February 22, "Georgie"

This is a sweet faced commission~  I am so lucky!

8x8 acrylic on panel, sold

February 21, "Sunshine Bunny"

Another Florida bunny!  And thanks so much for the sweet comments you've made-  this artistic life can be a vulnerable one too~  and other creative people make it so much easier.
I painted this one yesterday as a demo for my Painting Lessons-  demos don't always work, and I had issues with this fella's eye but I think I've got it now!  And getting that white fur to look white-  whew!  I feel like I've gotten so used to oil painting from this past weekend, now my acrylics are trying to act like oil... and I'm trying to paint with them as if they ARE oil-  I find myself wiping my brushes instead of rinsing them in my water cup-  and blending colors is a bit different too-
Like riding a bike and then going roller skating... the moving through space may be similar but the mode of transportation sure ain't!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid, click HERE to join the auction frenzy!

February 19, "Beach Bunny Backside"

Well, the Behind-The-Indian-Rocks-Beach-Art-Center-Bunny-Backside, actually-  I didn't see any bunnies on the beach.
Isn't it funny how when you are away from home, you are always thinking of when you get back?  And when you are home and about to go away, you can't think of much but how much you have to get done before you can go?  All I can say is I am grateful for Friday!  And the Art Shanties have been cancelled for Sunday, which is terribly sad, but I'm grateful for a day to catch up on stuff!  I have really fallen behind.  And I am realizing I really haven't been taking it as easy as I think I need to, with dad being gone just three months now... I know it still hasn't sunk soul in.  That's part of the difficulty of this wonderful trip I just took with mom- it's the first time we were gone like this without him keeping the home fires (and dogs) stoked and cared for.  And I'm understanding that my mom is still going through a lot of new recognitions of new grief.  Oh those terrible spaces where the love used to be-
Yes, well meaning people will tell you the love is still there, but I am feeling how true it is that it is gone.  I understand that the further I get from dad's death, the gentler I'll feel about it all, but right now it is such a festering wound, I can't get a lot of relief from it.
Painting helps.
SO send me your critters, please!

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

February 18, "Shore Line, Indian Rocks Beach, FL"

Missed posting yesterday because of traveling, getting home, taking all the oil paintings out of their Raymar boxes to see if they'd made it okay in my checked luggage and everything else returning from a trip entails!  And yes, most of them made it just fine, though mom's of Nerstrand's waterfall was a bit schmucked up, I think from being at the back of the box and maybe on the bottom of the suitcase.  There was a nice little note from the airport guys letting me know they'd opened my bag.  I'm not surprised at all-  I was surprised it hadn't been opened on the way out of Minneapolis!  I did have the MSDS sheets for the oil paints and for the Zest-It solvent stuff, all of which is pretty harmless, but I imagine having the sheets helped.
So this is a painting of the ocean~  I was trying to capture all that movement and color at sunset, where the waves are coming in and you can see peach and orange next to azure and magenta...
a kinda new idea for me- we'll see where we go from here!
I did do a lovely pile of rabbits that I'll show you later, maybe as part of this year's "30 Cats and Friends in 30 Days" Project!  DO send me your critter photos!

9x12 oil on panel, $215 click here to make this your own!

February 15, "Golden Bear"

I painted this one yesterday, actually, the over-achiever again, painting extra paintings in the workshop while everyone else is finishing up their one.  I am not doing it on purpose, you know...  I just really really really love painting, and I do it so often I think it must come little bit easier for me.  And I'm not bragging, I'm just also not good at responding cleverly with wisecracks, which is maybe why it has become easier for me to be in the teacher's seat so I can keep going with this stuff rather than being a fellow student...

Today we painted an itailian wall... it was quite difficult-  maybe I'll show you mine someday if you ask nicely (or if mom posts it first)~

This is one of the brown bears at the Minnesota Zoo-  I really enjoyed painting him in oil, Dreama style!  the face of course took a bit of futzing.  But I can feel that nose and that lovely loose and flobbery lip~

8x8 OIL on panel (yes OIL!)  $130 Click HERE to make this your own!

February 14, "Dreama's Flowers"

Happy Valentine's Day!  I spent it with mom painting flowers and a hat in Dreama's workshop...  and so think of it as a bouquet for you!  I thought you might want to see what I've been up to~  It's been very fun- really great stretching my acrylic brain into playing with oils, and trying to not take anything too seriously~

I won't be selling this one, since I painted it with Dreama's photo and with her directions~  but there should be a couple more that are more mine tomorrow!

February 13, "Out Vicki's Window"

I was walking past the lower school office and the sun was shining and I paused to look at the glory and light, and took this photo~  I'm not sure the light quite equates what I saw at the time, much like the sunset mom and I watched tonight at Indian Rocks Beach here... you know those elusive moments in time, when things are so beautiful and you want to hold that vision somehow but a photo can't contain it at all... and you just have to look with all your senses wide open, to hold that somehow.  Like curling up in my son's bed with him, talking quietly, goofing around, and finally falling asleep... you want to keep remembering that....
Love those thoughts~

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction!  Click here to give it a go!

February 12, "Two Pines, Lake Calhoun"

Lake Calhoun has a new/old name now, the Native American name, Bde Maka Ska, though  I am not sure how to pronounce it.  I did like these two little pines, leaning ever so slightly, and the great variety of blue in the snow.  Oh and the great yellow tones where the sun is catching the lumpy snow!
This is another of those photos I took without looking!
And this will be another auction~

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid!  Click HERE to join the insanity!!!

February 11, "The Red Leash"

I think I have another painting somewhere called "The Red Leash" because this sounds so familiar, but I can't seem to locate it so we're calling this one "Red Leash"-
I'm pretty happy with all the diagonals in this~  and those strong shadows-  I really do love painting dogs, don't I?  But no dogs for March's project, please!  And keep those cats and little critters coming!  Tell your friends to take photos of their hedgehogs please!  Then send them to me!  Here is a link to the page explaining in more detail~
It was a pleasure to mix all the colors for Gus' fuzzy little head here, and his tawny browns, and that dusty grey sidewalk tone.  Paint is fun!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click here to make this your own!

February 10, Sammy

This is a commission from a high school friend who I reconnected with this early fall when I went to my 30 year reunion!  It was quite the hoot-  I think I must've mentioned it on here-  I'm getting distracted and busy with packing and gessoing panels and I need to get BETTER gesso (never skimp on materials!  SERIOUSLY!) because I hate this stuff I'm trying to use-  ack~  so I'm posting an older piece today for your perusal~
Yay~

though now that I'm posting it, it feels like I may have shown you him before... hmm...

Do let me know if I'm being redundant!

February 9, "Two Trees By The Lake"

Of course, as it is February, you'd know the lake is frozen, right?  I did have fun painting the sky through the branches- one of my favorite things about winter if the truth be known!  And I love the varying colors in the sky-  purple to blue to white...

And DO keep sending me small pets and cats!  I'm getting a nice collection now!  Wahoo!  Looking for some rodents at this point!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid, click HERE to join the auction!

February 8, "Afternoon Tree Light"

Hee hee!  Do you get it?  "Afternoon TREE Light"!  Instead of "Afternoon DEEElight"?!  Ha!
From a not-looking-car-photo around Cedar Lake last week~  love that golden light!  And the sky through the branches~
And I thought I'd include a shot of my little family at the Art Shanties this weekend!  Yay!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid for the auction!  Click HERE to join in!

Kat, Max and Duane with mom's art car at the Art Shanties on White Bear Lake, 2/7/16!

February 7, Kitty Commission!

Here's a commission I've been working on, love those giant green eyes!  Do send me more cat and small critter photos for my "30 Cats (and Frenemies) in 30 Days" Project this March!  More info can be found here!

8x8 acrylic on panel, sold!

February 5, "Snowy Drive Home"

So, yes there is snow here in Minneapolis, and yes I have all-wheel-drive, and no, that doesn't mean I don't slide through the occasional stop-sign, like the one on the King's Highway and 38th Street... twice now.  Keep thinking I'll stop and then, I just... don't.  Hmm.
I wanted to share this blogpost from Robert Genn's daughter Sara on the Painter's Keys, because I was trying to talk to my students about this last week (or maybe the week before) and it is about those things that stop us from painting, and also about the book Art And Fear (Bayles and Orland) which I highly recommend to everyone who wants to pursue any creative act!  That's your homework~  go do it!
Oh and you can bid on this painting too!  I'm having fun with the auctions because I LIKE mailing packages off!  Go figure!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid!  Click HERE to join the fun!

February 4, "Northern Winter Sunset"

This one is a little larger, 8x8, because I want to see how it looks bigger...  and I like it!  I want to paint some even bigger-  we'll see~

8x8 acrylic on panel, $130 click here to hang this on your wall!

February 3, "Wild Eyes, Domestic Heart"

From a photo I took one August at Wet Paint during the "Paws On Grand" event-  we set up a Sketch-A-Thon and people line up for hours to get a free sketch of their pets...  so this is one of the dogs I did  a sketch of that day!  There's something kind of German Shepard about this face too, Husky mix possibly... I love the eyes and that poise~

8x10 acrylic on panel, $160 unframed click HERE to purchase!

Groundhog's Day! My 8th Anniversary!

yes, I don't usually write about myself at ALL in this blog, but I thought I ought to mention that today is my 8th anniversary!

We had SUCH a great time that day, and have continued to ever since!  Yay!  So I'll save today's painting for later~

Thank you for all the love!  It IS what makes the world go 'round!

XOXOX

February 1, "Concentration"

It is so good to paint every day- and it is good to wake up to this little face every morning too-  even when he's throwing a fit because we want him to do his homework before turning on the tv...  wow, is it tough to be a parent!
But I'm so grateful to be one!
Happy February!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click HERE to make this your own!

January 31, "Waiting In The Red Chair"

This chair figures largely in a number of my paintings of Gus, because it has become something of the Dogs' Chair.  I was able to spend some time working on this larger piece today, and am pretty excited about that.  I was invited to a friend's house warming/art party and I ended up sitting here (well, standing actually) painting all afternoon.  My boys went to the science museum with the neighbors and we're having pizza over at my brother's tonight so I had this chunk of time to think about the colors of a dog.  I did want to go see my friend and her new place, but I didn't want to get dressed again (meaning "put on a bra") and I knew I'd hear a few sympathetic remarks about dad, and for some reason the hole he left is throbbing a bit today and I didn't want to have to brace myself (sorry Bonita! some time soon~)- so I stayed home and painted.

I have a show coming up at Artistry this August that will be all about dogs, and I am excited to be painting BIG paintings of dogs again~  really and truly, I love painting dogs.    This one isn't quite finished yet, but I am pleased with the direction it is headed.

24x30 acrylic on black gessoed canvas, $1440  (e-mail me if interested)

January 30, Yellow Brushstroke Study #1- Auction!

It's not really the first color study, but again, I had a hard time thinking of a title for this one.  And this WAS a demo during class on how to paint using one brushstroke for each color, which is an excellent tool for helping painters slow down and really look at what they are doing.  When you have to plan your strokes, you tend to be more careful and attentive to how you lay down your paint, and your strokes look much more purposeful and have more power.  You also look more closely at the color and tend to see those tender slight variations on a color, like the interior creamy whites in this mug~  so FUN!  I love it!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction!  Click HERE to join the frenzy!

January 29, Green Turtleneck Grin

It's the fact that skin can be somewhat translucent, and that there are muscles and stuff moving underneath so that everything moves all the time!  SO hard!  Dang!  I could not resist this impish sideways grin Max gave Duane at the McDonald's in Hinkley... there's just the glimpse of a tooth there-  love those baby teeth!

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

January 28, Cold Rocks At Sunset

Yes, this is also from those photos I took in Duluth, but I thought I'd try to get a little more interesting in my title...
Any good?

And it's another auction!
YAY!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid!  CLICK HERE to join the race!

January 27, Six and Plotting...

People are a tricky subject for me, but I want to be better at them, especially this guy~  I love the pixie-ish aspect of his ears, which look slightly pointed to me, and his hair all askew-  he was helping grandma put away the small forest of christmas trees by first making them into a hiding place for himself...

Yes, this has been a tough time, and we're at past two months since dad died, and sometimes I feel like I should be back to normal and then I get gobsmacked, side-swiped, cocked off center by that huge dad-shaped hole and oops there I go again.

We got a letter yesterday from our great friends in England, Jonny and Gil, expressing sympathy and more, and it threw me to tears, and some of those were of joy because I love seeing those two people (Jonny is like Duane's long-lost taller-balder artistic brother) and when we were there in 2013 I spent a lot of time with Max while those three did puppeteering stuff, and so I painted a lot of Maxie portraits, so this one is sorta in honor of those and that time, and hoping we can have more of those times~  the glory of time spent with friends!

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

January 26th, Juno, a Commission

Sorry, I did paint another Duluth landscape this morning, but I think it looks too Pepto Bismal pink and it needs some re-doing...  part of the problem was I stayed up later than normal working on submission proposals for exhibitions so I went to bed later than usual, and THEN my six year old woke at 4am, calling for me, and couldn't or WOULDN'T go back to sleep-  ack.  He wants to go to the MOA to make a Build-A-Bear.  Now.
Needless to say, I'm a bit slow today-
SO here's a lovely commission from the holiday season that makes me feel good to look at it~  hope you enjoy it too!

12x12 acrylic on panel, sold

January 25th, "Coffee at Cafe Maude, Third Cup"

To continue the story of coffee at Cafe Maude- always a fun place to go!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 click here to join the auction!

January 24, "Afternoon Towards Cedar Lake"

This was painted from one of those photos I took while driving home through Uptown last week, by holding my phone out in the direction of the window and snapping without looking.  I never have any idea whether these kinds of photos will work or not, as I am not looking at what I am taking a picture of, but the results are often good enough that I can paint from, and I was thrilled at the angle of the sun, raking through those stark bare branches, striking me slightly blind~

The snow along the roadway has so many colors in it, almost as hard to determine as those sunsets!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click HERE to make this your own!

January 23, A Daily Apple

Today's painting was a demo for my newest class~  it is always an adventure and there are no guarantees that a demo is going to be a good painting.  As a matter of fact, sometimes they are downright awful but of course I don't say that in front of impressionable (maybe vulnerable!) adults, who are hoping to learn something from me...
This one isn't too bad at all!  The difficulty is often in finding apples that are a solid color, because we are attempting to paint simple forms with shading, meaning that those spotty apples can be a bit too much of a challenge.
There's always that tricky bit of WHAT COLOR IS THAT ANYWAY?  The table I painted this apple on is a cherry colored wood, so it's just different enough from the apple to not be the same red, plus it has a different surface as well...
Oh it is just all so much FUN!!!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 AUCTION!! WAHOO!!!  Click here to bid!

January 22, The Shadow Bridge, Duluth

It isn't really a bridge in the image, though it looks so much like one I liked the thought.  In this image that shadowy area is the father hills, and the actual bridge is off-screen, but the road to the waterfront where the big boat sits is on pylons above the water and does look like a bridge.  I suppose it IS really a bridge, isn't it?
Hmm....

I do love how the reflections in the water make the blue of the sky so brilliant!  And the combination of warm and cool colors just vibrates!  It is so YUMMY!  Maybe I need to paint a big one of these, just for sh*ts and grins, as we used to say...

Oh and seriously folks, if you like these you should bid on them because when I sell them, I sell them for $75 and when you bid you often get them for way less!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction!  Ha!  CLICK HERE to join the FUN!

January 21, "Charlie of the Magnificent Paws"

This is a recent commission that came about from my having work at a local holiday art festival...  at which I only sold cards, but for me the nice thing is that I'll get exposure just from being somewhere. It is hard to keep pumping your art heart every day, especially when you feel like you've gone for a while without recognition (or a sale!) but the fun thing is that if you can keep doing it because you love it (because you DO, you know!) then eventually the fun stuff happens!  Because you keep showing up!
Yup-  it is all about persistence...
You gotta make the time for what you want to be important in your life!
And this was a fun but tricky painting, with all that fluff and the deep shadows on his face-  I had to play with that area until it felt right!

8x8 acrylic on panel, Commissioned work!  Sold!

January 20th, Duluth Sunset, Two Light Poles

I'm thinking I have to be more creative naming these...  but this will help me remember which one it is.  I renamed my art tables in my classroom and my students were excited and then thought it hysterical when I introduced them to "Arnold, Bruce, Cherry and Diane" instead of the more tame "One, Two, Three and Four"... maybe I should name my paintings the same way?
See, there are two light poles showing in this one...

It is a total gas trying to get an approximate color with these sunsets!  Really trying to see what area is darker or lighter is quite the challenge!

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

January 18, MLK Day, Hotel Mug

Simple everyday objects can carry the weight of a memory in them.

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction!  Wahoo!  Click here to join the fun!

January 17, Duluth Bay, Sunset

This is such a fulfilling little series to play with. I've always greatly admired those painters who do skies well, with clouds that look high and luminous...  not sure I'm quite where I'd like to be with these but I am enjoying them~

You can just see the tracks at the bottom of the painting, of the cars that have driven out onto the lake... I love all those different shades of blue and how many colors it takes to create snow!

It has also been so fun posting auctions again!  Thanks those of you who've been jumping in on these-  and just so you know, if you really want one and you are the first to bid, you can purchase it right off for $65!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction, click HERE to join the frenzy!

January 15, Sunset Over the Bay, Duluth

This is from a photo I took last Saturday, Duane drove us across the canal bridge so we could see the sunsetting over the bay with Duluth in the distance.  My mom paints incredible sunsets... getting those color contrasts is amazingly difficult.  You have to constantly compare values across the entire painting, even with a little 6 incher like this!

I'll be doing more, and I'm enjoying the auction spin on these, so this will be another auction!  The fun part for YOU is you can end up getting one for $25 if no one else bids!  Bad luck for me, but I appreciate the art getting out of my house!  Kinda like thank you for supporting my habit, if you know what I mean...

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid, click HERE to join the fun!

January 14, Goggle! or is it Google?

This is a commission for a couple sisters who are delivering it to Mexico in a few weeks, so I think I'm safe posting it... though really, who knows how these things go?  This is the one I was working on last night, and I fell asleep tucking the boyo in and didn't wake till 9:30, which is usually when I go to bed, so that threw me off too...
I SO appreciate the sunshine in the winter!  It makes me happy and keeps me awake, though I have to say the clouds do the opposite which is make me drowsy and hibernational.... I just made up another word!  I'm loving the mug auctions going on at my Dailypaintworks site, so NOW I'm going to start painting winter sunshine landscapes too!  Wahoo!

Do let me know what you think of Goggle (or IS it Google)'s background color... I like it, though I think I may want a bit more depth going on somehow...  I included the reference photo.  I started by painting in the actual background but it got too busy.
I like it better now! I painted the eyes bigger than reality-  but aren't they always?

8x8 acrylic on panel, sold~

January 13,

I'm a bit tired this evening, and didn't get the painting finished that I'd intended to.  It's been two months since my dad died, and I'm starting to understand how much of a process this grief crap is...

SO another black dog, shiny, and with a great cocked eye expression...

8x8 acrylic on panel, sold

January 12, "The Christmas Mug"

Duane bought me this set of four sweet owl mugs for Christmas a couple years ago, and I still love them!  This is the one I brought to work because really, I can't drink from four mugs at once!  They have such a great shape... it was fun playing with the background colors.  I had to pay attention to the contrast and look at what is darker and what is lighter!  Tricky tricky!  And I notice that my ellipse may not be quite spot on...  speaking of spots, THOSE were fun to pop on there too!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction!  Click here to join the fun!

January 11, And again...

Sorry!  Trying to get a few too many things done again- I still have a couple spaces in the upcoming Painting Lessons starting Jan 23 if you'd like to join us!
This is the mate for yesterday's commission~  this is Zeke, and yesterday was Lulu~  Lulu is described as somewhat like Tigger, while Zeke is a bit more Eyore-ish~  I myself had an Eyore-like dog whom I adored, and we now have two Tiggers in our house...

10x10 acrylic on panel, Commissioned Work

January 10, Another Commission!

Thought I'd fill in a Sunday eve with a lovely black dog~

10x10 acrylic on panel, sold

January 9, Wine in A Water Glass

Yes, it's wine time!  And do we have a corkscrew? No!  How did Duane open the bottle?  With his knife and multiplier!  Yay Duane!  And do we have wine glasses? No!  So the water glasses are just fine!
Yay the Radisson in Duluth!!
You've never been in this position, have you~

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction, click here to join the party!

January 8, Mug On Green

Yes, I am terribly creative when it comes to naming my paintings aren't I?  If you have a better idea, please let me know!  This one was deceptively tricky-  it's such a great practice to paint something so simple because there are an awful lot of decisions to be made when looking at this.  Which area is darker?  The lighting is from above, undirected, and rather sloppy so there's not any one area that's highlighted... so I really had to look to figure out the tones on this.  And it is much more pastel-y than I usually paint... a bit like spring right when we're heading into the coldest weekend here in Minnesota in a while~
 Hmmmm... another auction, I think~

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid!  Click HERE to jump in!

January 7, "Cafe Maude: The Second Cup"

This is from another photo taken at Cafe' Maude, when my family went to eat, back in November.  It is different painting such a subject from a photo rather than from life.  It seems easier to see all those subtleties in person, if you know what I mean...
I haven't had an auction for a while, so if you like this one, you could probably snag it for $25~   just saying....

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 auction!  Click HERE to get in on the excitement!

January 6, Another Commission~

Here is another Christmas Commission-  it really was a helpful buzz right before that big day, to have all sorts of people asking last minute for commissions, because it kept my happy brain busy painting which is SOOOO good for my brain, or maybe I really mean for my heart~  losing someone close right before the holidays really bites the big one, I must say, and the distraction of painting these lovely beasties saved me many times over.
I love the colors on this fine fellow~ and those EYES.....  and I'm pretty pleased with the lovely abstracted sidewalk bricks too~

8x10 acrylic on panel Commission, SOLD

January 5, Lake Perch

Boys do seem to get themselves into these interesting positions... and water is always fun to paint-  I couldn't believe how cold the water was that day, but it didn't seem to bother either of my men...

"Lake Perch" 8x8 acrylic on panel, $125 click HERE to purchase~

January 4,"Balancing At Superior"

This is from a photo last fall, Max wearing a t-shirt over his shorts and walking the length of a beautiful driftwood pine.  I love his hand gestures and unselfconsious posture.  I wonder how long I'll be able to get photos of him like this to paint from...

8x8 acrylic on panel, $125 click HERE to purchase~

And do check out my upcoming classes~  they are starting to fill up already!

January 3, Paddling Boy

Yes, I didn't get to the zoo, so I have another water boy painting... not sure how to get more of these, except to keep the kid signed up for swimming lessons and make his dad take him, because dad takes such great photos...
So in other words, we'll see what happens next.
As to now, here's the boy in the pool~

And I'm waiting for the Downton Abbey Last Season Premiere... and then I'll go to bed!

8x8 acrylic on panel, $125, click HERE to purchase!

January 2, Backfloat~

It is a new year, and I think the sunshine today is helping that feeling of starting something fresh and new.  I want to start another "30 in 30" kinda project, because that always helps me roll, but I am not sure yet what I want to paint as a series, so I will just paint what I want to paint.  This is Max swimming on his back in the pool at the Radisson, Duluth, last fall when we went up to hang the "Otters Underwater" show at the Great Lakes Aquarium.  And you have one more week to see the Otters I painted at the Aquarium!  The show comes down NEXT Sunday, the 10th!  I think mom took the photo-  I am so interested in the distortion of water and how to paint the colors you see to represent what is there.  How do values work in this situation?  Hmm...
And maybe I can talk my guys into going to the zoo today so we can get more otter photos....

8x8 acrylic on panel, $125  click HERE to purchase!