Yellow Bucket of Flowers (sold) & Don't Worry, Be Happy Flops

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite panel

For more information  click here. 

Yay, it feels great to be back in the studio PAINTING! It's been a busy winter, who woulda thunk it?

I recently got back from a short trip to Hawaii! Now, before you get all excited, it....was...very....short! In fact, I spent as much time in airplanes and airports as I did on the ground there. But it was productive three days, none-the-less.  I took a sketchbook....and a swim-suit....and that's about it! Oh yeah, some flip-flops (umm, they are called 'rubber sandals' over there in Oahu) don't make the mistake to call them the wrong thing! 

You definitely need a pair like this! Yes, even in a freezing winter (like I'm having here in CT). I can just slip these babies on and feel like summer is really going to get here! (hey, it worked for Dorothy, even if those were ruby slippers, not rubber slippers). 

and yes, those things really do make GREAT prints in the sand! (or wet tracks on sidewalks!) Woohoo!  Where did I get those? Subscribe to my Cheer Factor newsletter, and I'll tell you all in the next issue!

ALSO***** "a save the date notice" for Saturday, June 8th- this summer. I'll be releasing some very exciting news....think gardens, blooms, summer fragrances...sigh! More about that in my upcoming news- letter, too!

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!

Coastal Fog, Plein Air

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

$200

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or contact me here for more information

The fog comes 

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

-Carl Sandburg

I love Sandburg's image of the still, quietness of a foggy day. Last week when I went out to paint this - difference in appearance to my previous days on the marsh out at Barn Island were quite interesting. The colors do go rather 'soft' and grayed. I've begun a large (30"x36") studio painting from one of the previous studies, still in the middle of that!   

 

Three Boats

24"x36" oil on linen

$1700

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or contact me here.

Some favorite memories of this summer, sailing with friends!  It was a perfect day out on the water, nice and warm with a good breeze.

Swoop - Swish - Sail

6"x8" oil on Belgian  linen mounted on panel

For more information about this painting, click here, or contact me here.

Swoop, swish, swing, sail 

flying over water in a 

summer's dance.

Breeze blow, send me away

then return me across the waves.

Brilliant sun, beaming, 

warming my bones...

from my toes

to the smile on my face. 

Ah, summer is wonderful. I had the good fortune to take a sailboat ride with friends this past weekend. It has provided lots of material for some delightful summer paintings.  I'm not a sailor, but I do love watching the way these boats move. A masterful sailor seems to become one with the boat, and it is as graceful as a dance. 

Roses By North Light (in Old Lyme)

12"x12" oil on board

Summer is so wonderful. 

 I can feel the exuberance blossom in me with every flower that blossoms in my yard!

Whether I paint outside in the garden, or cut the flowers and arrange a still-life to paint, the colors bring such a wonderful feeling! 

This painting, along with 2 other coastal landscape scenes of mine are in the "Summer Painting and Sculpture Exhibit" at Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, CT (on 90 Lyme Street).  The opening is this evening 6-8pm- and they'll be on view through July 29th. Please come have a look!

Passing Showers

9"x12" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. ~Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau really had it right. When I do get outside to the woods and fields, I really do find it exhilarating (and that I've got myself in the right place). And that's whether I'm painting, hiking, or even taking a short stroll. Lately I've been exploring some additional painting possibilities in our region.

This morning I did take a short trek over to nearby Barn Island, just over in Stonington. I could see that the sky was clearing in that direction, and thought that there would be some interesting cloud cover as the front blew over. It started sprinkling when I pulled out of the driveway, so I wasn't sure if I'd get to paint or just be rained on. But it was a nice heavy cloud cover with band of clearing sky near the horizon. I was really drawn to the way the bands of cloud light reflected into the marsh water pools. On gray days, everything is much closer in value range (and the color can sometimes seem so rich).

This painting can be purchased unframed directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery store, or contact me here.

Fine Day For A Sail, Harkness Park

12"x24" oil on stretched linen canvas

"It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage."
-George William Curtis

Ah- today was another really fantastic summer day in CT. Doesn't get any better than this. And I got to be out painting in it, back at Harkness Park, here on the coastline of our state. I do love being out here from season to season. By the time September rolls around the purple Joe-Pie weed will have butterflies from all over flitting in and out of these blooms.

I am enjoying the larger canvases outside - why did I wait so long to try this out? It's only a bit more planning to manage the larger canvases outdoors, but I sure found this to be very satisfying.

This painting is currently available directly from the artist at my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

His and Hers, Oceanfront; beach, Atlantic, Chincoteague/Assateague National Seashore

8" x 10" oil on gallery wrapped, stretched canvas, with sides painted

“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach”

- Henry Beston

After several rainy, dreary days this week, I was feeling like I needed a day at the beach. So I painted one, remembering a wonderful visit to Chincoteague, VA last September. Even though I go down to paint at the annual plein air paint-out & sale, I always try to take a lot of reference photos to bring home with me. I'm going back there this year, and painting this scene brought back memories of what a beautiful place those two islands (Chincoteague & Assateague) are.

Price includes framing and shipping/insurance to continental USA. Please contact me for framing selections. International buyers please contact me for shipping fee.

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Price: $450 USD
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Gray Day Spring, Third Year In The Artist's Garden, Plein Air

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout


This week I've spent a lot of time painting BIG! I've been staining/weather-proofing my back deck. I'm reminded how much energy is spent when you are using your whole body in the painting process. Man I am worn-out, but am happy to have completed this project, before this week's coming rains set in! Saturday, once I unfolded all the achy parts of my back and every limb I decided to paint outside. It was that soft gray day, with no cast shadows, no strong sunlight, but no dark clouds just yet either. It has been really fun documenting the changes in this garden over the past three years. Sometimes it's hard to believe all this has been created in such a short time. The rose canes are thick and strong, arching across the fence line, with so many buds forming to blossom in the coming weeks! The creeping phlox is blooming in great mounds of lavender and pink. Soon their show will fade and something else will come along to add some color. It's going to be quite the year in this garden!

Splash! (Norfolk Botanical Garden) sold

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."
- Georgia O'Keefe

On the Friday morning that I spent painting for the "Out & About Norfolk" plein air event, I took myself back to one of my old favorite 'hang-outs'- the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. One of the most delightful things is to walk the paths through the gardens, and find the ah-ha! place that takes your breath away. Depending upon the season and what is blooming at the time, it can be a different place each visit....most likely many places within the garden will provide this!! And of course, one of my very places to set up and paint is near the fountain. This garden is created so that you can see this fountain from so many different angles...and all the plantings behind that part, frame up the view perfectly! I'm always amazed at the artistry of the plantings, it's like a painting everywhere you look! So here is a view I hadn't noticed to paint before...
This painting "Splash" is an 8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board sold that Saturday evening at the show and now belongs to my newest corporate collector, Bank of Hampton Roads!