Gone to Play

Painted for this weeks DPW "Outside Your Window" challenge. We were to paint a view from/through a window then 'go out and enjoy it". This is a scene of my bedroom window looking out where the Lilac trees grow - (I know, they are bushes, but these are two stories tall, so they beg to differ with you/me).

6"x6" acrylic on linen

$25.

Blue and Gold

Summer's garden offers fresh fruit and lovely flowers. Among my favorites are lucious Blueberries and pretty little Marigolds. For painting, I particularly like the blueberry clusters at their inbetween stage of ripening for all the lovely colors they present.


6"x6" acrylic on linen

$50.

Two Yellow Kayaks

Painted for Pam Van Londen's Monthly challenge. Although using acrylics, I went for a lighter, watercolor feel by applying thin layers of paint.


6"x6" acrylic on linen


$25.

In the Lilac Tree

Yellow male Evening Grosbeaks and brown female grosbeaks, red house finches, are just a few of the many varieties of birds who stop by for the oily sunflower seeds. There were dozens of birds at the feeder before I went out to take pictures. Even though I stood at a distance and used a long lens, only these few brave but wary birds came back while I was out there.

Springcreek

A seasonal creek runs through the little birch woods near my home. Not sure where the creek begins but it  ends by the road where I paint these series of pictures. I was disappointed that the owner of this wood lot thinned most of the trees; and cleared much of the underbrush away and left it in piles among the trees.  It has lost the dense wooded look allowing you to see through the trees into the farmlands beyond. But using my artistic license, my little woods, at least for this painting, can still look like a dense forest.


6"x6" acrylic on linen


$125.

Look What's Blooming

Always called these fuzzy, sweet smelling spires "Bee Flowers" because of all the bees that seem to love them. Don't know their real name.

Yellow Azaleas

Red Azaleas.

These miniature white Rhodies are no bigger than a thimble. So cute and lovely.

Variegated purple and white lilacs.

A  species of Trillium.

White bluebells - I think. We also have them in pink and blue.

Shy little Lilies of the Valley.
These are only a few of the many flowers that are blooming here. 

April Blossoms

Painted for Dana Marie's artisticsentiments challenge.  I have a lot of small frames and decided to paint this as a miniature to fit one of them.


2"x3" acrylic on linen


$35. framed

Sunrise on Mt. Jefferson

Sunrise on Mt. Jefferson in the Oregon Cascade Mountains. This is one of the dormant volcanoes in the Cascade range. I like the way the morning sun played across the tree tops in ribbons of light, and against the mt.


6"x6" acrylic on linen

$50.

Down the Road

Submitted to Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout Cote d'Azur/French Riviera challenge. BTW, if you are wondering if you have seen this on my blog before - you have. For some strange reason it just disappeared. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that today is Friday the 13th??? Or maybe Google is messing around with us like they do on April Fools Day.

Below is  the virtual scene with artistic license. The landscape was so dry and dull looking that I tried to imagine it in springtime with a more country look. This is something I have been practicing so when I hit the road this summer, I can paint plein air, and not pass up potentially good scenes because they aren't 'perfect'.
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6"x6" acrylic on linen

$50.

I Heart Sunflowers

Painted for Studio Atelier Sunflower challenge. I wanted to make this picture more stylized in an effort to emphesize the somewhat heart shape of sunflower leaves.


5.5"x7.5" acrylic on linen


$50.

Red Pears

Painted for Jen Smith's Rookie Painter challenge.



6"x6" acrylic on linen


$35.

Lean on Me

Painted for DPW veggie challenge. I high-jacked the peppers my daughter was using to put in her sauce for lasagna to paint. I loved the colors and shapes. She got them back in about 30 minutes, so she was okay with my using them as models.


6"x6" acrylic on linen


$50.

Ospreys Return

Not sure where they go during the winter, but the Ospreys are back. I hear them calling as they fly overhead - a high pitched sound that can be heard all along the Clackamas river coridore where I live. Most ospreys nest in the 80' - 100' tall fir and pine trees, but often the wildlife people will place tall poles in the back waters of the rivers for them to build nests on.

I took these pictures during a plein air workshop last summer along the Columbia River.

Tulips By the Sea

Painted another window scene. This one with tulips as a Mother's Day Card. These are my Mom's favorite flowers, and the color too. Put these in a Mason jar just for fun.

4"x4.5" acrylic on linen


Sold

Sweet Peas in a Vinegar Bottle

The house where I once lived and where I raised my children, was just a few blocks from the beach. My little kitchen window faced the ocean. If I could have moved my house closer, this is what the view would have been out that window. As an artist, I can make that happen. I placed sweet peas in a vinegar bottle which I had made into a vase, because I loved the color and shape. The sweet peas grew up a short chain link fence between properties. The sweet scent and bright blooms made the ugly fence pretty.


6"x6" acrylic on linen


$50.