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!