Lemondrop

20 x 23" original oil

sold

What drew me to this patch of tulips was the yellow centers lit in the sun. It looks like a lemon drop fell into the center of each tulip and melted in the sunshine. I remember stopping in my tracks at Thanksgiving Point Gardens and seeing this painting. When I saw the reference photo much later and decided to paint it, I noticed mostly pinks and that yellow color again, but once I began painting these tulips, I realized there were MANY colors happening not seen at first glance. True to my favorite idea about painting, this painting demonstrates that you can find all colors even when painting something that looks like it's only one color. 

detail of top area showing the many colors that make up "pink and yellow" tulips

My favorite area is this top area in the detail. I worked on it while I was a guest artist at BYU Education Week. It was fun to have people stop and watch me work. A little girl asked if I was nervous and I answered yes. I thought that was cute. She got this look on her face like "Oh good. I'm glad you get nervous too."

Awake

32 x 29" original oil

sold 

Thank you to a wonderful collector that purchased this piece before it was even dry. I am blessed. 

I chose the title "Awake" for this latest seascape as a metaphor for waking up after a period of darkness. You get to participate and assign the  meaning you're looking for. Perhaps your period of darkness was a small trial that lasted a day, or perhaps for you it symbolizes something much larger that took years or even a lifetime. You can choose what this painting means to you, and what it overcomes. 

-xo

two close-ups of the color and brush work

Curious

6x6" original oil

sold

This piece is heading up to Gallery MAR in Park City, UT as part of a fresh batch of dog paintings. Gallery MAR does such a great job of selling my work. I feel like I can't paint fast enough, thanks guys!

This is my adorable lab, Buttercup! She loves to sniff the entire yard each morning... actually she loves to each time she goes outside. I'm not sure what she's looking for, or if she's just curious to catch the newest smells. "Oh here's that cat I saw; here's that quail; here's that robin...here's that birdseed." 

My favorite part of the painting is her front paw. I love painting sunny paws and adding that swipe of shadow across the toes that gives it a dimension and makes the paw feel like it's standing flat. I also love that cute nose so close to the ground. 

My dog has gotten to the point where she knows what's coming when she sees me get the camera out. I wish she'd pose nicely on the sunny patio, but she instead heads for shady grass. Rascal. 

Education Week

This was my first year participating as an artist in the BYU Bookstore during Education Week. Adults and teenagers from all over the country (and from some other countries) come to campus to take classes offered on everything from Utah in the Civil War, to genealogy, to improving your marriage. The bookstore stays open longer and is filled with artists and authors signing their work for Education Week-goers to take home.

Thanks to TK for inviting me and feeding me lunch each day! My favorite part of it all was meeting the other amazing artists and getting a chance to eat lunch with them and talk with them, not to mention see their artwork in person! It was a long week filled with new experiences; I am glad to be home again and in the studio cranking full-time.

Thanks to those Education Week-goers who stopped to chat, who signed my mailing list, and/or who bought something. I appreciate it!

I had mostly prints for sale with a few teensy originals in the mix. The foreground shows the brand new product available soon at Deseret Book - my YW Tulips in cute new frames carved with the YW values. 

The last two days, I set up my paints to work on a new painting. I enjoyed having people stop to watch me work. The most popular comment was that I "paint by number" which is really true with how I fill in shapes...except I pick the number and make the color ;) 

Original 20x23" oil in progress. I'll be finishing it this week for an upcoming show. Just wait until you see closeups of the brushwork in that yummy background. 

Awake: Part I

I have started a seascape! I love painting seascapes. Tulips are controlled, methodical, and botanically beautiful with their lights, colors, leaves, petals, and such, but seascapes are raw, emotional, spiritual, and metaphorical. I need both sides. I am both sides.

32 x 29" original oil in progress

The most important thing for me to do today with the paint was block in the composition/placements, mix some accurate base colors, and see if it is starting to feel as a painting how it feels in my mind when I see the finished piece. It has roads to travel yet, but this painting is on it's way and I am happy with the beginning. 

It is very different for me to paint in vertical orientation , but I love the upward direction it lends. The water and wave at the bottom of this piece will be grounding enough to handle the large expanse of sky overhead, and that band of gold in the middle draws me right in. 

More on the meaning of this painting as it is finished...I'm still marinating on the final thoughts. 

xo,

C

Omicron

6 x 6" original oil

sold 

Each month I do a small original for eBay, and each original in this series is named with a letter from the Greek alphabet. I love crossword puzzles and clues about the Greek alphabet always abound. I've never known those answers, but now I will have a fighting chance. 

There is a surprising amount of green in the yellows of the petals. Without the greener areas, the oranges would get lost in the reds and the whole painting would flatten. The subtle color changes into green helps the petals to pop and have life. 

Sunshine and flowers go so well together. I can smell the grass and feel the heat in this painting. 

Winning bidders, please note that this painting is on 3/16" masonite. Local winners can pick it up, or else you'll get it USPS Priority domestic and international.