Nauvoo Temple

41 x 52" original oil

sold

8 x 10" and 16 x 20" prints will be available through the artist
to order prints, click here

I have been working on this painting all summer and fall and am so excited to share it finally! The person whom it was a surprise for came and saw it tonight.  I was commissioned by a dear family who loves and supports the arts and who are artists themselves. This painting took 14 weeks. 

Thank you so much to the family who commissioned this painting and showed their support of my art career and the arts in general, and thank you to all others out there who buy original artwork and keep this craft going strong. In a digital world, you can't beat an original oil painting with it's brush stroke fingerprints and that deep varnish smell. 

I have studied this building from a painter's perspective, and I have a new respect for the craftsmen who built this temple originally in 1846 and who rebuilt it in 2002. There is no end to the detail in this building. 

My purpose in painting this temple with long grass in the front versus the modern-day sidewalks and landscaping is to send the viewer back to 1846 and to see this temple as it might have been before large trees were growing nearby and after the long grass and wildflowers had a chance to grow back and blow in the wind. The temple is overlooking the Mississippi River, and I love this river. It's a piece of home. 

The backs of my originals are Venetian red. 

Adding the third coat of gesso. 

I used a projector to collect this much information, but trees blocked a large portion and out of plumb vertical lines in the entire bottom rectangular section of the temple caused  me to draw the rest by hand. 

The colors looked so wrong. I was freaking out. I mean, this does not look like a white building from what I have painted so far. I learned that the only really white stones were in the belfry.  

You Facebook friends of mine out there: remember my gnarly road rash from my bike crash? You can't see it, but it's about two hours old on the right side of my body in this picture. 

To order prints of this painting, click here. 

Sunny Side Up

23 x 23" original oil

sold

This painting is heading to one of my upcoming shows. To see a list of all of my upcoming shows, click here.

I love how creamy this painting feels. Painting whites is one of my very favorite things, and the greenery in this painting is so involved and transitional. I love the stems going from spring green to burnt sienna, and the little brush strokes of bright green amid pale green.

If the oval blossom on the left hadn't been in the shadow, it would obviously be bright white and therefore (I think) put the whole composition off balance. But because it's darker gray and about the same value as the greenery, there is balance. 

These tulips were growing at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. If you look closely, you can see all of the colors in the petals and leaves. 

detail

Pi

6 x 6" original oil

sold

I know. It's a rose, not pie. However, Pi comes after Omicron in the Greek alphabet, and I need to title my eBay series pieces in order...I can't wait for Omega. So - forgive me that "Pi" is a rose and not a piece of actual pie.

Enough about the title. I love the colors here. This is a white rose but man, there is really no white. Even the highlight areas are actually a washed out lavender. They still  look white, but the touch of cool lavender in the highlight makes it pop out from the warmer inside petal colors. I love that burnt orange in the center contrasted with the creamy greens.

I love that this rose looks like icing. It's so rich.

Park City Perfection

It's easy to love downtown Park City. It's the most dog-friendly and artsy town I've ever been in, all wrapped up in colorful mountains, trendy store fronts, and perfect weather.

Buttercup and I enjoyed the early afternoon together on a business trip to Park City. We headed first to Gallery MAR to hand deliver a batch of my newest dog paintings. Buttercup herself is the star in many of them. I was pretty relieved as we were leaving that Buttercup didn't destroy any expensive masterpieces while perusing the gallery. The owner of Gallery MAR is named Maren, and she is a delight! She's one of the sharpest and fairest gallery owners I've ever worked with and she has curated a great collection of originals in her downtown gallery. You can't miss it - look for the signature yellow signs and prepare to be amazed.

Did you know that Gallery MAR won Best Gallery in Park City this summer as voted by the Park Record newspaper readers?

Gallery MAR carries my original dog paintings. Visit them on historic Main Street in Park City or at www.gallerymar.com

Hooray, here are all of my little originals! They are perfect for any dog lover, and you can be sure that a dog lover painted them! See bigger photographs of them on the gallery website;

 visit my page on Gallery MAR's site by clicking here.

  

outtake #1

outtake #2...the dog can't pose on demand. 

After dropping off the art, we walked up and down Main Street to people watch and get a bite to eat at the 501 on Main (great hummus!) What is it about dining al fresco in a beautiful city that makes everything feel like it will be OK?

Park City is a city that loves dogs and art, so of course, we had a great day!

Even the post office in Park City is cute. It's so Candleford...

Driving  home with Mt. Timpanogos in the back ground and a snoring dog in the back seat that had a great day downtown.