Beggar

6 x 6" original oil

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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

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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

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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

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 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.