Jan 30, Another Goat!

Yup, another goat.  And I'll also mention that I am gearing up for this March's "30 Cats & Friends in 30 Days" Daily Painting Project, so if you have a little animal friend around the house, send me a photo!  I've usually just done cats, but I opened it up last year and am hoping to have a good variety again this year.  I had cockatiels, iguanas, gold fish and bunnies last year, along with my cats, so send me whatever you love!

And I'm going to auction this goat off too~  just feels like that kinda day~

6x6 acrylic on wood, $35 click here to join the auction fun!

And send me your pet photos!!!

For more infö on the project, click here!

Sunday Jan 29, "Screendoor Surveillance" won 2nd Place!

Yay!  We had a great time at the Wintertide opening last night, for the couple hours we were able to be there-  and my painting, "Screendoor Surveillance" won 2nd place in its category, drawing and painting!  Which my sister in law Mary told me is worth $500 bucks, and SHE found out from my mom who looked it all up, so even more YAY!  And there were so many lovely people there, and wonderful art, and Max's earache is pretty much gone today, though we were called home because he was awake and hurting at 8pm~

And this is a smaller version of that 3 foot square version, that I painted as a study to see if I thought the composition of the piece would work.  And I think it does~
Seriously, this just cracks me up!

8x8 acrylic on wood, $145 click here to have this visage to look at ever after!

Jan 28, Red Red Apple

So tonight is the Wintertide Exhibition Reception at Public Functionary!  Hope to see some of you there~  we're heading out soon, and here's an apple for you-  keep the sniffles at bay as best you can!

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

Photos from last Sunday's Class in Zumbrota!

My mom came along to Crossings at Carnegie in Zumbrota, MN last Sunday for my Painting Pets class and we had SUCH a great time!  It was a lovely big class of people with a cat, a horse and the rest dogs to paint~

the set up with all the kids at the tables~

Demonstrating the use of the edge of a bright~

It was darn fun!  I'm sorry I didn't get a group shot!

And I have one more class at Crossings in March~

Sunday March 19 from 11:30-3:30- Paint your HOUSE!

$65 + $12 materials fee~ click the link above to sign up!

January 25th, "Dog's Eye View"

When someone is smaller than you, physically, emotionally, age-wise, species-wise, financially, you do usually feel some bit of compassionate care for them.  That's that human thing, of with power comes responsibility.  Though unfortunately, I think there are always people who can't seem to think further than themselves, and I'm not quite sure how this happens.  My own compassionate heart wants to believe that something terrible must have happened to them at some point in their life.
SO this little painting is of a small dog, looking up to you, the viewer, with complete trust and love in his big warm eyes~
Just a reminder~  there's always someone smaller than you!  Try to help them out if you can!

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click here to make this YOUR little face!

Jan 24, Compassionate Goat

Something about this goat's eye just reads so full of emotion to me... and even though I painted it, and took the photo, and I'm pretty sure the actual goat wasn't feeling any incredibly deep emotions at the time, there's still something that comes through this painting for me.  THat happens sometimes...

And its time for another auction, I think~

6x6 acrylic on wood, $35 starting bid, click HERE to join the auction fun!

Pics from last week's Artist Talk at Track29!

I taught a painting class at Crossings at Carnegie in Zumbrota, MN, yesterday, which took up most of my day and I didn't get an actual painting done, but I DO have these photos from last week's artist talk at Track29 in Uptown, Minneapolis!

A bit of my listeners, as I start talking- Jan (standing) is wearing a Frankensweater I made several years ago!  Rosalee (in the hat) and daughter Sally are listening intently-

Me, talking...

Me and Rosalee in front of the painting of her cat, Prince Charles!

And me again, in front of the wall of 10x10 inch dogs!

Jan 22, Diving

This is a little otter painting, and it was a bit trickier than I'd expected to get all that light on his sleek little body as he's pushing through that expanse of water~

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click here to purchase~

Jan 21, I'm All Ears

I do love goats-  there's something slightly wicked about them; those slitted eyes are just so other-worldly...  and they are put together so strangely.  Their eyes are so high on their heads and their noses are so long.  Very different from painting a dog, for sure!

And YAY for the Women's March today!  I am feeling better today~  my stomach isn't hurting and my heart is full~

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click here to have this face to listen to you!

And for this one only, FREE SHIPPING because it's been such a great day!!!

Jan 20th, Goat Smile~

Somehow, I'm onto goats again... I thought I was going to go off on a bear-tangent and paint a bunch of bruins, but I came across some photos I took of Max feeding the goats at the zoo last summer and I just love painting these creatures' features.  Those eyes, those lips, those ears~  what's not to love? Just so satisfying!
Gotta love something, don't we?
Maybe that's a nice movement to start-  Love Something Every Day~
Hmmm~  I like it...

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click HERE to love this goat!

January 19, Sunshine Bear

A bear stepping out into the sunshine, at the Mn Zoo sometime last spring.  Kinda nice to be reminded of that, now in the midst of winter...
Sometimes, bears represent the uncontrollable circumstances of the world around me, the scary things that cause me to lie awake at night worrying.  And sometimes they are a friendlier sort, dancing on their shadows.  Sometimes I think it is up to me to determine which they are...

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click HERE to own this bear~

Jan 17, Twisty Dive

I've painted a much larger version of this one, titled "Twist And Splash" and I like it very much!  It was fun to try to paint it smaller, on a 6x6 panel~  quite a strange composition, and I'm not sure how well the feet read, but I love the colors!  I do think I need to add a few bubbles... I think that helps spice the whole thing up!

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click here to make this YOURS!

Jan 16, "Otter Love"

I am sure I have titled another painting this before, but this just asked for this name~  Yes, I love otters...

I'm watching a video this Sunday evening, that Duane found for me at the library, about Maurice Sendack called, "Tell Them Anything You Want" by Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze~  and I'm loving it~  Maurice Sendack's illustrations strongly influence my childhood drawings~  still do, I suppose!

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 make this yours by clicking HERE!

Jan 15, "Towards The Light"

And this is another version of our Gus, going into the light~  I love this piece so much, and the original sold (thanks Debra!) so I've painted another version, and this one is entered in another juried exhibition titled "Seeing God"~  at the Benedictine Monastery in East St Paul~  dad loved dogs and spread that love through our family and this piece is an homage to him. And to Gus too~  love that dog~
And it's funny too, as I look at this one- I'd thought I was finished with it but something was missing.  I hadn't added the little blue highlights.  They really make it buzz~

16x40 acrylic on canvas, $1280 click here if you'd like to force me to paint another one because you want to take this one for yourself!

Jan 14, "Dan's Cup, My Table"

This was my demo painting this morning at class, on the "One-Stroke-Per-Color" exercise, which I particularly enjoy, and I also made everyone do four 10 minute paintings earlier, so it was a brutal, tough day.  You should've seen them!  Exhausted!
Just kidding!  they were great!
And this one is a bit wonky around the lip of the cup, but I love the shadow and the negative spaces!  It's one of my favorite cups to paint, and it's on my favorite table to paint on, a mahogany round table, about 2 feet in diameter with a slight lip~  love it!

6x6 acrylic on wood,  $25 auction, click HERE to join in the bidding fun!

Jan 13, Screen Door Surveillance

Today is Friday the 13th, which is still a bit tricky for me, as my dad died on Friday the 13th in November of 2015~  not quite a year and a half ago...  and sometimes my anxiety about that sudden death comes back, exacerbated by current politics...

BUT I have some really fun news!  I just found out that my painting, "Screen Door Surveillance" was accepted into the 2017 Wintertide Exhibition through the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association!  AND I'm told it has won an award!  but I won't find out what that award is until the VIP Reception on January 28th!!!  YOU can come TOO!  And see what I won!

I'm pretty excited about this~  can you tell?  This is one of those paintings I just had to paint-  my student in Grand Marais last summer had this photo in her pile and she gave me permission to paint it.  The noble and goofy face of a chihuahua at the door, defending its territory as it can... My mentor and friend Elizabeth commented that it is actually quite abstract in its size and color, depicting such a small animal on such a scale.  I struggled with those buggy eyes and that puckered mouth and am pretty happy with this~

36x36 inches on cradled wood, $2600  click here to nab this monster!  You can't have it till after the show though!

Jan 12, Below The Surface

C'mon, people-  I seriously need some help with my titles...
This is one I've painted before-  I love all the round shapes of the otter's head and shoulders and hips, and that sweep of the strong thick tail~
Still loving the way it feels to paint the water-  maybe I need to paint some abstract water images...

And I think I'm gonna auction this one, just for fun!

8x8 acrylic on wood, $50 starting bid!  Click here to join the fun!

Jan 11, "Surface Curious"

Man, I just LOVE painting me some otters!  I mean, look at that green!  Feel the water!  Schnuffle at the surface with this big guy, getting yourself a lovely whiff of crispy air~  it is so pleasing to sweep the brush across the surface of the panel and have these suggestions of water depth and movement as the result.
Can you tell I'm happy with this one?
Could use a better title though, I'm thinking...

8x8 acrylic on wood, $135 click HERE to have me send this to you as soon as it's ready!

Jan 10, another commission!

I didn't quite have time to finish what I was working on today, so here is a commission from December!
This is Bubbles~  and what a sweet face! Another example of a not-so-great photo and doing my best with it-  there's a lot about knowing the anatomy of a dog's face to carry through on proportion and understructures...

10x10 acrylic on wood, sold

Jan 9, Immersion

Did I mention how much I love painting otters?

They are a sleek, fluid, clean, muscular being, moving through a quiet but fully activated space...

I just love them.

And those colors!  It's crazy trying to figure them all out, and then there's the reflected light bouncing around too!  Whew!  SO fantastic!  Took me three times to get this one right!

6x12 acrylic on wood, $145  click here to have this beauty on your wall!

Jan 8. "Floating, Reflecting"

Rather poetic title for this one, I think~
I love mixing up those brownish purples for their fur, and those wonderful crazy reflections, and that NOSE~  SUCH a great shape!

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click HERE to make this one yours!

January 7, That Coffee Cup

Today was the first day of this year's FIRST session of Painting Lessons, and this is my demo painting of one of my favorite mugs, which my friend Ellen gave me and which had belonged to our dear friend Dan, and so there's always a bunch of bittersweet memories when I paint this one.  It's funny how much meaning an object can have for a person, when it holds those memories, like a talisman, a good luck charm of love...
And there are so many mysterious colors involved in that interior white, the many greys necessary to make it read well~

This one will be an auction!  I haven't done one of those for a while~

6x6 acrylic on wood, $25 starting bid for the AUCTION!!!

click HERE to bid now!

January 6, Coming Up For Air

There are times it is really hard to see what an actual color is, especially with one of these sleek buggers, underwater, with bright sunshine beaming through and shaking everything up!  It is important to look really closely and to not think about WHAT I am painting (fur, water, eyeball) but what COLOR am I looking at, and more honestly, I want to see what VALUE-  is it darker or lighter than the area next to it?
And then there's that problem of being too close to the work as well, and that it is truly a good practice to step away, probably every half an hour or so, to give yourself some distance so you can see what you're doing!  This one looks SO much better to me now!

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click here to make this YOURS!

And I meant to post this one last night, but was having technical difficulties with the internet at home, and then had to go to a Cub Scout meeting and help make snakes from toilet paper tubes and brass fasteners.... you know how that goes...

January 4, Waiting for Praise (Odin)

This is a painting I wanted to paint as soon as I took the photos!  What a sweetheart!  And I am pretty sure this guy's name is Odin, which is why that's part of the title.  The combination of white fur and blue eyes, and that intense concentration on his face...
And of course, the lighting too!  SO great!
Oh and I've also got artwork in the recent Dick Blick Winter Catalogue!  If you happen to get one in the mail or at the store, take a look at the frame section, for my favorite frames- Simplon Open Back Frames-  love them!

9x12 acrylic on wood, $285 click here to purchase!

January 3, Under View

And here's another otter~  happy Tuesday!

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

January 2, Head Under

And here's another otter!  Just can't resist these guys, and I've been painting so many domestic animals the last few months, this is fun~  you gotta always make some time to paint what you love!

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

January 1, 2017

Happy New Year!  I want to thank every one of you for an amazing 2016-  it has been a tricky year, in terms of the sudden loss of my dad at the end of 2015, and that is a huge hole that will never be filled- but I do have to say that the people who are here and who show up every day, and who make sweet comments on my work (thanks Janet!  And Kathy! and Joyce! and many others!!!) help me realize that this is a community of sorts, on-line, and I am looking at ways of making it more of one in my studio in South Minneapolis.  I have so enjoyed teaching my "Adult" and "Kid" painting classes, and I am figuring out how to have a more consistent Critique/Master kind of class.  Stay tuned!

This is an otter-  because we all OTTER have a GREAT NEW YEAR!!!

6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click HERE to purchase the FIRST PAINTING of the YEAR!