This was inspired by Annie’s chairs at the Artisan Gallery 218. In early spring I did numerous loose contour sketches of these antique chairs and they were the beginning of my collage design. The other elements evolved from my imagination: the sunny window, the magenta color I love, the zinnias and sunflowers from my garden. […] more »
This is a row of spotted Holstein dairy cows — I love the black and white patterns of them. I decided on painting the plain background first, in a neutral color so it wouldn’t conflict with the positive shapes of the cows. Pieces of an Iowa map are the foreground, sprinkled with some tulips. Lastly, […] more »
I have challenged myself to do a series of petite collages. No easy feat when you are used to 22” x 30”. Using my sketch of a perky bantam rooster, I collaged the rooster shapes with yellow, tan, and orange feathers. Keeping the background simple and plain because of the small area to work, I […] more »
This petite collage is part of my Daily Painting challenge to create a small artwork in one sitting. I did a sketch of a dachshund and painted the background a flat, plain color; then added the dog shapes and the flowers. more »
Continuing my animal theme in the petite size, this is our pygmy goat, Verne. He is quite the character standing in the sunflower patch. I painted the background first, before cutting the positive shapes of Verne and the flowers. more »
This is a whimsical design of nine Iowa hogs running through the tulips. Not something you see every day. I used pieces of an Iowa map for the sky shape and a variety of different colored hogs, plus a green-grass foreground and some happy red and pink tulips. more »
My challenge was to design more whimsical animal Christmas collages. I used sketches of our three goats and added some fun trees and stars. Their shapes describe their breeds: Pygmy, Nigerian Dwarf and a mix of regular-size goat and Dwarf with floppy ears. The colors changed a lot while I was working on this, and […] more »
This is a typical pose of our goats sunbathing on their box. Not a care in the world! And not head-butting and pushing each other around the yard — just soaking up the rays and dozing. What a life! more »
Our pets are a source of never-ending entertainment and inspiration. I couldn’t resist painting our cat Vincent, who was caught in the act. He is so curious and dipped his paw into a glass of water while perching on various pieces of furniture to do it. more »
This is a petite floral watercolor, and the challenge for me is painting in a small format. I love painting large pieces, so this was difficult for me even though it is quite small. I began by drawing one of my garden zinnias from life, which takes longer than the actual painting. As an artist, […] more »