Leecia Price's Painting & Nature Blog

Work and Cats

2012-02-19T17:38:00.000-05:00

The cats relax...they are an everyday pleasure to behold.

My crazy love for them brightens my days and they always say, in their way of saying things, 'relax'. Working helps me relax, each day I create at least a tiny bit of work. I'll share some soon.

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
― Mary Oliver

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.”
― Mary Oliver, Wild Geese

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”

― Mary Oliver

New Year, New Kitty, New Painting

2012-01-19T17:41:00.000-05:00

This painting is inspired by photos from Maine lakes we enjoy. This is my first try at using a fully gray sky, which naturally results in gray water...

'Lake Reflections' 8x6 oil on stretched canvas

When you are a cat person few things could start off a year better than an additional cat in the family. Meet Moby. He is a very big boy, at least 18 lbs., double my other little guy.

Happy Thanksgiving wishes & 'Black Dog'

2011-11-23T17:23:00.000-05:00

Finally a new painting posted!

This is not my black dog, Remy, but Jon Katz's dog Lenore, or rather my loosely rendered work from his photo of her. Anyway, his entertaining and inspiring blog, Bedlam Farm Journal is one of my favorites (and he offered the personal use of his photos).

I tried to get a similar photo of my dog for fun (it it was not fun) but ended up with my much-more-easily-photographed little best friend Stormy instead.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year and I hope you do too!

Artist Adventures

2011-09-22T12:58:00.000-04:00

One of Julie Cameron's tools in her book The Artist's Way is the Artist Date: a weekly, solo adventure into something or someplace that interests you. Well, I've decided I'm on an extended one of those...my muse should be fully replenished and capable of helping me actually FINISH a painting some day...before too long. In the mean time, here are some more pictures.

Playing on rocks with the dogs, Studies in progress, and We are expecting!

2011-09-05T10:09:00.002-04:00

“We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

George Bernard Shaw

I've done a few tulip studies and have a cat study going but they are rough and not ready for posting. Why tulips when they are out of season? Tulips are my favorite flower but I never see them planted, only in Publix supermarket, so they are always out of season for me :( (most fleshy/bulb flowers don't survive Florida's harsh sun nor like the sandy soil). I'm working on some new ideas, slowly, too slowly.

In other news, my goat Phoebe has been bred and if all goes well I will have my first kid/s in late January's chill. I'm excited about the kid and about having my own goat milk. It all seems like it should be so natural and easy, but this new experience will involve a number of challenges. My other doe will be bred soon too. Once I have my own milk I think we will invest in a small fridge I can dedicate to aging cheeses so I can go beyond the fresh ones.

'The Dowitchers'

2011-08-06T16:39:00.000-04:00

'The Dowitchers', surprise, more birds (8x8 oil on stretched canvas).

And Stormy at his sweetest, asleep.

Palms and Salt Marsh, Husband's handy-work

2011-07-30T16:44:00.000-04:00

8x8 oil on canvas

Another painting of the Gulf Coast salt marshes with palm and cedar hammocks (Crystal River/Chassahowitzka area).

Last week my husband had a significant birthday and in his honor and in gratitude I am posting some of his handy-work (which was built for my birthday). He built fences, gates, 2 benches (for sleeping & jumping), a 'summer' barn, milk stand, and hay manger for my goats...

At night I lock them in the smaller pen where, I slightly hesitate here to admit, I have a baby monitor to listen for any overnight issues like coyotes or loose dogs. Our dogs are house dogs and no help as livestock guardians.

Everyone who has goats has a story about dog attacks with injuries and often deaths (sadly I'm not exaggerating). I don't want to let these girls down...would you?

Phoebe & Fame

drip....drip..drip and Schmid's color charts

2011-07-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

Two gallons of chevre and one of feta dripping away their whey. If anyone is interested in home cheese making but unsure where to start or just curious about it, this is the place to go...Ricki Carroll's blog, with links to her online supply store

My fingers are crossed for this first try at feta. Yesterday I did mozzarella two different ways with one good and one mediocre result. The good news about that is I got the easy 30-minute way to work after a failure a few weeks ago. Soooo I can discard the longer traditional mozzarella method I had been using.

In his book Alla Prima, Richard Schmid strongly suggests this rather exhaustive color chart exercise I have begun. It may be nothing magical but I'm hoping it will help me ~~fall back in love with~~ become again intimate with my oil paints whom I have not spent enough time with recently, clear from recent posts. Here I've started with one of my favorite color's chart, viridian (a blue-green, in its pure state in the left column, then mixed with yellows so far). This requires a lot of drafting tape, time, and paint but beyond immediate therapy, I can refer back to them for many years.

Yearlings playing 'king of the hill'

2011-07-09T15:31:00.000-04:00

Part play, part competition the yearlings (year-and-a-halflings really) are acting like kids. Sorry about the fencing but if I go inside they stop and come see me. These were taken from my kitchen window.

p.s. this blog will include art again...but just photography again today.

Gold (Phoebe) and silver (Fame) medalists take their positions..

Distractions from painting...

2011-06-30T17:38:00.000-04:00

If making goat cheese from someone else's goats' milk and selling a bit of it were not enough of a distraction from painting, these new arrivals are more. They are attention sponges.

(I'll take that spanish moss!)

'Brown Tabby'

2011-06-10T18:52:00.000-04:00

'Brown Tabby' 6x8 oil painting

Brown and gray tabbies are among the most common of cats but they are all special individuals with their own personalities. This small girl is from a picture I found in the creative commons but I really liked her profile. Another in the cat series...to be continued.

The cats may be followed soon by a goats! I'm about to get two of my own; I'm very excited and a bit nervous. Dairy goats are not animals you fence in the brush and forget about, far from that. Much more than you want to hear on this to come.

'Grey' Cat Painting

2011-05-29T10:36:00.000-04:00

6x8 oil painting, available at Earth Pets Organic Feed and Garden.

Painting who and what I love!

2011-04-28T16:21:00.001-04:00

'Love is work made visible. ' Kahlil Gibran

Fire plans, knitting, and goat cheese

2011-04-23T21:07:00.002-04:00

This quote sort of explains my personal experience with the Melrose paint-out this year...

"When a picture isn't realized, you pitch it in the fire and start another." (Paul Cezanne)

I've hung one from Melrose but I don't like it enough to post it...maybe it should really burn...it will be a very long time before I paint palm trees again.

However I have a painting of my cat that I will indeed post soon. He is such a cutie it is hard to mess him up, or so it seems so far. What do you think?

If you are by chance like me and admire fluffy dogs, but don't yet live with one, here is something you should know...Chow and his winter coat...and this is only pile #1, pile #2 was almost as big. He is a really great dog and we do love him very much!

Happenings in our 1 acre, spring bird scene: Carolina Wrens fledged 4 little short-tailed cuties from the shoe box we taped in the rafters of our pole barn/carport, Bluebirds are feeding chicks, 3 Purple Martins have moved into the gourds, Chickadees chicks are in 2 boxes, the non-stop-coach-like whistle of a Great Crested Flycatcher make our yard sound like a playing field, murder of 6 crows visits regularly looking for hand-outs, Northern Parulas are our tinyest and cutest bird-bath-bathers.

Oh yes, looking back at the (draft's) title, I have learned to knit, albeit haphazardly...and have started making goat cheese which is currently, as of today, available for sale at Earth Pets Organic Feed and Garden in downtown Gainesville 'For Pet Consumption Only'.

Melrose 'Paint Out'

2011-03-25T09:45:00.000-04:00

I'm working outside this week at the Melrose Open Air Arts event. If you are in the area stop by the info tent to find out where we are painting. Click here to go to the online catalog, flip it open and you will see a detailed schedule.

Last of the "Chicks"

2011-03-14T08:45:00.001-04:00

I'm moving on to landscapes from the chickens for now but I couldn't resist giving these chicks a shot.

8x8 oil on stretched canvas

I hope you are all enjoying spring flowers, lime-green leaves, or at least snow-melt. One week of official winter left.

'Red Hen' and Spring Flowers

2011-03-02T14:37:00.002-05:00

This painting and the one below of the brahmas are going to be displayed at Earth Pets Organic Feed and Garden (Gainesville, FL) starting tomorrow. I understand they have real, live chicks on the way and a celebratory event too?

I want some chicks of my own very badly but as long as we are migratory birds ourselves it is not to be. Its unlikely they will fit in the car with the 2 dogs, cat, and luggage, nor would they be happy. Ditto for the dairy goat kids...

8x8 oil on stretched canvas (sold)

If this works you will see spring flowers from my yard below...Early, lovely, yes but we have many evergreen oaks here that have the effect of muting the impact of spring. No big bang of lime green like in the North (no tulips, daffodils, crocus). In some spots where deciduous trees dominate there are indeed little red (maple) and green bursts, mainly in swamps, lakesides, and in sinks.

Azaleas, buckeye, wild columbine, camelia (came with the house - why plant one that doesn't smell!), yellow jessamine, wild plum with someones honeybee, swiss chard (no, not a bloom, but colorful right? my husband's yummy winter project), Simpson's stopper, and another not-a-bloom: budding red maple.

'Light Brahmas'

2011-02-22T16:27:00.001-05:00

8x8 oil on stretched canvas

This is one of the breeds of chicken I would like to have. They are very docile but I'm not sure about the feathered legs and feet they have...

With the windows closed to keep the too warm air out, Stormy sleeps through his visitors at the window.

'The Sandhills'

2011-02-14T20:21:00.000-05:00

11x14 original oil on hardbord

This is a actually a family group I photographed on UF's beef research pasture. The non-migratory Sandhill Cranes we have here are usually in pairs or family groups, as these were. I took the liberty to 'mature' the juvenile who still had a plain gray head, I'm not sure why. Okay, it was just too much fun to paint those bright red crowns.

If I were one to expound on my painting method this might be a post for it. I could go on and on about how one as a painter has to make a choice between doing photo realism and doing painterly, impressionistic sort of work. I could say that if you want your painting to look like a photo then why not buy/frame a photo? Why even paint it? Just to get a bit of texture?

The postures I chose were taken from three different photos. I chose them because I hoped to bring movement, and with luck, some of their grace, to the painting. The background is meant to be lacking in detail and loose. There is little mystery in the cranes themselves but there is purposely no feather by feather detail. Maybe you are familiar with overgrown meadows with the mauve sort of color of the common weed dog-fennel in winter?

This painting is being shown at the Gainesville Fine Arts Association, Central Park Medical Center Show, 'Affairs of the Heart' through early May.

When at the Charleston Southeastern Wildlife Art Exposition (coming up this weekend) a few years ago I was astonished by the prevalence of photo realism. The most revered wildlife painters painted this way, just very large. I'm sorry to say that, in my opinion, almost anyone can indeed paint photo realism, it is just a matter of how quickly. Since then I've seen that wildlife and animal art in general has a bad name among many fine art artist because of the prevalence of photo realism in the field. Nevertheless, this is a lovely and enjoyable event to attend in charming Charleston.

'On Winter Pasture'

2011-02-08T15:11:00.001-05:00

8x8 original oil on stretched canvas (sold)

A belted galloway calf with adults. The reference photo I took in summer but this feels like a more natural setting to paint in February, even in N. FL.

A few days ago I saw a small redbud tree in bloom, my yellow jessamine is about to pop, a few purple martins are back in town (not mine), and the cardinals are singing with renewed vigor. They never stopped entirely. I am not ready to give up the chilly blanket weather!

p.s. I remove the middle-ground cow (with the stretched rectangle of a body!) and changed the color scheme to spring, doctored the calve's head/face, these were all helpful to this painting.

'Red Beltie'

2011-02-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

A large, red, belted galloway calf from a photo I took last summer. He was dun but I took the liberty of painting him red instead. 6x8 original oil on stretched canvas, muted yellow sides (yellow ochre)

Stormy helping me out today...

Thanks to the very talented artist Kim VanDerHoek who generously sent me several beautiful notecards from her blog giveaway.

'Two Nubians' and Attention Cat Lovers Like Me!

2011-01-29T15:53:00.001-05:00

Are Nubian goats born with their ears full size? When I see the kids I always wonder. These two are yearlings I think. I took the photo for this at the Union Fair in Maine.
8x8 original oil on stretched canvas, sides painted gray

Displaying paintings on a log cabin wall poses clear challenges...but the little historic building has a certain charm. Here are my most recent paintings hung at the little gallery in Micanopy (albeit a poor photo).

If you are in the Gainesville area, or even not, I recommend you check out the blog of Earth Pets Organic Feed and Garden. Especially since I won a $25 gift card from their latest drawing!!

If you are a cat lover, you must see the poster they included in the post 'Dear Cat Lovers'. Have you ever wondered if it is really possible to tell a blue mackerel cap and saddle silver shade from a caramel classic point mitted golden shade?? No, well you'll still love this poster...

'Light Rooster' and Eggs

2011-01-25T17:57:00.000-05:00

8x10 original oil on hardboard

Painting chickens is very enjoyable for several reasons. Their feathers are colorful, iridescent, loose, flexible, and variable, which frees me to push color and push lots of paint around. Also, they are large and always in motion; that helps lessen my tendency to make stiff, statuary-like bird paintings. But fun they are, stiff-looking or not.

Who knew buying eggs could be fun? Several months ago I started getting my eggs from a local lady who has Cuckoo Marans (terra cotta eggs), Araucanas (blue/green eggs), and New Hampshire Reds (cream eggs). Opening the carton is always a pleasure. I especially love the variable shades of the blue/green eggs.

Some day I'll have my own chickens, and certainly Araucanas, but until then I enjoy several farm blogs and visit the HenCam by Terry Golson.

'Dark Rooster Strutting'

2011-01-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

8x10 original oil on hardboard (Gessobord)

This rooster painting is inspired by a rooster that lived on the beach at a cottage we rented in Tobago in '05. He's in the lower left with a buddy, rummaging in beach wrack...my husband is on the porch.

The beach there looked like this...

There were incredibly colorful native birds, this blue-crowned motmot was my favorite...he was a flashy guy but very shy. A good photo of him eluded me.

Just past sunset these fruit-eating bats would come right through the porch to the same sugar feeder (hanging in the middle of the porch shown above). I watched them for hours sitting very near.

Looking back through these photos makes me wonder why we haven't considered returning? We survived the drivers in Trinidad once, perhaps we could again?

Another 8x10 rooster is in progress.

Three Geese

2011-01-14T15:09:00.001-05:00

6x8 oil on stretched canvas

In keeping with my slow but steady theme of farmstead animals, here are some geese I put together from the free photo reference library on wetcanvas.com. I try to use my own photos, mostly because I'm picky about the perspective, angle, and composition but also because few folks give up their photos for free.

Stormy looks back from his bird feeder look-out post on my desk. The feeders are quite active during this chilly weather.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and that your New Year is off to a pleasant start. Things are looking up here I'm happy to say.

It's really cold here! How about some flowers from spring?

2010-12-07T11:08:00.002-05:00

It seems there are around 165 species of lupines in the US, sadly, like hummingbirds, the West has the variety. We in the East have only about 8 according to the USFS site.

It appears the ones growing in mid-coast Maine are big-leaf lupines Lupinus polyphyllus.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LUPO2

Want to see them all 165 species? Just scroll down and click on any of the maps...

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LUPIN

Back in July I took classes with the talented artist and teacher Abbie Williams. She kindly directed me on the start of this painting and allowed me to keep her photo reference for this. Each year when we arrive up north there are only a few stragglers hanging on...

8x10 oil on linen, contact me for availability

Cosmos

2010-11-25T20:33:00.000-05:00

8x10 oil on gessoboard

These flowers I photographed at Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, Maine. It's the home of Merry Dog dogpark, one of Remy's favorite play places. But in an area where dogs aren't allowed, they maintain a lovely garden of flowers and vegetables...what an attractive way to grow green beans...can you make them out?

Red Cow

2010-11-07T11:07:00.002-05:00

Here's another little cow painting (SOLD-5x7 on Hardbord panel) from a set of photos I took at the pastures of the UF beef teaching unit. I've no idea what she is beyond being red and having a jersey-like face and a beefy body. I'm working on a couple of larger paintings for a show the local arts assn. is putting on, 'Gator Nation'. The subjects of my submissions are cranes and/or cows from this set of pasture photos. The pastures are a regular hang-out of Sandhill Cranes.

Belted Galloway Cow & Calf (finished?), more fall foliage

2010-10-18T12:33:00.009-04:00

This little painting is still on my easel (hence the holder "thingies" showing at the top and bottom). At a minimum I have to sign it and warm/glaze the shadow below them. (SOLD - 7x5 oil on board)

If you aren't familiar with Belted Galloway heritage breed cattle a.k.a. "belties"or "oreo cows", here is more about the lovely, non-profit seaside farm where they are raised here in mid-coast Maine: Aldermere Farm. More paintings of these guys in their scenic pastures are to come.

Here are a few more foliage pics, as of today I think the peak may be past. If you like to paint trees this is not such a bad thing, I plan to work more this fall & winter on painting the "bones" of the trees. Trees composed of mostly just branches are more interesting oftentimes to paint than big rounded leafy tree shapes.

These are from the Megunticook Lake and River area here.

Fall Colors

2010-10-01T21:45:00.001-04:00

This was taken at a spot down the street a couple of years ago, just about now this is how it looks.
I hope you enjoy it (click to enlarge).

I'm painting just not posting, I'll get back to it soon, really.

Besides Painting...

2010-08-16T10:51:00.001-04:00

A few paintings are almost finished but not ready to post. So in the meantime, how about some scenery and animals?

That's me picking (but mostly eating) blueberries up on one of the Camden hills. The islands of Penobscot Bay are in the background.

These waves at Pemaquid Point were up a bit but we have seen them larger. I could watch them and the birdlife all day. There were eider ducklings doing a bit of surfing up within feet of the rocks with Mom nearby. We learned not to underestimate the swimming ability of even tiny sea ducks.

Here are some of the adult eiders that were rafting rather idly just off the wave-crashed rocks. Terns, my favorite seabirds, flew by and dove now and then (photo should blow up with a click).

Since taking the cheese workshop at Ten Apple Farm, I admit to being infatuated with goats. We took advantage of the Maine Fiber Arts Tour Weekend to visit Wendy at Springtide Farm and her cashmere goats. The softness of cashmere is unsurpassed and it was a pleasure to meet some of the friendly goats who are the source. All made possible by the Farm's careful breeding practices, humane animal care, Maine's cold winters, and lots of work! I am hugely grateful to Wendy for her patience in answering my multitude of questions about goat fencing, goat horns, goat behavior, goat guard dogs and donkeys, etc., etc.

Sorry for the lapse in posting!

2010-07-21T19:46:00.003-04:00

When we are in Maine we run around like we only have a week here. We swim in different lakes, walk on different beaches, hike, kayak, pick organic raspberries, visit farms and farmers markets, visit art venues, attend festivals, so I don't get many paintings done. I said this year would be different since we are staying so long. It still could be. I have one painting almost finished that I will post very soon.

Abbie Williams is a local painter whose work I admire and who I am taking classes from. Check out her work here if you like: http://www.abbiewilliamsart.com/Paintings.html.

One of the farms we have visited, where we pick raspberries, is Beau Chemin (http://www.beaucheminfarm.com/default.aspx?Id=1553). Here are some of their heritage breed sheep (rams). Their horns are fascinating and reveal their close kinship with wild sheep.

'Spring Afternoon, Tuscawilla Prairie II'

2010-06-13T17:07:00.001-04:00

8x10 oil on linen, email for availability

This scene drew me back to it. Painting here was really my most pleasant plein air session to date. It was a coolish upper 60s, breezy, mid-March day, with no one around. The tall pines in the middle seemed to hold an occupied Bald Eagle nest and watching their comings and goings heightened an already great day.

Here in north Florida, painting outdoors has not been a pleasant option since mid-April, for me. Obviously we all have different tolerances for heat and mine is getting lower with each passing year it seems. If my good luck holds we will continue to spend more and more time in Maine each year. We leave in two weeks, not that I've been counting the days (since we returned last fall).

Painting outdoors is really essential to my creating landscapes paintings that I care for and the last few months I've painted some culls from photographs. That's why I turned back to painting animals recently. Unless they are asleep, or perhaps grazing, they have to be painted from photographs. One of my goals with my animal paintings is to paint animals in motion whenever possible. This is challenging because it requires a good deal of photographic time in the field and tests my skills with my camera. Oh if only I could coax those chickens to move a bit more slowly. More chickens in the next post I believe.

'Retired Belgian'

2010-06-08T18:41:00.001-04:00

6x6 oil on canvas, SOLD

The Retirement Home for Horses in Alachua, FL is a permanent home for over 100 horses, some former work horses like this one, some old, abused, abandoned or disabled (several are blind). Here they live on vast pastures in peace until they die. Their lives are punctuated by weekend visits from families armed with bags of carrots and grooming sessions with volunteers.

Past subject with a more colorful pallet

2010-05-25T17:37:00.001-04:00

"Spotted Cracker Calf"

6x8 oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

June of last year I painted this sort of half-grown calf (here: http://leeciaprice.blogspot.com/2009/06/cracker-cows-no-2-opportunistic-brave.html)
This take has much more color, not so many hard edges, and a few other improvements that I'll not mention.

The possibilities of color are wonderful. A study entrancingly interesting and unlimited.
Robert Henri

Passport & Palette Episodes Return to CREATETV!

2010-05-23T14:01:00.000-04:00

There are only so many chances we get to watch living master painters painting, for free. The shows are filmed in extraordinarily scenic locations so I believe they are a pleasure to watch for most anyone, not just painters.

Here is the schedule & guide to episodes:

http://createtv.com/CreateProgram.nsf/vProgramsByNola/PPTT?OpenDocument&Index=

I'm so pleased they are running them again, I didn't know about them until they were over the first time around.

'Summer Flowers'

2010-05-19T15:23:00.003-04:00

6x8 original oil on stretched canvas, email me for availability

This is a study I painted from photos of last years sunflowers, but this year's crop is budding.

'Salt Marsh with Sand'

2010-05-18T12:20:00.004-04:00

8x6 original oil on stretched canvas (sold)

Computer problems have delayed my postings. Even my cherished iMac is not idiot-proof. Repair required a trip to the 'Genius Bar' in Jacksonville. Enough on that.

It seems odd to me that the paintings that are stubborn about 'falling off the brush' often turn out to be the ones I like best. These little Frederix canvases I bought last month have a substantial texture that I managed to take advantage of here I think. Maybe the inherent texture lets the bits of impasto paint harmonize on the painting surface more effortlessly?

I'm reading The Art Spirit by Robert Henri which offers insights and advice for all who appreciate art. I'll start tossing in some quotes I like.

"All manifestations of art are but landmarks in the progress of the human spirit toward a thing but as yet sensed and far from being possessed." Robert Henri

'Mozart' The Saint Bernard

2010-05-10T15:53:00.002-04:00

6x8 original oil painting on stretched canvas, sides painted, NFS

This is a painting that I am donating to the rescue in Columbia, SC that I adopted my dog Remy from. As with so many animals, his is a sad story: chained for 6 years in Southern heat, underfed, matted, heartworm positive, and more. Below is the link to his story and the organization, Cullen's Archangel Rescue League (CARL). They are seeking assistance to pay for his high vet bill and I hope that this painting can help in whatever way they choose.

http://www.caretoadopt.org/animals/detail?AnimalID=2327247

I've submitted this piece to be posted on the Art For Animals blog which features donated paintings. It is a great project - check it out. I plan to do more of these, I think next I'll do a cat from the Alachua County Humane Society's busy cat room.

"Boat at Rest" Lake Santa Fe, Melrose, FL

2010-04-27T12:10:00.006-04:00

8x10 oil on linen, email me for availability

I'm guessing that this scene may look a bit odd to some of you so I'm including a picture I took from my easel set-up. How do they get that little sailboat past all those cypresses?

"Days Old"

2010-04-24T11:03:00.005-04:00

6x6 original oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

This little guy was in the same pasture on Millhopper as the most recent cow piece below. He is of unknown (to me) breeding & age, but not a Hereford, despite the coloring, and not many days old.

"A Show of Feathers"

2010-04-24T10:58:00.004-04:00

6x6 original oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

"The Spotted One"

2010-04-19T19:15:00.006-04:00

6x6 oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

These small Spanish sort of cattle are just lovely. Some around here are indeed Cracker cows but I'm not sure about this herd on Millhopper road...You will see more of these in the future. I especially like the mostly white ones but the brown ones are certainly lots easier to paint!

This photo is rather poor, the color is a tad off and since it is very wet, there is glare.

"Cedar Key Trail"

2010-04-15T19:30:00.006-04:00

6x8 oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

Cedar Key, Florida

We drove over a couple of weeks ago, it is only an hour away. I found a few places to paint but the tide was extra high, covering features that are important to me: sandy spots, base of the marsh grasses, and even a little mud is good. This is from a photo I took that day. The birds are meant to be a small flock of ibis. If you notice the "paint blob" that is catching the light in an unfavorable way, on the front tree, that is now smoothed down.

"Back-lit Great Egret"

2010-04-13T16:34:00.006-04:00

6x6 oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

I cannot seem to go very long without painting a bird.

"Marsh in Violet"

2010-04-12T16:22:00.004-04:00

6x6 oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

This scene is more from memories than from any particular location. I added magnesium violet to my palette for this one, it compliments the four yellow colors that I use (cadmium yellow, hansa yellow, yellow ochre, transparent oxide yellow) very nicely I think. I've ordered quinacridone violet to see how that works, now if only I can pronounce it...Four yellows may sound excessive but all my tube colors are of only one pigment so I find it works for me. I don't use them all for every painting but they allow me to mix countless greens and this is a real help.

I've been just initialing these little guys because my name just looks so big on 6x6s and 6x8s. I usually remember to sign the back.

"At the Marsh Edge"

2010-04-07T14:51:00.006-04:00

6x6 oil on stretched canvas, original $40 (including $5. for shipping)

Biddeford Pool, Maine

The Purple Martins are starting to nest in our gourds so I have swallows in my mind. This nestbox and dinghy are in my reference photo taken last summer, but not the Tree Swallow, my best guess as to who uses this box (hopefully not starlings!).

At the top, a side-view shows it painted a harmonizing gray so that the small piece does not need to be framed. I do this to all my paintings that are on stretched canvas, as opposed to linen panels, which must be framed.

"September at Salt Pond"

2010-04-04T16:56:00.005-04:00

6x8 oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

You might recognize this view from the Cape Cod National Seashore Visitor Center in Eastham. It looks out over Salt Pond with Nauset Marsh in the background. While I was working for the park I had many a Teva sucked off my foot by the muck out there. Nevertheless, me and my partner decided that Tevas were the best footwear to wear in the marshes while we did bird surveys. But what does this have to do with this painting? I just love this marsh & the one up beyond Race Point too. I've spend many enjoyable hours out there. I took this photo in 2008 during a September visit, on an overcast day. I knew I would paint this scene someday and I may do a larger one too.

Happy Easter, Work in progress piece, Setting up my Etsy Store...

2010-04-04T13:52:00.003-04:00

'Spring Afternoon, Tuscawilla Prairie'

2010-03-24T08:56:00.006-04:00

8x10 oil on linen - SOLD

Painting the piece on site was a real pleasure: waterbirds and migratory songbird all over, and lovely weather.

The is the 3rd of the 4 Melrose OAA paintings. The last I will post for now because I forgot to take a picture of the 4th, a small blue sailboat docked amid cypresses on the lake.

'Eagle's Domain, Tuscawilla Preserve'

2010-03-21T21:09:00.002-04:00

8x10 oil on linen - SOLD

'Eagle's Domain' Tuscawilla Preserve, Micanopy

2010-03-19T08:45:00.003-04:00

This is just a work in progress photo, I need to photograph the final piece over again...

This is another of the 4 from Melrose OAA.

There was an eagle's nest that appeared active within view.

"The Stop House" aka The Chamberland House built 1905

2010-03-16T21:29:00.005-04:00

8x10 oil on linen -Available- Melrose Bay Gallery (through April 27)

I've done 4 paintings for the Melrose paint-out. This one was done on the public painting day in Melrose. Setting up right beside the main road would not have been my first choice but this home just asked me to paint it the first time I saw it, a few days before. The owner came by and kindly offered the info in the title. It, like the other 3 pieces that I'll post over then next few days, will be available at the opening event on Saturday. Please click on the poster icon at the top right for more details.

This was as far as I got that first afternoon. I was working slowly & talking to lots of folks. The light on the house has faded. The next day I filled in the foliage and lost that leftward lean that is evident here.

Ichetucknee: River to infinity?

2010-03-06T09:17:00.009-05:00

This is painted from a photo I took on kayak trip on Thanksgiving Day.

The Ichetucknee is a spring-fed river, hence the bright water

Lighthouse at Port Clyde, Maine, near sunset

2010-03-02T21:24:00.007-05:00

This is the first time I've painted on linen, having put it off because I had read many times that one

would never want to use canvas again, and all those folks are right. Anyway, with the

Melrose Open Air Arts event coming up I needed to find a panel I liked instead of using stretched

canvas (panels are easier to transport & frame).

Click on the poster icon here in the right margin to find out more

about the paint-out. We will be painting at designated locations March 10-17

and the opening for the resulting works will be Saturday, the 20th 6-9pm at all 3

participating galleries in Melrose, FL. We can show 3 pieces each and there are 65 of us, so

there will be lots to look at, plus live music, and refreshments.

Also I have 2 works on display at the Medical Center, also noted here on the right. They are

"Called to Dinner" ( a few posts back) and "Boatyard from the Bridge", which is shown in the

October 9, 2009 post.

(8x10 oil on linen - "Lighthouse at Sunset" - Available)

Just a Fun Palm Painting

2010-03-02T21:17:00.004-05:00

"Palms with Bright Sky" 6x8 oil on canvas - SOLD

"Palms at Crystal River" (Citrus Co. Florida)

2010-02-06T10:30:00.006-05:00

(6x6, oil on canvas - SOLD)

The salt marshes on the Gulf of Mexico are bordered by expansive stands of sable (cabbage) palms, cedars, and oaks. The groves of palms often stand alone on islands and create an interesting landscape, their crowns pointing in all directions with many "bald" trunks interspersed. On this little painting, I got carried away with the color and texture of the grass and let the creek become a straight "Z". I need to remember to step back more but this can be surprisingly hard to remember when you are having fun.

There are dozens of "crystal rivers" across the country but here is a link to a small photo gallery of this area and it's wildlife. It is best known as a place to swim with the manatees. The "page 2" contains a few nice marsh pics.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/crystalriverpreserve/photogallery.cfm?pagenum=1

"Called for Dinner", Rhode Island Red chickens at Dudley Farm

2010-01-26T14:53:00.011-05:00

This painting (10x8 oil on canvas - SOLD) was fun other than struggling with the shadowed background's value. I had it much darker, in all transparent colors, but it just seemed too dark. But could I justify it being lighter than the dark side of the chickens? For better or worse I added some opacity to it and lightened it up. I also added the fence rather than leaving the gap behind the building empty.

These chickens were in "there's the lady with the long skirt and the food calling us!" mode when I took the reference photo for this. It was a fun challenge to try to capture their movement.

If you have not gone to Dudley Farm State Historic Park, they have heritage breed livestock and the staff dresses in early 1900s farmstead clothing. The farm is not a re-creation and quite old by Florida standards. It is located just west of Gainesville only a few miles from my house. Here's a link to their home page's photo gallery: http://www.floridastateparks.org/DudleyFarm/Photos-Park.cfm

and the photos at their Friends site:

http://www.Friendsofdudleyfarm.org/interest/photo.html

If you are local, they are selling fresh eggs for $2/dozen there! Their larger flock of chickens are Plymouth Barred Rocks; I took some great pictures of them but I'm not sure I'm interested in tackling those barred feathers in paint.

Crooked Island Lighthouse, Bahamas

2010-01-19T18:53:00.006-05:00

(6x6 oil on canvas - Available) From our sailing trips I have so many bright photos but the question is always which ones will make good paintings? Last week I was at the little coop gallery and finished a painting and had planned poorly. This was one of the only photos I had with me so here it is. In the photo there is a rusty, grounded freighter but it was put in that category I'm learning more about with experience: things that look kind of weird in a given photo and will look entirely bizarre in a painting.

The funnest thing about this painting was getting to use cobalt blue and turquoise too!

Salt Marsh

2010-01-18T13:36:00.004-05:00

(6x6 oil on canvas - Sold) I keep painting these marshes because I just like them so much. I vary the composition & the palette a bit each time. Also I'm enjoying these little square canvases, first time I've used squares. In the next day or 2 I'll post a little Bahamas lighthouse I'm finishing.

"Sable Palm at Crystal River" (Wildlife Refuge)

2010-01-17T21:04:00.003-05:00

(8x6 oil on canvas - Sold)

So this is finally okay with me after working on this longer than I should have.

I learned a few things from this painting, I hope. First, it is easy to say I love cobalt blue, over ultramarine, but can I afford to use it most of the time? Have you tried Gamblin's transparent earth yellow? (and the t.e. red beats burnt sienna, IMHO, and they dry slower since they are synthetic) I think I might not use yellow ochre anymore? And finally, never again will I fool myself into thinking I can paint a close-in palm tree loosely...

I have another small marsh painting I'll post tomorrow. Today I spent the afternoon at Dudley Farm Historic Park, I think I'm going to be on a rural life subject kick, more on that later.

John Twachtman's "Spring Landscape"

2010-01-13T14:59:00.003-05:00

Here is a painting for your viewing pleasure from one of my favorite Master painters John Twachtman (1853-1902). I greatly admire his painting style and view them both for their beauty and in hope to absorb something of his impressionistic technique for my own landscapes. One can always hope!

Go here if you would like to see more of his work http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=Twachtman&go=Go

My easel was idle for some time due to undesirable life circumstances that have thankfully passed. Ah - but now a spell of paintings that require burning or wiping! I burned 2 in our fire pit along with yard debris. A first for me, and quite satisfying. That prescribed burn class reveled my buried pyromaniac...

I've had the same 6x8 on my easel for over a week now. I'm going try again to finish it NOW.

Happy 2010 to everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-09T20:19:00.003-05:00

Wanted to do something different

2009-12-06T19:10:00.005-05:00

(6x8 oil - SOLD) Sometimes I feel like I just need to paint something with highly saturated color, it isn't really what I usually do. I'm working on a barn painting that is taking longer than I would like & I wanted a break & some color! I have not painted a still life in years so please reserve judgement - because it was really fun. "Three Galas" 6x8 oil (with bright red & bright aqua!)

Still on the "Fall Trees"...

2009-12-06T18:58:00.003-05:00

Here's a little fall painting (6x8 oil on canvas - Sold) that I changed a bit at the gallery after this photograph. It is from a lovely spot I photographed last year near Mt. Katahdin (in central Maine). I really didn't do it justice but one can only try, and maybe try again...

"Ducktrap River" Fall in Maine

2009-11-06T11:38:00.005-05:00

(12x9 oil on canvas - Available)

This year we left Maine too early for fall colors. At the end of September there were only hints of the riot to come in October. I took the reference for this painting last year during a hike along the Ducktrap River in Lincolnville. A number of other colorful pics I took of fall scenes are inviting me to bright color challenges.

I lean toward subtleties in all things. But it is no good to stay in your comfort zone when you are trying to learn; mixing and using color and values will be lifelong learning.

Incidentally, we learned our lesson, we will spend October of 2010 in the north.

Update: this is in the "can this be fixed pile", I must fix the all light blue water. I also understand I used to much white in the colored leaves...

Another Amelia Island marsh painting

2009-10-31T14:26:00.004-04:00

(9x12 oil on canvas - Sold)

Here's another one, I just love painting salt marshes, because I love looking at them. Here I played with violet/yellow complementary pairing & I really like how the colors turned out. Especially that it happened without a struggle.

Yesterday I entirely painted over another marsh scene that was over half "finished". You have to know when you've gone too far down the wrong road & surrender the time & wasted paint. I think (hope) I learned something from it?

"Lotus on Pitcher Pond"

2009-10-31T14:13:00.004-04:00

(6x8 oil on canvas - Sold)

This painting was unplanned, little thought went into it. Looking at my many photos from Maine I just chose a few from the many lotus shots I took at Pitcher Pond in Lincolnville. It just sort of fell off my brushes. It was a lot of fun because I was prepared for it to totally not work out, but it is okay, only okay, but okay.

My husband paddled the canoe in circles for about 15 minutes while I took some nice shots. I'll have to paint another and post some of the photos. Next time I'll lighten up the colors of the "pads" and the water but here I wanted to play with a big contrast in value between the flower and its surroundings.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

2009-10-13T11:40:00.005-04:00

(9x12 oil on canvas - SOLD)

This painting is not as dark as shown (hope you like it!).

Often I've considered painting extinct or endangered species; as a statement of what I think is important and as an attempt at spreading the word about conservation. But this painting was not my idea, done by request for a fellow bird lover. And I painted it at a time when loss is a fresh wound for me personally. So it is only now that it is finished that I dare reflect on possibly having painted a "ghost bird", a bird that none of us may be so lucky as to see alive again. Yes, like everyone should, I hold out hope that he may indeed still be found in Florida or in Arkansas but he may have already disappeared. Even in these recent years while conservation & search efforts have intensified.

Please follow these links for more information on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/

http://www.nature.org/ivorybill/

Incidentally, I used photographs of skins and of Pileated Woodpeckers as reference material for the painting.

"Boatyard from the Bridge", Amelia Island

2009-10-09T16:01:00.005-04:00

(14 x 11 oil on canvas - Available)

It won't be taken to the gallery until my next workday (10/16) but please contact me if you are interested in it.

Chickadees!

2009-10-09T15:41:00.004-04:00

(SOLD)

A while back I kept thinking of a painting of crows flying in to roost on a dead long-leaf pine, several of which stand in neighboring yards, victims of lightning and/or beetles. I painted that for myself & it hangs here by my desk (did I post it here?). Recently I had been thinking of occasionally Carolina Wrens, but mostly of chickadees, in various poses. So when I decided to paint on this solid oak board from an old cabinet, it had to be birds...five of them.

The board is 27 x 4 inches. I've photographed it on a wooden wall, not a good choice really. My husband wants to keep this but I've had some unexpected expenses & will consider offers.

Repost - E. Screech Owl commission with updated background

2009-10-08T17:04:00.003-04:00

I thought I would re-post this since I hadn't put any background before. Later I realized the painting just was not finished and put in the live oak/Spanish moss setting it deserved.

Cardinal Male in a spring-time wild plum tree

2009-09-29T15:43:00.003-04:00

9x12 oil on canvas - Available

"The Flower Box" a.k.a. "this is how happy being in Maine makes me feel"

2009-09-28T16:42:00.006-04:00

(8x10 oil on panel, framed - SOLD)

It was a lot of fun painting this while looking at 2 lovely flower boxes that sat alongside the harbor in Camden. I'll be driving it down to the gallery tomorrow.

I'm just finishing up a chickadee group on a 27 x 4 board. It is a fun, folksy piece that has been floating in my mind for some time. Les claims it is NFS but we'll see.

Next: an ivory-billed woodpecker commission and finishing touches on a couple of Maine landscapes.

An older pastel painting

2009-09-28T16:33:00.003-04:00

Forgive me for posting such a low quality image...This is my favorite of a group of birds I did in pastel as an illustration for an interpretive sign that was installed at a park in Broward County (FL). It was about 5 years ago, at my last "real" job. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell it but I may put it up in the gallery if some of my work has sold while I was away.

Portland Head Light in fog

2009-08-24T21:56:00.004-04:00

It has taken a while to decide on one photo to post from here in Maine; I gave up a few times. I'm partial to clouds, waves, & fog so here is one of many pics I have taken of places I love dearly here (albeit crooked & very large b/c I don't have the software with me to fix it). There will be more. I have done one small painting I'll post soon, of a blueberry barren.

Eastern Screech-Owl - Gray Morph

2009-07-23T18:28:00.007-04:00

This 9x12 oil painting was painted with a buyer in mind, who I recklessly did not present a sketch to..I'm not one to put lots of time into doing a drawing unless it is the final product, I think this is from starting out painting with pastels, where the 'drawing' is the painting. After making a small study, that I did not like, I plunged in knowing that she may not wish to buy it. I will hang it in the gallery if it does not meet expectations, no problem. Perhaps I'll do a red morph in a green setting next time? (the photo was taken outside and there is a glare reflection at the top & the painting is a little lighter overall than shown) This is depicted as a gray evening with only a bit of light, from the left, which lets the green algae on the live oak trunks brighten a bit.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

2009-07-22T19:23:00.000-04:00

A couple of years ago I painted this little 5x7 acrylic for my Aunt Nita, my only aunt, who I love very much. Our polar opposite views on politics & religion make conversations a dance sometimes. In the South people tend to avoid talking about anything unpleasant so communications and relationships can suffer miserably, in silence.

Anyway, I tend to enjoy painting the less colorful females of bird species. It then comes as no surprise that my favorite birds are entirely neutral in color, North American favorites anyway. Among many others they include Carolina (or any) Chickadees, Swallow-tailed Kites, Gray Jays and all Terns. How cute is this?

It was one of those fledges that came out of the box, with no tail, that I was afraid I, or the dog somehow frightened out prematurely...so after putting him & another back a few times, I took his picture quickly and turned him over to his furious parents in a low tree.

Puff The Magic Kitty! (who once lived on the sea)

2009-07-18T09:31:00.001-04:00

Currently I'm working on a few paintings for wonderful fellow "bird lady" I met recently. In the meantime I'm posting a painting from the past. It is certainly the most commented on I've ever done and one my husband insists I post. But do you see what is missing from my cat??? At the end, I decided his extra-long white whiskers would be a distraction from the other details in the little painting...

Puff living on the sea recently (Hopetown lighthouse, Abacos). His expression may hint to you that yes, he prefers terrafirma.

Bird Nests: Bluebirds & Silk Soy Milk Box

2009-07-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

This lovely couple are now on their 3rd clutch with 3 lovely blue eggs laid. Bluebirds usually finish up before the heat & rain really kicks in in July, this year it kindly started raining in early June. They even built on top of their last nest because I neglected to remove it (assuming they we finished for the season). Bluebirds take their fledglings away into the treetops and it is hard for me to figure out if a clutch survives or not.

Chickadees, Titmice & Wrens are more easily accountable since the fledglings hang around the yard near the feeders with their parents begging loudly for weeks. Here is a pic I took last year of a chickadee nest. This is a peace of artwork & you can't see the dog hair weaved inside the cup.

Carolina Wrens make many creative choices of nesting spots. This year, instead of a plain brown box we put up the first box we found that was a good size for the crazy wrens that next in our pole barn/carport. But my pic below is plain compared to these,

Check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Funky Nest Site Contest entries:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/challenge/funky-nest-entry-directory

After living in South Florida for over 15 years, where hanging a feeder was pointless because even the Blue Jays wouldn't be able to get a seed before the feral parrots and doves devoured them all, I now live in a bird lover's heaven. In my humble one acre yard this year we had Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees (2 clutches), Eastern Bluebirds (3), Carolina Wrens (2), & Purple Martins nest. Here in N. central FL, put out the boxes, and they will come! I've never been any good at finding cup nests in bushes and trees, even when I was being paid to but there must be some of them too...

And, I can't resist saying, it helps to keep your cats indoors, and to have a dog to occasionally run off the offending neighbor's cats. It is the most humane choice, and it's not just for the birds: http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/index.html

Cracker Cows No. 2 & opportunistic, brave calf

2009-06-28T13:59:00.001-04:00

It was tempting to do a close up of this calf's face because he is among the cutest I've seen, even though he is likely a year old or so. So I'm trying to paint looser but I couldn't resist rendering some details of this guy. (6x8 oil on canvas - Sold). This photo is very bad: I "skewed" the proportions of the calf and the background cows are obscured by glare.

There is a calf up on Millhopper road that I'm trying to get a good picture of, it was nursing a displeased Pinto mare the other day when I stopped.

Amelia Island Salt Marsh (No. 1) SOLD

2009-06-26T18:27:00.001-04:00

6x8 oil painting, The color is a bit off: the blue green in the foreground is exagerated & the value in the foreground is darker than shown.

Purple Martins Fledge!

2009-06-21T12:35:00.000-04:00

After having this housing setup for 6 years, 2 of those in S. FL, we finally had ONE brave pair nest all alone, and very late in the season for them. We live in the Jonesville area and the closest colony I know of is at the Archer Rd. dog park but there could be others. The last few years we have had late season visitors check out the gourds but this year they showed up mid-season and we are thrilled that a pair actually stayed and today 4 fledglings are out flying around with the parents. The parents are 2nd year birds, the male for sure anyway, he is not yet in fully dark purple plumage as he will be next year. The plumage difference is more subtle on the female in 2nd vs. 3rd year birds.

They used the gourd with an enlarged hole but if anyone wants more details just let me know. I'll just say we know now to toss the porches and to enlarge all the other holes for next year. They have been a joy to have around and I can't wait to see if we have more next year!

Here is a link to the conservation organization we bought our housing from, the site is full of greats facts and photos: http://purplemartin.org/

p.s. the photo above is before they nested and it's an adult peeking out from the gourd. I may have missed my chance for a "family portrait".

"Cracker Cows No. 1"

2009-06-21T12:15:00.001-04:00

11x14 oil painting from a photo taken of a Micanopy pasture. Cracker cows are interesting because they come in all colors and patterns including a sort of brindle coloration that is suggested in the mother cow here. They are small, attractive, and very hardy, but fell out of favor with most all ranchers because they don't bulk-up the way Angus and Herefords do. Fortunately some concerned ranchers decided preserving this heritage breed was important so you'll see a number of them in the pastures of Alachua County. The same efforts have been made to save the Cracker horses (like those on Payne's Prairie). Both have Spanish heritage and are small and hardy because they grazed free-range in the local area for centuries and were subject to natural selection. If you would like to see some photos of them and learn more here is a link to a Florida Dept. of Ag. site: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/livestock/cracker_cattle.htm

I have some great pictures of them I've taken in the area and plan to paint them again. And probably in more detail than this painting which is more about the setting than the cows.

2009-06-13T14:39:00.001-04:00

"Solitary Heron" (5x7 oil on canvas - SOLD) I never thought I'd paint a bird this tiny. I can't expect viewers to tell what it is... I am working on a somewhat similar 11x14 right now.

"Florida Sunshine"

2009-06-04T14:06:00.001-04:00

6x8 oil on canvas - Sold

This is my first painting of fruit. Painting pears, apple, grape, and orange still lifes are sort of a rite-of-passage for artists, to practice shadows and the suggestion of the 3rd dimension. But in the classes I've taken I've managed to avoid still lifes, they really don't appeal to me unless they involve natural artifacts: feathers, skulls, leaves, nuts, bark, etc.) This painting was quite fun & I think I'll try the other citruses, on the tree not a table. Anyway, its a 8x10 oil which along with the beach painting below I'll be taking down to Micanopy tomorrow.

"Seahorse Key" Cedar Key, Florida

2009-06-04T13:46:00.000-04:00

This little oil painting (6x8) is from a photo I took on a trip out to Seahorse Key off Cedar Key. These islands, part of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, have lovely white sand beaches & lots of sun-bleached driftwood on the beaches. Other pictures I took show sable palms hanging onto sand cliffs at all sorts of angles. Yes, there is actually some high land on Seahorse Key & a lighthouse too. A visit requires a boat. We went over on a fundraiser event trip with the Refuge's friends organization who have a great website: http://www.friendsofrefuges.org/index.html
I considered putting all sorts of additions in since the large driftwood in the photo looked essentially like a giant spider. But with enthusiastic advice from my husband, who I sometimes listen to, I left it a simple peaceful scene (without feeding pelicans, stalking heron, or distant sailboat etc.).

Bobwhite Quail Pair

2009-05-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

On the day I was finishing this pair, Robert Genn's letter was on "kissing". This was a bit of a punch in the stomach. I was already struggling: when I placed the female in front of the male I thought I had adequately overlapped them but soon realized not. AND to my dismay, it occured to me that it might look like I had painted a male mounted on a female?! Then the letter. It describes how objects in painting should not be tangent, just touch, but should clearly overlap. "Kissing" is a mark of a beginner. There sure are a lot of these marks in painting...All we can do is keep learning...

Anyway, this 6x8 was done relatively quickly. My goal was not to render in exact detail; this being a lesson in itself.

Subtle Beauty: Cardinal Female

2009-05-23T09:48:00.002-04:00

(6x8 acrylic on canvas - SOLD) (I should always use a tripod to photograph paintings) Female Cardinals are so colorful but their beauty is often overlooked in favor of the showy males. Their feathers have a boundless variety of buffs, oranges, & reds (next time you see one...). I liked this photo I took & used as a reference because she looked so puffed up & relaxed, sitting on one foot (actually on a shepard's hook) right outside my kitchen window. I did another painfully detailed portrait (days with tiny sable brushes) of the same about 3 years ago. I've posted it below but it is not for sale. I actually like the new one much better but I just spent so much time on this one I feel some day I will be glad I kept it(?).

New Paintings - these are not so new, I'm just behind on posts...

2009-05-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

Avocet - 5x7 panel in acrylics (SOLD)- These lovely birds migrate through Cedar Key and are such a pleasure to watch. I took many pics of them that I plan to go back to again.

"Lowtide" - 6x8 oil on canvas (SOLD) - This was planned to be another Avocet painting, I planned to put 5 or so on the mid-ground bar but I started liking it as just a relaxing landscape. Saltmarshes are one of my favorite places & I love painting them. More than once I have had my boot or Teva sucked off my foot by the pungent muck but I still love them. I was walking around in them because I was getting paid to (bird surveys on Cape Cod). Being in a kayak or a firm trail and viewing them is highly preferable. But they are sometimes sandy, not muddy, even at Cedar Key where so much silt accumulates from the Suwannee River. There, lots of shells are mixed in with the sand. When I was painting this at the gallery someone asked where it was suppose to be. When I replied Cedar Key they promptly advised I cover up the bright sand with brown. And there are those lovely bright sandy edges around the pine/cedar hammocks there too.

Sanderlings

2009-04-26T18:57:00.000-04:00

As with most of my photographs, the color is not quite like the painting. This was a fun painting because of the simplicity of the color scheme, the opportunity to have a valid use for bright aqua green, and the busy, attractive subjects. I plan to do a larger one to keep myself but it was hard to part with this one. I have lots (!) of shorebird photos to do future work from. 5x7 oil painting, Gallery Under the Oaks

More Sailing Dinghies from the Abacos

2009-04-20T15:55:00.000-04:00

" 'Day Dream' and Friends" 5x7 acrylic on canvas

"Day Dream"

2009-04-17T07:52:00.000-04:00

"Day Dream" is the name of this sailing dinghy I photographed in Hopetown, Abacos, Bahamas. It has a cute little cat painted on the stern next to the name, like the other 2 similar boats that are in the painting I'm just finishing. I'm off to the little gallery for the day (5x7, $30, acrylic). I think this photo needs to be saturated a bit...

(little) Gallery Under the Oaks

2009-04-13T15:15:00.001-04:00

Have you been to our tiny gallery in Micanopy? It was built in the 1930s as a restaurant & has had many different chapters since then, it certainly has character. Including the fruit & veggie packing house that one of the former owners built over the top of it (this rarely fails to mystify passersby). How many artist coops have items for $2.oo? Come check it out...

From a few weeks ago...

2009-04-13T15:09:00.000-04:00

I photographed this little boat from every angle and I'll probably paint it again. It had really seen some use & seemed to have stories to tell. This little painting sold last week but I was going to bring it back home to put some horizonal stabilization in it...the boat seemed to be floating on the beach a bit.

"Red Stripe"

2009-04-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

"Red Stripe", Sailing Dinghy Abacos, Bahamas, 6x8 canvas, unframed, original acrylic

$35, Gallery Under the Oaks, Micanopy, FL

After a big dose of Florida green paintings (a great number of hues that swap back & forth in my mind from seeming to be all the same color, to being overwhelmingly varied), a couple of which are not finished yet, it was so light & refreshing to go back and paint lots of blue and blue-green. I've almost finished another little boat that I'll post next. I have hundreds of reference photos along these lines from our winter season stay (last winter). These little, colorful dinghies, that are very common there, are full of charm. It is a real challenge to try and capture it, ditto the water color without it seeming to brash.

2009-04-06T21:20:00.000-04:00

Quiet at Lake Wauberg, Micanopy, Florida

acrylic 11x14, unframed, SOLD

Have you seen a Swallow-tailed Kite this year?

2009-04-06T21:04:00.000-04:00

Have you been so lucky as to see this bird lately? One of the most graceful of birds? One that upon seeing, if not struck with awe then perhaps this is a hint that you, or someone you love, should lay off the electronic stimuli...The Charleston Bird's of Prey Center has a new Citizen Science project this year to supply data for the good folks who research the population trends, nest and forage sites of this species. http://www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/swallowtail/swallowtail.html

(photo borrowed with the best intentions from this site)

Retirement Home for Horses, aka Mill Creek Farm, in Alachua

2009-03-28T09:24:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite horse at Mill Creek Farm, a gentle Belgium draft horse. He, and about 150 other horses, are available to eat carrots from your hands each Saturday 11-3. For more info on this non-profit farm where all the horses are old or disabled & many were service horses (law enforcement, carriage horses, etc), visit their site: http://millcreekfarm.org/. While this particular photo of him screams to me to paint it I just don't know if I want to spend days rendering his old, wise eyes and I don't know if a looser painting of him would do him justice. But I'm over painting boats for now, back to the landscapes with birds or other animals.

Sweet little 20 something footer

2009-03-24T17:31:00.000-04:00

It was hard to get a decent picture of this little painting. If it weren't an oil that has been finished only a couple of days I would have put it on the scanner. The water is more aqua green than this image shows. I'll be taking this one down to the gallery, along with another 5x7 little boat I'm finishing tonight, this Thursday (5x7 oil on canvas, unframed, $25 (SOLD)).