Because of our unusually long and snowy winter, I have been anxious to paint a spring subject. These are some tulips and daffodils from my garden bouquet photographed a couple years ago. I was inspired by the gorgeous hues and non-formal arrangement of the flowers in a simple glass tumbler. They were photographed outside, and […] more »
This is a more recent view of downtown Des Moines from a photo I took last summer (2009) while visiting the city. What impressed me was the skyline with the taller buildings set against the shorter ones and the lampposts leading the eye into the city. You can see the perspective of the rounded bridge […] more »
This design was inspired by the architecture of the big city, reminiscent of growing up in the environment surrounded by tall buildings, different windows shapes, rooftops, bricks and other building details. It is exciting to have so many varieties of architectural elements crammed into a large metropolis; such a contrast from the quiet country life […] more »
This vertical composition of sunflowers continues to fascinate me. It is my favorite flower — a showy, bright flower, in endless varieties! These blooms are from my garden last year, teamed up with a striped cloth bought at the farmers market. For the sake of design, the cloth is altered, emphasizing the flowers. The textured […] more »
This petite animal collage was a special challenge due to its size. I’ve never worked this small a format before in this media and the difficulty of cutting the shapes was something I probably won’t do again. The colors and shapes are simple and I think the result turned out well. I chose this animal as it […] more »
This structure has intrigued me because of the shapes and the gnarled tree. I have painted it a number of times and found the sun and shadow patterns interesting. The bright white fence contributed to its character and the textured field beyond. It also has numerous small window opening, probably to dry the hay stored […] more »
I was inspired by my garden poppies last year. While looking over the file photos, I decided to include more textures using oil pastels with an acrylic wash over that. This was something new, and it worked perfectly for the ruffled, crinkled petals of the flower. While adhering the rice paper, some of the soft […] more »
I am still interested in these old barn structures — their shapes and details fascinate me. And they are fast disappearing from the landscape. I feel they best describe Iowa because agriculture is the top priority here. This barn is located in Mahaska County, Iowa. Then manner in which I approach painting them is different […] more »
I decided to use on of my earlier photos of the purple goblets for this piece — I wanted to get back to the purple colors and our pears from the orchard. I was attracted to the strong sunlight patterns and the wood texture of the table. I wanted to capture the abstract patterns in […] more »
This piece is part of an ongoing pet portrait series I’ve been working on this year. This is a smaller size than I usually work on, at an affordable price for the general public and great gift. My idea was to paint all the most popular breeds, so it will take me a while for […] more »