This artwork came about by way of request, but I have been thinking of doing one of the indian corn for a long time. I worked from my original pencil drawing done in 1980, which is very detailed and took me many months to complete. In the collage design my drawing is simplified — just […] more »
This piece was inspired by the interesting shape of the violin, and it was something that has been on the back burner for a while. When a friend asked me if I had any collages of this particular subject, I jumped right in and designed a piece. My favorite part of designing a piece is choosing […] more »
Flowers have always inspired me, and this piece was special because I wanted to try this in collage instead of the traditional watercolor methods. I began with a loose contour drawing of this Christmas plant and experimented using colored pencils in my sketchbook with unusual colors. I decided to limit my palette and edited my contour […] more »
This is a realistic watercolor painting of the newly-renovated bandshell in Centerville, Iowa. Many people have asked me to paint this structure because of the good memories it holds for them. I worked from my photograph, which includes the historic courthouse behind it. more »
This watercolor motif was requested by a client, but I have been thinking of doing some autumn leaves for a long time. In the past, I have completed realistic drawings of oak leaves on a branch and my goal was to try this in watercolor. I wanted to do a piece a little smaller than […] more »
Here is another still life of my garden flowers, which are lush and prolific this year. These are mostly daisies, with a couple sunflowers tucked inside the vase for color. My objective was to paint them wet-in-wet, taking advantage of the watercolor properties of mingling pigmented colors on damp paper. The grays were mixed using […] more »
This collage was inspired by all the lovely zinnias in my garden and the fluttering butterflies this summer. Instead of the usual collage shapes glued onto watercolor paper, I used another Ampersand wood panel in a cradled 1 ½″ inch support. Another difference of this design is that it is square, not a size I […] more »
This building caught my eye when I visited the city of Chariton last year. It is an old, unused grain elevator in disrepair. The afternoon sunlight and shadows were perfect for taking reference photos. The difference with this piece is the support for the collage. I usually use watercolor paper mounted on foamboard. This time, […] more »
The inspiration for this painting are my garden sunflowers. This year they are mainly dark yellows and rust-mahogany varieties. I never get tired of painting sunflowers. I love the large seed pods and triangular, wispy leaves surrounding the heads. The sturdy stems and huge leaves are a big part of my design too. To me, sunflowers […] more »
The bold colors of these geraniums caught my eye. There are many different varieties of these garden plants, and I chose the neon variety. I found it difficult getting the exact color using my watercolor pigments — it is pinkish with a little orange and red in it. In direct sunlight the petals seem to […] more »