Dec 31, "Black Wolf Searching"

Don't really know what he's looking for, but I imagine it may be for some scraps that his mates left lying about.  It is slightly above zero today, and also when I took this photo the other day, and those wolves seem to really relish the cold~  they were flinging themselves about yesterday, Duane reports, and were tight up, nose to the glass windows, licking away the frozen condensation.
Let's take a little lesson about living in the present from this pack.  Play with what's around you, enjoy your immediate companions, and pounce when you see something that looks juicy sticking out of the snow!  You never know who buried that bone ahead of you!
Happy New Year!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase- $75

Dec 30, "Study in Grey"

This really IS a study in grey!  It took a while to figure out where the fur tones go darker and lighter and what to do with the background to keep the wolf standing out from the background.
As the last day of December, 2014, I want to thank you all for the attention and support, and tell you that this has been an incredible year and I am intently looking forward to a great 2015!  There are some great things coming up that I am thrilled about, including my Otters Underwater Exhibition at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth in September, and teaching at the Grand Marais Art Colony in August, and going to NEW YORK in March, among other things!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click to BID HERE!  Auction starts at $25!

Dec 29, "Black Wolf Portrait"

I do love painting black animals, with that glow in their fur...  this one has definite areas of deep blues and a lot of greys.
I often wonder what the wolves are thinking as they pace and move.  I appreciate zoos very much for their work with animals and the research and conservation projects they continually engage in, and yet theres still that childhood longing to see all the animals released.
Though knowing as many humans as I do, I think we all have our boundaries we appreciate that make us feel safe...

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase at $75~

Dec 28, "One Coyote Howling"

This is from a photo at the Mn Zoo of the coyotes who were all busily howling away because the white wolf one over from them was howling, and I guess they figured they had to agree with her or something...
I just love the iconic Western idea this whole image suggests, and there's something vulnerable about it too, of the idea of howling or singing, eyes shut, mouth open to shape the sound coming out~
Yup~

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to buy at $75~

Dang! I've been on VACATION!

Hope all your coughs and colds were held within reason on this day of being with and thinking about the ones you love!  We were lucky enough to have a good chunk of our family gathered today (miss you Beaner!) for the food and laughter (I still have my mini-joke book, ready anytime the conversation lulls... What is green and has 8 wheels?  Grass!  I lied about the wheels...) and those few familiar quirks unique to my pack of people alone~

I've been resting and relaxing and administering penicillin to Maxie and hanging with  family and just generally being still, which sometimes drives me CRAZY!!!  I donated my wonderful silver Mirrored Mazda to Courage Center yesterday, it feels like the right thing to do... but still some sadness there of saying goodbye to a big chunk of my life.  I found the handwritten notes for our wedding ceremony at the Art Shanty Project on Medicine Lake, Groundhog's Day 2008! (If you want to see actual photos, let me know and I'll hook you up!)

I am at one of those points in my life where I feel between things, not sure quite what's going to happen next but it feels like I need to be ready...

Oh and the NEXT SESSION of PAINTING LESSONS is starting SOON!  Click HERE for more info!

Thank you for all your support and love and participation!  This IS a Wonderful World!

Kathy & Larry's Backyard, 6x6 acrylic on panel,  click here to bid starting at $25!

Dec 23rd, "Parkway Shadows"

This photo was taken last week around Lake of the Isles, when there was still snow on the ground here in Minneapolis...  this has been a strange December!  And I know this piece looks a lot like another parkway painting too-  I think it is the shadows and stripes I like so much!
Hope you are enjoying your holiday time, and thinking good thoughts and having good cheer!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase, $65~

Dec 18, "WInter Wolf"

Well, maybe I'm done with goats for a little bit...  if you wnat one you'd best be looking through my dailypaintworks gallery to nab one!  seems I'm wanting to paint a few wolves now...  it's a hankering I've been feeling for a while~  the urge to paint wolves and also that desire to paint landscapes!  Especially yesterday when the SUN came out in the morning and lit up all the snow!  I snapped a pile of pics without looking while I was driving and haven't had time to look through them yet-  that will happen next week, once I get a new car.  Sadly, the Mirrored Mazda has been slowly deteriorating, and required an injection of over $1100 in the past month, and I can't afford that kind of unreliability at this point in my life... especially considering the stuttering and "CHECK ENGINE" light flashing at me last night as I crossed the Marshall Ave bridge during a dark rush hour... gosh I HATE that feeling of a vehicle about to blow up and no where to pull over...ACK!
Anyway, new car, new year, new paintings!  Yippeeee!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase at $75~

Dec 17, "Fuzzy Head"

My sister Beaner, the one who babysat at the goat farm, gave me this link to the Oxfam website in case you'd like to make a present to someone who is hard to get presents for, and you can buy a goat for a poor family in Africa in their name!  Or a chicken, or a duck, or a cow...
And you can send them a painting from me as part of it too!  If you DO buy an Oxfam goat (or any other critter!), send me an e-mail and I'll give you 50% off one of MY goats!

Yay!

6x6 acrylic on panel, available HERE for $65!

Dec 16, "White Goat Profile"

So I am working away madly on commissions to get them finished before Christmas and really want to squeeze in the time for my daily painting!  And somehow they keep being goats, which is really not what I intended!  Isn't that just strange?  Maybe it is that eye that looks like it knows something...

6x6 acrylic on panel, this one will be a surprise amount of $50! Click here to purchase!

Dec 14th, "Krusty Old Goat"

There is something about that facial expression-  and those prehensile lips!  My sister spent time in South Sudan and there were a lot of goats around, both for meat and milk and she loved them and took lots of photos... and my other sister had a friend who had a goat farm some years ago and my sister watched the farm for her friend one time and we all went down to see the goats.  It's kind of funny that they both have goat experience, and now I'm painting them~  and my younger sister sent me this great article today~ "How Can You Tell if Your Goat is Happy?"~  maybe you'll learn something!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click here to bid, starting at $35!

Dec 13, "Honey Antoinette"

Okay!  I think it's okay to post this one...  I guess I shoulda asked, but I kinda don't think my blog has the popularity to blow this surprise so what the heck!  Here is the final finished completed and delivered "Honey Antoinette"!
I gotta say it was a surprise to me how much fun the fabric and frills were to complete, and in the referenced image Antoinette has a flower in her hand, and we thought a bone would be more appropriate~
It does make me giggle...

16x20 acrylic on canvas, commission

Dec 12, "Kissy Face"

Hmmm, I wasn't sure about painting this one, but I just couldn't resist it!  I mean, LOOK at that FACE!  I wasn't sure I could get it to read correctly, but dang!  That FACE!!!!  Ha!  It still makes me smile to look at it!
Hope you enjoy it!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase at $75!

December 12, A Thrift Store Find...

Hi kids!
Yes, it has finally happened to me.  A piece of my art was found in a thrift store.  Not sure quite how to feel about this... I mean, I label all my work now with my phone number and e-mail and website, so if you want to get rid of it you can certainly just get in touch with me, right?  But at the same time, it is a curious phenomenon.  When you think of how much stuff gets dropped off at random places and at random times and who randomly comes by to buy them, it just all boggles my mind~

Here is the story-  yesterday I accompanied the sixth graders from my school to our service site, an Arc Value Village off 62 (it's a part of the school philosophy that I love, that the students learn that service is a part of life), and I was off with my pack of kids, hanging clothes up and sorting and my friend and fellow teacher Michelle went off with her pack of kids and came back to me with a HUGE grin and said "there's a piece of your ART over there on the WALL!"
And she told me she passed it and recognized it immediately as mine and looked on the back and there was my name!  So I proceeded to saunter over and nab the piece, recognizing it immediately as a piece I had donated to a local fundraiser (where I know it garnered at least a hundred bucks) and so must have wandered off somewhere to someone who needed to let it go to make some space.  At any rate, the thrift shop appreciated its value and had it priced near $50 bucks rather than $12~
So I think what comes up is that thought of what happens to your work when you sell it~ do people love it?  Do they hang it up on their wall and like looking at it?  Do they give them away to people who like them but don't value them?  Does this all really matter?
And I think all this leads to,
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY WORK WHEN I DIE?
Which, really, I don't think a lot about.  Max can have a fire sale and give it all away for all I'll care!

SO what I've decided with this new/old found donation is that I'll offer it for auction and donate the money to the Humane Society!

click here to bid!

Dec 10, "Tortoise In Blue"

Yes, another tortoise.  You do know that tortoises are dry reptiles, and would drown if you tossed them in a pond, right?  They live in dry conditions, in burrows, and do need water for drinking but do not go swimming... our tortoise is quite active and pretty friendly, and I had turtles and tortoises and geckos at my old school all the time.  They are fun and feather/fur-less and eat mostly vegetarian...

6x6 acrylic on panel, click here to purchase at $75!

Dec 9, "Plato Sticks His Neck Out"

Busy around here!  Got the tree up yesterday and had to do the slight rearrangement of the living room, but Plato the tortoise's tank was NOT moved.  That piece of furniture is relatively permanent.  And watching him clump around the room is a meditation in itself, reminding me to TRY to SLOW DOWN at this time of year!
Hope you are having a great season too!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase at $75!

Dec 7, "Frolicking Kid"

Seeing as I am at the Seward Winter Frolic, it felt appropriate to paint a Frolicking goat!  This little kid just couldn't contain its springiness anymore and was leaping about the farmyard with its goaty colleagues-  and I have to once again admit my love for the hindquarters of various mammals... with the possible exception of most humans...

The little under-tail bit was fun to paint too~

It's something to do with that thigh to calf bend-  I just LOVE it!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to bid!~

Dec 6, "Hopeful Kid"

Pretty timely for the season, right?  I had an old boyfriend who would always quote "Hope Springs Eternal" from Shakespeare or something...  this kid embodies that to me!  And he reminds me of my 5 year old as he looks up from yet another catalogue, marker clutched in hand as he excitedly circles all the items he wants for Christmas, and he tells me he's circling the octopus necklace in the PBS catalogue for me~  aint' that sweet?!
DON'T forget to come to the Ivy Building TODAY from 10 to 5 and remind me that you saw the 20% off in my blog!!  Here, the password will be RUTABAGA!!!  Come to the Seward Winter Frolic anyway to see all the artists!  My studio-mates have some awesome work and Duane's already sold two wire sculptures and a fish and we aren't even open yet!  We are in #210, to the right on the second floor AFTER the ramp through the double grey doors!  Call me if you get lost!  612-720-6675!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase at $75!

Dec 5, "Bearded Grin"

Another fun one!  this cheeky fella was at the Mn zoo this past summer, sticking his head through convenient gaps in the fence for yummy food pellets offered by various munchkins and children~  I just love those expressions!  Though I have to admit there is something simian about this one's smile...  and I had a helluva time getting that 3/4 profile thing, because the farther back eye is only just a glint~  and those NOSTRILS are to DIE for!!!!

And I also have to say, I have gotten a lovely response from people who want to take advantage of my 20% off offer, so sure!  if there's a favorite you want, you can certainly let me know and if it DOESN'T sell by Friday afternoon, I will hold it for you to pick up on Saturday!  Yahoo!
And DO come see me this weekend if you can!  Duane has a PILE of work he's hanging up, and my studio-mates have some awesome stuff too (that I might have to fight you over!) and there are TONS of other artists in the building and all over Seward this weekend!!!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to purchase for $75!

Dec 2, "Billy Goat Gruff"

Now, see, you can't always control what happens to a piece as you paint it.  For example, in this one, I would have thought the goat had a much more pleasant expression  but after reaching a point I thought felt finished, I realized he did appear rather gruff after all...

6x6 Acrylic on panel, available NOW for $75!  Click HERE to purchase!
Really this is more of a bull than a goat....

Dec 1, "Calm as a Goat"

And maybe it really is the gaze of any animal that draws me to want to paint it, but dang!  These goats just intrigue me!
oh and I wanted to offer a discount to you, my faithful followers of my blog!  Come to my Studio during the Seward Winter Frolic this weekend and I"ll give you 20% off anything you want to buy (except the Scrappy Dog Bags, sorry!) and if you are out of state and unable to come to my sale but there's something you want on my Dailypaintworks site, then either send me an e-mail or call me on Saturday and if it is available I'll give you the 20% discount PLUS free shipping!  Wahoo!

6x6 acrylic on panel, click HERE to buy at $75!