Bright

I know this seems like a strange title for a painting with so much dark in it, but I named it for the brightness of her white shirt. (The photo didn't capture the brightness of it unfortunately.) This was very fun to paint! I tried to make the white shirt interesting since it is the painting's focus. I wanted the face, hair, and background to become one large dark mass. I think it came out pretty good.

Laid Back

I recently joined a group of artists who hire a model weekly to pose while we paint. It's been a while since I painted the model from life and it is such a great experience! I did this one a few weeks ago and I have another one from last week that is currently drying.

Strawberries and Silver

Here's a little 8x10 I did a few weeks ago when the local strawberries were in season. Painting the light blue highlights that surround the seeds was a new challenge for me, but fun!

Yellow Iris

A few weeks ago when they were freshly cut from my garden, I painted these yellow iris. I was really drawn to the way they all flopped to one side. They are such a complicated flower, but simple at the same time. The day after I painted these, the buds had opened up into blooms already! And the blooms only looked good for one more day before quickly fading. Glad I was able to finish them in one sitting.

OPA Award of Excellence

I am so honored to have had my painting, Looking Back, awarded the Figurative Award of Excellence at the Oil Painters of America’s 24th Annual National Exhibition!

This year’s show runs until May 25, 2015 at Cutter & Cutter’s Brilliance in Color Gallery in St. Augustine, FL. The entire show can be viewed here http://www.cutterandcutter.com/events/opa/index.html 

Jen in Strong Light

I photographed my niece, Jennifer, last summer as the sun was shining directly on her. I thought it would make a nice painting. I painted it on a gessoed panel instead of my usual canvas panel and it was a challenge to get the paint to do what I wanted it to! I also tried a new technique of messing it up a bit with a tissue before I finished it -- fun exercise!

High Noon

Still fascinated with shadow, strong light and the shadows they produce! The shadows from the sunglasses were fun to paint.