My idea was to re-work an old piece with the same title, but I ended up changing the whole design. There was a spark of an idea to add a guitar to an abstract piece and it kept evolving. The colors changed along the way too, which is one of the benefits working with collage. […] more »
This rooster acrylic collage is one of the many I have done with an Iowa animal theme. I usually begin doing a loose contour drawing and do not concern myself with a perfect, detailed drawing of the subject matter. I want the linear design to be lyrical and expressive. The background element was unknown at […] more »
This watercolor was painted in the “alla prima” technique, from the Italian meaning “at the first.” It describes a painting which is completed in a single session. The idea is to capture the essence of the subject in a bold, intuitive way, using vigorous, expressive brush strokes and minimal color mixing on the palette. This […] more »
Still lifes are my favorite subject matter because the possibilities are endless. This is a bunch cosmos from this year’s garden. It takes me a while to decide what to include in the set-up, and I chose to paint them in a special vase with a favorite patterned fabric. I begin by drawing the design on watercolor […] more »
I was inspired by the bright orange mini-pumpkin and the last of my magenta cosmos flowers for this painting. One of my favorite fabrics, the one with all the patterns of dots and splotches, was used under the vase of flowers and pumpkin. It is a great complementary color with the orange pumpkin — it […] more »
I decided to paint another still life with my eggplants, books and favorite turquoise goblet. It is an up-close, intimate view of these elements. Especially important is the featured book, Art & Soul, by artist Audrey Flack. The art on the cover ignited my imagination. I love the deep, purplish-blue-black of the eggplants, and their […] more »
This was a fun watercolor to paint with my glossy black eggplants and glassware. I enjoyed the process of drawing the design using my reference photo. Some of my favorite art books are included in the still life. Usually I wet the paper where I intend to drop in the pigments wet-in-wet, which is one […] more »
My idea was to set up an Autumn still life with fabrics, flowers and fruit. I chose a mini-pumpkin and decorative gourds and set them on a patterned blue-spotted fabric. Patterns galore! The lovely complementary blue color sets off the oranges, yellows and reds. I picked some of the last cosmos blossoms from my garden and set […] more »
These old structures are fascinating and almost completely disappeared from the countryside where we live. This one is gone, but I used a photo taken years ago. The gaps in the roof and uneven barn boards have interesting abstract designs which attracted me in the first place. I used artistic license with the color — […] more »
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 »