The Red Canoe 2

9"x6" acrylic on linen

SOLD

Winter in Bloom

I painted the Paperwhites that are blooming in my windowsill, seemingly in contrast to the rest of nature outside, sleeping the winter away. Their pretty little faces glow against the sheer white curtain, adding their own light to the room.


6"x8" acrylic on linen paper

$50.

Paperwhites

Some Christians prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas by lighting candles each week. Others open little windows in an Advent calendar each day. I prefer to grow paperwhites. I place the bulbs on rocks in a clear glass bowl and fill it with water. Then I let the new growth remind me that the new life of Christ is coming, too. When planted at the beginning of Advent, approximately a few days after Thanksgiving, the paperwhites begin to set buds about midway to Christmas, and bloom sometime just before. The blooms last throughout the Christmas season - till well after New Years.

I see so much symbolism in these pretty little plants, beginning with the transparent container which reveals the roots and holds the water and rock. I see this as how my life should be - transparent and rooted in Christ, the rock of my faith.



The green shoots speak of new life, which in time set forth buds of promise. With loving care, sunlight and water, the blossoms begin to open - till they fill the air with their sweet perfume and eventually burst into a bouquet of glorious silvery white flowers, looking like stars with gold centers. A marvelous gift from the Creator.

Morning Mist

                                                                                At the end of summer, I took a series of pictures with mist from a morning shower glowing through the  sunlight.








All the leaves and branches sparkle with rain drops like diamonds. 








A sparrow sang it's beautiful song from the branches of a bare bush. It is a glorious time of day which makes the landscape look almost  mystical.                  

The Red Canoe 1

3.5"x5" acrylic on linen paper

$50.                                                      

The Covered Bridge II

This is a miniature painting of the covered bridge challenge offered by Danamarie for her December challenge at her blog, Artistic Sentiments. This is my second entry. Besides this being a miniature, I painted the bridge red instead of white, rearranged the landscape to show the river running under the bridge, and added some whimsy by swirling the clouds.



2.5"X3" miniature acrylic on linen paper   $35. framed

Road to Ballynagleragh

This was painted for Bill Duffy's Virtual Paintout December challenge which takes place through Google Street Map. This month is in County Clare, Ireland.


2.5"x6" acrylic on linen    $35.

Christmas Card Collection

I think these are the last of my snowmen card collection, each personalized for the recipients.


4.5"x6" acrylic palette knife on linen paper

NFS

The Covered Bridge

 I painted this from Danamarie's Blog, Artistic Sentiments (used to be Inspiration All Around Us) December challenge. As soon as I saw the photo, I knew that I wanted to paint it in a winter setting. Then I read that this was her suggestion too, so I knew my instincts were right. I have mixed feelings about the outcome as combining a real setting with imaginary landscape details is not always easy. But live and learn...

8"x10" acrylic on canvas panel - palette knife

$50.

Christmas Miniature

Another painting, this one of two sisters. When I painted them for this miniature ornament to be placed on their tree, I used several photos for reference at different ages. So the long hair with the daisy chain wreaths, which I liked, was from pictures of them when they were a bit younger. They are now 13 and 10.

These miniature ornaments are meant to have a Victorian feel, conveying a resemblance of the persons and their personalities, but not a photographic likeness or any particular age.


2"x3" acrylic palette knife and brush on linen paper

Little Christmas Angels

Framed Miniature - two little brothers - to be placed on their Christmas Tree. The little boy on the right I am happy with the resemblance - the one on the left I worked on a lot and am not as happy with him, but did not want to overwork and completely ruin the painting.

Okay, I worked on the face of the baby on the left and redid the background (little angels have to have halos and wings, don't they?). The actual painting turned out much better than it looks here. Better contrast and more facial detail than in the photo here. I guess  you could say I'm pleased with this first attempt. Now on to the others.


2"x3" acrylic palette knife   NFS

Desert Life

Last spring I painted this picture of blooming cactus but was never happy with the composition and also felt the picture needed some other point of interest. In researching sw birds I came across a photo of a mother dove and her babies nesting among some cacti in bloom. Although the cacti were different, I took the idea and infused it into my cactus blooms.









8"x10" acrylic on linen    $50.

Central Park Stroll

  This painting was done for Lee Brown's A Day Not Wasted December challenge, from a photo he took while visiting New York in autumn. I particularly liked the lady strolling through the park - possibly on her way to or from work. I imagine her a fellow artist with her portfolio case under her arm. What I particularly liked about Lee's photo (besides the lovely fall colors, interesting lamps, and nice compostition) was the detail in the woman - she was a tad smaller in the photo, I gave her more prominence - her leather boots and bag, patterned skirt over jeans and the sweater that looked like it was chosen to match the season.



8"x10" acrylic on canvas panel      $125.

My Christmas Card Collections

The Snow People Christmas Card Collection
 "Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled."                                          Author Unknown
I painted this first snowman card, by personalizing the snow people to whimsically match the members of the family it is intended for. I liked the idea so much that I decided to paint more, making them personal for the intended recipients. There are now seven in this series. They are palette knife acrylic on 4.5"x 6" linen paper.
NFS
             

This  card was painted especially for a fellow artist.
















My mom is of Dutch heritage, so I wanted to paint a winter scene from her homeland for her - Windmill and Skater, both are common sights in Holland. As she ages she seems to get more nostalgic for old remembrances and times past. Although she was very young when her family left Holland, she talks about it and other places she lived before coming to America.
















The Red House was Painted for Jennifer Smith's Rookie Painter November challenge (and my Christmas card collection), from a photo she provided of this house. I felt the house needed a setting and since I am painting simple winter scenes for Christmas cards for close friends and family, I placed the house in a winter landscape.

All paintings are 4.5" X 6" acrylic on linen paper

Corn Snow

Last night, we had the first snowfall, although it has been snowing for a few weeks, at a little higher elevations. The Arctic front arrived with a thunderstorm that left a dusting of hard, dry snow, called Corn Snow. The temperature is hovering around 20*.

Icing and Iron

This iron gate was painted for The Virtual Paintout November challenge which virtually takes place in Rio de Janeiro with Google street view. I looked at beaches and rivers, bridges and mountains, old town and new - all with hundreds of possible scenes to paint - when this very graphic design caught my eye. I loved the black iron work in front of the white door, surrounded by the lovely lemony yellow, and the creamy white relief work around the entry which I thought, looks liked piped icing. In fact my first impression was that this resembled a uniquely decorated cake . Maybe I was just hungry.


4.5"x6" acrylic with pen and ink detail.   $25.

Alisyn

Portrait # 3 in my series to learn portrait painting is my daughter Alisyn. My young lady in red, dressed in red, surrounded in red - her favorite color - not to mention the obvious, her red hair. My hope is that the color red will seem to energize this portrait and let the viewer know that Alisyn is an energetic, athletic young woman whose avocation is body-building. Besides physical beauty, (wish my painting abilities did her justice) she is smart, a hard worker, creative and a soft-hearted sweetheart, with a sometimes fiery personality. Red does fit her so I brought it into the whole painting, background, clothing and even into her hair. I painted this using several different pictures I have of her for reference, and others have told me the painting does resemble her.  All I know is that this is how I see her.

6"x4.5" acrylic on linen.   NFS

The Little Blue Falls

This painting of the McKensie River was done for Pam's Monthly Painting Challenge.

It took me along time to get around to doing it, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with her photo. But once I got started it only took about 30 minutes to finish. I moved the tree to the other side to reveal the falls, added the rocks - the rest is the same. The intense blue of the water was the photo's main  feature. I like the way the painting turned out.

This painting finally got posted - sort of. Since I couldn't get her site to accept my password, I emailed Pam and she posted the pic herself, (she didn't know what the problem could be) but for some reason it is chopped down in size.

4.5"x6" acrylic on linen   $35.

Surveying His Realm

This painting was done for Wilderness Art Challenge for November. Gary's photo was of an Elk with a magnificent rack of antlers, bespeaking his prowess and dignity. When in northern Yellowstone of Wyoming near  the Montana border, I saw an Elk like this in a place near Monmouth Hot Springs. Gary's photo reminded me of this beautiful animal. I painted the elk in the scenery I experienced, rather than from his photo. I used a brush on the elk, but the rest of the picture was done with a palette knife.

9"x12" acrylic on linen     $50.