Dec 28, Dash!

 Here's a commission from this holiday season!  I think it's safe to post, since it has hopefully already been presented to the new owner!

I have said it before and I'll say it again- I do love painting black dogs!  And cats, and bears, and squirrels...

Hope you are enjoying your In-Between-Week!

And it you are looking for something fun and challenging in the new year, sign up to paint with me! Saturday mornings, I may push the start date back a week to Jan 13, just an FYI!

10x10 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 24, Merry Christmas Eve!

 This is a pretty Christmassy kitty, dontcha think? Lotsa green in there, and a bit o red in her ears... I remember this one being a bit tricky with the tortoiseshell coloring and those glowing green eyes. I think the original photo was outside and the lighting was difficult to read. That's sometimes what happens with painting from available photos when the subject is no longer with us, trying to patch together parts and coloring so it works well.

I do hope you are enjoying your weekend!  We're listening to The Current this morning and they are playing some really fun and not widely know Holiday tunes!  It's pretty fun!

Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 23, Another Commission from Last Year!

So now I'm getting busy with all that holiday stuff, running errands that I never do any other time of year, and it's all good and everything, though there is this weird frantic sense too of trying to get a lot of little things done. And I think there's the wanting to make sure everything is great for other people part too, the wanting to fulfill expectations, to make it as great as possible, and that just can't happen. Or at least you can't control what's going to happen. Don't get me wrong!  I love the holiday season!  I really do-  I love Christmas songs and holiday movies and cards and parties and all that fun stuff, and it's just that I need to remember to enjoy it myself and not feel like I have to take care of everyone else.

Is that familiar to you? So I'm sitting at the huge window at the lodge at Hiyland Hills Ski Place right now, watching my beautiful brave son snowplow down the ski hill... I love him so much!

I hope you are enjoying whatever you are doing today!

Sergio~

6x6 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 21, Mr Chicken

 This is a current commission and I know Monica won't mind me posting it, at least I think she won't mind because she knows she's got it coming!  Mr Chicken lived in Tavenier Key in Florida with our generous and kind friends and lived a long and luxurious life, and I love this image of him, sprawled in all his fluffy glory on the cool tiles in the Florida air.

It's just such a wonderful position, and makes such a great painting, with that lovely curl of tail and the way the cracks in the tile perfectly enclose him...

Travel on, Mr Chicken~

12x6 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 20, Charlie and Finn

 Sometimes someone sends me a commission request photo that makes me just go to jelly with gushy sweet emotions... and I HAVE to paint it!  This is one of those!  I mean, really!  Look at those FACES! And when the photo is taken and the two are miraculously BOTH looking at the camera at the same time, and with the same expression, this is a ONE in a MILLION shot!  I mean, just LOOK at them!

I painted it and I can't stop looking at those faces either!

I think it's the expectation of goodness, the hope in those eyes, their knowledge that whatever it is that they really desire will be given them.

I hope you have some of that this holiday season!

Thanks Chris for asking me to paint these two!!!

8x10

sold

Dec 19, Another Commission!

 It's been busy around here again! This is another pair of kitties for a commission last holiday season. It's funny how much I don't remember from just a year ago. I suppose dramatic events do that to a person...

The darker cat in the foreground is blind. I loved the lights and shadows in this one~

6x12 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 18, Pumpkin and Max, Another Commission!

I do love painting cats too, of course. And when people ask me to paint cats (or dogs) together, it is aways best if the photo has them both in it, with the same lighting and distance from the camera and all, so that everything reads as true as possible. Otherwise, I suggest two separate head-shot portraits. There are always those amazing photos of animals in a photo together though, that are just an absolute delight to paint and this was one of those! 

It is much colder today in Minneapolis! And it is windy as heck as well, which makes the cold all the more biting. Max has his Adventures in Cardboard "Yule Hunt" Camp today, and we need to make sure he gets as bundled up as possible because it is going to be chilly!

8x16 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 16, Bugsy, another Commission from last year!

 Good morning!

Here's another sweet face from last December! It sure isn't looking like December here, though... its raining and nearly 40 degrees, and smells more like April. I think the birds are getting confused...

I do appreciate being able to go for a little run without worrying about slipping on ice yet, though!

And I'll be at the studio from 11 to 4 today, working on Commissions for this year, so NO PHOTOS please, but come on by!  We'll have tea and cookies, and you can sit down and have a chat with me while I work!  I love it!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 15, Peanut, a commission from last year!

It's getting busy and I've really appreciated posting every day here, and at this point it may be a bit more sporadic because my winter break starts this afternoon and my schedule kinda goes out the window... 

However, I DID order some more panels from Blick because I have not painted all the wolves and otters and white squirrels I want to yet!  So there will be postings happening, just maybe not as frequently for a week or two.

I do need some time to paint and finish up the lovely stack of paintings on my easle at the moment!

SO I thought maybe I'd post some of the commissions I did last year because I don't think I've posted them! This is Peanut!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

 

Dec 13, Baby Wood Duck Wobble

 This is the cutest little wood duck ever, and I've now painted it five times, and I'll probably keep painting it because it is just so cute!

It is a glorious morning in Minneapolis, a little chilly, but sunny, and the sidewalks are mostly clear and Pompom is happy to go running in her little blue coat and greet anyone, human or dog, she sees in the neighborhood. I am so glad she likes other beings!

At school, we are wrapping up the kids' clay ornaments they all made last week. I usually have the 3rd graders make little clay birds to take home for the holidays as gifts, and this year I had the 4th and 5th graders also make animal head ornaments to take home. I thought it would be easier for them than it was, honestly. I have to keep remembering that something that takes me ten minutes to make will take a ten year old an hour.... I have a bit more experience and skill under my belt. Also right now, this week before the break, our kids' listening skills are not at their best...

Hope you are having some fun!

10x8 acrylic on wood

$160

click here for purchase info!

Dec 12, Another Wolf

 This wolf is at Artistry in Bloomington for the Gifts in the Gallery Holiday Sale, open most days (except Mon and Tue) from now to Dec 23rd! Check the link for hours- and I don't remember what I titled it but it is a lovely 12x6 wolf painting. I'll get some more rolling after I get through my lovely list of commissions!  Thanks everyone for sending me your loves to paint!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

at Artistryy....

Dec 11, Depth Inspection

 Good morning!  It's gonna be a busy week, my friends! And I was able to force some painting time in this weekend and get a couple otters in (along with a number of commissions started!) and that always puts me in a good mood! I like that this one is peering into that darker space and that the body attitude is of curiosity and not fear~ 

sometimes the dark is pretty interesting....

We went on a long lovely walk around Lake Hiawatha yesterday and that always feels good. I love being able to walk into a wild-feeling place from my front door, you know what I mean? And especially with friends, and with Max talking about MTG the whole time, and Pompom wearing her little blue coat and skipping merrily along. I was worried her tiny little feet wouldn't stand up to the cold well but she is a tough little cookie!

I hope your week is starting well too!

6x12 acrylic on wood

$150

click here for purchase info!

Dec 10, Stay Gold

 This is a very small painting, 9 inches tall by 3 inches wide, so I guess not tiny, but skinny would describe it better- one of the wolves at the MN zoo again, and I enjoyed painting the yellows around for the background which is why I called it "Stay Gold"- did you ever read "The Outsiders"? Cuz that's where that comes from.  Probably time for you to re-read it if it's been a while. And maybe you need to re-read "To Kill A Mockingbird" too, and "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"- all good books. 

Did you know I also wanted to be a writer? I couldn't decide between being an artist or a writer in college, so I got a degree in art AND a degree in English in 4 years, and then because a guard at MIA for a while, which was an excellent place for an art education. Then I got a couple teaching licenses and then a MA, and then more credentials and stuff.  I like learning. Maybe that's why I'm a teacher...

And maybe this little blog is filling that writer's itch....

Anyway, this fellow will be with me next Saturday! Unless it sells before then!

9x3 acrylic on canvas

$60

click here for purchase info!

Dec 9, Another Commission!

 Yes, it is that time, a time of painting, a time of cosily gazing out windows at the steely sky as I push color around~ I love it! And I had a beautiful pack of people join me in my studio on Thursday evening for a Paint Your Pet class and we all had fun! I think we did anyway... at least, everyone left with their paintings and smiles on their faces, and there are two more chances to paint with me coming up! One is next Tuesday the 19th from 3-5:30 and the last one this year is Wednesday Dec 27th from 6-8:30! here's the link to sign up!

This is Lucy, my sweet, kind, generous friend Amy's parents' cat, who used to wait on the dock for them to come back from their kayak trips. She was their last cat, and I really enjoyed painting this one. Not that I don't love painting all my work, but this one, with the eyes, the tortoiseshell coloring, and the wonderful dimensions was a joy.

8x16 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 8, Begging For Yellow

 Every morning when I head outside for my little 20-30 minute run/walk, the moon has been waiting for me. It sits high up to my right as I head out the door, a couple stars accompanying it as it hangs there, in that brilliant white arc... I love the moon. 

Much as this sweet pug loves whatever she's trying to get at up on the cupboard all shiny and yellow...

Max still wants another pug. I just want more pets. We have to wait til we're in the house. Isn't it funny what we end up wanting the most?

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

click here for purchase info

Dec 7, Deep Into Blue

 It's looking like we may have a brown Christmas this year~ I also am no longer holding my breath that we'll be back in our house by Christmas. At this point, I am hoping we'll be in before the end of January. You can read about our house fire (on Sunday January 8, 2023) in this blog post from February 7th~ warning- it's pretty sad.

BUT we are healing, with so much help from so many people and Pompom is helping a lot~

This otter painting was sent to Artistry for the Gifts in the Gallery Holiday Sale and may still be there! Good luck if you're loving it!

12x6 acrylic on wood

at Artistry!

Dec 6, Another Commission!

 Isn't this an amazing face? When you love critters like I do, you end up slightly falling in love with every one you paint!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 5, 2023 Lil' E

 This was a fun commission to paint, and it sounds like Lil' E was a much loved dog.  It was a largish group of friends who commissioned this one~ it's pretty cool when a group of people works together. I always love that. I think that's why I like teaching too~ because when it goes well, the art room is a cohesive bunch of like-minded people working together. That's why working on puppet shows with Duane and my other puppet friends is so fun too! I can think of many times I was on stage, puppeting some show with a crew around me, and I'd be just grinning my butt off, loving every second of it! Same thing for puppet parades anywhere in the world! A big group of people playing together and all unified in this crazy creative joy!

Anyway, this is Lil E!

You can get your own pet painted too! Here's my Pet Portrait Price List- it'll be updated in January!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 4, Sniffing The Air

 This painting actually sold yesterday, and this isn't the final version, and I didn't get a photo of it yet! Poop!  I have to see if I can contact the person who purchased it and have her send me a photo.... I am just SO professional!

Thank you everyone who came out this weekend to see us!  It was so delightful to be able to talk to and meet so many fantastic people. Even though it was grey and cloudy, it was lively and fresh inside!

and there's still space in this Thursday's  Paint Your Pet class if you're interested!

Today I am grateful for social media and how it keeps me updated on my loved ones' lives even though we don't live near one another~ thank you!

16x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Dec 3, Luna, A Commission!

 And this is Luna! Another commission- and Bec ordered it so she knows its there so I'm not ruining anyone's holiday surprise~ that's the tricky part about painting people's pets and wanting to share them with you all- I don't want to wreck someone's Christmas!

I am SO grateful for the amazing Artist Circle that run the Art at Hidden River show because it was just a fantastic event yesterday!  I count myself incredible lucky to be able to stand with my art all day and meet people and see them SEE my paintings with new eyes~ honestly, it is a gift to any artist to hear what you see when you look at their work. I had such a great day talking to people about my paintings and hearing their thoughts!  I've ordered more postcards too, because SO many went away this weekend! And all the business cards I brought along were taken as well!  I thought I had more than enough! That's the other thing I'm so fortunate about- because a lot of my work ends up being commissions, I don't have the pressure at a show of needing to SELL SELL SELL- the work tends to sell itself. And I LOVE painting it! So it's a total Win Win!

And another little aside-  I'll be updating my Pet Portrait Price List in January because I haven't changed it since 2021- or actually 2020 because of COVID, but prices of everything have gone up and it's time~ my point being if you'd like to get a portrait done for these prices, get on my list now!  I still have space to get commissions completed before Dec 25 if you'd interested!

Wahooo!

8x8 acrylic on panel

Sold!

Dec 2, Emily and Emmitt

 Here's another commission!  I'm heading out momentarily for my day at Art At Hidden River from 9:30-4:30 and I hope you come by if you're in town!  Duane and Max helped me schlep my stuff over and set up last night, because THEY are gonna be at our studio all day today for our Open Studio and the Bizarre Bazaar! That's from noon to 6pm! So lots of art places to get to today, my friends!

I'll be at our studio tomorrow, Sunday from noon to 6 as well, in case you are busy today and can't make it~ I have all my NEWEST paintings with me at Hidden River and things have a tendency to fly off my walls there- last year I had to call Duane to bring me more paintings because I'd sold so many! Here's to hoping we have that much fun again this year!  I think there was a lot more snow last year too...

And if you are hoping for a commission for the holidays, get your photos and info to me ASAP and I'll do my best to get them completed!

Oh and I have some room in my Paint Your Pet classes too! More info HERE!

Can you tell the difference? The bottom one is the final one! A bit more nose definition for the pup to the right, and their eyes feel more THERE to me...

Wahoo!

Dec 1 Galaxy Cat

 Today I am thankful for those people who set up Art Centers and who organize the Art Fairs and Festivals and Events and Exhibitions so that the artists like me have somewhere to show our work and get it out of our studios so we can make MORE! It takes creating things to get better at making them, you know! And creating stuff is SO good for your brain, and your heart. It does lead to STUFF, though... and that goes back to the STORAGE issue.

So come help out some artists this weekend and see us at Art at Hidden River tomorrow, 9:30-4:30 and at the Bizarre Bazaar at the Ivy Sat AND Sun from noon to 6!!!

This is a COMMISSION!  Isn't it great?  I wasn't sure Chris was serious when he asked for this kitten to be painted in the box as if she were soaring through the Milky Way... but darn it! This was sure fun to paint! I happen to be reading "The Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy" to Max at bedtime lately, so this is a perfect painting for that!

Still time to get your own commissions in!!  Just send me your photos and let me know! here's the price list! It will get updated Jan 1st so catch 2022 prices NOW!

8x8 acrylic on wood

SOLD

Nov 30, Sidewalk Sentinel

 So I painted a crow. Do you know I love to paint black animals? Do you know I used to own an umbrella cockatoo named Nemo but my ex husband took her away with him and she was like a white version of a crow in terms of intelligence and social life? And so now crows make me think of Nemo.

This one was in Portland last January when I went out to see my great friend Lori over New Year's Eve- that was a fun trip, and rather calm and restful actually. So many grays out there- different than Minnesota in many ways, especially in the winter.

And today I am grateful for my head lamp to light my way as I trot along with little Pompom in the early morning dark, following her little tush as she hops up and leaves a small "gift" on a lawn and I can see to pick it up. I also appreciate that the light shows me where the sidewalks are a bit uneven where the tree roots have pushed them up. I don't want to catch a toe and go sprawling on my chin!

16x8 acrylic on wood

$256

click here for purchase info!

Nov 29, Standing Proud

So the wolves also intrigue me at the Mn Zoo, and just in the world in general. I dreamt about one the other night...  one of those dreams about a presence near you, you can feel it but you can't quite identify it, not sure if it means well or ill... and then I read something about Fantastic Mr Fox and that part where Mr Fox meets the wolf... there's that rather interesting spiritual aspect of the wolf as representing the wild. Maybe especially here in Minnesota, the north. Hmmm....

This morning I am grateful for instant oatmeal!  Because my other breakfast attempt sadly failed.

I hope I see some of you this weekend at the Bizarre Bazaar and/or Art At Hidden River!

12x6 acrylic on wood

150

click here for purchase info!

Nov 28, Eye Level Suspense

 It is sunny and 8 degrees this morning, and my brave little pup managed the entire walk without a whimper!  I was expecting her to stop and look up at me shivering to be picked up at some point but she just sniffed and pooped and peed and sniffed more and kept on trotting!  I am grateful today to have a companion to go on my morning trots with, even if I do have to go upstairs and root her out from under the covers to drag her along!

Thanks for all the wonderful responses about yesterday's otter!  I LOVE that one so much!  I want to paint a few more larger ones too- I think it's that look on that one's face- this one has a clever face as well though it isn't as clearly defined in the reference photo so I had to make up an ear... but I think they often look like they are smiling, don't they!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

click here to nab!

Nov 27, Serious Play

I have to admit I really really love this one... it's from a favorite photo, and I painted a much larger version several years ago that sold to a friend (which is great because I know where it is and I can visit it! Thanks Suzanne!!) and I hadn't found the photo again til recently, and so I worked on this one and I am pretty pleased with it!

I suppose that's something to be grateful for as well, isn't it?  When it happens that you like your own work, especially the next day, and it still looks good and sometimes even better- that's pretty awesome!

I love the intense look on his face and how he's curled in the water and moving... 

Oh and those reflections!

Yes, and those paws...

It's a good one!

8x10 acrylic on wood

$170

click here to nab this one!

Nov 26, Watching the Bubbles Rise!

We have this version of the game "Life" from 1985, and we had some lovely friends come over last night for game night so we played it, and it is a bit more involved than the other more recent version we lost in the fire... this one includes a "REVENGE" space where you get to make anyone pay you $200,000 OR you send them back 10 spaces,  and it offers many more boy children than girls, and when you get more kids than there are spaces in your car, the game says to just cram them in "like we do in real life"... kinda funny, huh? So today I am grateful for friends who are willing to play through an incredibly long and involved game that requires a constant reading of the rules!

I hope you had the chance to have some fun and play some games this weekend! Here is another playful otter painting I did this week- I love the light on her face and how she's so attentively looking at the surface and the bubbles... and also the underflow of reflected light on her belly...  I'll have this one with me at Art At Hidden River this Saturday! Unless it sells here, of course!

6x12 acrylic on wood

$150

click here to buy!

Nov 25, "Tip O The Nose To Ya!"

 Well that was fun!  Almost as soon as I posted yesterday's otter it was snatched up!  I love it! So here is another one, with another nose just above the water~ and it's funny because I wasn't sure people would like these because you can't see the otter's face!  I do love the waterline and that above/below contrast that happens in these.

Thanks for loving my work!!!!

Today I am grateful for the ability to be still. Yesterday I sat for a session (well, I was lying down actually) with my older brother Patrick who lives near Seattle. It was a meditative, calm, energy healing and cleansing experience, called a Soul Retrieval in which Patrick was able to help me find two parts of myself that had gone missing. If you know me, you know I don't like to be still. For this procedure to work, I had to quiet my monkey brain and be open and let feelings and thoughts come to me, and it was pretty amazing. I'm feeling somehow more full, more calm. It's going to be all right kinda thoughts, you know? My brother is a Shamanic Cartoonist, and here is his website- personally, I love his Medicine Card readings- he is a hugely gentle and calming person and works through Zoom from his small office in Kent, Washington. Give him a try!

And I'll have this otter with me at Art At Hidden River next weekend! It's that School across the street from Wet Paint between Grand and Summit, from 9:30-4:30!  Come early for the good stuff!

Though if it sells, there will be more!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

click here to buy!

Nov 24, Happy Noses Up!

 Here's another otter! I am so OTTERLY fortunate, my friends! What a lovely Thanksgiving we had yesterday~ I hope you did too. Duane was in the kitchen most of the morning, and in between turkey cooking and the wild rice, we moved two loads of my mom's paintings from the shop, Corrigan Eclectic, which mom has sold. 

She's been worried about getting all her work back from the shop and where to put it and what to do with it all, which I still remember being one of the big messages I talked about in college when I first seriously claimed "ARTIST" as my career choice. Storage is a problem for all visual artists. Other arts, like theater, dance, music, don't produce physical products through practice, but a visual artist has to make things, has to move that paint brush, that pencil, study their subject, and that creates STUFF.  And that means the STUFF has to be managed.   

In college, I also painted REALLY big paintings- and I still have a lot of them. Whales mostly- lost a few in the fire, because we had them hanging in our stairwell- so THIS one I'm posting here is a LITTLE painting, just 6 inches by 12 inches, and those are not as hard to store! For you OR me!

I like these- I may have it with me next weekend at my art sales! Unless you snag it from here!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

click here to buy!

Nov 23, I OTTER tell you how THANKFUL I am for YOU!

 Alright!  I thought I'd paint another house today but it feels much more appropriate to post an otter instead!

So here is one~ and this morning I am thankful for Facebook posts from friends with positive messages about how to enjoy a holiday with relatives and still stay true to your own joy~

Be like an otter- live in the water and the air, and smile as you glide through both~

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

9x12 acrylic on wood

$215

click here to snag this one!

Nov 21, The Brick House

 Hello! I've had such a lovely day today!  I ran errands all morning, and I am SO grateful that our local post office is open again! I had three boxes to send to my brother in Seattle and two smaller commissions to mail out and another larger package with two paintings (an OTTER and a KITTEN for MAGGIE!)  so my arms were full but there was no line at all and the postman was so helpful and curious about what I was sending and I said I'm an artist! They are my paintings! And now I think of it, I shoulda given him a business card!  Silly me- it's just that as a painter starting out and wanting to sell work, it was a thrill to be able to go to the post office and mail off something. I still love doing it today!

Then I returned some shoes through Fedex and hit the local Turnstyle and ran to Trader Joe's and Poppies on Grand!  It was just lovely, and I had parking spots everywhere and people seemed to be in holiday spirits~

This is a brick house! It's a smaller piece, 6x9, and I'd love you to have it if you like it!

6x9 acrylic on wood

$110

buy it now!

Nov 21, Twin Cities Bungalow

 Today I am grateful for humor. Did I mention I'm taking an Improv class at Strike Theater on Mondays right now? I started taking it because this has been a really tough year (ya think?) and I need some lines and ideas to shake me out of my head because I don't want to be snapping at my sweet (and sometimes highly energetic and frustrating) students through my own anxieties. So humor helps. It's helpful to be standing on a stage with ten sorta strangers/sorta friends now and be laughing so much the top of my head hurts.

Humor helps, people!

This is a smaller painting, 6x9, and I'm gonna auction this one off too!  I painted it a couple years ago, and I'll be posting two more houses and then I'll start posting some of the otters and wolves and pups I've been painting!  It's been a fun painting month, my friends!

6x9 acrylic on wood

$50 starting bid!

click here to join!

Nov 20, The Birch Down The Street

 Good morning!  I've only got three more days of houses to paint, people!  So if any of you were thinking of sending me one, DO IT NOW!  This year has been much more casual, and I don't have an Official Show set up, like the one we did last year at Poppies that was SO FUN! Though I may take most of the houses over to Diamonds and hang them there-

If you commissioned YOUR house, I will mail it to you before Christmas! 

This painting is from a photo I took of a house down the street that has these beautiful birch trees out front and they were just catching the setting sun and glowing in the sky. I'm hoping I caught some of that sense of light and airiness...

And this morning I am grateful for friends whose feet are the same size as mine so we can swap shoes! And I'm also grateful for 3rd Sunday Brunches and all those beautiful people we love who come by to eat and talk and laugh with us. THANK YOU you all!  You know who you are!

10x8 acrylic on wood

$175

click here to purchase!

Nov 19, Molly and Judd's Place

 It was a few years back when we house-swapped with our friends in Key West... Max was so young he fell asleep on the back of Duane's bike when we were heading back from the beach one time and I was afraid he was gonna fall off!  So lucky...

Another thing to be grateful for- the opportunities we have been gifted by generous friends!

I am also grateful to all the people I spent time with yesterday, staring the day with a private lesson at my studio with Kristi, who completely uplifted my teaching mind with the conversation about young people today and giving them hope and tools to work into the future. Then Duane my husband drove to Rosemount to pick up my mom, Rita, the artist, so we could go with our sweet and generous friends Julie and Jeff (who spent a good chunk of their Thursday helping Duane screw floorboards!!!) to see the Hazel Belvoe show at the Minnesota Museum of Art ("M") in downtown St Paul~ it is a gorgeous show and we all highly recommend it. They have some of Hazel's delicate and intimate love drawings from the 70s of couples engaged in lovemaking. Beautiful. 

10x8 acrylic on wood

perhaps...

Nov 18, Miriram's House

 What a gorgeous fall morning we have here in Minnesota! I hope you are enjoying it wherever you are! This is Miriam's house, and it looks to me like a familiar face of a local friend. I think there are a few houses that look like this around here. I like the friendly blue and that bright yellow door.

Today I am grateful for light and sunshine and long walks to lake Hiawatha with a willing little companion.

10x8 acrylic on wood

sold!

Nov 17, Oops! I forgot to POST today!

I've been working on more homes and somehow today has been slipping by! So here is one again from a past series, and it is still a beautiful available painting that you can snag!

I don't remember who sent the photo, but this is what I wrote about it when I first posted it, and it is still available!  Any profits from every painting I sell through this project up to Thanksgiving will be partially donated to the Simpson's Housing Services because we all need somewhere to call home~

Yes, a cottage on an island~ there's something about those skies...

Have I mentioned that I've been listening to Afrocelt Soundsystem lately? I have a couple of their cds, and remember dancing to their music in the basement of at least one South Minneapolis house...  there's something really soothing, moving, invigorating about their music.  We ended up using it as background music at the Boutique on Saturday, and it made the day just rock, for me!  And I'm pretty sure other people enjoyed it as well.  I've been playing it in my classroom too, and the kids like it because they don't know what it is and can't quite categorize it as "Art Teacher" music...

Check out the wikipedia page, and then order some of their music!  I'm listening to it on Amazon music, but I also have the cds~ here is a link to SEED-

6x9 acrylic on wood

$110

click here for purchase info!

Nov 16, The Winter Tree

 This is a painting of our house from 2019, I think just as word of Covid was reaching us, and my Sunday school class was worried about end times... It is a little apocalyptical with that yellow sky and no sign of any other buildings around it. Which is not the case with our actual house, which is moving along now! Not far, but at least action is happening and there is a dumpster out front again. We have had a lovely intelligent crew in there, redoing the windows that were installed wonky and refitting the doors that were also not correct. Duane has been screwing in all the underlayer floorboards to the joists so we won't have any squeaky floors in the house EVER, and he's had a wonderful crew of friends stopping by with screw guns and drills to help him out. It feels good to see lights on in the house and people moving in and out. The heat is hooked up, though the electric and water are still not running. Rumor has it that the oak floors are coming soon and will be stacked in the basement to acclimate for a bit before being installed. I think it will feel more real as the toilets and fixtures and cupboards and shelves get placed. 

Today I am grateful for friends who come around to help out and check in and just sit and chat. Sometimes I have a hard time NOT working. I feel like I have to be DOING something all the time to be valuable. But sometime it is valuable just to sit and be.

I'm going to work on that.

6x9 acrylic on wood

$80

click here for purchase info~

Nov 15, The Cabin View

Today I am grateful for those people who help me stay calm, and for the band Afrocelt Sound System whose music is one of my go-to destressors...  I listen to them all the time in my car and at school. Great stuff!

This is also a calming scene for me. This is the view we have for a month when Duane and I are up at Camp Mishawaka as the craft counselors. We know how lucky we are. We love just sitting and looking out the huge windows into the trees. The lake is just beyond.

10x8 acrylic on wood

$240

click here for purchase info

Nov 14, Tarpon Bay, Florida

 Yes, well, not quite home, but I did live in Key Largo, FL for a while, so it isn't far!  This is from a family vacation we went on in 2019... wow. That seems like a long time ago!  Max was quite a bit smaller... and it was spring break, and Max always wanted a truck so we rented a truck instead of a car and he was thrilled with it. Iguanas and manatees, swimming and fishing, hanging out on islands with friends. Great trip!

I suppose today I'm thankful for memories like that, that make me smile as I run them through my mind. We've been pretty darn lucky, getting to go places and do the things we've gotten to do!

I'm gonna put this one on auction too, but for a bit higher than the others because it's more recent- and there's an option to buy it outright if you like it!

10x8 acrylic on wood

$50 starting bid!

Click here to join the auction fun!

Nov 13, Rita's Ivy

 This was a fun and tricky one to paint, with all the darkness and speckles of light- and the little face I think of Rita herself in the window! It seems inviting and mysterious...

And my mom's name is Rita too!

Today is the 8th year anniversary of my dad's sudden death at the age of 75 in the front seat of his Odessy Van waiting in the parking lot at Nova Academy for my mom after my nephew's performance. It was awful and shocking and they said it was a "cardiac event" which doesn't explain a lot except that he is irretrievably gone. 

We really miss him. He loved dogs and talking to strangers and we got him to Ireland in 2013 which was his native land that he'd never been to and he was the best traveler of all of us, keeping us from going off the rails in personal arguments. He was impossible to buy presents for because he didn't want anything, just to be with you and talk. He loved a good campfire, and roasted marshmallows, and a rootbeer float.

10x8 acrylic on wood

spoken for

Nov 12, Molly's Sister's House in Virginia

 Whew! What a lovely day!  And we had such a great time at the studio yesterday as well!  Thank you SO much everyone who came to the Ivy!  I had hoped for more open studios, though we had a pretty steady mob walking through for the entire day, and I was fortunate enough to have to carry large art works out to people's cars not ONCE but TWICE!  Thank goodness their vehicles were big enough! Thank you Joy!  Thank you MaryLynn!

And I have to say I am extremely grateful to our son Max for being willing to sit at the front door of the Ivy Building to act as a greet and doorman, since the door was locked for the entire sale. He did it without any complaint at all! At 14 years old!  Wow!

And this house is for my friend Molly's sister in Virginia!  I love the strong light across the front... so fun to try to get that right!

8x10 acrylic on wood

sold

Nov 11, A St Paul House

 We've been prepping for a while for today so come on by and say hi! As an artist, you are always getting ready for the next event or class or exhibition, and sometimes you have to squeeze the painting part in where you can- so I'll probably be painting at the studio today! You can come see The Artist In Her Natural Environment!

From noon to 6 at the Ivy, up on the second floor and around towards the back! Get your steps in! There is an elevator too!

This house is another one from a previous year and I am reposting it at another discounted price if you're interested!

8x10 acrylic on wood

$125

click here for purchase info~

Nov 10, the Other Green House

 This morning I am grateful for Rishi Tumeric and Ginger tea! It makes me go "ummmmmmm"......

This is another green house that I painted a few years back, and it isn't quite 8x10, it is 7.5 by 8, so I'm gonna offer this one for less than usual!  Nab it if you like it!  We're a bit busy this Friday morning and we have the FANTASTIC HOLIDAY SALE at STUDIO 210 tomorrow from noon to 6pm!  Come by the Ivy and see us! 2637 27th Ave S!

7.5x10 acrylic on wood

$150 $125!

click here to grab this one!

Nov 9, The Green House

Boy, I am SO grateful for people who let me be an artist! And for people who want to join in on these Daily Painting Projects of mine... there's so much to be grateful for!

This amazing house took a bit longer because of all the details... there's a lot of filigree on this one! Isn't it something? The dramatic angle and the leaves all added to it too. I left out the houses on either side because this feels like it could stand alone.  Isn't it fine?

Here's what Michael wrote about it~

As for a story about the place, we don't have anything too exciting. The house was built in 1891. U.S. Representative James Manahan, a Saint Paul lawyer, lived in the house with his family for a time. A prior owner shared a photo of someone who looks like Mr. Manahan sitting in a very old car outside the house a very long time ago, and the photo is on the wall of our entryway along with another old photo of the house passed down from owner to owner - this photo shows that there was originally a turret on the northeast corner of the house.  

10x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Nov 8, The Old Chapel Schoolhouse

 Today I am able to bend much easier than the last few days! Yay! For that I am very thankful. I'm also thankful for the senses of humor and love that my family has for me, and for how that can carry me through a hard day. November really can be a rough month, people. I hope you have some love in yours!

This is where we stayed the last time we were in England, in 2017, in Todmorden near our sweet friends Alison and Weston. There was a stone walled field across the street and 8 year old Max LOVED feeding whatever he could to the horse and the sheep and the chickens that were living there. It was June, it was my birthday while we were there, there were green growing things all around. For some reason, when I think of England, it is of an older place where nature is growing right with the old buildings, as if they grew there together. Admittedly, I'm usually in the older parts where there isn't a lot of new construction and maybe that's why, but I do love that feel of nature being right outside your door.

Oh and I'll make this one an auction too!

8x10 acrylic on panel

$25 starting bid!

Jump on in, people!

Nov 7, Deer Stand

 I am having rather a busier week than I'd expected and so I am dredging up a HOME painting from the past!  I still really love this one, and will offer it up as an AUCTION because I was hoping to raise some money for Simpson's Housing and honestly I've been a bit ragged lately and don't have this Daily Painting Series as organized as I'd like, but what the heck!  I'm still painting!

So this one will be starting bid at $25 and we'll see how much we can raise! Share this one out and help me raise some money!

Today I'm thankful for the amazing warm beautiful wool blanket our friends Carla and Jimmy gave us last year for winter! Good sleep under that one!

8x10 acrylic on wood

$25 starting bid!

Click here to join the FUN!

Nov 6, David's Neighbor's House

 I painted this one last year, and it was unfortunately also in the fire because all my art stuff was in the dining room, which was where the fire started... so I wanted to repaint it for David and I like this one better I think! Isn't that nice?

And this morning I am thankful for my new glasses which make the world clearer and closer to me. Thanks Specs crew!

8x10 acrylic on wood

sold

Nov 5, Sunni's House

 And today I'm thankful for small blue jackets for little Pug-pomeranians to wear on their morning walks... because she looks super cute in it and it distracts me from the aches in my joints because of the PMR... which should be going away soon because I'm starting on another series of Prednisone... for which I am also thankful!

This lovely house belongs to my friend Sunni, who lived in South Minneapolis and travels a lot, and wanted this as a gift for her son because it is his childhood home and she's sold it so they can move on to their next adventure. I love the light behind it in the morning and all the greenery out front.

8x10 acrylic on wood

sold

Nov 4, The First HOME of HOMEvember is Michelle Miles!

I actually painted this one last year for the HOMEvember project, but then it was one of the first to go in the fire that took our pets Jan 8, so it seemed appropriate to repaint it today.  I'm not sure it's quite done, but I'm happy I got this far!  And I do think I'm going to keep this project to 15, if not 10 because it does take longer to paint a house than a pet... there's a lot more futzy detail in a house. Bricks, windows, gutters, you name it!

And today I am thankful for people who love otters too!!!  Dang all!  I post three otter paintings and two of them go immediately- you sure know how to warm my heart. I have loved otters since I first became aware of them through books and toys at age seven, and then somehow saw "A Ring Of Bright Water" on a Saturday afternoon movie and fell more in love, and then when the Minnesota Zoo opened in Eagan and there were not ONE, not TWO, but THREE kinds of otters there (Indian, River and Sea), well HECK!  That's where I wanted to be!

And GUESS WHAT!!!  That link to the movie will bring you to it on Youtube!!!!  The book is a good read as well~

So there is still room for a few more homes if you'd like to send me one!  Thank you!

8x10 acrylic on canvas

sold