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 »
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 »
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 »
This is another petite painting challenge, in a 6” x 6” format. Square designs are more difficult than the usual rectangular ones, but I prefer them. I began with a detailed drawing of my garden coneflowers from life. Working in my sketchbook daily is on my to-do list. It is good practice and your observation […] more »
I have been inspired by my garden flowers — the colors are luscious and bright! This piece was worked from using my original sketch, done from a still life of a Japanese iris. They are much smaller than the bearded variety. I set up the iris in one of my mom’s antique jars that has […] more »
Flowers are a consistent theme in my work. I work from life, drawing my garden flowers and taking numerous photos. I began with an idea for the design and sketched it out on tracing paper the same size as my paper support; in this case I used 300# Arches watercolor paper. The heavier paper doesn’t […] 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 »
Flowers are a favorite subject matter for me — they are so fresh and the vibrant colors are lovely. This bunch of peonies were set up in a vase on my table outside in direct sunlight, and I took many photographs from various angles. The result is not a duplicate of my photo, but an […] more »