Three Creamers

Painted for Jen Smith's Rookie Painter challenge for February - three vintage creamers.


5"x7" acrylic on canvas panel

$35.

The Yellow Flower

This little fellow was blooming in the groundcover at the front of the house, despite the snow and icy cold weather - down to 18*. Rescued it and brought it inside. Then decided to paint the little yellow flower for the Daily Paint Works one color per stroke challenge.


5"x7" acrylic on canvas panel

$50.

Haceta Head Lighthouse

The Oregon coast is rugged and often stormy. Lighthouses were built along the coastline in past centuries to guide sailors and warn them of potential dangers. This is one of them built on the rocky prominence that is called the Haceta Headlands. I painted this from a photo I took there a few years ago, from a high overlook along highway 101 south of the lighthouse. (I have taken artistic license in a couple small ways when painting this scene. The lighthouse is a tad larger here then it looks in the photo, to make it more of a feature, and a bit lower to give it a better place in the composition.) There is a lovely old Victorian lighthouse keepers home farther back, high in the wooded cove. Locals and not a few tourists (my daughters included) have said the house is haunted. Supposedly, they have seen a woman in the upstairs bedroom window.Visitors can tour the well kept buildings.

9"x7" acrylic on linen
$225.

Resourceful

I watched these little birds digging in the snow and flapping their wings to get down to the ground underneath the snowlayer. Wondering what they were doing, I placed a long lens on my camera (so as not to freighten them away by coming too close) and took a few pictures of their activity.

What I discovered was that by digging a depression in the snow they formed a little bowl, and with their wing action they melted the snow, which acumulated in the bowl-like depression as water and then drank from it.

How did they get to be so clever?

On my windowsill

These lovely fragrant flowers were a gift from my daughter. She knows I like fresh cut flowers in my studio. I placed them on the windowsill where the golden primroses once grew (they are now in the kitchen window blooming profusely and brightening up that space).

I had to take photos of each individual flower because as a bouquet they are gorgeous, but individually they are exquisite in their tiny details.

The lovely stargazer lilies with their satiny greenish white petals take center stage.



The delicate Gerbera daisies are amazing in their petal detail which radiates out from an intricate center of smaller petals, with just a touch of gold. Seen from the side, these daisy petals seem to be dancing around their stem. Deep inside the center it is filled with what appear to be tiny rubies. Is there anything as exquisite and wondrous as these delicate pink and lipstick red flowers? Although they do come in many other luscious  colors.

After such showoffs, the tiny 'pixie' (my name for them) mums, probably used as filler in the bouquet, could be so easily overlooked. Their dome shaped centers look to me, like wee beehives full of golden honey. And I absolutely love their sweet little petals standing all perky and proud, like little white bowls.
I have a special  love for white flowers, which reminds me not to forget the precious little sprigs of baby's breath which although tiny, play a big role in many bouquets, making the showy guys look good.

The Woods in February

I have painted this small woods near where I live in the summer, but when it snowed here recently, I decided to try painting it en plein air each season or maybe each month. So this is winter's or February's painting.






5"x5" acrylic on linen paper
$50.

Valentine Rose

This pretty little red rosebud was painted for Carol Marine's Daily Paint Works challenge. It is a mostly palette knife work.




5"x4" acrylic on linen paper
$50.

Winter Isn't Always Gray

I painted this, using for inspiration, photos  (see below) that I took at different locals: the mountains above the tree line in Rocky Mt. NP in Colorado; a river that runs near where I live and a winter sunset in western Oregon. I left this painting on my easel  after I painted it for a time, because I couldn't decide whether or not to place something in the snow at the bottom right corner. I finally decided not to complicate and detract from the point of interest - the sunset and reflection.  So I called it finished and submitted it to Alice Thompson's Calypso Moon Artist Movement February challenge - Winter Landscape.      9"x6" acrylic on linen paper    $35.

These are the two photos that were the inspiration for this painting.

Snow in the City

When it snows, most people can't drive until all the streets are plowed; cars that do go out may get stuck in the drifts. Snow can be bad for business, and going to work, etc. everything comes to a standstill. But then on the other hand, for a brief time the streets have a lovely freshness where people stop to chat, kids play where they couldn't venture before. In neighborhoods snowmen appear in front yards and sleds come out to play. Such is the yin and yang of winter.

6"x4.5" acrylic on linen paper   $50.

Put De Lime in ...

This is a painting exercise done for Carol Marine's Daily Paint Works challenge. We had to paint something 8 times - 10 minutes per painting. I chose to paint this lime. It was a fun exercise and a great learning experience.



Acrylic on a 9"x12" linen paper divided into 3"x4.5" sections

$35.

Field of White Flowers

Painted for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout February Challenge in Romania.

The weather was gray in many of the street views. So when I saw this field almost glowing with a golden whiteness, it seem to defy the overcast sky.



4.5"x6" acrylic on linen paper

$50.

Venice Abstract

I painted this for Lee Brown's A Day Not Wasted February challenge. He posted a very nice photo of a Gondola on a Venice canal. The photo was great, but I just couldn't find the muse to paint another Canal and Gondola. But I did love the ripples in the water. So I cropped it and painted this abstract.


7.5"x6" acrylic on linen paper

$35.

Is It Spring Yet?

I bought this bright yellow primrose when shopping the other day because it reminded me of sunshine. I placed it in my window sill where I paint. The "weather outside may be frightful" but my little primrose brings a cheerful glow of the promise of spring. Thought I'd share the joy.



4"x5" acrylic on linen paper

$35.

Little Bandit

                                                                                     I painted this Mountain Chick-a-Dee for Gary Keimig's Wilderness Art Challenge for February.






4"x4" acrylic on linen paper

$35.

Chick-a-Dee

                                                                                  I love to sit and watch the little Chick-a-Dee's and nuthatches that spend the winter here. We have a feeder for them filled with oily black sunflower seeds, which they feast on all day. They roost in the holly tree and butterfly bushes between forays to the feeder. At night they sleep in the towering firs and pines because of the falcons and eagles who often prey on them. We also have other birds who visit the feeder in winter, song sparrows, flickers, blue jays, actually any that have not gone south to warmer climes. But Chick-a-Dees are my favorite.

6"x4.5" acrylic on linen paper   $35.

White Gardenia

Around her vanity is the sweet smell of Gardenia, is it from the flower or is that the scent of her perfume?







8"x10" acrylic on canvas panel

$125.

The Gift

This antique perfume bottle with its etched crystal stopper and gold filigree neck ring is from the 1920's or 30's and I would like to think was a Valentine's gift for someone special.



4.5"x6" acrylic on linen paper

$35.