"Zephyr"

11"x14" oil on canvas NFS

This is my niece Shannon's horse Zephyr. I took a bunch of pictures when we went to her barn during our visit Thanksgiving week. She had her fuzzy winter coat on. I'm giving this to her for her birthday.

"Chica"

8"x8" oil on gallery wrapped canvas SOLD

This is my girlfriend Kitty's kitty. She's has wonderful markings and lots of whiskers. Those were the most fun to paint. And as you can see she has a lot of attitude.

"Surprise Pond"

12"x16" oil on canvas

This is from a photo I took while on vacation this summer in the Adirondacks. I actually got in a canoe with my husband to get close ups of the lily pads and flowers. Artists can go to many extremes to get a great shot for a painting. These pads after a while drove me crazy. I had to take a lot of breaks. They remind me of Pacman, only green. Not painting anything soon that's green.

"Who Needs A Rake?"

8"x8" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

This is Malcolm. Another animal first. He is yet another barn yard friend of my friend Lisa. She told me that goats are great leaf eaters. They're like potato chips to them. I think my parents could use a couple of goats as they are constantly raking leaves in the fall. He was fun to paint and the photo I had really didn't have a leaf in his mouth, but after hearing the story I added it. I think it gave him character.

"The Magic of Merlin"

8"x8" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Another first for me! I painted this gorgeous rabbit who I've been told was a ginormous bunny. I didn't get the pleasure to know him personally, but I feel I felt his spirit while painting him. He unfortunately didn't make the heat over this past summer back east.

"Sprinkled with Sugar"

8"x8" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

This is Sugar. She's my cousin's cousin, Lisa's barn cat. She took a wonderful photo of her that I just had to paint. I loved her expression. I'm extremely happy with the finished painting. Love all the color! Did I forget a color?

"Miss Ruby"

8"x10" oil on canvas

Another kitter I just finished painting. Ruby is a sweet and friendly cat I befriended at my girlfriends while visiting in October. I was missing my own cat and she kept me company. She posed perfectly for a candid shot.

"T-Bear"

8"x8" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I have a few "putty tats" I've been painting. This is the first one of three (at the moment). This one is for my cousin, Tim and his wife Kelly. T-Bear was my cousins favorite kitty and it was a pleasure to paint him for them. Tim will be seeing this for the first time here on my blog as Kelly and I have been working together behind the scenes to get him painted. So much for a Christmas gift, lol! Thanks Kelly!! love you both!!

"Big Tomato"

5"x5" gallery wrapped canvas

This is a painting I did of a girlfriend's tomato she grew in her garden. It was a whopping 1 1/4 lbs., that's huge! It was fun to paint as it was a colorful fellow, nothing like a home grown tomato.

"Pearfect Company"

10"x8" oil on canvas

My husband was going to the grocer so I asked him to pick-up two red Bartlett pears. This is all he could find, Starkcrimsons. I'm very pleased with the finished piece. I didn't tone my canvas because I was anxious to start a new painting so it took many layers of paint. Lesson learned. So, now when I'm not feeling too creative I tone a few canvas' so this won't happen again.

"Hold On"

6"x4 1/2" oil on canvas board

A little trial of a dragonfly. It looks better in person, but that is usually the way paintings are. Might tweak later, but for now leaving him alone to just...hold on.

"Ben" - edited

12"x12" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

This is my first time painting a horse and I was very impressed how quickly I finished. I might have to attempt another. I certainly enjoy the challenge of painting something I've never painted...might have to do it again.

August 28 - Tweaked this painting today as I wasn't totally happy with it. This is what happens when you leave something along for several days. He's much softer now. He's now ready for his owner.

"Room no. 6"

3 1/2" x 5" oil on canvas panel

This is a small skeleton key I borrowed from my sister. It's fun to paint these little antique pieces. I painted the key first on a black background really not sure what to do with the background. I ended up using a glaze of yellow ochre and then lightening the key up a bit for it to pop. I'm going to hammer one of my real old square nails into this painting as well. Down to 2 nails left.

"Free To Go"

8"x6" oil on panel

I had a different title for this painting, but Megan came up with this title and it stuck. I think I'm pretty much done with this. Maybe a few small detail touches on highlights and of course my signature. This was fun to paint; I actually love to paint antiques. They have a history I can't see. My sister will be glad to know I painted it as I borrowed this lock and key from her. I also have a skeleton key from her. I should paint that so I can give them both back to her this summer.

Barn and Found Wood Frames

I wanted to show how I used barn and found wood and objects to frame some small paintings I previously posted. It's just a unique way to showcase my work. Not sure if you can see it in the photos just below, but I put actual old nails in the paintings. If you see and read my previous post you can get a better view and read where the nail comes from. I actually have 3 nails left and not sure yet how I'll use them.

6"x8" oil on panel ~ "a key to it all"

2"x6" oil on panel ~ "golden key"

8"x6" oil on panel ~"hugs and a kiss"

8"x6" oil on panel ~ "lucky shirt"

"Ladybug"

6"x1 1/2" oil on panel - on found bark

My husband helped me one weekend finding objects I could use as frames or incorporate into my paintings. He climbed the hill in front of us and brought back old fence pieces, barbed wire, bark from the ground. Little by little I've been incorporating them, even creating the painting for them; like this piece. It's just something fun and different to do. Trying to think green.

"P-Dan"

9"x12" - oil on canvas SOLD

Photo doesn't do her justice. I can't wait to deliver to two of them to the owner next week. I always love seeing clients expression. That's why I paint; to make others happy.

"Turtle"

12"x9" - oil on canvas SOLD

Turtle is finished and her sister, P-Dan is coming along great. Will post her soon. I'm just giving her a tune up.

8"x10" oil on panel ~ "the Key to it all"

6"x8" oil on panel ~ "Hugs and a Kiss"

A couple of small paintings I've finished recently. My cuz sent me 5 old rusty nails and I've been having fun incorporating them into my paintings. The rocks are from a litterally rocky beach in Santa Barbara and of course I needed to take a few interesting ones home to paint. The backgrounds were painted, hmmm probably a year ago and never knew what to paint on them, until now. I like when things work out like that. You do something and you're not sure why and then you figure it out. Sounds like life!! Enjoy!

"Audit" and "Syntax" (edited photo of Syntax)

10"x8" oil on canvas - complete

I look forward to hearing how these go over as a gift.

"Audit"

10"x8" oil on canvas - in progress still???

This is just one of two dog commissions that I'm finishing up on. They're both long haired Dashunds, this one is Audit and the other one that I'll post real soon is Syntax. Love the names. They've been a fun challenge for me. Unfortunately, they have both gone to doggy heaven so I think they'll be touched when they get these as a gift.

"Curtis' Cottage"

6"x8" oil on canvas board

This is a little cottage on 4th Lake, Adirondacks that used to be owned by my husband's aunt Jean. After her passing a really nice family bought it and fixed it up. It has a pond view to the left as well as the lake view. It would have been nice to have purchased it but managing the little house living here in CA would have been impossible. We're so glad the Curtis' own and gave it TLC. This was another building practice, I tried to remain loose. I might tweak it a bit a more. This will be delivered to the Curtis' this summer.

8"x10" oil on canvas board - final framed

We bought a new camera charger just in time to take last photo before shipping off the finished painting of Regina.

"Regina"

Regina past this New Year! I can't imagine the sadness Gloria is going through. I hope, however, that I was able to capture Regina the way Gloria remembers her...I'll post a final picture soon. It seems we lost the only camera charger so I might be taking the last pic with my Blackberry....stay tuned!