Roadside Trees #7, Sunset on the Way Home

I have to say I love painting trees.

As I've let more than a few clients who commissioned paintings of houses know what I am doing is painting the trees and sky around your house, not necessarily YOUR HOUSE.  I think this love and awareness came from my first purchase of a REAL piece of ART, from an actual gallery.

Back in 2001 I was in Grand Marais at the Sivertson Gallery while taking a workshop at the Art Colony and I absolutely fell in love with a painting.  I couldn't stop looking at it.  The depth of emotion I felt while engaged with it was immense-  I misread the title, understanding it to be "The Love Tree" rather than "The Lone Tree" and that was what caught me.  I related to this tree, blasted, alone, dry, yet with leaves still attached with hope and expectation~  I'd just come through my divorce which left me relieved and vulnerable, sad that lives couldn't be fixed, carefully hopeful that better things would be on the horizon.  I wanted this painting to be a part of my life.  And I wanted the actual painting, the real thing-  a replica just wouldn't be the same.

So I asked about purchasing it and was told I could pay an amount every month and when I'd paid it off I could come pick it up, with no interest!  Wow.  I could OWN this piece!  It was reasonable, even generous on the part of the gallery, and so I bought my first piece.  I saw it in May and paid it off by November.  A friend accompanied me back up North to pick it up, and I've been very happy with it since.  You can see it at the bottom of this post~

As a matter of fact, this initial collection of art brought the realization that it was possible and that art CAN be in MY home....  I am not sure why this hadn't occurred to me before then, maybe somehow I felt I would never be able to afford art from a GALLERY, because that was outside my realm.  I now know MUCH better!  If you love a piece of art, just ask!  Most galleries and artists are very willing to work with someone if they love something.  I've been delighted when people want one of my larger works, and am always very happy to accept payments and sometimes even trades.

And I have been painting again!  Took a few days off last week-   this will be the last auction of the year!
Here is my tree for today~  It's the way looking at trees makes you see the sky that I love-  and that looking close enough to paint means I am really looking closely-  I see the real colors then!  So many possibilities!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click here to BID!

 And here is Faith Lowell's "Love Tree"~

My sisters and mom have also collected Faith's work, and Beaner even arranged for us to meet her at her house a few years ago.    There is something luminous about all her work, and it is the trees that I am the most drawn to~

Parkway Evening Drive, Winter

Wowsers!  I hope you've been having a lovely break from everything too!  I finally decided I'd better sit down and get back to all this or I'll forget how to do it!
SO, before the new year starts, I just want to thank all of you who have followed and supported me this year in growing this artistic life of mine!  I have to say this has been an amazingly successful year for me and my family, and I am excited about what is coming up next as the new year dawns!  I'll be contacting people about lending me back 8x8 portraits from past years' "30 In 30" projects for a group show I have coming up in Feb and March at St Kate's, and my mom and I have a show in Hudson in March of our Irish paintings, and I will be continuing the bi-weekly auctions after Jan 5!  I will also be offering Wed night Painting Lessons starting Jan 22, contact me if you want in, and I'll send out more about that later~

For now, I have this lovely scene from my daily drive around Lake Calhoun~  Max and I figured we actually go past four lakes on our way to school every morning!  And I think this is Calhoun....

9x12 Acrylic on Panel, ready to hang!  $160!  Buy now by clicking HERE!

Calhoun Snowy Pine

Cripes!!!!

Alrighty-  this is a quickie-  a snow covered tree, on my way home, Lake Calhoun near 36th Ave and the Lakewood Cemetery…

It's a little one, 5x6, acrylic on panel!  You can bid for it HERE!  Yay!

Another Bear for auction!

Wow what a busy weekend!  holy buckets!  I need the weekdays to REST!  So the gathering for my opening at Rye last Thursday went well, and I wanted to thank all of you who intended to come but then e-mailed me to let me know you wouldn't be able to make it!  I was able to spend some time with a dear friend I don't get to talk to enough, and when she left at 5:30 I was wishing I'd made the hours 4 to 6, instead of 7…

SO instead of sitting by myself nursing a glass of wine for another hour and a half, I bravely (and I DO mean bravely-  can you imagine how much courage this took?!?)  picked up my box of cards featuring my artwork and went around to all the tables and introduced myself, saying, "I am having an Art Opening and thank you for coming, and since you ARE here, I wanted to thank you by giving you a card!"  whew!  This was so great because people were very kind and lovely and I got to talk about my work and explain what I am doing and chat with people I might not have met~  and it just felt good!  But WOW, did that take me buckling myself up and steeling myself for some rejection!  Goodness!  and I was exhausted afterwards!

And THEN when I got home I had a text from a beautiful couple of friends who had arrived just after seven, and another friend this weekend said the same thing!  I was simply wiped out by 7 and had to leave.  I used to be able to stay up late….

And here is today's auction!  A lovely bear-  I wanted to call this one "Contemplation" as well, but since that is the title of the wolf from last Wed, I guess I have to come up with something else.  I do like how he is turned away from us, looking over his domain.  For some reason "Smokey the Bear" comes to mind…  maybe he is scoping for forest fires?

"Scouting His Domain" 6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to buy now or BID!

Contemplation

The funny thing about painting all these wolves is that old folk tale version of the wolf, as scary and heartless and hiding in the woods to take advantage of little girls in red capes…  And I have always preferred the wolves from "Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling,  and the ones from "Never Cry Wolf" (catch it on Netflix HERE if you never seen it!  Great scenes of Charles Martin Smith enjoying life on what wolves actually eat!) ~
I have my students illustrating "The Three Little Pigs" and a number of them are animating a part including the wolf, and it is kinda fun discussing the cultural atmosphere that produced these moral tales~
Thus, another wolf for the second auction of this week!

Contemplation, 6x6 acrylic on panel, and you can click HERE to bid now!  Or BUY for $65!

White Wolf Profile

Good morning, kids!  Hope you are having a fine sunny sharp morning like we are!  It was funny this morning- Fattoush, our Lebanese adopted tabby cat, went up behind the curtain of our bedroom window and began talking up to the tree like he sometimes does in the summer through the screen at squirrels and sparrows.  Max and I tried to figure out what he was after and then saw the murder of crows at the tip top of our walnut tree, bobbing and calling to one another.  I don't know if Fattoush heard them or saw them first but it was pretty interesting….

Anyway, here is another version of the white wolf at the Mn Zoo, looking rather alert this morning...

This is the first Auction of the week!  6x6 acrylic on panel, can be yours by bidding HERE or you can buy NOW!  Good luck!

Shasta Frolic!

We had a gas yesterday at the Shasta Building, despite the cold!  My mom, Rita and Mary Ila and I set up out front in the loading dock and spent some time figuring out how to block the cold coming in!  Whew!  I have to admit I started out crabby, the cold making setting up panels and sticking in hangers a painful task to my puny weak fingers...  thank god for Ila's good humor, and the Ceramics of Dae Dra and Luci, and their generous mimosas....

So come on over today, last chance this year to see the amazing space that created Shasta Pop!!!  And here's one of my wolves, still available, 6x6 for $65!

Autumn Stag

Here is today's auction!  Yup, there's that nifty negative space around those glorious antlers!! I just LOVE that!

He's a 6x6 acrylic on panel, with a floater hanging system on the back!  Heckuva deal!  You can click HERE to bid at $25 or if you are the first to click, you can BUY him outright for $65!

And at the Gifts in the Gallery Sale (starting TONIGHT and going through December 18th!) at the Bloomington Art Center you can find a number of original paintings BY ME of wolves, bears and moose, starting at $65!  PLus cards and prints!  Come on out and see!

And of COURSE you can also come by our studio this weekend at the Bottle Rocket Building (3530 E  28th St, Mpls)for the Seward Winter Frolic!  Sat Dec 7th 10-5pm, Sun Dec 8 noon to 5pm!  Lots of artists!

AND then there's the OPENING HAPPY HOUR at Rye Deli next Thursday the 12th from 4 to 7!  Come see me and my newest paintings!  And enjoy happy hour at the greatest deli!

Trying out a new idea...

I'm seeing if this works for a blog post…
A Slideshow of all the frogs and toads of October!  I am learning new things at school today, and think this can be a great way to show art!

Click HERE to see the slideshow!

Lowered Rack

I missed posting another auction last week, and am being engulfed by commissions (which I am LOVING!!! So don't be afraid to contact me for YOURS!) but I really will be posting two auctions a week!  Last week's wolf is still available, and worth more than the $25 I post them at, so BID on it already!
And here is a moose for this week!

It's kind of a massive image for a 6x6 acrylic painting!  Click here to BID or BUY nOW!

Happy Thanksgiving! Hug a MOOSE!

I am SO incredibly THANKFUL for everyone of you reading this right now!  There are times I feel like I am living a charmed life, because there is SO much to be thankful for!  It is feeling nice and wintery here in Minnesota, with some bright morning sunshine coming through our frosted windows, and Max is loading free kid's games onto my i-phone, waiting for a My Pretty Pony game to show up, talking to his cousins in St Joe, Minnesota...  we'll watch the parade a little later, and then take Gus for a walk down by the river~
Hope you are looking forward to a lovely day of family, friends and FOOD!
Consider this a MOOSE HUG!
xoxoxo!

Rack Front On

8x10 acrylic on panel

$120

click HERE to buy now!

Leaving Dinner

You know, it is amazing how difficult it is to come up with titles for these....  I remember Carol Marine saying her husband helps her come up with ideas...  I suppose I could ask Duane...

I like the tones in this one's fur, and the look on his face~

And it is an 8x8 acrylic on birch panel, it will be at the Gifts in the Gallery show at Bloomington Art Center next wed!  Come see me and buy it!  Or let me know now if you want me to hold it for you...
!

Alert Green Eyes

AND here is the first auction for the week!  A lovely profile of a green-eyed wolf!  I was worried that this one looked a little too dog-like, and that I hadn't made his muzzle quite narrow enough...  But I am tremendously pleased with the eye, and the little glint in it!  And all those amazing shades of grey in the fur... just LOVE it!

You can click HERE to buy now for $65 or to bid in the auction starting at $25!  Acrylic on black-gessoed panel, 6x6 inches, with a "floater" hanging system on back!  What a DEAL!

Low Glance

The WOLF of the day!  And what a day it's been!  Wahoo!  SO glad next week is a short week-  it is amazing to me how we do manage to squeeze every last little bit of life out of every day around here!  We just had friends over for dinner (Seward rotisserie chicken!  YEAH baby!) with some wine and a lot of wooden train set action all over the dining room table including the requisite bad crashes...  not all caused by the resident 4 year old, I might add...

And so here is a wolf for your viewing pleasure.

Still working on the nose, I think-  he's a 12x12 acrylic on canvas, $215 and he's yours!

You can buy him HERE, but then next week I take him and hang him at Rye and you can't get him on-line anymore!

Laughter From the Tree

Ever have that feeling someone was watching you from above, and getting some humor out of your struggles?

It could've been THIS bear....

Who happens to be our Wednesday Auction!  Bids start at $25, or you can BUY NOW for $65!
Click HERE!

Forest Prince

This one is on an 18x18 (I think- it might be 20x20-  I'll measure before I price it!) cradled panel, really delightful to paint on!  I love painting on wood because of the smooth surface, the lack of resistance to my brush.  I am also working on a GIANT 36x36 moose, on canvas, which is $1945 in case you wanted to know, and which will be at Rye after Thanksgiving!  The Prince will be available as well, and I am so looking forward to seeing all these creatures together on the walls!  You can come join me on Thursday December 12,  between 4 and 7pm!  I'll talk a bit about my process at 6-ish, and you can enjoy happy hour nibbles and sips during these hours~
And tomorrow will be another AUCTION creature!  I don't know what it will be yet... stay tuned!

Painted last night while "watching"  A Fish Called Wanda-  really I was listening, and looking up at my favorite parts.  I think there's something funny with that right antler that needs some addressing....

Timberwolf Grin

Ah!  And so now I am starting a new attempt here, to post at least bi-weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays with an auction, and today's offer is a lovely Minnesota Timberwolf….  I didn't realize they had such green in their eyes!  Or perhaps that is specific to this fellow in particular…
Ain't he lovely?!
And I WILL post probably more often than twice a week, because I have an awful lot of stuff to show right now!  I'll be hanging the "Wolves and Moose and Bear, Oh My" show at Rye over Thanksgiving weekend, with a probable Opening Party the following Friday, Dec 6th if you are around!

There is something so beautiful and elusive about wolves.  I do wonder how some people can't see that beauty and want to save it...

And so THIS guy is available for AUCTION or BUY NOW  at this LINK HERE!  Have Fun!

6x6 acrylic on black gessoed panel~

Paul Sundberg has graciously allowed me to use his images for reference!  Check out his website and order some amazing photos HERE!

And introducing, A BEAR for AUCTION!

I don't know-  it seems a lot of paintings are going for $25….  I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but I guess I'm helping out some people's Christmas shopping for sure!
And I am also not sure if I can keep up this pace of everyday posting.  It may be more realistic to post these twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, let's say… I mean the auction ones.  I'll post some of the commissions I am working on so you can see what ELSE I've been up to!

And again, this is a MN Zoo Bear, photo taken by my darling husband, who will be visiting said zoo again tomorrow, with the request to take more bear photos, and include some wolves as well~
Stay tuned!

And, as before, if you like this guy and are the first to the auction site, you can buy him for $65!  Otherwise, have some fun and bid on him starting at $25!  Wow!

CLICK HERE to BID or BUY!!

Moose, Ears Right

Yes, I am still in love with these!  Though I did actually mean to paint a wolf today, but I didn't bring my images along and can't find any quickly on-line without having to ask permission…
Anyone have any good wolf pics?
I do also want to paint some smaller bears for auction!  These auctions are turning out to be so much fun!  Thanks for bidding!

This one really was fun, especially popping all those blue tones into his coat…
He is available HERE, where you can buy him for $65 or bid on him, starting at $25!

Thanks you all!

…and can you believe it? Another FROG!

I guess I just had one more in my system…

I swear, this is it for this year!  Bid on him now!  I really like the eye...

Here is the BID button-  6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 to start!

Same Bear, Same Place!

See, this guy and the other guy were both trying out this same spot on the tree.  I think THIS guy has won and is giving his Winner's Grin, or else he's just found some pleasant scent he can gather that much higher above the ground…

I do think he looks like he's smiling…
Again, these guys live at the Minnesota Zoo!  And this one is bigger, I think 15x15, and I'm not posting him for sale yet…  'cuz I don't know how much he is!

Bruin Looking Below

A while ago, when I was going through some stressful personal times, I kept dreaming about bears.  These were terrifying scary big old "gonna eat you up!" kinda bears, and in my dreams I would run away, horrified and weak and vulnerable and out of control of my life.   As I started  to deal with these dreams and understood that they were about my feelings of fear of lack of control over what was happening in my life, I understood that I had to control my reaction to these fears because that was the only part of my life I had any control over.  So in my dreams, when the bears appeared I would consciously face them.  I would stand up to them.  And they changed.  They dropped down to all fours in the grocery store, and instead of knocking over displays to chase me they would approach with grins and butt wiggles like a big happy cocker spaniel…

These bears are kinda like those happier bears…  Now, I am NOT done with the moose yet, by the way!  Just had to paint a few bears here and there!

This one lives at the Minnesota Zoo-  Duane took a pile of photos that I am painting from!  And this guy is currently available on my Daily  Paintworks Site, 10x10 acrylic on panel for $150.  I'd like to hang him at Rye though, so it depends on who wants him….

CLICK here to buy him!

Noble Beast

So I have been talking to people a lot about these creatures and what they mean to us Northerners, and it really feels that most people look on moose as the spirit of the north woods.  You can see them in terribly kitchy fashion in cabins all over, and I still think fondly of Bullwinkle and Morris from my childhood.  There is still that incredible quiet mystery though, which may have to do with the silent giant image.  It is funny to me, that I started October desperately wanting to paint otters, and now I find myself at the other end of the mammal scale, painting these huge ungainly slow majestic creatures...  I think it is partially the negative space around the antlers that draws me, and it is also the surprising amount of color I find in their coats-
Color is the blood of it all, baby~

This is the 6x6 acrylic on panel that I painted as a demo in my incredible painting class this morning... I did touch up the background a notch, but the point of the lesson was to use ONE brushstroke per color, or do I mean one color per brushstroke?  The latter, I think-  which is a way of making you really THINK about your strokes and where you are putting them, which can be tricky on a 6x6 inch panel!

SO here is the auction/buy now link for this fine fella!  And I sold both the moose I brought along to my sale today too!

Right?  "Moose" is also plural for "moose"  the singular?

Afternoon Sunlit Moose

Wow!  You guys really like moose too!  So this one is looking off to the west toward some sound that has startled him, and the shadows of his antlers are lying across his back-  I think his hump is less pronounced than yesterday's moose, and I wonder if that means he isn't as well fed...  I need to learn more about these amazing beasts!

  And his auction button, starting at $25, is HERE!

I thought I'd include the moose I'm working on right now-  This one is 10x10 and will be $150 when he's done~
if you think you want him, let me know!  They've been selling like....
moose-cakes!

Reclining Moose

I think it partially has to do with the somewhat mythical view I have on Moose, as a Minnesotan.  I know that I might actually SEE one, sometime, and when I do it is always a thrill!  And then there's the fact that I know the moose population is on the decline, and that their habitat is threatened, and that despite being such gigantic creatures they eat small wet plants...  you put all that together and I get a little emotional about these incredible creatures...

This one is a 6x6 acrylic on panel, and it is in an auction you can bid on HERE starting at $25!  I like it a lot!

The Rack

Yes, I am stuck on Moose now.  

Ain't he just elegant and goofy!  I am loving this!  I'll have this one available as a BUY NOW($95)  HERE!  8x8 acrylic on panel, 

If you are liking these, you really outa come over to Lisa Lardy's house this Saturday (10 to 5!) because I'll have some of them there!

Tall, Silent Type...

I just can't get over the elongated shape and glorious lumpiness of these guys!

Similar pose to yesterday, slightly different treatment, and larger canvas-  Yay!

16x20, $400

Another MOOSE!

"kay, I gotta admit, I am enamored with these guys!  I mean, come ON!!!!  LOOK at those LEGS!!!!  These are such fun to paint!  Wow!   What a hoot!  SO  I think the new Rye show will be Otters and Moose, and maybe some bears because I am painting those too, but dang!  I am in LOVE with these MOOSE!!!!

This one is just a 10x10 on panel, available for $145 immediately, if you like him as much as I do!  Though I may not be ready to part with him just yet...
You can buy him HERE NOW!

A MOOSE!

Ha!
Okay, this one isn't for auction, but I am pretty happy with it!  My friend Kelly moved to Alaska and found some MOOSE walking down her street to take pictures of, and I loved them and painted them!  So there are actually three versions, plus one bear so far.... I figure I'll be filling Rye with Minnesota Animals for winter...
And if you WANT to buy it, you can, for $400!  Let me know!

I lOVE the antlers!~  16x20 acrylic on canvas

And there are still otters for sale at my DailyPaintworks Site!
I'll be posting paintings for auction twice a week now-  not daily, as you've become accustomed, my apologies!

And it's the LAST DAY of OCTOBER!!! OTTER!!!

Yes, I was hoping for something a bit more spectacular, and I am working on a large couple of otters (as well as bears and moose and landscapes) that you will soon be able to see at Rye!
Hope you've had a lovely Hallow's Eve~  blessings on you and yours for all Saint's Day!
XO
oh and yea there is an auction for this fella~ HERE!

Otter Blue!

I DO love seeing crazy colors in animals' faces-  I mean, not totally-out-there-wacko-insane-horrid colors, but those crazy bits that when you look closely and concentrate, you can ACTUALLY see them!
And this is from a photo I found on Flikr in the Creative Commons by Michal Malz~  thanks for taking it!

 You can go HERE to bid on this lovely face, or to just buy it outright if you love it like I do!

And I thought I'd include a book I remember reading as a youth, that I just went and ordered on Amazon because it is one of the few book series I remember that included an otter as a central character!  I don't remember much else, but I know I lugged thosed books around for years-  I'll let you know if they're worth rereading!

Today, is another....

Sorry-  I couldn't quite get to an otter tonight-  I am experiencing one of those lovely, snotty, moist, scratchy colds of the season, and shall be going to bed after Duane and I finish watching this PBS thing about "War Of the Worlds" so here is a sweet little blue mug for your viewing pleasure~

Which, if you are inclined, could join your collection of otters by bidding here!

Otterly Meal

I had so much fun with this one!  I think it is the cunning look in his sweet little eye, and the different shades of blue I got to use to suggest the shine on his head, and the movement of the water around him in splashes of white and green!
I may try this one bigger!

Oh and I LOVE his whiskers too!  I am very happy with how they turned out!  And YOU can enjoy them yourself!  Click here to BID or to BUY NOW!

Otterly Relaxed...

Ah~  the backfloat~
Yup~  I'm working on my own relaxing this weekend... I had a root canal Friday morning, to settle a pain that had me in a wringer all week long... I literally couldn't think straight, and it was difficult to hold my cool with my middle school students who are actually incredibly kind people but who are also capable of large amounts of noise and pandemonium.  SO one thing lead to another and I was able to get in Friday morning, after the throbbing of my tooth at 3 in the morning made me realize this was something serious.  I have a fairly high pain threshhold I've been told, and so if I experience such pain that I am afraid I will pass out, I take it seriously.  Wow.  And once the tooth was numb, the pain was gone-
I also went to the chiropractor on Friday afternoon, something my husband has been trying to get me to do since I fell down the stairs, because he has been concerned about my alignment.  I hate the "crack" of going, but do trust in the wisdom of our chiropractor- and he has that uncanny Sherlock Holmes way of knowing where I hurt and how to move something over to make it feel better, and the bit that totally threw me for a loop was that he said I am still holding the trauma of the fall with me.  He was dead right.  I have been feeling ashamed and fearful, thinking back and trying to remember exactly what happened as if I could take it back.  That is making me tighten up, clench my teeth, kink all these bits I'm trying to loosen up.  When he said that to me, I immediately teared up, feeling the truth in my bones.  He suggested I revision the accident, with me landing on pillows at the bottom of the stairs, held by my loved ones, supported on the way down.  I am trying to do that.  It is really difficult.

Anyway, thanks for listening-
I may need to do some art about it.

At any rate, you can hook this fella for a bid here!  You can also buy him outright for $65 if you like~
6x6 acrylic on panel

Saturday's Otter! October is ending SOON!

Wahoo!  I really like this one-  the negative space around his toes held in his paw are deliciously curvy!  And the green water tones are translucent and layered~  it's great when one turns out that I like this well!

Running out of time, so get your bids in QUICK!  Auction link is HERE!

6x6 acrylic on panel!

Otterly Lovely Profile...

Doesn't this one look like some deep thinking is going on?  Lovely eyes, too-  Dang, it really is good for me to do these projects, painting every day, because then I get to really itching to paint!  It can be so bad that I'll be crabby unless I can lay some paint down every day~  it is a great thing that the people I am closest too understand and support this habit of mine-  of course, it does pay for the food and wine and occasional crazy buys like the bathtime pirate set I had to get for Max today...  the nice thing is, when I am needing to paint I only have to remind him that he'd have no legos if mommy can't paint and he is all in for me to have my space!
I am a lucky, lucky woman!

And you can bid or BUY here!  6x6 acrylic on panel, $65 to buy now, or $25 starting bids!  Support Max's lego habit!  buy an otter!!!

Otter Ballet~

It just occurred to me to look through some images on-line that were  free to use on Creative Commons, and I found a pile of awesome otter images!  I am also working on a couple larger otters to hang at Rye sometime in November with a new series of MINNESOTA images, being landscapes, otters, frogs, toads, and MOOSE.  Or is it Mooses?  Moosi?

And you'll love to know I am sitting here, watching "Young Doctor Frankenstein" as I paint...

You can bid on this sweet dancer of an otter HERE!  First bid $25, 6x6 acrylic on panel!

SEA instead of RIVER again...

A bit dodgy, this one, ay~

he's a floatin and apreenin' and a being a bit of an orrdinary otterishly fella!

Maybe you like that wizzenly beard and that winkin eye...

Auction can be found HERE!  6x6 acyrlic on panel

Now a River Otter!

I had one of those brain fights painting this one, as in "What color am I really seeing here?  And how do I make it!"  You know what I mean.  Or maybe you don't, but as you look at this, see if you can identify how many shades of blue/purple/grey there are...  And OH so much FUN!!!!
I also really loved the feet on this one- I swear, I need to do some close-ups of otter feet-

See that lovely, powerful, webbed foot?  Doncha just LOVE them?

And he can be YOURS if you want to jump on the auction here!  6x6 acrylic on panel!

This is still otterly fascinating to me!

Yes, I do love these critters!  Did you ever read "Tarka the Otter" or watch the movie?  First published in 1979, I fell in love with the pen and ink illustrations of Tarka, though I think the story itself was too detailed and slow for my preadolescent yen for adventure...
SO here is a pair for you today, of sea otters-- I am glad I didn't say I was only going to paint RIVER otters!

Did you know a female otter is known as a QUEEN?  and a male is a MEAOWT?  At least, I think that's how you write the male's name... I was more interested in the female~

And you can bid on this sweet pair HERE!  Or buy it now!  6x6 Acrylic on Panel~

Oh and I am starting another session of Painting Lessons this coming Saturday, Oct 26th, from 9:30-noon!  Let me know if you are interested!  There are only a couple spots left!

YES!!!! i heart sundays...

I found this somewhat blurry photo on the internet and was able to lighten it up a bit with i-photo.... and after watching "Saving Otter 501" last night I am so SO much more in love with otters.  For me it has to do with that incredible sense of play!  It is something I've had my entire life, and fought against thinking I needed to be more SERIOUS-  more practical, more sensible...
But NO!!!!
I CAN be OTTERLY silly at times!
And I have to admit, I am incredibly fortunate to be supported in all manners of silliness by my incredible pack of glorious beings I call FRIENDS!!!
I love brunches, and I love having people over, and this was an excellent one-
THANK YOU!!!!

Yay!

So this guy is available HERE for auction!  6x6 acrylic on panel~

I OTTERLY love this one!!!!

Wahoo!  Yes!  Hee!
Okay, so I've been trying to watch "Saving Otter 501" online and found some more pics and i just couldn't resist the face on this one!  I'll have to write for permission now...  There is a big difference between the physical characteristics of river otters and sea otters, but I think my heart is big enough to love them both...

I am just very pleased with the greys on the wet coat, and the body posture and the sweet, fuzzy tufty wetness of her face!

And she can be yours!  Bid for her here!  6x6 acrylic on panel!

Wow, October is a tough month!

It seems this is the month when everything tries to catch up on itself and falls all over miserably...  ack!  I am still looking through lots of otter photos to find the best to paint, still like Jiri Bohdral's the best, and I wasn't able to catch "Saving Otter 501" on PBS yet, about the 501st baby sea otter found in California to be saved and taught to live free and in the wild...
It is amazing how looking closer at something shows you how much more there is to know!
And yes, here is another frog...

And his auction is here!  Starting bid at $25!  Which is what a lot of these are selling at!  Getcherself a FROG!!!

And thanks for the comments on the landscapes from yesterday-  there are more on my easel I'm working on-  and they are mostly 16x20, about $400 each, meant for Rye so I can replace my Irish Series with a new set soon!

From Sunday's Drive...

Driving around Rosemount after church last sunday, dad took us on one of his famous "short cuts" to show us the site of the old Corrigan family homestead.  What I really loved was realizing that I was seeing the landscape fresh.  I grew up in the area, hung around, drove around, lived there.  But this time, it felt a bit newer, a bit like site-seeing, a bit like being in Ireland and England, taking photos of every last little bit of everything different....

Last night's TOAD!!!!

Yes, I'll be doing two posts today-  I was just outa sorts last night, somehow... kinda off, if you know what I mean.  My Painting Lessons class was delightful, as usual, though we were short two wonderful students, which meant we were more quiet than usual... I have included their work this time in this post, because I was impressed!  It is so fun, but for some reason my communication skills felt less than sparkling last night...
So I didn't post then-  but I'll try posting TWICE today!!!
Ha!

So here is my red-cheeked toad, this time in my own hand... such tricky tones!  You can bid here, with the auction starting at $25!

And HERE are my wonderful student works from last night!

The assignment was to paint from a photograph, using our limited pallet  and looking at darks and lights and mixing up those wily greys!