I Heart Spring

With the pollen settling down and the temperatures swinging hot to cold (wish it would make up its mind already!), SPRING is happening in my yard!  

I love seeing the daffodils and tulips in full bloom...

The pansies are hanging on despite the warming temps.  I think because they want to see the lilies bloom. 

 Not only does rosemary make food taste yummy, it blooms!

I hope your plants are smiling for you and that these pics bring a smile to your face.  :)

Daffodil Promise

I see daffodils sprouting up all over this week! Their bright beauty trumpeting to the world after so many months underground.  

The bulbs I planted months ago are in a shady spot so they are just peeking out as my painting shows.  I can't wait to see them and share a daffodil series of paintings soon!  

5 x 7 acrylics on stretched canvas

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Chocolate Chip Cookies--Yum!!!

In my Top Five Snack Foods List (because I cannot name only one favorite!), chocolate chip cookies are a fantastic selection!  I made a batch a few nights ago and snapped some pics.  Here are three that were eaten shortly after I took the photo.  Evidence they did exist... :-)

Watercolor on 140lb cold-pressed paper

30 in 30 - #27: Avocados Much?

Before they went into the guacamole...

8 x 10 acrylics on stretched canvas

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30 in 30 - #25: Sunny Sunflowers

A set of sunny sunflowers to brighten up our blustery day.  

Watercolor on 140lb cold pressed paper

30 in 30 - #13: Sightseeing Companions

What did they see from the other side?

8 x 10 acrylics on stretched canvas

30 in 30 - #12: Sightseeing

Have you ever stepped toward the edge, felt a little twinge of fear and excitement... then peered over the edge anyway?  

Yeah.  Me too.  

I find it interesting how paintings reflect the painter's mood.  This one seems mellow, which I'd say is accurate with all the rain and general mellow-ness (yes, it's a word now) of the past few overcast days.  

The wet days are tough on my paints...they feel gummy and put up a fight on the canvas.  Anyone else had the rain or humidity affect the paint viscosity?  

8 x 10 acrylics on stretched canvas

30 in 30 - #11: Orange Pear Pair

I am enjoying orange!  Must be the warmer weather and sunshine this weekend. I hope you had some sunshine this weekend from the weather or a friendly smile :-)

8 x 10 acrylics on stretched canvas

30 in 30 - #9: Spice It Up

I love growing herbs.  Oregano is one of my favorite fresh herbs!  Spaghetti sauces, breads, and chicken recipes are just a few foods that benefit from its slightly bitter taste.  If you want to grow oregano, I recommend planting it in a container.  Oregano is a perennial and quite prolific!  I planted a small oregano plant in my garden one year and it took over.  I like it, just not 4 square feet of it.  :-)  

This sprig is from the oregano plant in my kitchen.  I was inspired by the green and purple leaves, as well as the shape of the leaves.  The upside down leaf in the bottom right corner is my favorite.  

Watercolor on 140lb cold pressed paper 

30 in 30 - #3: Charlie Brown Poinsettia

My watercolors were working again for Day 3!  

Throughout the 30 days I'd like to paint from life as often as possible.  Our Christmas poinsettia was on the kitchen table today so it became my subject.  The pot is covered in a dark red foil wrapper with many folds, which turned out to be not so challenging to paint.  Since my intent during the 30 in 30 is to loosen up my painting style, I edited the number of leaves and petals--er, bracts--to simplify the image.  Wow did I edit!  I promise the actual poinsettia has WAY more foliage than my "Charlie Brown" poinsettia, LOL. Lesson learned...and that's what I'm here to do. :-)

6 x 10 watercolors on 140 lbs cold pressed paper

30 in 30 - #1: Follow Me

Welcome to Day 1 of the 30 in 30 Paint Challenge offered by Leslie Saeta!  

I have never done a painting challenge like this before.  Painting 30 pieces in 30 days seems daunting simply from a numbers perspective!  As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I want to loosen up my style and bring movement to my works.  By putting the pressure on to paint so many pieces I expect I will stop thinking so much about what I'm doing and just paint.  I got a taste of that feeling tonight with "Follow Me".  I arranged the pears on the table, chose colors, sketched quickly, loaded my brush and went for it.  I really like the result!  

I look forward to learning more through this challenge...some paintings I may love, some may be "meh", and some may be "learning opportunities" that will be hard to post. :-)  

So follow me and let's enjoy the adventure!

8 x 10 acrylic on stretched canvas

Beautiful Cupcakes

My food theme continues into the New Year!  An art class buddy brought these gorgeous (and tasty!) cupcakes.  So I took pictures for future paintings of course!  Stay tuned for a series...

Pumpkins Complete!

The finished product is Yummy Pumpkin goodness!  This one was fun and turned out a little cartoonish with the highlights and bold colors.  I really enjoyed painting this pair!

8 x 10 stretched canvas, acrylics and high gloss gel medium

Pumpkins in Progress

My family went to a local pumpkin patch and selected a few small pumpkins for our table decor.  Since carving the small ones was challenging, I chose to paint a pair instead.  The appropriate tool of choice?  A palette knife.  :-)

Fall Pair of Pears

A couple of pears for fall.  I like the composition and I enjoyed using my new round/oval palette knife.


8 x 10 stretched canvas, acrylics and high gloss gel medium

Golden Pear

The 2nd half of the "Pear Pair" is complete.  Enjoy...I am pumped about this painting!


8 x 10 stretched canvas, acrylics and heavy gel medium

What's on my easel?

I spy...a pear-in-progress!  This will be my second palette knife painting.  I am thinking to change the light blue to a darker blue to coordinate with the first pear color scheme.  This will make the yellows and golds stand out, as blue and orange are complementary on the color wheel.  

Palette Knife Pear Complete!

I love the finished product!  And a 2nd pear--to make a pair (teehee!)--is next. 

8 x 10 stretched canvas, acrylics

Palette Knife Pear--in Progress

Glossy glossy!

More texture!

I love learning new things.  I watched a palette knife demo and wondered if I would enjoy the technique.  Sure enough, once I took advice to "go crazy" and "sculpt with the paint", I had lots of fun!  Thanks Jill :-)


A lovely pear was my first subject.  Seeing this painting and all the texture I created makes me happy.  I learned something new and that inspires me to create.  Not to mention "palette knifing" (I'll call it) is super fast!  


8 x 10 stretched canvas, acrylics and high gloss gel medium