1/16 Tree Arch, Fort Snelling AUCTION

So I finally found the Do Not Call number that you're supposed to call so your cell phone won't get robocalls (Add your phone number for free by visiting donotcall.gov, or calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register (TTY: 1-866-290-4236).)  So I tried calling, and of course there was a message saying this won't work until the federal shutdown is over.  I think it took that for me to really recognize that YES this is a BIG PROBLEM. The longer this goes on, the more trouble we're gonna be in when it is finally resolved.  Lots of people are not being paid, but being expected to still show up to work.  This is ridiculous! And it sounds like most of them aren't sure they will be compensated for the work they've done this past 26 days...

 That's why I'm posting these paintings of the Fort Snelling park, down below the airport there. Because we need our DNR funds to come back, so these can be taken care of.  We need to have a government that works. Not one that goes out for fast food, as if it's a novelty- treating a supposedly highly esteemed recognition as a joke.
Ack.
I don't often get too political here because I'm not always sure I understand all the underlying stuff, but I do know that it's time for this shutdown to be over, and that I appreciate the leaders who are not giving in this time...
To be clear, I AM a progressive Democrat~
And I'm donating half of whatever these landscape paintings of January sell for to our DNR-
XO!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$35 starting bid

Click here to join the AUCTION!

1/15 Morning Light, Cedar Lake

And another grey morning in the great midwest!  I'm just really wanting some snow. It's been such a grey winter, it's starting to have an effect on my emotions.  When the sun comes out, it's like a huge event!  Everyone wants to be outside absorbing the rays~
This one is another auction!  Thanks so much for bidding on them!  It's so fun at the end to find out who's won!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$35 starting bid!

Click HERE to join in the frenzy!

1/14 Great Weekend!

Wow!  Thank you everyone who came to our last show at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization on Saturday!  It exceeded our highest expectations and Max was so excited he couldn't control Oscar the Otter on the 2nd show and needed reinforcements from the crowd!  It is such a delight to be able to perform silly little educational puppet shows like this with my family~  thank you!
And I have been painting, yes, though I just wanted to repost this sweet otter who sold on Saturday to a young collector-  thank you Oliver and Reid!

6x12 SOLD!

And I wanted to also post the video of our show~  this is from November, actually, but it will give you the idea!

Click HERE to watch it!

1/11 Pink Cedar Lake AUCTION

Sounds like a cocktail, dunit?
Not sure I got enough warm colors in this... it is a bit pink...
Hope you are enjoying your Vitamin D!
And this is another AUCTION!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$35 starting bid!

Click HERE to join in the FUN!

1/10 Below Fort Snelling

Yes there's more shadows out there- it's a bit of an abstract puzzle, painting these... I'm looking at the lights and darks and deciding what to put in and what to put out.  Sometimes it helps to paint them upside down too...
Don't forget to come on Saturday!  We are rehearsing at our house tonight!  Otterways and Waterways at the MWMO 11-2 on the 12th!

6x6 acrylic on panel

$75

click here to purchase!

1/9 Coniferous Light (auction!)

White has so many colors in it. Especially snow white. Especially with shadows. In Minnesota, it is most beautiful when there is snow on the ground and it is sunny, and those sunniest days are usually the coldest. Snow is amazing at giving color to shadows~  serious fun, folks!
Oh speaking of serious fun, do please come see us this Sat (Jan 12th, 11 -2pm!) at the MWMO in NE Mpls for our final "Otterways and Waterways" event!  It has been a fantastic run and we've loved having the otters so available, and it's always a joy to perform with my family-  we have two puppet shows at least-  Max really wants to also perform "The Mitten" so we'll see how that goes...
Oh, and this is another auction!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$35 starting bid for auction, or Buy Now for $75!

Click HERE to join in the fun!

Stoodley Pike, Todmorden, Yorkshire

I was hoping I was on a roll again, and could keep posting every day... I would like to get 365 posts in a row, at some point.  Wouldn't that be something?
But I was pooped yesterday by 7pm- it's funny how much energy playing with kids and art all day can take!
So this is my landscape painting I started at my Holiday Landscape One-Day Class back in December.  The little pokey thing way back on the down is Stoodley Pike, a very big and familiar landmark visible from all over the place when we go visit our friends in England.  Here's a link with more info about it, because I find it fascinating.  Duane and Jonny walked up to it on one of our last days there, in June of 2017.  I wanted to paint a series of paintings of it, because it's just so obvious and always there.
So there are more in the works!
I'm particularly happy with the variety of vegetation I was able to depict in the foreground.  This photo was taken on my daily walk up behind the Old Chapel School House where we were staying.  It's an Airbnb!  If you ever want to stay there, I'd highly recommend it!

12x24 acrylic on 1.5 inch cradled wood

$576

click here for purchase info~

Fort Snelling, Sunday Afternoon

Oops I meant FRIDAY afternoon!  Have to change that one... loving the sunlight on the snow lately!
Hope you are having a great Sunday!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$35 starting bid!

Check out the action auction HERE!

Driving Past Bde Mka Ska, Sunset

Another winter driving one~  did I mention my secret for getting these shots?  Really technical, you know-  I hold my phone in the direction of the window and hit the button and take a bunch of photos and then go through them and pick something that looks like it will work.  There's that glory of light through branches that I love~ and the colors of sunset on snow~
Yay!
And this one is another auction, just because~

6x6 acrylic on panel

$35 starting bid!

Click HERE to join in the fun!

1/4 2019! First post of the year!

It is a little disconcerting how having an unscheduled day really makes me lose track of time and I don't seem to get the stuff done that I need to get done...  as an artist, a creative person, when I was younger I greatly resisted the idea of a SCHEDULE because that seemed so constrained, so conservative, so... like my PARENTS.  Ack. 

But now, as an adult artist and creative person, who also teaches kids and adults, I am much more aware of how a schedule can help me make sense of my day and I can get more things done.  It's kinda crazy but it works!

Of course, there's also been the small lovely fact that Max has been off these two weeks too, and so it's been a delight doing random fun things!  like going and getting his passport renewed, and depositing checks, and picking up medicine for the cat...

Anyway, I was finally able to spend some time yesterday working on what I'm hoping will become an On-Line Painting Class, putting together some videos...  we'll see, and I was also able to do a 6x6 daily painting!  YAY!  That felt GOOD!  Just to paint something that I wanted to paint- so I'll be auctioning this one off, with the hope that this will be a generous new year!

And if you aren't on my Painting Lessons newsletter but have taken a class from me, do feel welcome to join us at the First Friday Painting Party tonight at my studio, #210 at the Ivy Building!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$35 starting bid!

The first AUCTION of this year!

Give it a go and have fun!

12/30 Otter Lunch

Darn it!  I meant to post this yesterday, but I'm still on vacation mode and my timing is kinda off- plus it's gotten more chilly this week, and the sidewalks are all icy and slick, and my morning routine includes taking the dogs out for a jog/trot/stumble right after I get up, which means bundling up and pulling those Yak Tracks on, which is so fun...
Anyway this otter photo is from Sharon V, who snapped all the photos down at the Mississippi River by Fort Snelling!  I met her at my studio for the Winter Frolic earlier in December~  thank you so much Sharon!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$144

click here for purchase info~

12/28/2018 An Otter Walk

Yes, I have been painting and yes, I have also been relaxing!  I seem to have temporarily thrown my back out, so today has mostly been spent on the couch watching the Star Wars trilogy (though we are taking a short break before continuing with "The Return of the Jedi") with a hot pad or an ice pad.  Better now...
And this is from earlier in the week-  I've been painting more on the same theme.... otters, you know!

6x12 acrylic on wood

$144

click here to purchase~

12/20 Commission!

Wow!  It is a busy time for everyone, I imagine!  We had a great (and LATE) night last night, went and saw "Elf the Musical" at the Ordway with my sis and Duane and Maxie-  Max and I had gone to see "Annie" at the Ordway last year with our friends and Max was bouncing in his seat most of the show, so thinking ahead, I'd gotten 4 tickets, two in front of the others, thinking that way we could control the annoyance factor of 9 year old excitement... but the seats were more staggered and then the tallest man in the area had to sit right in front of Max!
We were able to shift seats a bit, and Max LOVED it!  It is so fun to take a kid to see shows!  Well, when the kid wants to see the shows, I mean!
This is Hina, whom I got to meet when she came to pick up her painting with her owner!

9x12 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

12/11 A commissioned Kitteh!

This is the Diabolical Winnie!
Ain't she sweet?
Doncha love those big, fluffy, soft, squishy cats who can defend themselves well?
I know I do!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold!

12/5 December already?!

Well, I've just hung the show at Diamond's, and am now tackling the lovely line-up of commissions people want before Christmas!  SUCH fun!  I seriously have the greatest job~  

So here is one~  this is Dickens!  I think I'm safe posting him because he was a present for the client to herself, so no surprises here!

And I also want to thank everyone who came out last weekend for the Winter Frolic at the Ivy!  It was an absolute delight to see everyone!  I think I hugged everyone who bought anything on Sunday, and I was so pleased to also give so many bags away!

I do still have some lovely paintings in my on-line gallery here, and for the rest of December, if you ask, I'll cover shipping for you!  See, I wanna see who reads the fine print...

Ah, love!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold~

11/29 Drive Past Bde Maka Ska

This is a painting from a series of four, from my winter drives home around the lakes.  That whole notion of snow just tickles me!  I mean, the color is incredible!  Especially at sunset! 
Come pick this one up at my Open Studio Sale at the Seward Winter Frolic this weekend!  I'll be in my studio at the Ivy BUilding, 2637 27th Ave S, from 10-5 Sat and Noon-5 Sunday, and this is one of the pieces that will be discounted for walk-ins only!  Wahoo!
Usually $275, but for you, this weekend only, $195!
Be the first one in to snag it!

12x12 acrylic on wood

$275

THIS WEEKEND ONLY $195!  

MUST BE PRESENT TO PURCHASE!!!

11/27 Aran Island Cottage Where Anita Lived, 1975-1979

I spent a character-building semester in Ireland from September of 1987 to January of 1988, living in a cottage in the small town of Spiddal, outside of Galway, and within biking distance of several fishing docks and fishermen who regularly went out to fish around the Aran Islands.  My classmates and I were taken across the bay to the islands and spent two or three days wandering around.  I remember the stone walls and the mules, the thatched roofs and dirt floors. We had some good sunshine while we were there, went and walked all over the islands. There was a very old fortress, Dun Aonghasa, that I remember we were able to walk through.  It is on the edge of a cliff, and there was some suggestion that part of the land had fallen away at some point in the past. I loved it in Ireland! We took my dad in 2013, since he's the one with the Irish roots.
This cottage is where my friend Anita White lived on her Irish adventure, many years ago.  She's working on a graphic novel of her story.  Can't wait to see that either!

8x10 acrylic on wood

$175

click here for purchase info~

11/26 Another Northern Island

Okay, so I really really love the North shore... this is another view of Artist's point, from the lake side of Grand Marais near the beaver lodge...
And tomorrow will be the last day of this HOMEvember project-  I am glad I dropped it to 20 paintings from 30, and I will be hanging a selection of these paintings at Diamond's next week with our Holiday Sparkle Show, and a few will be being mailed to their new owners!
I'm needing to spend some time on some Holiday commissions and I'm also super excited about some fantastic otter pics we took last Friday at the zoo!  Stay tuned for those!

10x8 acrylic on wood

$175

click here for purchase info~

11/25 Terri's Art House

Another study of greens and blues, with a house in there somewhere...
It's a lovely sunny day here in Minneapolis!  Hope you are enjoying your Sunday wherever you are!

8x10 acrylic on wood

$175

click here for purchase info~

11/24 That Tree Over On Lyndale

This is another one I've been wanting to paint for a long time-  I mean, look at this tree! It is so beautifully expressive and absolutely wicked!  I love it!  Limbs going every which way like a crazy dance, bark twisting along the trunk~  too much!
It happens to be near the daughter and son-in-law of a dear friend and mentor of mine, and I think I may have painted their house back there... I think that's theirs anyway...

8x10 acrylic on wood

$175

click here for purchase info~