I am continuing my bicycle series and loved the challenge of doing a smaller piece. I began with a simple line drawing of a bicycle close-up and started gluing some of the positive shapes. Halfway through gluing, I decided to add another smaller bike above it — a bit of a squeeze, but it adds […] more »
I have been doing a series of bicycles for my upcoming show for the Artisan’s Gallery in Des Moines. This is the seventh in the series. While cutting some of the map pieces, I have been noticing places of interest and small towns in the state of Iowa. Especially interesting are the scenic routes. The […] more »
Another bicycle design! I am inspired by the geometric shapes of the bicycle. When working in a series, it is a challenge to come up with a fresh and interesting composition. I zeroed in on the front of the bike and focused on the gears and spokes. The Iowa map came into play too — […] more »
This lovely bouquet was painted from my reference photo taken last spring. The colors are fresh and my goal was to capture the big shapes without getting bogged down with the details. It was a challenge painting this on my easel using the wet-in-wet technique. more »
This is a small watercolor still life of some of antique bottles and jars. I have done numerous sketches because the transparency of glass interests me, and also the unique bottle shapes. Among the shapes are a clear, frosted larger bottle, an amber square necked jar and two red ones. I usually work from my […] more »
This was an exciting design to work on using my “Royal” Teapot given to me by my mother. It has various kings and queens of England on it and is decorated with intricate patterns. I edited much of the patterns and added other teapots from my collection to the composition. After that, I superimposed a […] more »
This design was specifically done for the annual Mardi Gras celebration. I used my reference photo of garden sunflowers. I love the big, bold shapes of the flowers! I cannot resist painting them because they are happy flowers and my favorites. After drawing the design directly on the archival foamboard, I begin with specific shapes […] more »
I find that painting in a series challenges me to create more dynamic designs using the same elements, and to capture a day in the life of an artist. For this piece I used a reference photo taken many years ago. Sometimes I use more than one photo when I initially pencil in the composition, […] more »
It began with a drawing from life of a beautiful Amaryllis, but I did not want to paint just an ordinary flower. Instead, I divided the paper into fractured planes, drawing around my initial design of the flower. The quilt-like shapes and value changes adds depth and interest to the flower. As I began painting, […] more »
My inspiration with sunflowers is limitless! I started a loose contour sketch using my photographs of our garden flowers, but the design changed from the initial idea. I cut and arrange the shapes and let it evolve on its own. I usually decide on a background hue first (here a limited palette of teal and reds) […] more »