April 30, King's Chilli Mug

I was trying to demonstrate how to get rich reds and oranges with the limited pallet I use, and the fact that I paint on black, with fairly transparent colors like quinacridone magenta and primary yellow... the fact is that you DO have to go back over the colors a few times to get them to shine, so the one-stroke-per-color lesson means you have to go back over a few times.  But I think it came out well!

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

April 27, The Blue Scissors

Anything can be a still life.  I was at my friend's house and intended to paint some critters from photos on my phone, but I didn't happen to have any on there and my friend has a critter free house, so I painted whatever was on the table which happened to be this pair of scissors because my friend was sewing the giant decorative button back onto my purse after my son jumped on my back and rode down over the purse, popping the button off.
Hmmm.
I guess they do appear to be on the table.  The shadows weren't terribly apparent....

Another one for the Art4Shelter fundraiser next week!

5x7 acrylic on black gessoed paper!

Come see if you can snatch it for $30!

April 26th, Reflections On Wine...

It is good to be able to sit and paint what you are doing while you are doing it... this is from last night...  the glass is a bit wobbly  but I guess I was by then as well!

5x7 acrylic on black gessoed gallery wrapped canvas, $70 click HERE to purchase!

April 25th, Wisconsin Coffee

After a busy day at the zoo with Max's kindergarten class, we roadtripped to Wisconsin, and now it is time for the morning coffee!  This is the mug, minus all the minute writing on it...
Another one for the Art4Shelter Auction!

5x7 acrylic on black gessoed strathmore-  will be available at the Art4Shelter fundraiser for $30!
May 6th!

April 23. Backstroke Alaskan Style

I did actually paint more apples, but left them at school and will not be back for a few days so we'll have to enjoy a few otterly bits now and again...
I DID get up on Stilts again this afternoon!  In a fundraising kinda trailer for our school, we are spotlighting teachers who are pretty darn original, and so me and my big mouth contributed the fact that I've been known to stilt before, as a part of Chicks-on-Sticks. So of COURSE they decided they wanted me up on stilts to prove it-  do you know how nervous and anxious this made me?  Do you know how sweaty I was by the time I set all the mats on top of one another in the gym and helped the other two brave women who were meant to not get up so as to prove how amazing it is that I DID get up? I was soaked-  and I did get up, and it wasn't as scary as it coula been since Duane helped me get up last night...
Man.
Sometimes it is good to do those things that terrify you.  And sometimes it is nice to do them and then put the stilts away again.
Here is an otter, without stilts~

And with a lot of reflections and refracted water~
I like this one!
7x8 acrylic on hardboard panel, $110 click here to purchase!

And here I am on stilts!  Maybe 10 years ago?  I'm in Blue!

April 22, Earth Day! Eat an apple!

This is an apple on the edge.  Of the table.  Slightly browning, but don't tell Max that.  He's asked to eat it after I finish painting it...
I'll let him~

A bit more grey than yesterday's.  And this one is also slated for the Art4Shelter fundraiser on May 6th!  Come bid on it!  Just $30!

April 21, Warm Red

I use a limited pallet of magenta, yellow, and a warm and a cool blue with white to paint on my black backgrounds.  One of the many challenges I have in teaching my students how to paint with such a narrow range of colors is in how to get a true red.  The magenta leans towards blue making it purple, so you have to warm it up with a bit of yellow and you'll get a wonderful red!  Which is what I really like about this apple!

This one is being donated to the Art4Shelter Fundraising sale at the Burnett Gallery at the Chamber's hotel on May 6th!  Come see if you can be lucky enough to snag it off the wall for $30!

More info about Art4Shelter HERE!

April 20th, Stretchy Nose

I love the way the white seems like a super tight t-shirt the tapir is wearing, and it's like she's just pulled it as far as she can to cover her butt but it is just shifting slightly up again, annoyingly, as she stretches that lovely long lip up to the leaves just out of reach...

7x10 acrylic on hardboard panel, $140 click HERE to purchase!

April 19th, One Stroke Apple

The title of this refers to the lesson I used it to demo for, as in One Brush Stroke Per Color, or you could also say One Color Per Brush Stroke, which can be really difficult to do if you are also talking to a group of people at the same time.  It IS a super fun task however, and really does make you pay more attention to what you are doing which I think is always a good thing!  What you do is you sketch your apple first with a viewfinder, placing all the darks and lights, and then you start to paint.  As you paint, you mix a color and carefully place it using ONE STROKE.  Then you have to mix another color (it can be really close to the first color of course!) for the next stroke!  Makes you really look at what you are doing.  I use this sometimes if I am getting bogged down in a work~  it is one of those good habits!

6x6 acrylic on hardboard panel, bids start at $25!  click HERE to bid!

And I forgot to mention in my most recent newsletter blast about Painting Lessons that I will be teaching at the Art Colony in Grand Marais the week of Aug 10 to the 14!  Come on up and join me!  I am super excited about this!  My plan is to have this be a bit more advanced acrylic class, where we'll try a few trickier things...  so be prepared to work a bit!  Yay!

April 17, "Half Empty?"

Really, is it?  Or is it half full?  Which way do you see the world?

5x7 acrylic on hardboard panel, $50 click HERE to purchase!

April 16, Tapir Touching The Wall

Another shot from our local zoo~  I believe this is the baby tapir, whom I have observed leapt exuberantly into the small pool in their space, and then tear around on his little hoofy feet...
I love the contrast in this piece, the stark white with his subtle blacks...

8x8 acrylic on hardboard panel, $130 available HERE!

April 13, Lounge Apple

Really, an apple a day is a very good thing!  I know someone (Sandra!) who has painted a TON of apples by now, and each is so very different from the other it is astounding!  There's something so incredible about these small, juicy fruits, that they come self-packed in a shiny beautiful skin and you can bring one along in a pocket anywhere and have it to munch on at a moment's notice, and it is delicious and refreshing and makes your breath smell good, and you can eat the entire thing like my dad told me my grandfather always used to, core and seeds and all!  MMMMmmmmmmmmM!

6x6 acrylic on hardboard, $65, available HERE~

OH and I have a pile of up-coming Painting Classes!  I have a 5 week Saturday Morning Session starting May 16th and going through to June 20th-  I am also available all summer long at my studio for private sessions, charged at $40 an hour, just let me know if you are interested and we can discuss a schedule.  

And I am teaching at Wet Paint as well, this Friday from 5 to 7:30, and Sunday May 17th from 2 to 4:30 are Negative Space Painting classes- and this summer, June 30th I'll be teaching an Adult Pet Painting Class from 10 to 3, and a kid one from 4 to 7, for ages 10 to 15!

Pass this on to anyone you think may be interested!

Wahoo!

April 12, Wild At Heart

I painted this one in January, I think, back when I was in a wolf-fix, which I am sure will be happening again soon-  you really never know what your next inspiration is going to be, and so it is good to stay open and not be judgmental about anything.  Really, you put yourself into anything you paint, so even if everyone else is painting cowboy boots, yours will still be YOUR cowboy boots.  That's the glory of art!
SO this is one of those black wolf pups at the MN Zoo and I LOVE this expression-  I love painting black animals.  Maybe I should ask for only black dogs for my July 30 Dogs in 30 Days project... good idea?  Terrible idea?
I included the process photos too, because I love seeing what other artists' do as they work their way through a project.  This is acrylic on a 16x16 cradled birch panel, with a couple coats of black gesso on the raw wood.  It sucks the paint up sometimes anyway!

16x16 acrylic on cradled panel, $525 available HERE~

April 11, Brown Goat

Um, yes, I am back to goats somehow... I think it's that funky eye-slit I love so much~  and they are just such cunning little monsters!  I took this photo at the Mz Zoo out at the Farm on Max's birthday a couple weeks ago, and just now was feeling like I can take a bit of time and get a painting done!  And today we get to go back out to the zoo for a Family Otter Outing!  I am excited!  We'll see what happens tomorrow with what photos we get to take!  We get to go backstage/back-zoo and see them in their environments!  Wooo!
Stay tuned!

6x6 acrylic on hardboard, $65 available HERE!

April 9th, Stand-Up Apple!

From last night's Painting Lessons Demo!  A lovely red-delicious for you!
Come see me tomorrow at Diamond's with all the Cats!  6 to 8pm!

Another AUCTION!!!! click HERE to bid starting at $25!

April 5, Easter Sunday! More scenes from NY!

Yes, I do still have a few small pieces I painted in Brooklyn-  these were on our walk after the Metropolitan Art Museum through the misty rainy paths of Central Park and we crossed a bridge and came to this body of water, and it was really gorgeous.  I love the contrast of woods and city-

another small 5x7 for the Art4Shelter fundraiser May 6th!

April 4, Snow Leopard

You know I'm tired when I have to ask my husband to spell "leopard" for me...  I'm the one with an English Major and a teaching license in 7-12 Language Arts...
So HERE is that darn snow leopard I've been talking about!  I'm catching up on the 30 Cats and working on getting that book together too~  but you can snag your own Snow Leopard painting now!

8x7 acrylic on hardboard, $115 available HERE!

April 3, Cat Re-paintings!

Just a quick little fix on a couple cat paintings that were repainted~
This is Milo, from March 24, and Sophie from March 15th~  I like the redos!
And now the first versions can be up for sale!

Milo, 8x8 acrylic on panel

I do much prefer this more active view of this cat!

Sophie, 8x8 acrylic on panel

And this one of Sophie features her necklace and also reveals her to be more green eyed and slimmer than the first version...

April 2, Scenes from NY

I've been on a bit of a mental break the last few days-  without really intending to, though I appear to have needed it badly!  You know how sometimes you keep saying YES to everything and then you get overwhelmed and freaked out and can't find a peaceful space to sit with yourself and it feels like you aren't working towards anything as much as trying to tie things together so they'll stay fixed...  it's been a  bit like that.  Probably my biggest issue is my setting my own goals, which is a good thing, but I can be a terrible taskmaster to myself.
SO
Max and I went to the Mn Zoo yesterday and I got some great shots of the snow leopard and tried painting one last night with little luck.  I want to have some more wild cats for the 30 Cats in 30 days Opening Party next Friday night (6 to 8pm at Diamond's!  1618 Central Ave NE!  Come see me! Support my insanity!) and was hoping to get some painted.  We'll see if I can get anything done tonight after the boyo is abed-  last night the storms were too distracting-
SO what I have for you are a few small paintings I did in New York in our Brooklyn Garden Level apartment~  I think they'll end up in the Art4Shelter Show at the Burnet Gallery at the Chambers Hotel, May 6th!  You should come to that too!  Or submit art to it!  E-mail me if you want to know more!

5x7 on paper, "Brooklyn Bridge and the Water Taxi" available at Art4Shelter, May 6th!  $30 bid!