepare for the show I am hanging at Duncaster first thing tomorrow morning.

My friend Wanda had told me about the cover art possibility 4 weeks ago on the Sunday that they started it. I submitted two paintings by email that very night. I didn't hear anything back until last week when I was informed that they were inundated with art submissions but had chosen mine. Paul Stern, the itown editor told me by email,"We select the ones that we think will reproduce best on newsprint and catch the eye and/or have local appeal. Yours qualifies on all counts. "

Thank you Paul! And thanks to Loretta Waldman for doing such a nice job of it! May has been a very nice month for my career so far. What will come next? (Lots of paintings sales and commissions I hope!)

Owls

Owl
8 x 10
2006
Note Cards available

I painted this owl as a 50th wedding anniversary gift for my parents. I asked my photographer friend Prasad Menon if he had any owls and he sent me a great photo of this Burrowing Owl. This was before I had learned the art of surfing the web to hunt for images. Please visit Prasad's web site at menonphoto to see very beautiful photos.

Night Owl

8 x 10

2007

Note cards available

This painting of a Northern Pygmy Owl was done using a reference photo by Jared Hobbs. He also provided me with the photo for the owl below. As I have mentioned before, Jared has awesome wildlife photos at hobbsphotos.


Spotted Owl

10 x 8

2008

$225 with mat and frame

This painting of a Mexican Spotted Owl was done using another photo by Jared Hobbs. I started it months ago and finished it this week. The rock is sandstone.