Clear Autumn Morning In The Marsh, plein air Barn Island

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

This is another one of the paintings I had neglected to post on my blog! ***This plein air work was done back in October!  One of my favorite places, Barn Island Wildlife Refuge.  I think it's a wonderful refuge for people, too; judging by the number of people I see out there from time to time. On the weekends there are many hikers, dog-walkers, etc.  It is a place of beauty and refuge in all seasons, not just for the wildlife, but all of us who need a bit of nature to remind us how to be calm.

Stormy Skies, Autumn - Plein air at Barn Island

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival board

Click here for more information about this painting, or to purchase.

I was going through my recent  plein air paintings and found a couple that I had not blogged about yet! Bummer, because I've found it to be the best way to chronicle works over time.  And of course, this started around Thanksgiving, when I somehow allow the rush of the holidays to disrupt everything, rather than to just go with the flow.  Like swimming, you don't want to panic in the water - instead, just relax and go with it.  

On this particular day (October 17th, 2012) I had painted another one just before this (High Tide Before The Storm, see blog post of Oct. 17th, 2012). When I finished, I turned my easel in the opposite direction and the passing cloud cover was truly fascinating.  I finished this just as a line of showers came through.  Cleaned up & made it to the car before getting soaked! Now that was a good day of painting!

"Improvisation I - Variations on a Theme" Marsh and Woodlands

6"x6" oil on archival panel, $100

To purchase, or for more information, click here. 

Improvisation - to make a variation on a theme.  This little painting is a variation on a plein air painting that I did just recently in fall.   I'm wanting to do a much larger painting from the original, but I've made some slight alterations in color and shape/composition.  So I'm trying these out in this small piece before I jump back to a 40"x30".  

This has been a fun project for me, all these marsh paintings from Barn Island. I was going through them this afternoon, to label them, and found that I've neglected to  blog a couple of these! So, I spent the rest of the afternoon labeling paintings, photographing the two large ones I recently finished, and getting my desk organized again (well, I'm still working on that).

Hydrangea Heaven ACEO Floral Oil Original

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

 

Bidding starts at just $1

If you've followed my work for a long time, you know I'm a garden painter. From early spring to late fall I'm out there (with my hubby, the main garden guru) planting for painting! Every surface in my garden is a topic that I've painted.   Hydrangeas are such wonderful blossoms - and when they are in bloom, who could not feel they were in heaven?

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  The miniature paintings are the size of a baseball trading card, 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  This category of art has become increasingly popular on eBay the last couple of years.  These can be displayed on their own, or with a tiny little easel (like the kind you can find in Michaels Arts & Crafts type stores) on a display shelf, or these beautiful gems can be elegantly matted and framed with perhaps a mat of 4 inches wide.  ACEOs also make wonderful gifts!  

Zinnias To Brighten a Gray Day, ACEO Floral Original Oil

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding starts at just $1

 

Each year my hubby starts lots of seeds, but some of my favorites are the zinnias! They are great for cutting to make arrangements and look great in the garden, too! He reminds me to keep cutting them, as the more I cut, the more blossoms they'll put out! How could a gardener, painter find anything more fun?!

 

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  The miniature paintings are the size of a baseball trading card, 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  This category of art has become increasingly popular on eBay the last couple of years.  These can be displayed on their own, or with a tiny little easel (like the kind you can find in Michaels Arts & Crafts type stores) on a display shelf, or these beautiful gems can be elegantly matted and framed with perhaps a mat of 4 inches wide.  ACEOs also make wonderful gifts!   

 

Geranium Glow, ACEO Floral Oil Original

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding starts at just $1

As soon as the weather warms up in spring, I drag these big blue pots out of my garage and fill them with lovely geraniums! They do such a nice job of gracing the front of our home!

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  The miniature paintings are the size of a baseball trading card, 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  This category of art has become increasingly popular on eBay the last couple of years.  These can be displayed on their own, or with a tiny little easel (like the kind you can find in Michaels Arts & Crafts type stores) on a display shelf, or these beautiful gems can be elegantly matted and framed with perhaps a mat of 4 inches wide.  ACEOs also make wonderful gifts!  

Winter Thaw, Barn Island

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information or to purchase, click here.

Wow, this morning was a winter heat wave, 43 degrees F! Which makes for a great day of painting outside. The sun was trying to burn off the haze, but never did quite succeed. Much of our previous snowfall has melted. Only stubborn little patches of ice persist, though most have yielded to mud. Tide was going out, which I wasn't aware of until I heard some ice pulling against some crackly reeds along the edge of the water.  Most of the grasses have faded to a pale golden wheat color at this point in the winter, though I did see a few tufts of faded green emerging from some snowy clumps.  As I was setting up to paint today, a big egret came in for a landing behind me.  He became too busy stalking his prey to worry about me though. Life in the marsh goes on.  

Spring Rhodies ACEO Floral Oil Original

 

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding starts at just $1

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  The miniature paintings are the size of a baseball trading card, 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  This category of art has become increasingly popular on eBay the last couple of years.  These can be displayed on their own, or with a tiny little easel (like the kind you can find in Michaels Arts & Crafts type stores) on a display shelf, or these beautiful gems can be elegantly matted and framed with perhaps a mat of 4 inches wide.  ACEOs also make wonderful gifts! 

Winter Wonder of Woods

11"x14" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

Please contact me for more information about this painting, or to purchase.

So, here's the skinny on my painting efforts this winter....me, "the girl from FL who does not DO snow is determined to learn to like it, paint it, have fun in it, and live with it.  If all else fails, I can get away for short bits during the winter to go visit my mom in FL!  In fact, I'm making a 'paint & tour' list of every friend that I could possibly stay with down there if we really get an unbearable blizzard or I get frost-bite....or worse (i.e. like lock myself out of the house in the snow, in my jammies, while getting the newspaper). Then I cry 'uncle'! 

This past Sunday morning we wake up to this - a winter wonderland! The storm is over and the sun is out, catching wonderful light tracery on heavy trunks and fine branches.  If I didn't have 'coffee-hour duty' at church I would've climbed back into bed under the warm covers! BRR! But the roads are clear, and I want to greet & chat with my fellow parishioners....so out to the driveway I go to shovel. Hubby follows shortly with the snow-blower, which was still buried in the basement under outdoor stuff that we had hauled in before the hurricane (just a few months back?). 

I figure there must be a special technique of using snow-blowers that involves a great deal of physics (man I hated that class in high school AND college!). It involves understanding wind-direction and flying weight of heavy wet crap- which I haven't mastered yet, as I end up wearing more snow than I clear!   So I inevitably leave the snow-blower to hubby!  

It's tough being a New Englander! But I'm working on getting the hang of it!

"As Evening Falls In Winter Woods"

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

To purchase, or for more information, click here

or- contact me here.

Please inquire if you are interested in this painting!

An outing on cross-country skis took me through winter woods last weekend. We had stayed out later than we had planned. It was only 3:00pm when we realized we needed to turn around and head back to the car so that we wouldn't be caught out after dark when the temps drop down to extreme cold.  By 4:00pm the sun dips down below the treeline and begins to fall like a hot rock into the darkness...which arrives around 4:30pm. This view was beautiful, I wish had time to linger for the sight. (location Barn Island Preserve, Stonington, CT).

I've been out enjoying the recent snowfall. Those of you who know me, or have followed my blog for awhile know that I grew up in Florida - and don't have that much 'snow experience' compared to my friends that have grown up in cold places. So....my CT friends are acclimating me to winter weather and I've been out cross-country skiing a few times - so far it's great fun! Well, I'm working on expanding my horizons. Perhaps I'll learn to like snow a lot if I can have some fun in it! Perhaps I'll even paint more winter landscapes!
 

 

 

 

"Tide's Coming In!"

11"x14" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

Please contact me here, for more information about this painting.

One of my favorite places, Barn Island Wildlife Refuge.  I think it's a wonderful refuge for people, too; judging by the number of people I see out there from time to time. On the weekends there are many hikers, dog-walkers, etc.  This past weekend we had snow - and I went cross-country skiing there with a friend! It is a place of beauty and refuge in all seasons, not just for the wildlife, but all of us who need a bit of nature to remind us how to be calm.