Orchids

                                                                                   

Orchids

6"x12" oil on canvas panel  $200. SOLD

Artist Note

This was a demo for

 the last class of the semester

at the Artist Guild SNM

It was painted on a surface 

already colored

by a previous wipe-off.

I started with the transparent
darker areas first, adding
the colored opaque areas bit by bit
as I gradually moved into
the whitest areas,

I used a photo I had taken
at Trader Joes of the
tops of the orchids through
the  clear wrapping.
Purple, yellow and white flowers.
Beautiful together.

This is an unusual size but I like
how it flows
and do not want to crop it.
It will need a custom frame.

Thank you for all the
great comments on my last post.
I am sorry I have not had time
 to answer them.
Busy, busy with Thanksgiving
and fun company.
Plus...
the house still on the market!!

Blessings Are Everywhere.

Blessings Are Everywhere

watercolor on Yupo

Sold

First, let me wish you all 
a grateful and peaceful

Thanksgiving

Every 7 years it falls on my birthday

and this year is THE one.

My daughter will be doing the cooking!

Artist Note

I painted this one in the car going

to and from the dentist. 

A trip of an hour each way.

It was almost finished 

by the time I got home

(as you can see in the car photo.)

I spent another hour tweaking it

in the studio. 

I really, really like it,

partially because it is 

totally from my imagination.

Pulling on my memory of shapes

and movement of the birds, etc

It is larger than 

my usual daily paintings 

and when matted and framed

I hope it will continue to please me.

Steps

to start...

I deliberately used a staining blue

and took it right across

the page and then lifted it off leaving 

a light blue foundation.

Next, using a big brush I 

placed puddles of 

yellow pale

transparent orange oxide 

and transparent brown oxide

then fractured into them.

I lifted off the shaped of the birds 

with a paper towel and water.

I then began the details...

the fun part, but also what takes

the longest and is the most absorbing

with all the decisions to be made.

Great Blue Heron

 Great Blue Heron

Bosque del Apache NM

8"x 6" oil on canvas panel  $150. SOLD


Artist Note

I joined other artists at
New Mexico's amazing
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
where we
hoped to catch the fall colors
and see the cranes.

We left in the dark
for the two hour drive
and was rewarded with
Wow -
a gorgeous sunrise

This beautiful refuge has a long loop road with
bird watching sites and boardwalks at regular intervals.
Our cameras were busy clicking away
and I wrote down color notes.

Lots and lots of Snow Geese

The Blue Herons
are usually on their own so we
were looking for them along the ditches.
which led to us finding
this extra stunning ditch
with the green weeds.
 I cannot wait to paint it.

There is a photo/video link below
of a  Blue Heron
eating a HUGE fish at the
Bosque del Apache.
And I mean HUGE

I found it pretty fascinating
(seeing is believing}
but only because of the
stubborn nature of the Heron
...who obviously was
determined he wouldn't have to relay
the traditional fishing story
to his mate, when he got back to the nest.
You know the one...
" the one that got away!"
Heron eating fish

Aspen Colors

Aspen Colors #1

8x6" oil on canvas  SOLD

Aspen Colors #2

8x6 oil on canvas panel  SOLD

Artist Note

It's the Blue Sky 

Gold and Scarlet leaf time.

  I always try to paint an aspen

or cottonwood

every year.

 I did two this year -

experimenting with the different light 

on the same group of trees.

I am quite sad really 

because it reminds 

me that the clocks go back

and I drive home

 from work in the dark!

Does anyone else dislike that?