Saturday, April 1, 2023

Masked Bandit


“Masked Bandit”
Oil on Canvas, 6”x8”

Not sure what kind of bird this is, I painted it thinking sparrow but not at all!

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Edward Hopper’s New York at the Whitney

 


I was so excited about seeing the Hopper show yesterday and it exceeded all my expectations. 



This painting, “New York Office, 1962” impressed me, and I just looked and looked at the edges. They are really sensitive, which cause his paintings to be so luscious. I’m convinced Mark Rothko was heavily influenced by Hopper.
Add to that the gentle interplay of colors with an occasional jewel that stands out. Here, soft greens and cold and warm blues juxtaposed with a little polygon of bright orange is stunning. But that orange is made up of at least three or four colors with a dash of red at the edges so it isn’t jarring, just beautiful. I was on sensory overload! The photograph doesn’t capture the variations in color and edges, but it does show the impact his work has.







This is a little detail of the painting above.










Just a sampling of work at the show.



Saturday, February 11, 2023

Woodpecker


“Woodpecker”
Oil on Board, 8” x 6”

I did a bird series back in the fall, and didn’t post most of them so I’ll do it now. Most of the birds, maybe all of them, were begun with a raw umber underpainting where I nail down my values. (Lights and darks.) Thanks for looking! I’m beginning a landscape series and will post those later. 

 

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Masked Bandit


“Masked Bandit”
Oil on Canvas 6”x6”

This little guy is so out there with his outfit!

 

Monday, October 3, 2022

Pair of Eggs


“Pair of Eggs”
Oil on Canvas, 4”x6”

When you paint eggs, precision is called for. Whenever I paint eggs, I promise myself it will be a very long time before I do it again. The last time was a long time ago, lol.

 

Monday, August 22, 2022



“Crane”
Oil on Wood, 6”x9”

Here is the beginning of a bird series…and we just put up a bird feeder, what a riot! I mean it, it’s a riot of birds on our deck.



 

Friday, August 19, 2022


“Field in Provence”
Oil on Linen, 9” x 12”

This is the first landscape I’ve done in awhile, and I finished it before breakfast. I’m starving. :)
I painted a small version yesterday, it didn’t turn out. I’m happy with this one. There are some things I would possibly change but hey, that’ll be for the next painting.

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

“Peony & Hydrangeas”


“Peony & Hydrangeas”
Oil on Board, 8” x 8”

I painted this in 2016 but it bothered me…until I cropped it to an 8” x 8” painting. Now I love it! 

 

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Orange Pear and Celadon Bowl



“Orange Pear and Celadon Bowl”
Oil on Canvas, 6” x 4”

I keep saying I need to paint larger, but here I am at 6x4 inches - oh well, I really like a 
small painting!!
This reminds me of the German Expressionists. I used to think I would 
paint like them especially having studied German, but I ended up being more realistic. 
Well, maybe this is a new beginning.







 

Saturday, June 11, 2022


“Venetian Doorway”
Oil on Canvas, 8” x 6”

Is this finished? Well, I do see something that needs changing, but it’s late, I will do it tomorrow, and I am posting anyway! So we took this trip to Italy, Florence & Venice. Americans are so taken with the beautiful architecture in Europe, combined with the stunning light in Italy, and I am no exception. How can I Not paint these lovely doorways. One imagines, “who lives here, and who loves to tend to their window plants so well?” I will never know…but will always enjoy looking at this picture.

 

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Back to Italy




“Back to Italy”
Oil on Canvas, 8”x6”

We’ve been back long enough to recover from jet lag. Is my door crooked? I guess I can fix that. What a place Venice was, and we took in 2 days of the Venice Biennale. I love how the grid on the left window is light, and on the right window is dark. More cool door fronts to come.

 

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Five Zinnias in a Bottle

 


“Five Zinnias in a Bottle”
Oil on Wood, 6”x6”

This took 2 days, and I’m exhausted! I grew these flowers several years ago, and never get tired of painting them.



Saturday, March 19, 2022

Three Zinnias


“Three Zinnias”
Oil on Canvas, 6” x 4”

These were from my garden, zinnias are the best!

 

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Dam Town


“Dam Town”
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 6”x6”

The Croton Dam was built somewhere around 1906…wait, let me look it up. Sure enough, the New Croton Dam was completed in 1906. It replaced the Old Croton Dam that gave way. It was an engineering feat, which brought water all the way to New York City where they desperately needed it for clean drinking water as well as to fight fires. The aqueduct was an underground tunnel that brought water to the city some 35 miles or so. To celebrate the opening, the mayor, the head engineer and maybe 1 or 2 others rode a rowboat through the underground aqueduct tunnel all the way from the dam to the city, maybe to Bryant park, or perhaps to the reservoir at Central Park. You can look it up in Wikipedia. Highly recommended: a visit to the Ossining Community Center where a free museum depicts all this along with an extra bonus, a fascinating display on Sing Sing Prison. Just call for hours.

Anyway, the Croton Dam is a great place to spend an hour or an afternoon.  After a heavy rainfall, it can be quite dramatic. It is a beautiful structure that changed the demographics of Croton. Italian stone masons were brought across the ocean to help build it, along with many Irish workers. If you peruse the burial plots near the Croton Library, you will see the family names of many of these workers. More paintings on this subject to come.

 

Friday, January 7, 2022

Lemon and a French Dish Cloth


“Lemon and a French Dish Cloth”
Oil on Canvas Board, 4” x 6”

Enjoyed painting on Zoom with some friends, but was unhappy with my lemons. To make up for it, I painting this tiny little lemon and it worked. First painting in 2022!

 

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Zinnias in Lala’s Pitcher

 


“Zinnias in Lala’s Pitcher”
Oil on Canvas, 6”x4”

Here it is, the good, bad & the ugly. I’ve been struggling with flowers for I don’t know how long. Happy with this one finally. :) I could keep painting on it, but I’m done.

Monday, December 20, 2021

Zinnias in December

 


“Zinnias in December”
4” x 6”, Oil on Linen

I used to plant zinnias in the community garden and they were always such a delight. 

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Winter Sunning



“Winter Sunning”
Oil on Wood, 6”x6”

I’ve updated this painting done in 2020…Funny how fascinating birds can be.

SOLD

Sunday, October 10, 2021

Saturday, August 21, 2021

Monday, August 16, 2021

Oregon U-Pick

 


“Oregon U-Pick”
Oil on Wood, 6” x 8”

My sister in law and I went on a beautiful summer day to Sauvie’s Island. There was so much to choose from. I’m not sure how long these guys can stay in business, it’s harder for them than it used to be.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021