Chelsea and the Lilacs

"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Today's painting is "Chelsea and the Lilacs". I'm re-posting it to tell you some great news: this painting is featured in the current show at Chelsea32 Art Gallery in Manhattan. Next week will be a reception and YOU"RE invited! Click on the top image for details. If you're in the NYC area, drop me an email, let me know you're coming, I'd love to see you there! It will be on Thursday May 7th from 6pm to 8pm. I'll be back from graduation celebrations just in time!!

Sunshine and Happiness; Northlight

10"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel (Raymar)

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed."
- Storm Jameson

I can't resist fresh flowers...if I've got'em I gotta paint'em. Another study of light from behind. I'm enjoying this studio I have now, the windows face north, and it is even light all day long.

Now, for the happiness part- generally I'm a happy person...but I am sooo excited, ecstatic actually ...that my twins are graduating from college (Florida State) this coming Saturday! Are moms supposed to be as happy as the grads? I don't know - but I'm thrilled for them. I remember this feeling when I graduated like it was yesterday (and frankly it was a long, long time ago). The world is their oyster! Now they just have to wade through that muck to find the pearl! It will be there though (yeah, the muck AND the pearl). But would the 'pearl' parts of life be as sweet if we didn't know of the 'muck'? I'm curious to see what the next part of 'the journey' holds for them (and for our economy-that is one challenging mess for sure).

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In The Shade of Miss Florence's Porch (Florence Griswold House)

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on artboard (Raymar)

"Expect people to be better than they are, it helps them to become better. But don't be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying."
- Merry Browne

Last year about this time I took a visit over to the Florence Griswold Museum with my daughters. Spring is just making its way to this part of New England and things are greening up beautifully! Back in the day when it was a boarding house, the artists would gather on the porch for dinner. It is a place I love to visit and one I highly recommend if you are in the CT area.

Golden Afternoon (White House)- sketch

Sharpie Marker sketch, cold press paper

I don't recall that I've posted this one. It was done to work out thoughts for a coming painting. It's from a photo taken while at the house we moved from last summer. We were renting a house from a friend, that had at one time belonged to the White family in Waterford, CT. There is a new exhibit at The Florence Griswold Museum called Visions of Mood. It is the never-before exhibited pastel works of Henry C. White. My fellow DailyPainter Gallery friend Jan Blencowe saw the exhibit last week & we were emailing each other about this when I told her of living in this particular house in Waterford. Shortly after moving there in the summer of 2005, the Florence Griswold (FloGris!) held an exhibit of Willard Metcalf's work. One of the paintings was of his young daughter in a broad-brimmed sun hat, painted on Pleasure Beach in Waterford, just behind our house! It was indeed an inspiring place to live, and I felt so connected to those artists who had come before me. I could stand on that beach and imagine that same scene right in front of me!

Jan is so right in quoting Robert Henri regarding the bonds of a great brotherhood with our connections through art. Not only are these bonds with our contemporaries, but with those who have gone before us to lead the way, as well as those yet to come. Through Jan's paintings of coastal CT, I feel as though I've hiked where she's hiked, I know where she's carried her paint gear. And though I've yet to meet her face to face, we'll indeed get together to paint this summer! Please visit her blog to see her paintings, as well as her writings of the current show with Henry C. White's pastel works! I am looking forward to seeing this exhibit of White's work!

Song of the Marsh Reeds; Red-Winged Blackbird

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"Let us see that as a bird builds its nest bravely, with bits and pieces, so we must build our human faith."
- Michael Leunig

These birds have such a beautiful sound! It's truly like a celebration of spring to see & hear them! I happened upon this one in the marshy area close to our house one early spring morning. I was so happy to bring him home in my camera, and send him back into the world in paint! The quote is simply a line from a prayer I heard this morning - so beautiful it must be shared;

"Dear God,
We celebrate springs' returning and the rejuvenation of the natural world. Let us be moved by this vast and gentle insistence that goodness shall return, that warmth and life shall succeed, and help us to understand our place within this miracle. Let us see that as a bird builds its nest, bravely, with bits and pieces, so we must build human faith. It is our simple duty; it is the highest art; it is our natural and vital role within the miracle of spring; the creation of faith. Amen."

from "A Common Prayer" by Michael Leunig

Contact me - roxannesteed@gmail.com to purchase this painting.

BFF-NYC - sold

10"x8" oil on linen mounted on panel (Raymar)

"She was one of those happily created beings who please without effort, make friends everywhere, and take life so gracefully and easily that less fortunate souls are tempted to believe that such are born under a lucky star."
- Louisa May Alcott

BFF- "best friends forever" is such a sweet kid phrase. Have they known each other since childhood? or depend upon each other recently? I so enjoy people watching wherever I go. On one rainy day in New York City I spotted these two walking along arm in arm. I never got the chance to see if they were close in age, or as far apart in age as mother/daughter. But I enjoyed watching them simply enjoy each others company as they made their way down the sidewalk. It was a drizzly day in April two years ago now, but I remember all the 'bright spots' along the way. They were just one of them.

Tidal Basin Blossoms; Cherry Trees DC

8"x10" oil on gallery wrapped canvas .75" deep

"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been kindness, beauty and truth."
- Albert Einstein


The lovely cherry blossom trees along the Tidal Basin in DC have such wonderful knobby trunks and branches that reach out and over the sidewalk. People watching's part of the fun during the festival. I really enjoyed my visit down there earlier this month!

Variations On A Theme - sold

3"x4" oil on Belgian linen on panel

"Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."
- Abigail Adams


From big with big brushes to tiny with a knife. I really am crazy about this composition - it's the strong sense of light that I'm in love with. Well, that and a room with flowers!

The Shape of Morning

22"x28" oil on canvas

"I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it."
- Harry Emerson Fosdick

This scene at a friend's home caught my eye- the sunlight coming into the dining room, reflecting on the table, and the strong shapes of the flowers, vase and chair backs- lit by that beautiful light.

For purchase information please email me: roxannesteed@gmail.com

Reflections - Spring - sold

Click on the image to see the knife work up close.

7"x5" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"Happiness is to be found along the way; not at the end of the road; for then the journey is over and it is too late."
- Robert R. Updegraff


Though flowers always interest me, the color and shape of reflections are even more intriguing to me.

Nest - Happy Easter - sold

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
- John Ruskin
(or as they say in Ireland, 'there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.')

SOLD SHORTLY AFTER IT LISTED - THANKS!!!

The actual nest is a gift from a friend who knows I love to paint - and love everything about spring. She handmade this tiny little nest for me. Nests are wonderful symbols of so many new beginnings!

Riding High in the Cherry Blossoms, DC & Dad

16"x20" oil on linen mounted on panel

"There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness."
- Han Suyin


I saw this family enjoying the blossoms around the Tidal Basin in DC during Cherry Blossom Festival week. Every one looks so happy walking in this 'enchanted' place. Which makes it an incredible place to 'people watch' as they come from all over the world to visit this place!

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Price: $500 USD plus $26 USD s/h
Or, send me an email

Springtime Flower Power

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on panel

This is a comparative study to yesterday's painting. Sometimes I take a theme (ie. flowers) and paint it with brushes, sometimes with palette knife. I'm considering how I want to pursue a larger still-life/interior incorporating these same flowers. I enjoy both techniques and sometimes use both within a painting to meet the need I'm aiming to express.

Buy this painting on PayPal
Price: $150 USD plus $12 USD s/h
Or, send me an email

Ranunculus - sold

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen panel

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
- Marcel Proust

Ah, the kindness of friends who have fresh flowers on their table - it truly makes a celebration of each day. I really admired these flowers on my friend's table. They have such pretty colors and the stems seem to bend during the day to find the sun!

Cloud of Cherry Blossoms in Silvery Light - sold

8"x10" oil on gallery wrapped canvas (3/4 inch deep) design painted on sides, no need to frame but you can if you prefer

"Happiness sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open."
- John Barrymore


When walking underneath the cherry trees in bloom around the Tidal Basin down in DC the last few days, I had the sense of walking through a cloud of flowers! The sky was quite overcast that day I had gone down there to paint. So the light had a very silvery effect. There was a slight breeze that gently blew some of the blossoms from the trees, raining down on the grass and walk paths as though in a magical place. Families, couples, children were strolling, taking photos of loved ones and just enjoying the setting. I hope I captured that 'sense of place' in this expressive palette knife painting. Between sky and trees, it is a study of the variety of subtle grays!

Tidal Basin DC Cherry Blossoms, Silver Skies, plein air- sold

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on board, (Raymar)

"The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring."
- Bern Williams


I just got back home (tonight) Saturday evening from Washington, DC. At the invitation of one of my collectors there, I went down to paint the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin! Having lived in northern Virginia many years ago, it's one of my favorite places to see the cherry blossoms in spring time. It is truly magnificent. People from all over the globe come to our nation's capitol to see this spectacle. I went out on Thursday morning from her house(since I thought we'd get a downpour on Friday) to go paint. The sky did indeed stay gray all day, but I find it has a beautiful silvery affect on the light. The subtle colorations are beautiful if you really take the time to see. Click on the painting to see a close-up of the brush-work.

I've been working on paring down my gear for when I need to schlep it long distances if I need to, hence the tiny little box. Normally when I paint outdoors, I do a "park & paint" - drive to where I want to go & carry my (bigger) gear a minimal distance. But there are times when you need to go further.... or in the city taking the metro & walking all over, it's more than cumbersome to carry anything bigger (in my humble opinion).

It's always fun for me when people stop to see what I am working on. I especially love it when kids come by to visit. Thursday there were many classes out on 'field trips' and I got to visit with a few!