I have been inspired by Patricia Forester’s tree paintings, and have always found the bare winter structure of trees fascinating. All their characteristics are paintable! However, I paint from my photo instead of painting en plein aire! I like the comfort of my studio and climate control. This painting includes rough bark, gnarly, twisted branches and shadow shapes in […] more »
I’ve been painting teapots for a number of years. These teapots are part of my collection that I set up outside on a glass table with mirrors and the fruit. I liked the reflections in the mirrors — they add great dimensional interest! It is a complex arrangement and the teapots seem to be in […] more »
This pencil drawing was a commission and is composed of four views of the Centerville Produce company over the years — particularly the different feed sale signs. It is located on Highway 5 South on the Levee in Centerville, Iowa, which used to be a bustling community in earlier years. Some of the other views include […] more »
I am enthralled with the old buildings found in rural Iowa. The photo I used as a reference was taken many years ago, so who knows if this view is changed! It was a beautiful, sunny day with the cerulean sky color I love. I also like the water tower peeking from behind the red […] more »
You don’t see many of these classic cars anymore! It’s as big as a boat and probably twice as heavy. I’d hate to think of parallel parking this baby! This was done as a pencil commission years ago and I had taken many camera shots of this gentleman’s car. I like the lemonade color he painted […] more »
This is a partial view of the west side of the Albia square storefronts. Having lived in Centerville for a number of years, I’ve been interested in small towns and their changing businesses and old buildings. We drive through this quaint town numerous times and I snapped a few pictures for reference. What caught my eye […] more »
This is one of my many humorous birds in a series, along with the Love Birds, Cockatoo, Bad Hair Day, Flamingo and Ostrich. This old guy is sitting on an orange rock in the middle of a stream. For the accent color, I used a bright red in the feathers and the top of his […] more »
This is the fifth wild animal design in my series of Christmas Critters. This is a whimsical yellow giraffe with maroon spots, a blue eye, orange ears and mane wearing a hat. Sitting on top of his head is a teal gooney bird with an orange beak and multi-colored feathers, and also wearing a hat. […] more »
My goal this week was to create an artwork every day, in the tradition of the Daily Painters group. With collage, that’s more difficult. Today’s is a bit smaller than the first two. It features a blotchy ochre/sienna-colored cat watching fat snowflakes drift around him. He’s sitting against a royal blue background and he had […] more »
For this painting, I decided to do the background first instead of starting with the center of interest, as I usually do. In this case, the baboon. I liked his silly expression! And I decided that using complementary colors would make them pop better against the dark teal green. In collage, each color-value affects each […] more »