Pickers, Spicewood Vineyards, Texas

This painting was a studio painting, although I did do some plein air painting at the vineyards on this day also.
I worked from a photo for these pickers however, the session at the vineyards was very hot, hence the studio painting later.
I wanted my viewer to feel the heat with this one, & I tinted the canvas first with a hot orange hue.
I actually like the result very much, how about you?

Mount Bonnell

I painted this today, at Mount Bonnell.

The Plein Air Group arrived around 9.00 am & we all stayed till about 11.30am.. It was starting to get very hot in the end of the session, but the day began as a very hazy day, in fact I could not even see the 360 bridge when I arrived to paint.

I have to admit I was not that happy with this one, & when back in my studio I did add a few lights to it, it's those greens again..Phew!!

Out came the warm reds/oranges to get it a little brighter & less 'gloomy', even though the day was pretty gloomy at first.

I love color, & it's very hard not to use them.

Laguna Gloria

This was done last week at Laguna Gloria. A small group of Austin Plein Air artists met there to watch Laurel Daniels do a demo, it was great, thanks Laurel!
Afterwards, I stayed back with a couple of people & we painted the area. I hate doing a lot of greens, & this painting really challenged me on that score.
The day was overcast for the most part, not a lot of sunlight, so when it came out, I grabbed the opportunity to place some lights in the painting.

I always end up using complimentary colors to 'zap' my greens, I could not resist a little orange here & there.

KAREN'S POND II

This is the second attempt to the previous entry, just a few lighter touches & eliminated the blue somewhat. I think I like this one better.
I also changed the landmass shape a little, to give more direction.

Karen's Pond

This little painting has undergone some changes in the last few days.I was at a paint out several months ago in Dripping Springs. Karen is an art pal, & graciously opened her house to a group of us.
I am very new to plein air painting, & I thought this showed my ineptitude. I thought the blue, although a nice addition was too strong in parts & I painted over a lot of it last week. In the next BLOG entry you will see it as it is now.
Which do you like better?

Sofala Town III

The last of the Soafal town images for now, I loved this town, so charming & so rustic.

Sofala Town II

Another pastel done of the little town near to where I teach in Australia. This one was also done mostly with pastel pencils.

Sofala Town 1

Sofala is a town in the northwest region of Sydney near where I teach at the Charles Sturt University in Australia..It was a gold mining township in the early to mid 1880's & is like a step back in time even now.

After a week of teaching at the university back in 2004, another artist pal of mine & myself went there to take photos & generally 'hang out' with the townsfolk. A real treat.

For the most part, this painting is done with pastel pencils, an easy medium for me with plein air painting.

CURTSY

This painting was a part of my show in Ajijic. I loved the red 'bow' of the poppy, hence the name.

Breakfast at Tiffany's farm SOLD

This horse was grazing in a paddock on the way back from Rockport a few weeks ago. I made up the background, & was trying to keep it in a high key palette. Mildly successful but I think it could be better. I really wanted the colors much less defined on the horse, maybe next time.

Rolling Vineyards

This painting is in Salado, Texas, in the Kay Griffith Gallery.I made a lot of this up, & as it evolved, I felt good about the distance the overall scene has. I had pictures of grapevines in the wineries near where I live , however as there are no hills such as this in Texas that I know of, I used a great deal of artistic license.

Orchid Waltz

This painting is still in the gallery in Mexico, although I believe it could be sold now.
I get such a lot of pleasure from working the design in a painting, this was no exception. it was a disaster at first, in fact there is another painting underneath! However I think the end result finally was pleasing to me, of course there is always room for improvement, we artists are never satisfied are we?

Iris II

Another demo, also sold. I rarely sell my demos, but the lady was insistent to buy both of these irises.

Iris I

This was a playful little demo I did for a class I was teaching in Australia. It is completely made up, & I used liquid acrylics for most of it, with some full bodied acrylics later for touch ups.

Eve's Iris

Another floral attempt. Evelyn was a dear friend who died 3 years ago, so I planted these irises in my garden in her memory. They have become a great source for painting, thankyou Eve.I miss you.

Dalai Llama Gathering

A fun painting, I did this very quickly, can you tell?
It is a mixed media piece, watercolor, pastel & acrylic.I just love llamas, they are a comical animal always curious & posing. Great for a composit like this.

Lilies in Splendor

This painting is in Galeria Dos Lunas in Mexico. I did a series of floral paintings for the show down there, not ever thinking of myself as floral artist.

However, these paintings sold pretty quickly. Amazing.

It is an acrylic, very quick & very energetic, just the way I like to paint.

Enjoy!

A Man and His Bicycle in Ajijic

This was an exercise in high key colors, I was pretty much out of my comfort zone, but had fun with it.
The old man was a delightfeul study, pushing his bicycle down a street in Ajijic, Mexico.

Bull Creek

This is an oil of Bull Creek a lovely area near where I live. Although I did this one in my studio, I did some sketches first on site.

Ajijic Street Scene V

This is a gallery on my favorite street in Ajijic. Such fun to see the colors they paint the buildings there, the Mexican people are very talented.

Ajijic Street Scene IV

This is Ajijic Tango, a restaurant in Ajijic that i frequented, great pasta!!

Most of these Ajijic scenes have sold I believe, in the gallery show I did there.

Ajijic Street Scene III

As you will see, this is yet again another continuation of the scene in Mexico. I could have painted all the facades along this street, they were all great, what color! What fun!

Ajijic street scene II

This is a continuation of the street scene in Ajijic I. The colors on the street & the facades of the buildings are simply wonderful!

Ajijic Street Scene I

This street scene is in Ajijic. It's a hotel on Colon..During a painting trip with a group of artists I happened to paint some plein air paintings in the street in this quaint Mexican town. A gallery ended up taking my work & in the following 6 months I was asked to get 24 paintings ready for a one woman show in the gallery,Galeria Dos Lunas, which just happens to be directly opposite this building. The show has been very successful & I was extremely pleased to have had this opportunity ..

Echoes of Iao SOLD

This is one of my favorite watercolors done on Maui. It is a large painting, & quite abstract for me at the time. A new area to explore.I used watercolor as a base & then used acrylic white ink over it, to diffuse & obscure areas.
Iao Valley holds a very special place in heart, it is where I hiked & swam with my husband in our early courting years. I absolutely love the place & I think this painting shows how etherial & mystical it is.

Hold on Tight

This is a composit from a few photos. It is from scenes in Ajijic, Mexico. The little girl on one horse was trotting down the street on the first day I was there. The little boy was actually on the beach beside the lake with his dad about a week later. The street scene and the colored facades blew me away down there. So to feature them & still have some human interest I thought the horse riders would make for a fun addition. I believe this painting is still for sale in Mexico.

Let's Dance !

This diptych was completed & sent to Ajijic, Mexico... last year for my show. A man tried to buy it from me off the street as I came out of the framers. I would not sell it that way as I wanted it for the gallery, but it sold on day two of the show anyway. I liked painting this one, the colors were so different for me.

Kaleidoscope Koi

A large acrylic on canvas, this painting was begun with gay abandon & freedom. I wanted to just create drama and action. The koi are from photos I took on Maui, however the composit is random, using several photos to resolve the image.

Horses

Not a very imaginative name for such a dramatic painting, but oh well.I sold this painting three years ago to a lady here in Austin.

Near llano, Texas

About year and a half ago, my husband & I went on a sleeper train to Chicago. We loved it! I sketched from the train & took bunches photos. Believe it or not, the photos were good enough from a moving train to use as reference for paintings.
This scene was as we approached Austin coming back home. I experimented in Pan Pastels on this, using a foam brush to get the rolling clouds. Although I did find these new pastels a little harder to use for trees or more linear things, I loved the soft molding I could get for skies.

Jungle Patterns

This painting sold a few years ago on Maui, but I still miss it. It was published in a book called 'Artists of Hawaii' .It's a watercolor with some white ink overlays.

Jungle Reflections

This is a place where I used to swim & hike on Maui, called Twin Falls.

It was a small rock pool, the rocks were actually lava rocks & very black in color, so i used artistic license with them to create more drama. A lot of the background is out of my head, so although I started with a photo for reference, I took liberties with that image.

Fish Platter

For a while I did a lot of koi paintings, this one was challenging with the square format. The lily pads are made up, but helped to create a passageway in the composition. This was one of the paintings in my Mexico Show, & it sold on the opening night.

Jungle Patterns II

I love this painting! I did it many years ago on Maui, & it sold from my gallery.As far as I know, it is still on Maui. It is a mixed media watercolor on black canson paper. I loved (in those days) to place (panels) in the works, a sort of juxtaposition of natural shapes against geometry.This painting is totally made up.

Fall Colors

Another scene from the Branson area.I did change things a bit, the tree on the right for instance was not in the scene, but I felt I needed it to help with the composition. I donated this to an austion for raising money for Aides. It sold for $900. I was happy to have helped with a really good cause.

Creekbed Fall Colors

This is a large canvas, & done in acrylics. I went to Branson two years ago, & took photos of a lovely creek just out of town, the colors were wonderful.

Fish Triptych

This is now in a friend's house here in Austin. It is a three piece painting in watercolor. Each piece is about 28" x 16" . When I was living in Hawaii I did a lot of this type of imagery, I was floored to sell this in Texas! Who would have thought it huh?

Banana Boat Serenade

This is a diptych on two canvasses. I love this painting, it reminds me of the tropical plants on Maui. I took a lot of artistic license with areas to fill in the gaps, although the banana plant & bananas are from a photo I took while on Maui.

A River Runs Wild

This acrylic is in Ajijic Mexico for my one woman show right now.

I loved doing this painting, it came together very quickly, and is totally out of my head.

Come Dasher, Come Dancer SOLD

I am still not sure about this painting. I like it somedays, & not others. What do you think?

Time Worn Relic

I am a stickler for composition & design, & with this picture with the boat in the top of the painting, I needed to shift the weight . The interest I placed in the ripples of the water & the slight diagonal seem (for me) to have helped this composition.

Sleepy Harbor V

I used artistic license with the red dingy on the left, I needed a lead into the main part of the painting, & this seemed a good way to do that.

Sleepy Harbor IIII

This boat was up on the slips in a marina near Melbourne Australia. I made up all the background, & some of the right hand foreground. I was very happy with the texture on the hull of the boat, you can almost see the paint peeling off which is why the boat was on the slips I think, to be repainted.

Dana Point Boats

These boats are at Dana point, CA.. I used artistic license with the edge of the wharf, it gave a better lead into the painting (I thought).

This painting is currently showing at the Home Spa in Austin.

Sleepy Harbor III

This is another of the Sleepy Harbor series, the water is what I was attracted to in the first place, I do embellish a little as the painting takes over. The boats are actually boats out of a marina in Victoria in Australia.

Sleepy Harbor II is an acrylic on canvas. I loved doing the water on this painting, a lot is out of my head, sort of a liquid dance.

Sleepy Harbor

This one is part of the Sleepy Harbor series I did for the gallery in CA.

Again, it's an acrylic on gallery wrap canvas.

I loved painting this series.

Water is a passion for me to paint.

A Glass of Wine & Island Time

Last year I was asked
to join a gallery in
Mission Viejo CA.
I did a series of boat
paintings from photos
I took in San Diego
Marinas. This is one
of them. The wine glass
was not there, I used
my own glass of red
to get interest in the
foreground.
This is acrylic on gallery
wrap canvas.

Five For Lunch Please

This is a diptych (two parts) acrylic

on canvas. I love horses, & am always

stopping my car to take photos.

This is a studio painting

composed from a few of

my own photos.

Rest Stop, Galveston, Texas

Here is a Galveston, Texas painting.

I went to this quaint place with an artist

pal a few weeks ago. Wonderful

old homes & things to paint.

These horses are on the street for

tours.

This is a pastel on sanded board.

Rockport Fishing Trawlers

After a weekend with the Austin Plein Air Group, in Rockport, I painted this fishing boat painting. I used acrylics on canvas for this one, although my plein air paintings were all pastels. I was pleased with this one. I liked the early morning light.