Dianne's Rose

I painted this watercolor this evening for a friend who is ill with the hopes that it will bring a little joy into her life in spite of the pain that she is enduring.  The painting is 4" x 6" and is painted on Strathmore 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.

Hazy Morning on St. Route 65

My husband and I spent every weekday for 6 weeks this summer traveling to Lima - a distance of 25 miles one way - so that he could receive radiation treatments for throat cancer.  This is a scene I saw everyday, but one morning, everything was perfect - all I could see was "painting!"  I asked him to stop the car and I took several photos.  I finished this small painting yesterday - it is 6" x 8" and it is painted in oils.  It is hard to believe, but this is exactly how it looked that morning - it looked like the trees were outlined in darker green and so I tried to capture this without giving the impression that I outlined everything.  It brings those days back vividly to me.

Pipestem Utopia

I completed this little oil painting over the weekend.  It is from a photograph I took 2 years ago at Pipestem, West Virginia.  This building was part of an experiment - a planned community which didn't succeed...so, if you visit there, you will find several homes and out-buildings.  This abandoned community was once a dream of many people which didn't succeed...so sad.  I took several pictures that day, and plan to do more paintings of this now defunct community.

The painting is 7"x5" and is painted in oil.

Yellow California Poppies

This is my version of the September project for the Watercolor Workshop where everyone paints from the same source picture.  This month, we were encouraged to use the photo as a jumping off place and then do our own thing with it.  I made some adjustments with the flowers - rearranged the bottom right flower on the table so the stem carries you back into the painting, added a bud, and pulled the poppy in the upper left in to the painting more, took out the background, designed my own wrought iron chair and moved the jar more to the left for better composition.  I think this painting has sort of an oriental appeal.  This paintings is 7" x 11" and is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed watercolor paper. Below is the source photo.

"Abandoned Long-ago"

I love painting portals - gates, fences and doorways.  Artistically this doorway is interesting because of the various textures and the subdued colors and it has interesting historical charm.

The painting is 5" x 12" and is painted on 300 lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper.  It is originally from a royalty free image from the internet, but I have taken so many liberties with it  - making many changes, etc., that I think I can pretty much call it my own now - artistic license, you know!!! 

Frenzied Tulips

I haven't been posting for a week since I was out of town - so yesterday I did a few small watercolors on postcard watercolor paper.  This is one of them.  The paper is Strathmore, 140 lb. paper.  I enjoyed the trip, but am glad to be back painting!