Daisy

6 x 6" original oil

commission

This dog's name is Daisy. Daisy is a lab-beagle mix. Her mom contacted me about a month ago about doing a commission of her late dog who passed away early in life. It is a gift for Daisy's dad. I think about my own dog and how much I love her, and I just want to hug these people because I know their hearts hurt. I worked from a photograph of Daisy standing in a front doorway. The light was overcast and her body was in a deep shadow, but I tried to invent some light where I could and figure out the shapes. It was very hard, but I feel like this painting captures Daisy's essence and that makes it good enough. Merry Christmas little Daisy; all dogs go to heaven!

Hot Dog

 6x6" original oil

sold

On this cold and snowy day it was nice to paint a picture I took in the heat of the summer. Buttercup is nuts: she loves to bask on the back patio when it's 95 degrees in July.  I actually have to put sunscreen on her belly. Silly dog.

Christmas is coming! Contact me or any of my galleries if there is a painting you have in mind for that special someone.

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Scritch Scratch

6x6" original oil

sold

I have had a wonderfully lazy December after a huge push in October to be ready for November's shows. However, I don't really know what to do with myself if I'm not painting, so here is another doggie. This painting is headed for Gallery MAR. I have wanted to do this painting for at least a year but never got a good photo until now. She scritch-scratches inside the house all the time, but not so much outside when I'm photographing her on the back patio and I like the outside sunlight for my paintings. I love the face she makes too. So funny. When I look at this painting I can hear the jingling of her collar tag. I'm glad I don't have to scratch my neck with my back feet.

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Watermelon II

18 x 24" original oil

sold

I began this painting the first week of November. I worked on it in the background while I was finishing a commission and three little dog paintings for Gallery MAR due for a late November delivery. I got a phone call one day from somebody who missed one of my art shows but wanted to come to my studio to see what I was painting at that moment, so I invited them over, they saw this painting in progress, and bought it on the spot. It's now finished, drying, and will be delivered soon. I feel blessed. 

The story behind this painting is this: I had been painting a lot with yellows and was feeling a bit like I was in a rut, so I looked through my reference photos on the computer and came across this one, gasped, was immediately intimidated by the crazy colors and shapes, but loved the light. I'm going to paint it again, but I haven't decided how big or when. I love this image so much that I can't use it just once.  

I enjoyed have Nathan and Suzie over to watch me paint while I worked on the upper-right corner of this painting. I hope Nathan gets the urge to pull out the oils and paint!  

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detail 2

Olé

 

6 x 6" original oil

sold

This month I needed to paint three dogs to send to my Park City gallery and this is the third. I'm sad they're done. I am having so much fun and I can't wait to send them more. Each dog painting has such personality. 

Thank you to my niece, Liz, who sent me photographs of her bulldog, Cletus, who appears in this painting. What a guy. His stand-off  pose along with his breed name just screamed "Olé" at me, and the red background was then an obvious. I hear Cletus is quite the sweetheart and will even snuggle little kids.

look at all of those color changes and brush strokes that make up fur

Georgia

14 x 18" original oil

commission

I have a collector who commissioned me to paint them a salmon-pink poppy. She helped me choose the reference photo, cropping and the finished painting's size. I really appreciated her input and involvement, because it took out the awkward element of commission surprise: "Ta-duh! I'm done! Do you like it? Oh, you wanted it totally different? Hm." 

The biggest challenge of painting Georgia was that my reference photo was the size of a postage stamp by the time I cropped what I would be using from the patch of poppies. My husband came in while I was painting and said "How can you even see what colors to mix? The poppy you are copying is so tiny!" I told him I just had to look really closely. :) 

I know the title is obvious, but I can't paint a large, zoomed in poppy and not be thinking of Georgia O'Keefe the entire time. I figure with at least the title I can nod to her well-known subject matter.

I love the center's shadow

Say Cheese

6 x 6" original oil

sold

 

My dog Buttercup totally knows how to smile for the camera as she is in this painting. I also love how she's sitting to one side, relaxed and happy. She and I had just finished playing Frisbee when I had her pose on the driveway for this picture.  I love how her face shows how happy she is to just be. Dogs teach me to live in the moment. This painting is drying and headed to Park City's Gallery MAR around November 26th. 

a detail

This is a photograph of an 18 x 24" painting in-progress on my easel right now. It just sold to a new collector who saw it like this and fell in love with it before it was even finished. I feel thankful. 

Time to begin on a poppy commission! My husband has the 14 x 18" panel built and it's been gessoed and is now dry and ready for paint. I haven't painted a poppy in forever. It will be very O'Keefe. 

I will be at Alpine Art tonight for the opening night of Honoring Utah Artists. If you are in the area, come see me and see my painting in the show. Concord II is the painting that will be for sale at this show:

Concord II

Rockstar

6x6" original oil

sold

Gallery MAR is my Park City gallery and they do a great job of selling my little 6x6" dog paintings. I have been looking for a variety of dog breeds to paint and when I saw this Chinese Crested at a park I laughed out loud and immediately knew it needed a hot pink background with a Rockstar title. I love the personalities of dogs and the quirkiness they add to life. My own dog is a yellow lab and I paint her the most. If you have a dog breed you think I'd like and want to send me images of your furry friend outside in the sun on a patio or sidewalk (grass hides their paws), your dog may just end up in a painting. Send images to afharpers@gmail.com.

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Concord II

 

10 x 10" original oil

sold

Alpine Art is having a show November 16 - December 21, 2012 called Honoring Utah Artists. The show will feature Utah artists who "have been influential in the arts during the 2012 year." I am so humbled to have been nominated to participate. I am also very excited to see the other artists' paintings. We had to keep the painting under 16x20" but that was our only restriction.

My studio smells like varnish and is in a state of "excited messy" when it's slightly chaotic and crowded with completed paintings ready to be loaded up and taken to shows! October was nuts. Last year I averaged four paintings a month; last month I painted ten. That is the result of long hours, a good massage therapist and chiropractor, lots of paint and patience, and lots of good music. 

I have three shows in November, all listed here. Tonight I will be at Terra Nova Gallery for the opening of Great Things Small Packages, then next week I will be at the Zions Bank building on the 8th for their one night Artist Reception, then I'll be at Alpine Art on the 16th for the opening of their Honoring Utah Artists exhibition.

I'm taking a lazy beginning to November. Today I slept in, played some volleyball, talked to a friend, and now I'm going to bake some cookies. Hallelujah for lazy days after crazy days. 

detail

another detail

Beggar

6 x 6" original oil

sold

Happy Halloween! I kinda feel like I should have finished a painting with some orange...

Thank you to my friend Bryn who supplied photographs of her dog Mollie. I love Mollie's face in this painting. This is how my dog looks at me when she's saying "You don't really mean that, do you? Can I have it? Please? ... You're so mean."

I love dogs.

detail area

Holi I

17 x 17" original oil

sold

I have had this reference taped to my studio wall for a couple of months now. I could see that it had great light, shape, blossom and color variety, and balance. I was surprised though when I started painting at how exciting this reference really was. There is a lot going on. Up close, the "cabbage" petals remind me of stained glass because of their outlines filled with little pieces of color. (See the detail below). I named this Holi I for the Holi Fest and all it's colors, and the numeral one because I plan to do a series from this patch.

detail area

Thanks to my friend Donna who took the following pictures:

Concord

10 x 10" original oil

sold

The purples in this painting, especially next to the yellows in Mosaic, are outstanding. I love these colors. It's not often I get to pull out so much blue in my tulip art. I named this painting Concord for the colors: the blue areas are like the peel of the concord grape, and the deep violets are the color of the juice. The color of sunlight coming through a glass of concord grape juice is one of my favorite colors ever. 

Each Thanksgiving when I was growing up, my parents would divide a bottle of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice between all of our goblets. SOMETIMES we were lucky and there were two bottles. We each got a bit of the deliciousness. I remember looking at the color the juice made when I looked through my goblet up at the lit chandelier. See? Even as a kid, color fascinated me. 

This painting will be part of my art show on November 8th in Salt Lake City.

detail area

Mosaic

 

14 x 18" original oil

sold

 

 This is another painting I have finished that will be included in my art show on November 8th. Each brushstroke in this painting reminded me of a single tile in a large mosaic. The up-close views are ridiculous. I love how warm this piece is, and those little reliefs of red and gray-green. These tulips look fluffy. They are that peony-looking variety, and tons of fun to paint.

I'd like to thank the "Tron movie soundtrack" Pandora station for getting me through this painting. ;)

Be Yourself

10 x 10" original oil

sold

This little painting is going to be at my November 8th art show. It is a companion painting to Coral, meaning it is from the same patch of flowers. I originally planned for this painting to be a bit bigger so I may still repaint it larger some day, but I am loving the portability and compactness of these 10x10"s I've been completing. 

It's now 7pm and I'm headed back out to the studio to begin the next painting. This is what it's like before a show! I have a Band-aid over my right thumb where the brush has rubbed a split into my skin. I inventory the time I spend in the studio on beautiful days and sleepy nights, the splits in my fingers from painting and mixing colors, the cricks in my back and neck from working at an easel, and it all evaporates into bliss when I see a finished painting in the hands of a happy collector. I live and work to share my talent, and I LOVE what I do.

This last year I feel I've become stronger in being myself. Yes, I'm 33 (34 this week), I am married, I have no children, I am a Mormon, I am an introvert unless you put me at a U2 concert or on a volleyball court or other sporting arena and then I am an animal, I love loud music, I have zero self-control when it comes to good ice cream and I want to take Matt on a trip to hike the Alps and sleep under the stars.

Life. It's hard, it's sweet, it's short, so be yourself.

Center

10 x 10" original oil

sold

This painting will be available at my November 8th art show in Salt Lake. I love this size of painting and I loved using the reference of these flowers again. Those centers are so fun to paint and I don't see them very often in my photography with this kind of angle where I have a foreground and some distance. 

I still have a few paintings I'd like to get done in the next two weeks to include in my November 8th show so it's back to work right away!

Ladybug

10x10" original oil

sold

I remember being a little girl, playing in the grass, and finding a ladybug that was yellow with black spots. Has anybody else ever seen a yellow ladybug? Are they still called ladybugs? The red and yellow tulips of this painting with the black centers reminded me of ladybugs. 

Good Boy

 

6x6" original oil

sold

I have a new gallery in Park City, Utah that is selling my dog paintings. If you are in Park City, stop by Gallery MAR and see them in person. They are selling well already. There is something so refreshing and happy about dogs; they are hilarious to paint. I think people that own dogs understand that they have such quirky personalities, and when I paint them, I like to show the dog's personality. I also think that's what the buyers connect with. This is Harley, my brother and sister-in-law's dog. He's a good boy.

I am headed to an event at a local park on October 20th where dogs are welcome to come roam with owners. I'm hoping it's sunny and I can photograph breeds I have never painted. I have a lab and she is my favorite, but I want some variety. Contact me if you love your dog, want to show them off, and have some fun outdoor, sunny photos of him/her. Submit your image and he/she may be painted. Be sure to not photograph your dogs in grass as this hides their little paws. Thanks! 

Go to Gallery MAR's homepage here where you will see a paragraph about my new dog paintings there.

Have a great day!

Rise

18x36" original oil

sold

A few months ago I started thinking about doing another seascape. I don't do them often, so when I do, I am excited to share them. This painting, Rise, is a lot like the seascape Dawn I did a few years ago. It has that same pink and blue going on, which I didn't even mean to do...it's just the way the painting happened. The sky actually started out a dark yellow. Some of it still shows through in places which I like. I had zero plan for this seascape. I started with a horizon, some leftover paint on my palette, and some rags to push paint around. Four or five sessions in, I still wasn't sure which way on the painting was up. It was morphing. I love seeing these seascapes breathe to life each time I work on them.

My seascape titles are always philosophical. The idea behind the title of Rise is the concept of cycles and new beginnings, like the dawn of a new day. Sunrises and sunsets are great in seascapes, and also great life metaphors, so they pop up a lot in my artwork. Today, in my current mindset, I think it's interesting to evaluate where I am in life based on what I have failed at yet tried again. Think about it in your life: what cycles have you gone through and where are you now? I love new beginnings. Some of my favorite song lyrics come from the band Semisonic and the song "Closing Time" and they are: Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. 

These seascapes really are best up close, so here are some details:

Eta

4 x 4" original oil

sold

I'm off to Missouri for my baby sister's wedding. When did she grow up? I remember taking her to see the premier of Little Mermaid with a friend from school. I had to wake her up and get her out of her crib. I love her and I'm so happy for her and can't wait to see her in a bridal gown. I will have tissues handy. 

Mandarin

 

23 x 23" original oil

sold

I have finished this latest painting of some tulips from last years Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival. I remember finding these tulips and being so excited to paint the ones with the red stripes. The color palette of this painting reminds me of an old restaurant in town where I grew up where my family would eat Chinese food. There was a lot of dark, lacquered wood as well as little red lanterns and yellow lights. Even the tulip going out of the frame on the upper left edge reminds me of an open parasol illustrated with a Geisha. 

I plan on having this painting in my upcoming show in Salt Lake on November 8th. Click here for some more details.

The easiest parts of this painting were the red stripes . The most difficult was the white blossom. Whites are such chameleons.

Mandarin: Part I

This is a 23x23" oil painting in progress titled Mandarin. It's dramatic with great light. I can't help myself. The blurry background will work in the end, but for now it weighs too much. As soon as I add the yellow tulips with the red stripes down the petals, it will all balance out.

Lavender & Lace

17 x 17" original oil

sold

There is a little place to stay in Manti, Utah that is a lot like the Anniversary Inn of Salt Lake. They have a themed room called "Lavender & Lace." It's of course decorated with dried lavender, but there is the light purple color mixed with creams throughout. I had help from friends in coming up with a title for this piece, and when one mentioned "Lace" it reminded me of the Lavender & Lace room I've stayed in before, and I felt it fit the purply grays and creams, as well as the older, more elegant feel of this painting.

Fall is coming. I am getting excited for anything with spices and pumpkin, as well as comfy cardigans and good books, clearer air and crisp mornings, rainstorms, colored leaves sticking to the wet streets, and wind! I love a good night wind when there is a full moon and low, scuttling clouds.

October will be a busy month of production for me as I get ready for a November show. At this moment I need to pinch myself to see if I really am living this life: I wake up, I walk to my studio, I paint. Nice.

Here is an early shot of Lavender & Lace before I saved it from the horrible peach color it had as the background. Black works much better to sharpen the image and "grow it up". Peach. Ick. I don't know what I was thinking. Peach would have worked better had it not been for the darker midtones.

Butterfly Wings

33 x 49" original oil

sold

This is my favorite painting of 2012 (so far). Thank you Cindy for the title idea. Butterfly Wings perfectly fits the colors, shapes, edges and translucence. This painting will be at my art show in Salt Lake on November 8th. Click here for a link to my website with info.

Thank you also to my friend Elise who gave me some advice earlier in the week to remember to enjoy the process. I replayed her advice daily as I worked and worked on this painting.

I am a sucker for deep colors and dramatic light. Those reds...I can't get over those crimson, crimson reds. I just want to eat them up. 

I've been excited to share this one all week, so here you go! You have seen my new favorite.