This is a palette knife painting done for Dana Marie's Inspiration All Around Us challenge. When I saw her photo of this lovely pale pink rose, it was just a subject that I immediately wanted to paint. I love the simplicity and color of such a beautiful rose.
There is a pond on our property - actually there are two - one in the back pasture, but there is one in the flower garden near the house, that is home to many of these little green croakers. (There were several fish, but I think the herons and king fishers got them all). This one has been living in a planter on the deck just outside my bedroom window. It is fun to listen to his serenade during the summer evenings, along with the crickets, night birds and occasionally an owl or coyote's song. I am going to miss them, especially this little guy, when winter sets in, the ponds freezes over, and it is too cold for them. Don't know where they go but come spring they're there again.
There is hardly a more beautiful place on earth, in my opinion, than the Oregon coastline. It is wild, protected, and scenic. I have so many photos of it, that it was hard to choose a few to put up on my blog. Many are paintings waiting to happen.
This is a photo of Haceta Head Lighthouse. There is a wonderful old lighthouse keepers dwelling a short hike away. There are many old lighthouses along the coast, some still in operation, like this one.
Sunset near Florence and the north jetty. Because of the ever changing weather conditions you can always expect a spectacular sunset.
Jordin-Leigh turns 13. Instead of a birthday card, I painted her portrait with acrylics on a watercolor 140# postcard (4"x6") to send to her. This is the 2nd of my PostArt series. 
To me the forest always seems as serene and peaceful as a church. With that image in mind, I painted this for Jen's Rookiepainter challenge of fall leaves - to reflect the feel of a stainglass window backlit by a waning summer sun, with bare stylized limbs free of their leafy burden. The falling leaves, turning in color and the breeze are a glorious silent hymn.
This is the first in my postcard (4"x6") series. When I travel, I take pictures which I am going to paint into what I call PostArt. The flowers in this painting grow in the Montana and Canadian rockies - probably elsewhere, but this is where I saw them and photographed them. They are one of many beautiful species that grow in alpine meadows and mountain sides.
This was painted for Paint and Draw Together Sept. challenge. It is a palette knife painting 6"x8" acrylic on linen. The colors in the painting are a bit more vibrant then what you see here, especially the turning leaves. I loved doing this still life - first time for an apple.
This is one of the few watercolor paintings I have done. The scene is a mix of a place near my home (the birch woods) done en plein air; and a photo I took at Glacier National Park of a deer in the morning light coming through the trees.
I painted this landscape from the photograph (below), that was the inspiration. Moved the trees to show more of the sky. In the actual painting more of the foreground is visible. (Maybe one of these days I'll figure out the technology involved in getting good pics of my paintings). I took the photo while camping at the Grand Canyon's North Rim. A thunderstorm followed shortly after I snapped the picture, with a chorus of yips and howling from a pack of coyotes that live in the canyon - accompanying this spectacular scene with their song. It was glorious.
Not sure how I feel about the way this painting turned out. I was experimenting with layers of acrylic paint applied with palette knife, to build up the colors which allows to them to seemingly float over each other rather than blending. It was done for Calypso Moon Artist Sept. challenge where the painter must submit a self-portrait (painted from a mirror not a photo) done in vibrant primary colors. I am older than what I painted myself to look like - didn't do it on purpose - maybe it's a subconscious image I have of myself. I am always surprised to see an older person staring back out at me from a mirror. Sometimes I even wonder what my mother is doing in there... in any event this is how I feel - young and immersed in the colors of Life.
Jen's Rookiepainter Challenge for September is a lemon and wedge still life. I was just looking at the picture on a warm afternoon trying to see how to paint it, when this image came to mind. Actually I first thought of a pretty teacup with lemon, but something cold sounded better, and this is my favorite beer.
