A Whiter Shade Of Pale

A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

I love the warmth when painting in the late afternoon.  But, I love the challenge of painting the cool morning whites.  This was one of the last iris in our back yard.  We have fewer white iris than yellow and violet and only a few of them bloomed this year.  Maybe they're getting too much shade.  I'll think about dividing and moving some in the fall.

Whites are always a fun challenge, whether cool or warm.  For Christmas our son gave me a book called Roy G. Biv by Jude Stewart.  Many kids learned the color this way:  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.  I didn't teach it that way, I used the 3 primaries and 3 secondaries.  Nevertheless, it's a great title for "an exceedingly surprising book about color."  I just read the chapter on white.  It says that Benjamin Moore has 140 shades of white paint!  I also learned that Queen Victoria popularized white for wedding dresses, and that the Latvian song for happy birthdays is  "Have Many White Days."

Night Hawk Dreams

Night Hawk Dreams
Oil 6" x 8"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

Night Hawk Dreams is from a trip to Iris4U Gardens in Denver.  Iris 4 U grows tall, bearded iris.  Some years there are more iris than others, but no matter how many there are, it's a spectacular place.  A garden that makes you want to paint and shop!

Morning at Red Rock Canyon

Morning At Red Rock Canyon
Oil on canvas on board  8" x 10"
$195.00 + $10. s/h

Last week several friends and I painted in Red Rock Canyon Open Space with PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado).  It was an overcast morning and the light and clouds were constantly changing.  Something to always be aware of is not to chase the light.  So, the clouds created a strong shadow over the mid-mountains.  I blocked that in first.  The rocks in the front were in strong sun.  So I painted them bright and left them.  I painted in the back range, clouds, and sky last.  They seemed to be the supporting cast.

Once again I'm not quite getting the correct blues when I upload my painting pictures onto my blog.  The blues in the back range are just a bit grayer than in this photo.  Still working on this.

Two of the others painting.

Three photos showing the changing light. 

Old Garage

Old Garage

Oil on canvas on board  8" x 10"

SOLD

Yesterday my plein air group, Garden Artists, painted in a wonderful backyard owned by Sandra Knauf, the editor and designer of Greenwoman Magazine.  Her yard is filled with flowers, vegetables, a pond, and wonderful places to sit.  Sandra founded the magazine on three passions:  her deep love of garden writing, an enthusiasm for gardening, and a desire to do something that would excite people about both.   Greenwoman Magazine is "devoted to gardening thought in all its forms--fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, commentary, biography, interviews, art, and comics. We publish a rich variety of new voices and we revisit the classics."

You can read about Sandra in an article from our local newspaper.  I read this last fall and thought it might be a great connection and location for our plein air group.

Here are some of the others in my plein air group:

Backyard Plein Air

I worked on a painting this morning in our backyard.  Our iris are beautiful this year, so 

I'll be outside for the next few days!  We have a covered patio, so I leave this easel

outside, all set up, ready to go.  I'll post the finished piece soon.

Stars and Stripes - Memorial Day 2014

Stars and Stripes - Memorial Day 2014
8" x 8"  Oil on cradled panel
SOLD

On this Memorial Day remembering all of the brave men and women who gave their lives in the defense of our country.  I've painted this flag several times each year for the last few years.  It was the flag that was presented to my dad upon the death of his dad who served in both World Wars.   

Please Join Us

Please Join Us
Oil  6" x 6"
Sold

These wine bottles are off to a wedding shower!  I'll be gift wrapping this over the weekend and shipping it off next week!  Little paintings make great shower gifts!  Thank you!

The Maine Event Opening

Last night was the opening of "The Maine Event" at the Boulder Street Gallery on Tejon Street

 here in Colorado Springs.  Thanks so much to Jennie and Terry, gallery and frame shop owners!!

We decorated the window to look as much like coastal Maine as possible.....it was amazing that here in Colorado we found/had buoys, fishing nets, an old lobster trap, a plastic lobster, lobster man boots, 

and a yellow lobster man slicker!

We covered the gallery walls with our Maine paintings.

And our friends, family, locals who used to live in Maine and heard about the show,

 and many more came to our first Friday opening.

Thank you all who came.  Thank you all who came "vicariously".  Thank you all who 

sent messages that you'll get there before the end of May.

Thanks to the other 7 artists.  What a great group with which to paint, to travel,

 and to plan and participate in a show!

The Maine Event

This Friday, May 2nd is the opening of a group show:  The Maine Event - Visions of coastal Maine through the eyes of 8 Colorado Springs artists.  Last fall, 8 artists and friends and family members, 16 of us total, headed to Maine to paint, etc.  We spent several days in the Rockland/Rockport area and more time out on Monhegan Island.  The show comprises our plein air and studio pieces.  For those of you who live locally, I hope you can get to the opening.  If not, please stop by the Boulder Street Gallery 206 North Tejon, Colorado Springs sometime during the month of May.  Thanks!

Spring Geraniums

Spring Geraniums
Oil  12" x 12"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

I bought these earlier this week at Costco.  They had such a great selection that I couldn't resist.  At this altitude, 6000 feet, we can have a frost any time before Mother's Day.  So, I'm carrying them in and out each night so that they don't freeze.  The plan was to paint them out on the deck, but it's been so windy the past two days, that this became a studio set up.

Winnie The Pooh

Winnie The Pooh
Oil  8" x 8"
NFS

And yet another painting for a baby shower!  These are so much fun to paint!

Please let me know if you'd like me to paint something for a baby that you know!...or are soon to know.

Little Monkey

Little Monkey
Oil  8" x 8"
NFS

This little guy is for a baby shower.  I had so much fun painting him!  I'm doing another one which I'll post soon.
Even though he's taken, please let me know if you'd like something for a baby gift!  I'd be happy to paint a gift for you, or someone special.  I can use your toys or mine.

Colorado Springs Airport

I recently hung artwork at the Colorado Springs Airport.

Hope those of you who are flying in and out have a chance to see the work by all of the artists.

  The art is hanging in a new location:  near the baggage claims.

 This display is through June, when another group of artist will rotate through.

Shadow Dance

Shadow Dance
Oil 12" x 12"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

And, yet, another piece from our trip to the Yucatan.  I love that area: the people, the colors, the light.   The light and wall colors created such beautiful shadows dancing across the surface. 

Shadow Play

Shadow Play
Oil  12" x 12"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

I loved all of the tropical colors in the water in Mexico.  When we got to Merida, the capital city of Yucatan, there were so many buildings painted the same bright, tropical colors as the water!  Other buildings were painted the colors of bright tropical flowers.  The colors, the architecture and old colonial buildings, and the heavy Mayan influence made Merida a wonderful city to visit.   

Rhythm Of Waves

Rhythm Of Waves
Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

And one more from my water/sea series.  I've loved painting these and know I'll paint more later, or sooner.  And, I'm already looking forward to our next tropical trip!  But, on to something different.

Sea Symphony

Sea Symphony
Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

As you can see (sea), I am continuing with my water series from our recent trip to Holbox Island, Yucatan, Mexico.  One day we had a powerful rain.  The streets (of sand) were filled with huge puddles for several days.  Afterwards the water was dark and turbulent, which makes for more paintings!

The Song Of Water

The Song Of Water
Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

I continue with my water series from our trip to Holbox Island, Yucatan, Mexico.  One day we had a very heavy rain.  That evening and the whole next day there were huge puddles on all of the sand streets.  This made for a challenging walk back to the hotel in the semi-dark after dinner!  I mentioned in a previous post that there are no cars on the island and that the streets are sand.  I would have thought that the water would just seep right trough the sand, but the drainage seemed to be an issue.  Anyway, the rain also created incredible color and wave changes in the water, of course during the storm, but the next day as well. 

Light and Life

Light and Life
Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

As I said yesterday, I loved all of the changing colors and light in the ocean.  I realize that if you lived by water like this, you would have a never ending, constantly changing visual display right in front of you!

This title is complements of fellow blogger Steven Dunn.  He commented on a palm tree that I posted last week that the piece had such "light and life."  That got me to thinking that isn't that really what we paint, the light and life in front of us.  Thank you Steven.  If you don't know him, he has such an interesting blog!

Tropical Sea

Tropical Sea
Oil  8" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

One of the things that's fun, but time consuming, after a trip is the photo editing.  I take a lot of pictures when we travel.  Some are specifically for future studio reference and some are vacation pleasure shots.  As I was editing I was amazed at how many pictures I'd taken of just the water, different times of day, different weather conditions.  I loved the plein air piece I posted a few days ago, Down By The Seaside, and thought that all of those photos could become a series.  So, the next few posts will be the water that I fell in love with and couldn't stop photoing and now painting!!