Please?

How can you resist when he is so darn polite about it?  ....and, when you're done playing ball he can have a snack too.

Sandpiper on a Stroll

If you're calm (and hold your coffee cup just right) you can stroll along with the wave of sandpipers collecting breakfast on the morning tide.

Fresh Apples

My apple orchard was productive this year... 2 out of 3 trees anyway.  These Akane apples are small but particularly good as sauce and pie.  Nothing better, with added bonus of no pesticides, hooray for the birds & the beasties.  This painting reminds me why I like a smooth surface to paint on, feels fresh and crispy!

Sunset Swim

What can be better than a cooling swim after a hot, late summer day?

Flower Farm

This is inspired by a friend's place.... Morgan Creek Farm.  You can find her at the local farmers markets, best flowers (and heirloom tomatoes) in the land!

Painted Lady

In between summer storms and bluster this Painted Lady butterfly accompanied us as we walked the beach.  I'm sure the sunshine was just as welcome to both butterfly and beast.

Simpatico

This is another collage experiment.  I had no real interest in reproducing the parts of the photograph that I liked but could improve upon some aspects of it, so I collaged the best bits and painted the rest... with a few leaves thrown in for good measure.  This technique feels perfect for a "tribute" portrait where multiple stories are suggested within the whole.  Cabare is an older horse who has been a champion throughout his life, from upper level dressage performance, to teaching new riders, to babysitting young horses and yet there is still nothing better than a meander through the tall grass meadow of a summer evening.

Hailey & Sage

This is a commissioned oil painting of two lovely whippets, captured in their inside, on the bed, fluff my comforter please, element.  When I'm told "you got my dogs!!" I do the happy painter dance.  Go ahead, visualize it, laugh at me, I'm good with it :)

Lexi

Here is someone's favorite princess.  She is oh so happy to show off her sweet prima donna self.  Thankfully, at least she was for me on our photo shoot.  You might be surprised how camera shy animals can be.... another advantage of being a painter, you can use several photographic images to capture just the right look and expression.

Jake

Another soulful yellow lab. Don't know how anyone can resist that adorable look! Works every time for that pat on the head and/or cookie, lol.

River Morning

Here is another image in the arctic show that sold during the reception. Thanks to everyone who came and made it fun!

Boat Full

Just to mix things up a little, this is a commission I painted awhile ago... it will be summer again eventually!

Rosco & Kyla

Here's another pair that I painted for the holidays.

Erin & Picasso

Picasso, living up to the flamboyance of his name!

Beezus

This one was too cute to resist for Christmas! Hope everyone had a wonderful, peaceful holiday. We had glorious sunshine for our PNW Christmas present, quite a difference from last years snow! Both were gorgeous though.

Dog ina Bucket

Here's another "mini" commission for the holidays. It was more about painting the bucket than the dog at this size but fun!

Berry Bounty

I'm not sure how anyone could think that the arctic is a barren place. This is just the top layer of one square foot of tundra. Cranberry, crow berry, bear berry all serve a variety of critter palates, including ours.

Cassie

Here's another small commission image of Cassie, tried to get her out of the water for this one!

I've got to get some more boards cut, I sure like the smooth surface better than canvas for these small paintings where one little stroke can make or break the likeness.

Cassie, Wet

Back to the dogs... here is another commission piece of Cassie, I was happy with the "wet" feeling. This is a companion image to one called "Joyful Noise" I posted awhile ago. I have one more to do and it will make a nice grouping for the owners of this well loved k-9.

Cranberries

This is some of what makes up all that glorious local color on the tundra.  The cranberries are ripe and delicious on morning cereal or on top of dinner's no-bake cheesecake, yum!  The other spidery looking plant is Labrador Tea which, in the mild climate of Washington can grow several feet high, but in the arctic habitat it is found huddled near the ground.  There is also moss and lichen included to feed the caribou.