Color Study

6" x 8" oil on panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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Yesterday my husband and I went to the mountains fishing. Every time we drive up there we go past this ranch. It was overcast and partly cloudy, but the little sun that there was shone right on the barn roof and back of the house. You have to love a family that has an acqua roof.

Role Call

11" x 14" oil on panel
$145.00 + $10. s/h
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This school house is in a very rural location on the road between Saguache and Center, Colorado. It's from a photo I took on our drive home from our trip to Durango to see our son last month. There are many abandoned barns, sheds, schools, ranches and odd assortment of buildings throughout the state. I'm sure that's true of all rural locations. But, I couldn't help but wonder who attended this school. There wasn't a town close by, there wasn't even a ranch too near. How did these kids get there? How long did it take them to get there? Even today, in some rural counties, children sit 1 hour on the bus each way to school. If your ranch is the first stop in the morning, and the last stop in the late afternoon, you have a long ride to school. Some counties only have school 4 days per week because of this.

I've mentioned this before, and I've read others mention it, too, but I sometimes have trouble when photographing reds. The school appears pinkish/red. When in reality I painted it orangish/ red. Any thoughts on how to solve this?

Follow the Leader

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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Last week my plein-aire group went to Monument Valley Park. When our kids were little we'd go to this pond and catch craw-dads. The water looked so dirty, I don't think any kids play in there now. But, it was so entertaining to watch all the goslings. They all stayed together, right by the geese, moving around almost like one being. They'd swim around the pond, then climb up onto the shore and run around and search in the dirt for bugs. Then, when a dog or jogger came near, they'd run back into the pond, and start all over again. There seemed to be 5 moms and 17 babies; but, it was hard to tell.

Sherbert Frost

SOLD
6" x 8" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10.00 s/h
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This is yet another piece from my plein-aire trip to Iris 4 u in Denver this week. I didn't get the name of this flower, so I created my own; I hope Iris Bob approves. I don't really understand plant genetics. The idea of hybridizing a flower is so interesting. But, how do you create a flower whose standard is shadesof peach, and whose beard is deep purple, lavender and white? My creativeness bends in a different direction.

I don't know how many of you follow r garriott's blogs (4), but you should. Great paintings! Today the urban garden blog featured Iris 4 u!! I couldn't believe it! I guess Coloradoans think iris this month!

Night Hawk Dreams

6" x 8" oil on panel $75.00 + $10. s/h SOLD This is another piece from yesterday's trip to Iris 4 u in Denver. I think this is such a great name for a flower: Night Hawk Dreams. It's so amazing to me that iris can be hybridized to have such unique colors on the standard and the beard. (I read the catalogue to learn the parts of the iris!!) I used to think that iris were tints and shades of violets and yellows. Now I know better. Our daughter, who lives in Denver, met me after I finished painting. We went shopping for her graduation dress. She'll graduate from DU, University of Denver, in 2 weeks. We had several hours of shopping fun, and dinner. Yes, she found a great dress!

Leading Light

6" x 6" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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SOLD

One day each month my plein-aire group drives to an out of town location to paint. Today we went to Denver (70 miles north) to the Iris 4 u Iris Gardens. Iris 4 U grows and hybridizes tall bearded iris. While only about 20% of the iris were blooming (due to Colorado's cool spring) there were hundreds to paint, and thousands more which will be blooming the rest of this week and next. I may have to drive back up there and paint again as the grounds were beautiful. I really didn't know there were (are) that many varitities and colors of iris. And, of course, each iris has a unique name.

More Lilacs

12" x 16" oil on stretched canvas
$195.00 + $10. s/h
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After being unable to finish the last lilacs, I had to try again. I'm happy with this piece.

A Work in Progress...Forever

oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"
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I've been working on several larger pieces lately. For some, I've been using smaller daily paintings as references, and some, like this bouquet, I had hoped to finish in one or two days, at most. But, as sometimes happens, life gets in the way, and at this point I think it will stay as is, an almost finished study.


I was working on this piece Monday afternoon, hoping to finish it Tuesday. Tuesday morning I threw in a load of wash, went off to paint with my plein-aire group, and when I returned home, the utility sink in the laundry room was full of water. Luckily, the washing machine had turned itself off. I knew I had to get all of the water out of the sink, so I dunked numerous buckets into the sink, carried them into the kitchen, and poured them into the kitchen sink. Soon, the kitchen sink wasn't draining. I thought I'd help it drain faster by turning on the disposal. When I did that, water shot straight up, and more water poured out from under the sink. So, now I had to take everything out from under the sink, clean and dry that, dry the kitchen floor, and then get back to the utility sink. So now, I'm dunking the bucket into the sink and walking out onto the deck and throwing the water into the yard. (My husband has been out-of-town for a week).


When the utility sink got pretty low, I decided it would be easier to just let the water drain out from the pipe underneath, so I loosened that and stuck a bigger bucket under it, not realizing that about 2 inches up, there was a crack in that bucket. So, more water was dribbling nto the floor! I swtiched buckets, cleaned that water up, and finally got the mess taken care of. (Although the plumbing problem wasn't fixed.) By then, it was time for my late afternoon painting class, so off I went.


When my husband came back, (I wanted him to share in the plumbing pleasure w/ me) we called Roto-rooter (we happened to have a val-pack coupon, too) and soon, the man was on the roof cleaning out the drains w/ his 90 foot plumbing snake. I really recommend them, they were quick and affordable.


In the meantime, I didn't have time to finish my lilacs, and when I finally did, the blooms and blossoms had changed. So, what I have is a ghumorous memory, clean drains, and a work in process...forever! This one's for Roseanne, because , it's always something!!

Another Great Spot

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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SOLD

This is another beautiful spot near Pagosa Springs. Normally, when painting a landscape, you create ways to make the viewer's eyes travel through the piece; by connecting values, colors, or shapes. In this moment, in this location, all of that happened naturally. There it was, right in front of me; a painting waiting to happen.

Near Pagosa Springs

SOLD
6" x 8" oil on panel

$75.00 + $10. s/h

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We recently went to Pagosa Springs, Co (about 5 hours south of here) to visit friends who I taught with in South America almost 30 years ago. They retired to Colorado. It was a fun visit. This is from a walk on their property, just below their house. As I keep saying, everywhere you go in this state is another great painting.

Fire Bush Sprig

8" x 10" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 = $10. s/h
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I don't know the name of this bush. We only have one; it's next to the patio and partly under the deck. Maybe that's why I haven't paid much attention to it over the years. But right now it's on fire. It's strange, the orange blossoms are at the base of the shrub, unlike most blossoms which are at the end of the branches. So, I named it the fire bush. Maybe someone out there knows the real name. I think it's appropriate to paint flowers the day before Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there.

Western Shed

6" x 6" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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This is another shed from our recent trip to Durango, Co. This one was weathered, faded wood with a blue/gray metal roof. I pushed the colors and like the results.

Wolf Creek Ranch

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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We just got back from a trip to Durango, Co to visit our son and see his geology thesis presentation. Any reason to go to Durango is a good reason. It's a quaint western town and a beautiful part of the country. It's about a 6 hour drive from here and a good part of that is past ranches, open land and National Forests. This ranch drew me because it had red barns, many are just weathered wood, and lots of fences: five. But that was too many for a small canvas , so I only included two. And, looking at it, I wonder if I lost some of the appeal. Maybe I should use this as a study for a large piece.