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. 

Individual

10 x 10" original oil

sold

Here is a nice, burnt orange palette for Fall. I love those little influences of green in some of the warm colors. One tulip is the main focus among the other surrounding, similar tulips. It is an individual. The idea is that we can be defined and self-aware. We are unique and individual. As a woman, I know that it's natural for us to care for others almost more than we care for ourselves, so let this painting be your permission to have a little focus on just yourself every once in a while. 

Usually I premix all of my colors but I was feeling impatient and just mixed by sight with the brush as I went. I can get away with this for smaller paintings as  long as the blossoms aren't white or yellow. Those are the hardest colors because of the influence they pick up from surrounding colors. My favorite brush strokes in this painting are the little hits of lavender and that green one down in the corner. 

A favorite thing of mine about originals is the way the brush strokes catch the glare and show the process. 

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."