Summer Delights!

I hadn't planned on taking a vacation, but I guess I did!

For the first time in a few years I was able to take the time to visit with out-of-town family, travel to the coast and a few other places. While I was plein air painting for the Oregon Lavender Festival I discovered I really enjoyed painting outdoors. I took a couple of plein air classes and a couple of pastel classes too. In between all of that was a few sessions of painting the trim on the studio (has it really been 5 years since I finished building it?), building a fence and catching up on yard work. Whew!

Somehow, I managed to get a few paintings finished in the studio. The North Clackamas Arts Guild had their annual show last weekend and 2 of my painting won awards. The first pastel I have ever finished won First Place in the Pastel Still Life category.

Summer Delights, pastel 16x20, NFS

One of my Lavender Festival plein air paintings won a Third Place for Oil Landscapes. I felt honored to have this little painting receive an award as there were over 100 Landscapes entered in this category.

Talk About Quaint, oil 12x16, $245 unframed

I'll post the rest of my Lavender Festival Paintings over the next few days along with a few of the other paintings I've been working on.

My goal for the next couple of months is to get back to painting more 6x6 daily paintings and some larger works also.

Blessing in Blue

Blessing in Blue, 24x18, original oil on stretched canvas, SOLD

(click here for larger view or to bid on painting)

I painted with some friends this spring and the studio had this little window—isn't it great?. Another friend contributed the statue of a saint, maybe St. Francis, I'm not sure. It was fun to paint this still life and we all had such a good time. Painting with other artists is great because I learned so many neat and interesting new things. Thanks Kat and Jody and the rest of the gang.

I'm Back

Still Life with Oranges, 18x24, original oil painting on canvas, $395

(click here for enlarged view or to buy on painting)

I can't believe I haven't posted for 20 days! I spent over a week in the lavender fields plein air painting. I had so much fun with all that purple! I was rushing so much to get them all framed and submitted to the Lavender Festival show in Yamhill, Oregon that I forgot to take photographs of them. They will be in either the Coldwell Banker Professional Group building or Cusick Picture Frame in Newberg, Oregon for their First Friday Art Walk, August 3, from 5 to 9 pm. Drop in if you are in the area, I'd love to meet you.

After the Lavender Festival I decided to go out and do some plein air painting. I've discovered that I love painting outdoors. There are no distractions, like cats that need to be fed and plants that are begging for water. So, I can focus on just painting. And strangely, it doesn't bother me to have people look at my "not finished" paintings. As soon as I photograph them I'll post them.

I'm posting a larger size, still life painting that I did last winter. I really like  the way it turned out. It has a quality of stillness and timelessness.

Egg cup and shells

Egg Cup and Shells,  5x5, oil on gessoboard,

SOLD (click here to view this painting)

This little painting managed to hold it's own against many larger still life paintings in the Portland Fine Arts Guild competition earlier this spring. It received Honorable Mention—not bad for a little 5x5!

A Nod to BFF

(click here to bid on painting)

$75

These little bobble heads make me smile. I'm sure the three of them have been Best Friends Forever! They are just goofy enough to keep my 'inner child' happy. Don't we all need a little of that in this day and age?

To Let, One Room English Condo

(click here to bid on painting)

 $75
What could say "England" better than a thatched roof bird house? I was so happy when I found this little treasure.

Shh . . . He Can't Find me!

(click here to buy this painting)

$55
You see, they're playing hide-and-seek. Lemon hid in the bowl and now Orange can't see her. At least that's the story.

Hanging Out at the End of the Alaphabet: Tulip and Weigela

(click here to buy this painting) 

 (click here to buy this painting)

$75
Don't they look like great pals? Just hanging out together. Which is a great idea because their names are at the end of the alphabet so they'll be at the end of the line.

'Tween Tulip

(click here to view this painting)

SOLD
The parade continues with a series of tulips. The first one seems to have turned her hearing off—just like a kid in the 'tween stage!

Two's a Crowd

(click here to view this painting)

SOLD
Two's a crowd and this is the second in my daffodil series. My spirits always lift a bit when the daffodils start to bloom. Alas, they only hang around for a few weeks until the tulips come to town.

Blue Monday Lemon

(click here to buy this painting)

$55
I couldn't resist painting this Meyers blue label lemon. Between the blue label and the bitter lemon I decided it had to be a blue Monday.

Purple Onion Upstarts

(click here to buy this painting)

$55
These were such beautiful little purple onion starts that I couldn't resist painting them. One was so eager to get started that it couldn't resist sprouting. I think spring has sprung.

Nana Nana Fo Fana

(click here to buy this painting)

$95
Remember that old song—The Name Game? For some reason that song was going through my head while I painted this study of bananas. And, then it got stuck in my brain and rattled around between my ears for the next week! It was fun painting bananas though.

Upstaged by Cutie, Again!

(click here to view this painting)

SOLD
Doesn't she look like a Rock Star with arms outstretched in the ultimate embrace of the audience?

By the way Carol Marine, thanks for giving me the daily painting bug—I'm having so much fun!