Easy Sailing

12"x16" Oil on Canvas

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This is the latest commission that I delivered this week.  Smith Mountain Lake and the Blue Ridge Mountains never fail to provide something to paint.  They look different each day and are always a painting waiting to be painted.

Cupcake Connoisseur

7"x5" Oil on Gessobord

I spotted this little guy at CJ's Coffee Shop at Bridgewater Plaza while I was having lunch on opening day.  When he spotted all those yummy cupcakes he was instantly in love and there was no distracting him from them.  I just can't blame him, he knows a great cupcake when he sees one.  

Hopefully my posts will be more frequent than they have recently.  Summer and vacation time with my family seemed to consume more time than usual; but it was fun and wouldn't have traded it for anything.  We were able to show my granddaughter and her friend one of my favorite places.  Fine View Village on Wellesley Island, NY.  They even had time to swim in the "balmy" waters (65 degrees) of the St. Lawrence River.  

Hershee

7"x5" Oil on Gessobord
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This is Hershee,  a beautiful Bernese Mountain dog.  This is a commission I was asked to paint, I was given several poses from which to choose and that was the hardest part.  I really wanted to paint them all.   She was so much fun to paint with all that beautiful long hair

First Snow

16"x20" 

Oil on Canvas

What better way to cool down than thinking of snow, when the temperature reads 92 degrees.  Seems like that is when I think about painting snow, which I love to do no matter the outside temperature.  But this summer has been so much like Florida, and nothing wrong with Florida, except in the summer when you can't take the heat.  I think the heat gets to me more each year.  But I sure do love the look of snow and painting it.

View from Carrs Point

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12"x16" 

Oil on Canvas

The area of the Blue Ridge Mountains that I live in always provides something to paint.  The mountains and lake change daily and never leave the artist with nothing to paint.

Smith Mountain Lake Memories

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30"x40"

Oil on Canvas

This is a commission piece I just finished of Smith Mountain Lake, it was larger than I had done before, but so much fun to do.  Thanks to the very nice couple who gave me the opportunity to paint this for them.  They knew exactly what they wanted and were so supportive through the whole process.  It was a real pleasure to paint this piece for them.

Big Blue

20"x10"

Oil on Canvas

These blue heron's fascinate me, their patience and stillness while their eyes search the waters for food is amazing; and they are really fun to paint.

South West Harbor View

14"x11" 

Oil on Canvas

This was painted from a photo I took sometime ago in South West Harbor Maine.  I love white birch trees and the view of the harbor through this beautiful tree caught my eye.  There are so many beautiful views in the Bar Harbor area.

Spring House Hunting

5"x5" Oil on Gessobord

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This is another of the busy little birds from my yard when they were trying to decide which bluebird house to move into.  They are now all settled in and busy bringing food to the family.

Pretty In Pink

12"x12" Oil on Canvas

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This was just so much fun to paint, these quirky little animals have so much character I have to paint them.

Ebony & Ivory

8"x10" Oil on Canvas

I just couldn't resist painting these two babies, their contrast just caught my eye.  It was a fun painting to do.

Fine View to the River

16"x20" Oil on Canvas

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I did this painting some time ago, and was never quite happy with it.  I just recently made changes to it and am now happy with it.  The painting was done from a photo I took on vacation.  It is a small village called Fine View in Upstate NY on Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River.  The village of Fine View was started in the 1800's as a Methodist retreat.  The village has many of these beautiful victorian homes and is a wonderful summer vacation place.  It is like stepping back in time.  One of my favorite places.

Bluebird of Happiness

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5"x5"
Oil on Gessobord

Now that spring is here these little bluebirds are everywhere, house hunting, building nests, and protecting their already built nests.  I love watching them bring food to the family.

Keeping Watch

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10"x8" Oil on Canvas

Another animal, what can I say other than they are just so much fun to paint.

Sing Like No One is Listening

7"x5" Oil on Gessobord

I love hearing all the birds on a spring morning and I can just hear this Carolina wren singing his heart out.

Summer's Bounty

10"x8" Oil on Canvas

I love the window boxes of summer overflowing with geraniums.  A real plus of the geraniums is that the deer don't eat them.....well not yet anyway, but they do on occasion pull them out.  I guess in frustration of not finding them very tasty.    I hope everyone has a very nice Easter.

On The Rocks

9"x12" Oil on Panel

This was an experimental painting done on a textured panel.  The painting was done from a photo of Bar Harbor, Maine on Cadillac Mountain; one of my favorite vacation spots.

Patience

7"x5" Oil on Canvas

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Ok, I said my last painting would be the end of animals for a while, but do birds count?  Actually, I had to take a break from the painting I was hoping to post after the donkey but it is taking much longer than I had hoped and is much more detailed than I wanted to get into.  Oh well, it is still fun but at times a bit frustrating.  I love watching these blue herons, they are so patient waiting for their fresh catch of the day.  I wish I had just a little of that patience.

Don-Key-Ote

8"x8" Oil on Canvas
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This little painting was just so much fun to paint.  I've heard many artists say "the painting just painted itself", but I never had experienced it until I did this one.  I think this will be the last of my animal series, at least for a while anyway.  I know it won't be for long because they are too much fun to paint.

Amore

10"x8" Oil on Canvas

It wasn't planned (because planning is not me),  but somehow it just happened that this painting was painted and finished in timing with Valentine's Day.  A mother's love isn't just for humans, but animals also experience it.  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

Out on a Limb

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10"x8" Oil on Canvas

I just love watching the birds and these little chickadees are always in abundance to watch.

Hunting & Pecking

5"x7" Oil on Hardboard
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Another of my baby animals series, these little fluffy geese were so much fun to paint.  There were more than three and I may be doing a larger painting of all of them.

Thelma & Louise

7"x5" Oil on Panel

Ok, so I'm still on baby animals.  I couldn't resist these furry donkeys.  They had so much shaggy hair their eyes were hardly visible.

The Five Little Pigs

6"x12" Oil on Canvas
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I love painting animals and baby animals are always so cute.  I couldn't resist painting this litter of pigs.

Snow Much Fun

10"x8" Oil on Canvas

Happy New Year to everyone, the craziness of the holidays is over and back to painting.   I'm still waiting for snow, but this painting is from the fond memories of it as a child.  Building snowmen was one of my favorite things to do, and still is.

Winter's Peacefulness

5"x7" Oil on Board

I love the quiet stillness of new snow.  It just makes for such a lovely peacefulness.

This will be my last post until after the holidays and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for visiting my blog and sharing their comments.  I appreciate all of you.  

Warmest wishes for peace and joy during this Holiday Season and the coming year.

Moonlight Shadows

12"x9" Oil on Ray Mar Art Board
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This painting was done with a pallet knife.  It is always so freeing applying paint with a pallet knife, especially when doing my favorite winter time paintings.

Skating in Bryant Park

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12"x9" Oil on linen Ray Mar Art Board

This painting was inspired by photos I took last year from our trip to NYC after Christmas.  This was my granddaughter's first experience on ice skates as well as her first trip to NYC.  Lots of memories!

Winter's Grace

5"x7"  Oil on Gessobord

Monday was 70 degrees here and today there was snow; which is really early for Virginia.  It has been crazy weather here this fall, but still a beautiful part of the country.  I am so thankful for the beauty that surrounds us offering plenty of choices of scenes to paint.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the many blessings that surround us every day.

Autumn Reflections

8"x14" Oil on Gessobord

This painting is from one of our families favorite vacation spots, a beautiful lake in Canada where we spent many fun filled summer days.  Most of the cottages and boat houses were built many years ago as small fishing cottages, but soon became family vacations spots that provided many priceless memories.

Mirror, Mirror

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8"x8"

Oil on 300lb Watercolor Paper

This is a painting of my favorite model, my granddaughter.  She has never seen a mirror that she didn't love.  This was painted from a photo taken several years ago and I am sure when she sees it she will have a comment for me.

Monhegan Memories

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6"x6" Oil on Gessobord

This was just a quick fun painting from a trip to Monhegan Island, Maine several years ago with several artist friends.  We had such much fun on that trip and the scenery in Maine is equal to none other.  Such fond memories.

Lunch on the Fly

10"x8" Oil on Canvas

I love watching the humming birds.  They are just so fast darting from flower to flower.  When the sun catches their colorful wings it is quite a sight.

The Strut

12"x9" Oil on Canvas

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This is one of the hens I painted sometime ago, but it was so much fun I just had to paint it again.

Hay Bales

8"x8" Oil on Gessobord
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This past week some friends and I went to Explore Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway to do some plein air painting.  It was a fun day and for the first part of the day the weather was beautiful.  It is always fun to be outside in the fall weather with a fun group of friends, but always a challenge for me to focus on a small part of the beautiful scenery.  

Teamwork

11"x14" Oil on Panel

This was painted from an old black and white snapshot I found in an old photo album.  It was a challenge,  I had to make all the color choices; but knew it had to be late fall because there were no leaves on the trees and the two were wearing flannel shirts to keep them warm.  And I definitely knew it was OLD, because that is my brother and he is even older than me!

Autumn Patchwork

20"x24" Oil on Canvas

The fall greens are a challenge for me and being a larger painting than I normally do, it was a big challenge.  I have now done this farm in three different seasons, and am calling it enough, now to move onto something else.  

Lynchburg Art Festival 2014

Thanks to everyone who chanced the weather on Sunday and came out to the festival.  It turned out to be a beautiful day and the attendance was great.  I really appreciate all who came and stopped by, a very fun but exhausting day.   Hope to see everyone again next year.

Lynchburg Art Festival Moved to Sunday the 14th

Because of the forecast of rain the Lynchburg Art Festival has been moved to Sunday the 14th.  Looks like a beautiful day on Sunday, come out and enjoy the art and the nice fall weather.

Lynchburg Art Festival

It's that time of year again when I drive myself crazy getting ready for the Lynchburg Art Festival.  If you are in the area or looking for a fun day come out and checkout all the wonderful artwork.  There are artists from all over Virginia and some from neighboring states.  It is held at EC Glass High School in Lynchburg on Saturday the 13th and is open from 10AM to 4PM, rain date is Sunday.  If you come to the show, please stop by and say hello; I'll be showing artwork on the fence at location #54.  I will be posting new some artwork after the show

Let Me Have a Look

SOLD

10" x 8" 

Oil on Canvas

Once again my favorite subjects, animals.  These two reside at the Booker T. Washington National Park just a few miles from my house.  There aren't too many animals left there that have not been the subject of one of my paintings.  However, on one of my many trips past the park, I have spotted a new horse.   I guess I need to make another visit; I'm sure that horse feels left out.

First Snow

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10"x8" Oil on Canvas

I just love painting snow, the colors cast from the shadows on the snow are so varied.  I love the quiet after a snow storm when the sun is shining on the crystal flakes.  It is just magical.

Autumn Pasture

16"x20" Oil on Canvas

 I have always been fascinated by horses, they are such a beautiful animal.  A friend of mine had this photo and I couldn't resist painting it when she offered it to me.

Summer Sunshine

5"x5" Oil on Gessobord

I just can't resist the challenge to paint these giant beauties.  The child care center across the street from our studio had planted these in the front of their building.  I'm not sure how they kept the birds from eating them, but they were an awesome sight.

Island Sunset

11"x14" Oil on Canvas

There is nothing so magical as the sunsets on Monhegan Island, Maine.  The whole earth just glows with such beautiful colors.  Painting knives are becoming my friend.  The way the colors blend and the surprises that happen with the knives are so exciting, and well then there are other times that are just so frustrating I wonder why am I doing this.

On the Prowl

11"x14" Oil on Canvas

It's roosters again, their colors are so much fun to paint, and then you add their attitude and they are really fun.

Dead of Winter

11"x14" Oil on Canvas

I know, it's not winter, but if the heat bothered you like it does me, you would understand.  This painting was the most fun I have had painting in a long time.  It is done with painting knives.  I just can't wait to start another; and maybe even add to some of my other oil paintings that I am just not quite happy with.

Rooster Strut

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12"x9" Oil on Canvas

After the challenge of "Best Friends" it was time for the fun of painting a rooster.  This one is done with a pallet knife, which is always fun and relaxing.

Pretty Woman

8"x8" Oil on Gessobord

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This is another hen from my trip to the Safari Park Zoo in Natural Bridge.  I just loved the fluffy feathers on her.  They have such a great variety of animals, it is truly fun place to visit.

Best Friends

24"x30"

Oil on Canvas

This is the painting I thought I would never finish and at times I thought I would just scrap it; but I think it is finally finished.  I just love horses and thought it would be fun to do three on a large canvas, at times it really was fun.  There are so many horses in this area, I had no problem finding models.

Evening at the Lake

20" x22" 

Oil on Canvas

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This is a painting I did of Smith Mountain Lake some time ago.  I have not been able to do much painting these last two weeks because I have been having a fantastic time with my 10 year old granddaughter who was visiting us.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, and I am also working on a very large (well for me it is very large) painting that hopefully I will finish and be able to post sometime in my lifetime.  Now back to more painting.

Summer at Smith Mountain Lake

24"x18" Oil on Canvas

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The Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia is one of the prettiest areas of our country and then add a beautiful lake in those mountains and you couldn't ask for more.  Painting water has always been something I am drawn to, but it also one of the biggest challenges for me.