Apricot Half

oil 8x8 inches magnify/purchase Third in the series: "three things on a ledge."

Colman's Mustard

oil 8x8 inches magnify/purchase Motivation is high. I have a partial answer to the relentless question, "What am I going to paint today?" Answer: three things on a ledge. This is the second in the series.

Apricot & Blue On A Ledge

oil 8x8 inches magnify/purchase This strong design really appeals to me. Might be a series coming up: three things on a ledge. This big apricot is from the little fruit stand on Balboa Island. I couldn't believe how big they were. Beautiful color, and yummy too.

Orange & Blue, Palette Knifed

oil 6x8 inches magnify/purchase That space between the crock and the orange had been bugging me. For some time I'd wanted to try painting with a palette knife. So with a bit of time on my hands I took the dry painting just above and smeared the paint on. A lot like frosting a cake. Purely experimental. For some really great palette knife paintings, check out David Boyd Jr.'s work.

Here's a trick I've been using for a while. It enables me to paint right off the edges of my panel. I use several loops of wide painter's tape on the back of my panel to stick it onto a larger piece of MDF board from Home Depot. It stays on for painting, for carrying it around to photograph it, or laying it under a warm lamp to dry. Works for larger panels too. Just use more tape loops.

Here's my display at the Balboa Art Walk. What a blast! Twenty linear feet of space, perfect weather, a friendly crowd and great sales. Special thanks to the friends who visited and kind folks who purchased my work. Thanks for supporting my habit!

Still Life With Crimson Ribbon -sold

oil 12x12 inches magnify/purchase Reds and violets with greens seem to be one of my favorite color schemes. This one was kind of "gaggy" until I added the earthy vintage photo and especially the lemons. The lemons provide happy relief from all the reds and greens. The main players in this piece belonged to my mother; the photo of her as a young child, the iridescent tea cup and the flower pot. Think I should keep the painting? No, because I have the objects themselves. It's the act of painting them that's the real joy for me. The BALBOA ART WALK IS THIS SUNDAY! I'm really looking forward to the cool temps, the music and the happy crowd! If you're in So Cal I hope you'll come and say hi. I'll be pretty close to where the ferry lands on the island. Turn left as you walk off the ferry and walk along the sea wall to Pearl Street. I'll have 20 feet of display space. Wooo-hooo!!!

Pink Gerbera

oil 8x10 magnify/purchase Saturday's Chino Art Festival was a hot one! 95 degrees. Even so, I met some really nice folks, had good sales and managed to get some paint on canvas. I made s few changes to this once I got it home. Thanks to all who stopped by. Looking forward to the BALBOA ART WALK ON MAY 18th. Sunshine and cool ocean breezes!

Light & Shadow, Oak Glen

oil 8x10 inches magnify/purchase On a fall visit to Snowline Orchards in Oak Glen, I set up to paint these lovely shadows. I should have brought a jacket, I thought while I set up. The light lasted about 5 minutes, then dark clouds came in and made everything go flat. I wimped out and went home. I took my good pictures home with me, along with a little bag of hot mini apple donuts. UPCOMING EVENTS: Tomorrow I'll be at the Chino Arts Festival, 10-4:00. BALBOA ART WALK, SUNDAY, MAY 18, 9-5:00. Over 100 Artist Booths and 4 musical groups. On the island promenade, along the seawall. To find me, walk left off the ferry and along the seawall to Pearl Street. Same location as last year! I hope you'll come by and say hi.

Still Life With Hammered Silver -sold

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase I painted this soon after attending Qiang Huang's workshop, but I'm just now just getting around to posting it. I admired an arrangement I saw at a friend's house. She had made it solely with dried Japanese iris pods. She insisted I take some home, so that's what you see sticking out and all around. I like the assortment of textures in this piece. It has an earthy feel in spite of the saturated fruit color. UPCOMING EVENTS: SATURDAY, MAY 3 Chino Arts Festival 10:00-4:00 at Chino Civic Center. Mostly music and dance performances, but I will have a demonstration booth with a small amount of work on display. SUNDAY, MAY 18TH BALBOA ART WALK 9:00-5:00 Over 100 artists and 4 musical groups along the seawall on the island. More info later on my exact location.

Bottles & Corks -sold

oil 8x8 inches A few years ago I used these bottles as the subject for "Bottle Necked." I painted this piece for a collector in Maine who wanted something similar. Wine labels are an art in themselves. It's a lot of fun to include them in a painting. Their color along with the shiny glass and contrasting cork texture makes for an interesting piece.

Abalone Point -SOLD

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase The last day camping I ventured down into the sand for this one. There was a cold wind blowing, so I practically had the cove all to myself. Having had limited experience painting moving water, here was a great opportunity. I had a blast.

Sea View Path

oil 8x10 inches magnify/purchase

Up Moro Canyon

oil 8x10 inches magnify Second day at Moro Campground I painted this right within the campground. It was early morning and the clouds were clearing from rain the night before. Atmosphere is what I was after here. Not for sale at this time, but you can click on "magnify" to see brushwork.

Warm Cliffs -sold

oil 9x12 magnify From my "paintcation" to Moro Campground, Crystal Cove last week. Standing on the edge of the bluff within the campground was this stunning view of next bluff to the south. Can't beat the views in Laguna Beach. And even on the last day in March I got a bit too warm! I could feel summer coming! I had a great time trying out manganese blue in sky and sea, a recent addition to my palette. It seemed to work well for that Laguna water.

In an effort to lighten my backpack, I ordered the James Coulter mini palette and did not put glass in it. Reduced my 23 lb. backpack down to 16 lb. I thought mixing the color right on the wood might bother me, but it was really no problem. I figured painters have been working on wooden palettes for hundreds of years. The smaller mixing space compared to my compact palette still worked fine. The fresh blobs of paint kinda soaked into the wood even after several coats of linseed oil, but after some layers of paint, I think it will be well seasoned. The palette fits right inside my Kelty Redwing 3100. Dare I say, I was a happy camper!

Bowl With Orchid -SOLD

oil 12x9 inches magnify/purchase This is the second study from the Qiang Huang workshop. The color in this piece is much nicer in person. Below is my set up and my sketch, or placement stage as Qiang calls it.

Tomorrow I'm off for a few days of camping/painting at the beach. I'll post again on Friday.

Mighty Mandarin

oil 12x9 inches magnify/purchase Over the weekend I attended a workshop taught by Qiang Huang. My friend, May and I had a great time, and though I have been painting a while, I learned so much! He is an effective and methodical instructor, breaking down painting into 5 basic steps: placement, value, color, modeling and consolidation. Most helpful to me was how to keep darks transparent and lights opaque. A simple tip I had not heard elsewhere: rub a very thin coat of linseed oil on your blank canvas to ease the application of paint, then use a soft brush to paint in your darks. Below are pics of my set up and value stage, then Master Qiang at work.

Melanie's Art Room

oil 12x9 inches magnify Melanie lives in the high desert in a barn converted into a house. Now it's an art cottage oozing with creativity and joy. On Wednesday a few of us drove up for an art day together. I could have painted in any room because there was eye candy everywhere. This is the doorway into her art room. I especially loved the light coming through the blinds straight back, and the painted concrete floor. She let her little grandsons paint it with her. Out in her flower beds lie small rocks painted in bright colors. Prayer rocks, each with the name of a friend or relative. What a fun and inspiring day! Thanks, Melanie!

Desert Romance -sold

watercolor and gouache approx. 8x8 inches magnify/purchase The wind howled and rocked the RV one afternoon. I stayed inside and used a photo reference I had taken earlier in the day. I loved how the awning pattern reflected into the shadow it cast. The two chairs and two fan palms made it romance in the desert. This is the same little trailer I painted the day before.

'Stream In The Desert

watercolor approx. 8x8 inches magnify/purchase When it was too warm in the afternoon, I cranked up the air, and painted this view while looking out my dinette window.

Fan Palms

oil 10x8 inches magnify/purchase Second of the paintings done at Anza Borrego. Coming up next are two little desert watercolor sketches I did inside the RV. Reluctantly, I have decided to take some time off from painting. There are matters I must attend to related to my mother's passing. I guess I'm a one-thing-at-a-time kind of girl. So once I get those responsibilities in order, I'll be able to focus again at the easel. I have some fresh ideas, and can't wait to get back to it!

Desert Scene -sold

oil 6x12 inches magnify/purchase This was my first time painting on location in the desert. After so many months of drought, there were few spring flowers, but still plenty of color if you have the eye for it. Spindly twiggy bushes are a challenge I decided. At the start I looked carefully for correct values in the distance, because I wanted to convey the vast desert space. I'm especially happy with that aspect of this painting.