Sun Kissed

Sun Kissed
Oil  6" x 6"
SOLD
$100.00 + $10. s/h

And another sunflower from our backyard.  I know that sun-kist is used for oranges and orange juice, but, I think that it works for sunflowers.

And, a photo from our garden:

Touching The Sky

Touching The Sky
Oil  6" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is a painting that I did last month.  I'm catching up with pieces that I haven't posted, yet.  I was out of town for 3 weeks, did lots of painting, but not posting.

Anyway, I realized that this piece has almost the same composition as a larger 12" x 12" sunflower that I previously posted.  I must like this angle when I'm in our backyard.  It's off to a new home!

Polished Boulders

Polished Boulders
plein air oil  12" x 9"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second plein air painting done last month in Eleven Mile Canyon.  I like zooming in on little areas and giving the viewer a close up look at what I saw.

Tree Reflections

Tree Reflections
plein air oil  10" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

One day last month a group of plein air artists went to 11 Mile Canyon, about an hour west of Colorado Springs in Lake George, to paint on the free state park day.  I had expected it to be really crowded, but found only a few fisherman and some picnicers.

If you google 11 Mile Canyon you'll find out that:
"Eleven Mile Canyon Recreation Area is located below the dam of the Eleven Mile Reservoir near Lake George in the southeast corner of South Park.  The narrow, dirt road traversing the canyon used to be the old Colorado Midland Railroad bed before the dam and reservoir were constructed.  Unlike the reservoir area, which has an open basin and rangeland type topography, the canyon itself is forested, lush, and rocky.  Eleven Mile Canyon cuts through the plain holding the South Platte River in its rocky bottom.  As the river is unleashed from the dam above, it twists and crashes against huge boulders lining the canyon floor.  A canopy of large trees provides a screen of shade that floats across the canyon with the moving sun.  Eleven Mile Canyon is an unexpected paradise."

Looking Up The River

Looking Up The River
plein air oil  10" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second piece that I painted on The Frying Pan River.  I love the almost abstract, loose quality of this one.  River water is constantly moving and changing color depending on the weather and sky color.

Following The Sun

Following The Sun
Oil  12" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This was also in our backyard.  I love these bigger sunflowers, but most of the flowers that just plant themselves are the littler ones that look like a mix of sunflower and black-eyed susan.

Summer Sun

Summer Sun
Oil  12" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

My last few posts were of fields of sunflowers.  Now a couple of sunflowers close up.  We have these growing in our back yard, as well as the field by our house.  I love it when paintings are right there in front of me!

Golden Hue

Golden Hue
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10 s/h

This view of Bear Creek Park was done almost by just turning around where I was in the last post.  I was standing on the side of a path with fields of sunflowers on both sides.  It's just been a spectacular wildflower summer!  No complaints here!

Here's a picture from the park:

As I said in the last post, if you squint the meadow is just yellow!

Blaze Of Yellow

Blaze Of Yellow
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is another Bear Creek Park sunflowers plein air piece.  Once again, I headed over to the park to paint before breakfast.  As I said, we live right next door to this incredible almost 700 acre park.  I've walked its' trails thousands of times, painted it in different seasons dozens of times, enjoyed its' sunrises for years.

Normally, I tone my canvases in yellow ochre, but here I used cad red light.  I love the way the bits of color peek through.

Yellow Orchestra

Yellow Orchestra
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10 s/h

While much of the country is having a drought, especially California, here in Colorado we've had more rain this summer than in the last 20 years.  Every thing so so green and there are wildflowers every where!!  The last 3 weeks we've had fields of the most amazing, tiny sunflowers.  In years past the meadows were a beautiful yellow ochre.  Right now when you look at a field while squinting, you see nothing but yellow.

This is a recent plein air piece done in Bear Creek Park, right next to our house.  I went down several mornings with my coffee and paints.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful location!

Backyard Rose

Backyard Rose
Oil  6" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

These roses were in our backyard earlier this summer.  This one was in a bud vase and made a great, little centerpiece.  It also made a wonderful painting!

At one point I knew all the names of our roses.  I suppose that I should figure that out.  Or, better yet, I should make name tags.  That was a great thing about the Garden Tour that I posted about.  The flowers were all identified.  Even thought I've forgotten the name, I still love this rose with all the nuances of pink and peach.

Sweet, Little Chair

Sweet, Little Chair
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is the third painting from the recent Garden Tour.  We were invited to tour the gardens in advance to help us choose our locations.  No one had the chance to tour each garden.  This was the first grade that I toured.  Immediately I knew that I wanted to paint this little chair on the front porch. It is so sweet!  Interesting that I painted chairs at two locations.

Right now I have this painting sitting temporarily in a simple, black frame.  It looks great!  I might re-photo this.  The painting is just a bit brighter.

Caliente Coral

Caliente Coral
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second painting done during the recent Garden Tour.  This was started in a beautiful yard on Saturday afternoon.  This yard had beautiful flowers, but it had so many seating areas, that the yard, was truly an extension of the house.  I heard many people comment that this was one of their favorite yards.

Each yard had at least one garden docent to answer questions.  One of them came to see what I was painting.  I commented that this geranium had such coral colors.  She told me that is because this is called "Caliente Coral".  No wonder!  So, I Googled "Caliente Coral" and sure enough it is a hybrid geranium created to withstand heat.

Restful Garden

Restful Garden
Oil  12" x 16"
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$495.00 + $10. s/h

Recently, several members of my plein air group, Garden Artists, painted in private gardens on a local garden tour.  It was a great event;  a huge tour, beautiful gardens, wonderful people, and new locations for plein air work.  We were thrilled to have been invited.

These adirondack chairs were in the back yard of the house where I painted Saturday morning.  They were right outside the back door and seemed like such a great place for a restful moment, perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the early evening.

The owners of the house told me that their son got them these Adirondack chairs many years ago in Maine.  I Googled "Adirondack chairs" to learn a bit more.  Here is what I learned:  "The first Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee while vacationing in Westport, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains in 1903. Needing outdoor chairs for his summer home, he tested his early efforts on his family. After arriving at a final design for a "Westport plank chair," he offered it to a carpenter friend in Westport in need of a winter income, Harry Bunnell.^[1] Bunnell saw the commercial potential of such an item being offered to Westport's summer residents, and apparently without asking Lee's permission filed for and received U.S. patent #794,777 in 1905.^[2] Bunnell manufactured hemlock plank "Westport chairs" for the next twenty years, painted in green or medium dark brown, and individually signed by him."

I wasn't able to finish any of the paintings on location during the Garden Tour as there were so many people attending.  It was a great opportunity to meet new people and share my art.  I finished this piece later in my studio.

All Colorado Juried Show

I'm honored that my painting, "Bear Creek Snow" received an Honorable Mention in 

the Littleton Fine Arts Guild's All Colorado Juried Show.  The show is hanging at the 

Depot Art Center, 2069 West Powers Ave in Littleton, CO through most of August. 

Stop by the Depot Art Center if you're in Littleton. 

Pink Champagne

Pink Champagne
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

These little roses are from our back yard.  We've had a very wet summer, with not many really hot days.  But, the day that I wanted to paint these, it was in the high 80's and they are in the sun.  So, I moved my easel inside and set up right in front of the window.  I was out of the sun, the flowers were very close.  I'm not sure if this is a "plein air" painting.  Is it plein air when the artist and subject are outside?   Or, can the artist be looking out a window?

Life Is Getting Better

Life Is Getting Better

plein air oil  8" x 10"

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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is a plein air piece that I painted at Summerland Gardens, a great garden store and a gallery where I have work.  

Often when looking for a title for a painting I use Google.  When I Googled "geranium" I came to a site about what it means when you dream about geraniums.  My husband and I are gardeners, our backyard is filled with flowers.  The corner of our deck is filled with the red of geraniums.  I love painting geraniums.  But, I will admit that I have never dreamed about geraniums, at least that I remember.  

Following is some of what I learned about geranium dreams:  Flowers symbolize something beautiful, not only in dreams, but in real life.  So, when you dream about flowers it means that everything in life is getting better (thus my title)  unless, (there's always an unless!) you dream of wilted flowers.  Ok, all of this makes sense to me.  According to what I read, when young girls dream about blooming geraniums, they will soon meet their future husband.  Who knew?  When a woman dreams about blooming geraniums she will soon get a few (not just one) marriage proposals from wealthy suitors in high society.  Hopefully the dream warns women not to make mistakes when choosing a partner.

When you see potted geraniums in a house, it is a symbol of a calm and happy family.  When geraniums are abundantly blooming, it means fulfillment of all desires.  If you dream that a man has a pot of geraniums on his head (I have never dreamt this!!) his wife is pregnant.  

I will say that I learned a lot when I looked for a painting title!

Sand Shovel

Sand Shovel
Oil on cradled panel  8" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

There's always something to be done around a yard and garden.  A sand shovel has a flat bottom which makes it better for shoveling gravel and, of course, sand!  We use it to for our gravel walkways.  When our kids were little we used it to shovel sand into the sand box.

Faucet Shadow

Faucet Shadow
Oil on cradled panel  8" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

I loved the way the hose and faucet created such a strong shadow on the side of our house.

Hoe Down

Hoe Down
Oil on cradled panel  8" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

I love painting the flowers in our garden and other gardens.  With gardening comes garden tools.  My husband and I seem to have accumulated a lot of garden tools!  I'm going to share some of these tools with you.

Backyard Hollyhocks

Backyard Hollyhocks
plein air oil  8" x 16"
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$395.00 + $10. s/h

These hollyhocks are from our backyard.  We've had so much rain this year, way more than normal for Colorado.  The flowers and gardens are spectacular.   I spent the last 2 days painting in gardens on a garden tour.  It was fun and the gardens were amazing.  More about that later.

I've photoed this over and over.  The colors are just a bit off.  I'll take a few more pictures and see if I can get it a bit more accurate.

Maui Wedding

Maui Wedding
Oil  11" x 14"
Commission

This was a commission for a wedding gift.  It was a fun and challenging piece.  The wedding was held at this spot;  the wedding trellis was just to the right of the palm tree looking out over the water.  What a great location.  If I had been a guest I would have had a hard time looking at the ceremony and not at the view!  While it never rained that day, it was breezy, gray and a bit more over cast than in the painting.  My challenge was to make it "the day", but not too gray.  I've been to Hawaii once, and luckily it was to Maui.  So, I used the photo I was emailed by the guest as well as several from our trip to get the right gray, cloudy, blue sky, blue/gray water combination, but, yet not as gray as it really was that day.   I'm happy with the way it came out.  It shows that the wedding day wasn't perfect weather, but it was a perfect wedding!  May the couple have years of happiness in all weather!

Vineyard View

Vineyard View
Oil  16" x 20"
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$495.00 + $20. s/h

It's been a great travel year.  We've gone on several trips, two of which have been to northern California, specifically Santa Rosa in Sonoma County.  It's so beautiful and so many vineyards.  A view everywhere you look.  I remember a few years ago, a friend visiting here in Colorado Springs for the first time asked if there were a lot of car wrecks from all of the people looking at the great views, (The Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak).  I felt the same way in Sonoma county.  I always wanted to pull over.  This is from the first trip in early April.  And, yes, the wine tasting is fun!

A Peek At The Peak

A Peek At The Peak
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

Recently my plein air groups, Garden Artists and PAAC, painted out in Peyton on a friends ranch.  I love painting out there.  In the past I've shown you paintings of the ranch chickens, garden chair, an old pick-up, eggs.  With the clouds creating great shadows and just allowing a little peek of Pikes Peak, I realized that my painting should be from the ranch not of the ranch.

Front Porch

Front Porch
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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This is the 5th of the plein air paintings that I did in the recent PAAC, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, Marathon paint out.  From 12 noon until 2:00 we painted in Manitou Springs, which is a small town touching the west side of Colorado Springs.  It's filled with old houses, charming stores, great B&Bs, mountain views and lots of people on a summer Saturday.

I drove over a few days before the event to scout out a location where I could paint and park....not easy!  I loved the vine of roses growing up the front of the porch and the turquoise couch creating a spot of color.  Luckily, when I pulled up to paint, there was a parking spot right nearby.  It was meant to be.

Water Lilies

Water Lilies
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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This is the 4th painting I did in the recent PAAC, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, Marathon paint out.  We painted these at the PEO pond in Cheyenne Canyon.  I've painted many times at this pond, but always in July when the "lilies" were in full bloom.  This was great to just concentrate on the light and shadow of the leaf and sky shapes.  I'll be painting there again later this summer.

Morning Path

Morning Path
plein air oil  10" x 8"
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This is the third painting done on the recent PAAC, Plein Air Atists of Colorado, marathon paint out.  This was painted at Rock Ledge Ranch from about 7 am to 9 am.  We had an itinerary that we followed, kind of loosely, to five different locations. I've painted many times at Rock Ledge Ranch.  It's a historic ranch...."The mission of the Living History Association is to preserve, protect, restore and maintain the natural and historic integrity of Rock Ledge Ranch, which is set within an open par,k while providing opportunities for sale, educational and experimental programs that represent and interpret the social agricultural and economic development of the Pikes Peak Region from 1775 through 1920."

It's a great historic place to visit, hike, learn, paint right here in Colorado Springs.  

Pikes Peak at Sunrise

Pikes Peak At Sunrise
plein air oil  6" x 8"
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This is the second painting that I did in the PAAC, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, Marathon paint out.  While waiting for the sun to actually rise over Pulpit Rock (in yesterday's post), I turned my easel around and painted Pikes Peak.  While painting I kept an eye on the sunrise to get the colors of the sky.  Sunrise was scheduled, interesting how nature can be scheduled, for 5:36.  But, Pulpit Rock is a bit higher than the horizon, so it didn't really rise over the Rock until around 6:00.  This is similar to a painting that I did of Pikes Peak at sunrise a few weeks ago.  But, that morning there was a full moon setting.

Sunrise Over Pulpit Rock

Sunrise Over Pulpit Rock
plein air Oil  6" x 8"
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I recently participated in a Paint-Out Marathon sponsored by PAAC, Plein Air Artists of Colorado.   Held here in Colorado Springs,  it started at 5:00 a.m. and continued until dinner.  I'll post my plein air paintings from the event over the next few days.

Pulpit Rock is in the middle of town, so it was great for artists coming from all different directions and is an easy exit off the Interstate.  There weren't many clouds, so the sunrise was soft and calm.

Garden Iris

Garden Iris
plein air Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h
SOLD

Last week my plein air groups, Garden Artists and PAAC, met in a beautiful private garden to paint flowers.  I loved the variety of lavenders in this lilac.

Moon Set Over The Peak

Moon Set Over The Peak
plein air Oil  5" x 7"
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$75.00  + $10. s/h

I recently met some fellow artists at the crack of dawn to paint sunrise.  As happens occasionally, there were no early morning clouds, thus no great sunrise color.  So, I turned my easel around and there before my eyes was the full moon setting over Pikes Peak.  It turned out to be a great early morning!

Wedding Bouquet

Wedding Bouquet
Oil  16" x 16"
Commission

This wedding bouquet is off to a bride in Denver.  I think that all brides are beautiful;  they glow with happiness.  This young woman was extra pretty on her wedding day.  Wishing you both a life time of love and happiness.

Yucatan Church

Yucatan Church
Oil  12" x 12" on cradled panel
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This past February my husband and I spent several weeks in the Yucatan.  I did some plein air paintings as well as studio pieces upon our return.  When editing my photos I realized that I had taken pictures of 36 different churches and chapels.  I guess I'm drawn to the architectural angles, and perhaps the significance of what these mean to the people who built them and worship in them.

From Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, in the northwest you can drive diagonally across the state headed toward the southeast on a great highway.  Along the way you can drive the "Convent Route".  This consists of churches, cathedrals, convents in Mayan villages and towns.  Many are as large as the largest Catholic Church here in Colorado Springs, yet are sitting a a very small town.  They were built centuries ago in what I imagine were large(r) populated areas or colonial towns.  You can read more about this here.

I was fascinated by all of these.  We visited the first seven, then our rental car got hit (no injuries and very little damage, but stressful never the less.)  So, we skipped the last villages.

Spring Lilacs

Spring Lilacs
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

My plein air group, Garden Artist, recently restarted for the season.  We paint every Tuesday and Thursday morning from early May to late September in different gardens, parks, scenic locations, and museums around the Pikes Peak region.  Please let me know if you 'd like to join us!

These lilacs were painted one morning in an alley in The Old North End, near the downtown area of Colorado Springs.  We've had the greatest lilacs this spring.  The aroma is every where!  They seem to be more beautiful than I ever remember!!

Hillside of Poppies

Hillside of Poppies
Oil  9" x 12"
$195.00 + $10. s/h
SOLD

This is another piece from our March trip to California.  I have my husband to thank for this one.  We spent almost a week in Sonoma county, which, if you've never been, should be on every one's trip list!  It's beautiful!  Flowers were blooming every where.  My husband saw this farm and pulled over for me to take a picture before I had even seen the poppies.  He knows what makes a great painting!  I love how the poppies created a natural  movement into the piece and up and over to the barn.

I'm lucky that our daughter lives in San Francisco.  It's a great excuse to head to that city as well as all of the gorgeous surrounding areas.

Sunny Vista Living Center Juried Show

Friday night was the opening for the Sunny Vista Living Center Juried Show.  It was a great event, especially for me.  I had 3 pieces juried into the show.  My plein air painting, "Backyard Hollyhocks", received 1st place in the  oil/acrylic category and was purchased by Sunny Vista.  My truck painting, "Hasn't Been Used In Awhile", sold.  Sunny Vista does an amazing opening.  Their chefs prepared a wonderful buffet dinner with appetizers, fruits, chocolate fountain dessert and more.  Thank you to Sunny Vista, to the judge, to the person bought my painting.  It all makes for a great Mother's Day weekend.  Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

1058

1058
Oil  11" x 14"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

The number on the front of this trolley car is 1058...thus the title.  It's great how the city of San Francisco purchased theses trolleys from other cities.  A little bit of history gets saved and shared.

The streetcars, or trolleys, are different than the fabled cable cars of San Francisco.  The trolleys run from Fisherman's Wharf to Market Street.  The city not only purchased trolleys from all over the country, but from Milan, Italy as well.   About 20 different street cars from Muni's fleet operate daily.

Click here for a brief history of the street car line.

French Table Cloth

French Table Cloth
Oil  12" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

Now that the weather is warm, I want to head outside to paint.  Tomorrow starts the "season" of my plein air group, Garden Artists.  We paint every Tuesday and Thursday morning in different parks, gardens, museums, over looks in the Pikes Peak region.  If you live nearby and want to paint with us, just let me know.  Any one is welcome.  Additionally, I'm going to be the Colorado Springs coordinator for local PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado) paint outs.  Those are every Thursday morning.  Again, all are welcome!

So, as I get my back pack ready for tomorrow's paint out I thought I'd post a studio still life from earlier this year.   The table cloth is French, the plate is Mexican, the tea pot is probably made in China.

Rattlesnake Ridge

Rattlesnake Ridge

plein air oil  8" x 10"

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$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is another plein air painting from our recent trip to California.  It was painted at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego.  One of my biggest challenges here was to simplify the cliff.  I was parked in the furthest parking lot by the tide pools.  I had a great view of the whole cliff and in my first sketch I included a lot of the cliff.  I realized that was too big of an area to cover quickly in a plein air pieces.  My next sketch focused in on a small section.  An additional challenge is to paint moving waves.  I tried to get them in pretty quickly and just left them alone.  I like how the water motion turned out.  I wish I'd been there longer...I would have gone back to the same spot again.

Here is my set up and great view.  Below you can see the rattlesnake that crawled nearby.  

A bicyclist got a park ranger who loaded him up in a bucket and drove him away.   He said that two people had recently been bitten by rattlers.  In my mind, he was a little bit too close for comfort.

Sunset Cliffs

Sunset Cliffs
Oil  8" x 10"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

My husband and I recently got back from a great road trip to California.  We drove from Colorado Springs to Santa Rosa, CA;  then to San Francisco and on down the coastal highway to San Diego.   From there we drove across Arizona off and on the old Route 66, then through New Mexico and back home.   It was a great three weeks.  I did a bit of painting, took lots of reference photos, saw incredible sights and could do it all over again!

These cliffs are in San Diego.  Not only is it a great place to paint, but obviously a beautiful place to watch the sunset.  It was fun to sit and watch all of the people climbing up and down the precarious trails to get to the water.

The first photo shows the cliffs at sunset.  The 2nd photo

 is of the cliffs the next morning when I went out to paint.  

Amazing difference in the light!

Crab Apple

Crab Apple
Oil  6" x 6"
SOLD
$75.00 + $10. s/h

Colorado Springs is beautiful right now.  There are blossoms on fruit trees all over town.  We're lucky this year that the recent snow didn't freeze them all.  We have a great crab apple tree in our backyard, over looking the deck, that is in full bloom.  I set this up in my studio to get a shadow in the background.  There might be more!