Friday, December 26, 2008
First Snow
It's still all about snow around here. I live a half mile down this road which is now covered with over a foot of slush! I got the car stuck on Christmas eve, it was just too deep to plow through, even with my trusty Subaru. Guess I should'a asked Santa for some tire chains. It's raining now though so I'm optimistic about breaking out of here tomorrow.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Portrait of an Artist
I've been following a blog by artist Karin Jurick. In fact, Karin is a big reason that I started my own art blog. Besides being a terrific artist, Karin is generously sharing her expertise and inspiration with other artists through the internet. She gets my "artist hero" award for 2008! This image is the result of Karin's year end challenge. Each participating artist emailed a photo of themselves to Karin, she then randomly matched them up with another artist and each was to paint the other. What a great way to network don't you think? So here is a portrait of someone I don't know anything about except that she is an artist (and she's into blogging on the internet). Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Check out Karin's blog http://karinjurik.blogspot.com and the networking blog called Different Strokes From Different Folks that she created to inspire other artists http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Winter Apples
Wow! we are getting an incredible snowfall here, over a foot and still snowing. This little apple tree is pretty much buried by now. It is a stunningly beautiful landscape, changes the ordinary into magic. It's especially nice if you don't have to drive anywhere, and if you have good snow boots. :>) I've been taking lots of photos. In fact, here's one of Murphy in front of the house about 4 this afternoon.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Stayin In
Today was a good day for smart donkeys to stay inside. The not so smart ones like me actually enjoyed hiking around in the snow storm. I was glad not to have to commute further than upstairs to the studio to work though. Another favorite thing to do on a snow day is to check out the critter tracks in the woods. My closest neighbors are not often seen but I enjoy knowing that they are near by following their tracks in the fresh snow.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Pepper Jelly
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Winter Forest
"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty." John Ruskin
This is my yard. Yes, it's pretty wild, especially right now with a ccccold winter storm shivering the trees. I don't know why I keep torturing myself trying to paint scenes like this. Oh well, it's a snapshot of home anyway. The buck was cruising down the driveway a few weeks ago.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Out To Pasture
Ok, so it's been a bit of a challenge to get back to painting. Today is the first day I've had any time to paint. I'm definitely feeling rusty but hopefully this one will work for my aunt to give a friend of hers. Now I'm working on a winter scene to match the stormy day and threat of snow this weekend.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Cuddle Up..... again
Sooooo, after a very long week with my mother in the hospital I will hopefully be back painting soon. I did revisit this image for an illustration, but that is the only painting I've done in awhile. I used this mare and foal for the background and overlaid a computer drawn image of a double helix wrapping around their necks with chromosomes floating around. The composite image will run in the Quarter Horse Journal highlighting an article about the equine genome mapping project. I can post the complete illustration after it runs in the magazine if anyone is interested.
BTW, mom is bouncing back from surgery, appreciating the fact that she appears to have several more than nine lives wrapped into this one!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Turkey Time
I helped my neighbors herd turkeys this afternoon. They are going to meet their Maker tomorrow to provide Thanksgiving dinner for a few folks. At least these birds have had a relatively "good" life. Living in a large pen with a shed in the center, they frequently stage turkey races with lots of flap and gobble gobble in the mornings when I jog by. I hope whoever eats them next week is thankful.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Another Kind of Maple
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Eliza sketch
I got up this morning and tried to draw in a new large painting but ended up wiping it off, so then I grabbed a small panel and told myself to just sit down and try something different. I didn't quite capture Eliza, but I like it anyway. It's so weird, one second you look at it and there she is and then you make one more stroke and she's gone away completely! Working this small is like that, every stroke is going to make it or break it. Ah well, next time. Maybe I'll just rename it "Youthful Enthusiasm" then it can "feel" like Eliza without having to look exactly like her!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Out of the Woods
Afternoon light floods the road out from my house.... nice to revisit since today isn't offering such a golden afternoon. It's a challenge to cram all this color onto such a tiny board, but it's a good way to play with color and see if the composition holds up. I'm thinking this might work in a larger version. :)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Patriarch
What a day, missed yesterdays post for lots of good reasons, one of which was to help a lady that needed a wheelchair to get to the polls. We waited in line 1-1/2 hours for her to vote. (I voted last week) Turns out she was a kid in Germany during Hitler..... she said they were just normal people like us, didn't know exactly what was going on in the govt. until the brutality became apparent. Power corrupts and it's our job to pay attention! Like the man said this is only the opportunity for change, the reality is up to us.... can't take the "we" out of "yes, we can". I don't know about you, but the attitude of steady, active hopefulness is just what I need right now!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Maple
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Bear & Bonnie
Here are the finished portraits of Bear and Bonnie. You can compare them to the sketches I posted a while back. It's a challenge to work from other people's snapshots, especially when I've never met the dogs myself. I did change Bear quite a bit from the sketch based on the client's comments, and they are happy with the final images, whew!
Ginko
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Green to Gold
An ode to autumn as the green of summer turns to gold. It has been a spectacular fall color extravaganza here this year. I love standing out under the big leaf maples, turning my face to the sky and feeling the leaves touch my cheek as they fall to the ground. Ah, the cycles of life, may they always be this graceful! .... yes, I know these aren't big leaf maple leaves I've painted here but they will show up one of these days so stay tuned. :)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Red Pepper, Green Cloth
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Afternoon Run
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Eggplant & Tomatoes
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Complements
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Coastal Morning
The promise of a beautiful day on Washington's wilderness coast. This is from a photo taken while on the annual 8th grade beach hike where we introduce many kids for the first time to the joys of backpacking. Hopefully it instills an appreciation for the wild lands that Washington state has to offer and a motivation to continue protecting them.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Autumn Light
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sharing Lunch
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
preliminary sketch for "Buddies"
This is the preliminary sketch for a painting I'm currently working on. I really like the spontaneous quality of it which I will perhaps loose as I continue. :I So here it is at the start and we'll see what I end up with. They were just so cute together, this rather refined little grey mare and her stocky fjord horse pasture buddy... don't you love his striped mane?
Monday, October 6, 2008
2 Romas and a Zebra
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Heirloom
The painting today is in honor of this weekend's wonderful HarvestFest celebration of farms and farmers. The painting didn't turn out anything like I planned but that's the refreshing part of (painting from) life. When I finished I realized that I'd been pretty much painting in the dark with only the tomato lit, so the colors are quite different from what I thought I was putting down! At first I thought "oh, yuck!" but now I kind of like it. I have a couple more of these gorgeously grotesque heirloom tomatoes that I bought at my friend's farm so maybe I'll try another shot at them in the daylight tomorrow.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Airplane Ears
This is a continuation of farmyard images that will be shown at Harvest Fest, a farm "open house" to be held tomorrow from 10 to 5. My neighbors at Gentle Giant Meadows Farm are one of several hosts for the event and I will be at the farm doing some plein air painting, encouraging art activities for the visitors and showing these small paintings for sale. I did this one in acrylic so it would be dry. It was good to play with a different medium.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Invitation
This is a very old madrone tree, maybe one of the oldest surviving in the state according to the owner of this homestead property here on the Key Peninsula. Who could resist this kind of invitation to play as a child? Maybe the world would be a better place if adults spent a little more time appreciating the generosity of trees.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Apple Tree
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Haida Sunset
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
On A Mission
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