When Trolls Were Fun

oil 8x6 inches Purchase info here. 

 When I painted this I was feeling a bit of whimsy and irritation at the same time. Trolls were fun when I was a kid. I could always relate to the troll hair as mine was very curly/frizzy and got bigger if I brushed it. Curly haired girls, you know what I mean. I made little troll clothing by cutting and hand stitching pieces of felt. Sweet memories of an innocent time. Nowadays we have internet trolls who have nothing better to do than to interject their unsolicited opinions on social media. Irritated by one such troll that day, I chose to celebrate with this painting the good days when trolls were fun.

Old Clown

oil 9x12 inches Purchase info here. When I was a little girl growing up in Southern California, my parents, my brother and I sailed to Catalina Island on the old SS Catalina, also known as the Great White Steamer. It was a 301-foot steamship built in 1924 that provided passenger service on the 26-mile passage to Catalina Island from 1924 to 1975. On board, a clown wandered around entertaining the kids. Clowns were fun back then. How on earth have they become scary now??? Anyway, because it was my birthday that day, he gave me this clown. He's been around for a loooong time! I hope this painting conjures up good chilhood memories for its viewers.

Angel Kitty

oil 8x8 inches click for purchase information Many years ago we returned from vacation to find in our garage a stray cat and her litter of six newborn kittens inside a paper grocery bag. We found homes for five and kept the one that looked like this. Our little girl named her Cindy and she lived fifteen years. This kitty is just a Christmas decoration, I think. I chose the cat first, then the other objects for the violet, blue, green scheme I had in mind. Round versus linear and the contrasting textures were considerations also. I'm all packed up for the BALBOA ISLAND ART WALK TOMORROW. It's my first year. Wish me luck!

Found My Marbles

oil 4x6 inches not for sale My friend, Rachel recently took a trip back to Maine where she grew up. She brought back wild blueberry jam and a small bag of the most beautiful marbles for me to use for my still life paintings. So thoughtful. Thanks, Rachel! I poured a few out of the bag and painted them as they landed. Tomorrow I'll get ready for the BALBOA ISLAND ART WALK this Sunday. The weather will be perfect, so if you're in Southern California, don't miss it!

Emily & Madeline

oil 10x8 inches not for sale Our granddaughter, Emily loves to paint. This is her painting as a backdrop for Madeline. The colors seemed to go together perfectly. You might remember seeing it before in my painting, "Child's Play." I'll give this to Emily for her birthday in July.

Paddington -sold

oil 10x8 inches I haven't been knocking out a painting a day, or posting every day for quite a while now. I enjoy the bit larger sizes, taking my time and putting more thought into what I choose to paint. A line from Richard Schmid's book, Alla Prima has been in my mind: "Slow down and savor what you are doing."

Kid Stuff -sold

oil 10x10 inches -sold- Here are two in a set of nesting dolls. Not the famous Russian type, but hand painted and colorful just the same. The crayons and marbles are a bit out of focus in the photo.

Child's Play -SOLD

oil 16x20 inches click for purchase information I chose some of the objects just for their color and shape, but a few have sentimental value. The yellow storybook was mine as a child, a gift from my Aunt Diane. Our youngest son, now 29, carried Snoopy every day to preschool. The little watercolor is by my granddaughter, Emily. She did a lot of paintings one day and had them for sale (like Gramma.) I bought it for fifty cents and hung it on the fridge, of course. Childhood is so precious and too short. I plan to paint these objects again, so this one's for sale.

Fun Stuff

oil 16x20 inches Thought I'd give you a peek at what's on my easel today. I absolutely LOVE painting this stuff!!!

Bug Jar

Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

click here to bid

shipping available after Aug. 9

Tonight I'm posting from beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Though I've had no time to paint, we're having a great time. We went on a long hike yesterday in GlacierNP on Trail of the Cedars to Avalanche Lake. The scenery was breathtaking, the hike challenging and so worth it! The painting posted is the last of my finger puppet paintings and my favorite.

Butterfly

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

click here to bid

shipping available after Aug. 9

Here's the second of three finger puppet paintings. The saturated color and plush fabric was so fun to paint! We're on our way to Glacier National Park today. Spent the whole day driving and have one more day to go. I'm hoping to find time to paint and post if there's wi-fi. This will be our first visit there and we've heard it's beyond beautiful, so we're really excited!

Something Fishy SOLD

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

This is a little finger puppet I've had for years. Bought him/her? and two others when I was teaching elementary school. While painting I kept thinking about all those women news anchors getting their lips plumped with collagen! The plush material is fun to try to capture.