'Moooh'

9" x 12" oil on gessoed masonite $140 + $10 shipping

Here is another painting of a Washington cow, this time larger and with the farm in the background. It was an idyllic autumn day when we met these placid creatures and the kind of day that makes you glad to be alive! beautiful sunshine and lovely fall colour everywhere.

It's a Cat's Life! (Commission)

8 x 10 oil on canvasboard

'Spotty'

6" x 6" oil on canvas,sides painted $65 + $10 shipping

A week or so ago my daughter and I went for a drive to find some interesting views to snap, the weather was perfect blue skies and just a few pretty clouds. We happened upon an idyllic scene of a farm framed by trees,mountains and clouds almost too good to be true. In front of the farm was a field of cows just waiting to be photographed. One by one they came over to see what we were about, holding wonderfully still and showing their best poses to us! This one I have named 'Spotty' for obvious reasons, there will be a few more cow paintings in my future maybe a larger one with the farm in the background.

Really?

8" x 10" matt, image size 4" x 6" water colour - gouache on paper

I am really enjoying painting these small water colours they seem to take on a life of their own!

Ruby Lips 1 and 2

8" x 10" matt, image size 4" x 6" water colour - gouache on paper


2 takes on the same face both quite different, can't make up my mind which one I like best

Skywards

4" x 6" water colour , gouache and ink on paper
My daughter bagged this one for herself and it was confiscated immediately!

Pretty Gal

4" x 6" water colour and gouache on paper, matted to 8" x 10" will fit standard frame

Oh My!

8" x 10" matt, image size 4" x 6" water colour - gouache on paper

Just been having some fun with my water colours, want to do a series of faces, loosely I hope!

'Life Imitating Art"

9" x 12" oil on stretched canvas $150 + $12 shipping

These sculptures we came across in Seattle while visiting the science fiction museum, they were a magnet to children to play on, climb on or just relax on.

'Flight Crew' DSFDF challenge

12" x 12" oil on masonite $185 + $10 shipping

I thought that this was the most difficult challenge yet, the drawing of the figures drove me crazy, I got there in the end without giving up though!

'Curly'

6" x 6" oil on canvas (sides painted) $65 + $8 shipping

Curly is such a wooly creature he must have his winter coat on, I love his eye patches and placid stare and remnants of a disturbed meal still in his mouth.

'Buttercup'

9" x 12" oil on Masonite $140 + $10 shipping

This sweet filly came to inspect us and see if we had any treats for her when we were photographing the barn behind her. The weather was beautiful, blue skies and warm, pleasant temperatures. The field she was grazing in, was full of bright buttercups hence her name. The barn I have already painted see The Red Barn from a previous post.

'Fluffy' SOLD

6" x 6" oil on canvas (sides painted)

Another Irish cow, one of a bunch of steers grazing in a lusciously green pasture enjoying the cud. This one had such lovely fluffy, soft ears hence his name.
I realized after living in Ireland for a few months why it is called the Emerald Isle... it rains a lot!! The rain comes off the Atlantic Ocean to the west and then carries on to England if there's any left.
I will be back in Ireland in the new year and hope to get more cow pics to paint.

'Patch'

6" x 6" oil on cavas (sides painted) $65 + $8 shipping

Another cow, this time with a curly forehead and a brown patch on his head. He is also wearing some interesting spectacles.

'Freckles' SOLD

6" x 6" oil on 3/4" gallery wrapped canvas (sides are painted)

Here's an Irish cow or rather a young steer who placidly watched us taking pictures of him and his field companions. I love his cool hair-do and the freckles on his nose not to mention those eye lashes.

'By Candle Light'

8" x 10" oil on masonite $105 + $8.00 shipping

As you all probably know that dark paintings are hard to photograph, this is my best shot!
My daughter had taken some interesting pics of herself with her cell phone, by candle light, which I thought would make a different kind of painting experience for me. It was quite different to paint monochromatic and I learnt a lot. I realized that I need to hone my drawing skills as I often use a grid to help transfer an image and without it I have difficulties getting the proportions right.
I am re-posting this painting as I wasn't happy with it and have fiddled with it no end and have got to a point where enough is enough!

'Chimneys'

12" x 12" mixed media on board $175 + $8 shipping

I enjoyed painting the DSFDF challenge so much I decided to paint some more rooftops, this time London rooftops with all the varied chimneys and chimney pots. I used again some textured molding paste as a base and painted with acrylics onto that.

'Hot Momma'

6" x 6" oil on 3/4" gallery wrapped canvas $75 + $8 shipping

Dominique Eichi sent me some ref photos of her cute new shoes, they still look pristine. Thankyou Dominique! Well I am sure you can imagine they were quite a bit of work to paint , I kept getting lost in the pattern, I think I might take a break from shoes for a bit.

'Untied' SOLD

6" x 6" oil on 3/4" gallery wrapped canvas

Another set of shoes, this time there looks like there's a story behind them.

'Cross Tied' SOLD

6" x 6" on gallery wrapped canvas

The title is one suggested for my last shoe painting by Gwen Bell and I thought that I would use it for this one, thanks Gwen!
Another set of shoes on my daughter's feet, I'm really enjoying painting these and they are nice in the 6 x 6 format, I am looking for some new shoes and feet to paint, if you happen to have some cute shoes or boots could anybody let me have a ref photo to paint from a similar pose to these, I would be very grateful!

'City Rooftops'

12" x 12" mixed media on board $185 + $8 shipping CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

This is this months painting for DSFDF of San Francisco rooftops.

I painted this with acrylics on a board that I had first prepared with molding paste to give it some texture. I decided to heighten the colours as the original ref. photo was rather bland. I played around with the photo, cropping it in loads of different ways until I came up with this composition. I enjoyed (for once) how quickly acrylic paint dries so that I could put layer upon layer until I had the effect that I liked.

'Kickin' Back' title is chosen!

6" x 6" oil on gallery wrapped canvas
These tootsies belong to Katy my daughter and I have been searching for a subject to paint for The Six by Six Gallery in New York, I bought a submission package and since then have been quite daunted as to what to paint. I am really happy with the painting whew!
Thanks for all the suggestions.. picked one although it was a hard choice!

'Kayak Point'

9" x 12" acrylic on masonite $140 + $8 shipping CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Kayak point in Washington is where we went for a days outing at the beginning of the school holidays, and although overcast and slightly drizzley, we enjoyed a pleasant day wandering along the beach. The beach was strewn with drift wood, beautiful shapes and silvery colours, seaweedy rocks and little pools where crabs hid.

For this painting I used only a painting knife and although sometimes I was itching to use a brush, I managed to accomplish it without. The far distant Island is not as blue as in the photograph but I couldn't seem to adjust the colour without turning the rest of the painting either pink or green!

'No Frills'

5 3/4" x 11" mixed media on Masonite $75 + $8 shipping

Lots of texture, copper and tin foil, studs and tiles and experiments and definitely no frills!

'Coming Unravelled"

8" x 5" mixed media on Masonite $55 + $8 shipping

This is composed of burlap threads and a small piece on the left hand corner and a mixture of black acrylic paint and various metalic paints a rather experimental piece as have been most of my abstracts thus far!

'Colour Play'

12" x 16" mixed media on 3/4" thick birch plywood $190 + $20 shipping

I had a sheet of birch ply cut for me to use for abstracts a surface to which I can hammer in nails and generally abuse! After sanding and 4 coats of gesso they were ready, it was a really nice surface to work on and apart from the weight an excellent substitute for boards and canvas.
I have painted the sides black so it will be optional to frame, I have used many different metalic paints and inks on a textured surface, using different techniques from dripping to dry brushing I finished it off with 3 small mosaic tiles towards the center, it was fun to do if very messy!

'Camouflage'

8" x 8" mixed media on canvas board $65 + $8 shipping

Another painting similar to the last one, this time using different colours and slightly more textured. The collage in the middle is a moth that Katy took a pic of in the Seattle Science Museum last week end along with a bunch of other beautiful butterfly and moth pics. I used a number of metalic paints, which don't really show up on this photo, to enhance the painting.

Seattle Art Museum

Katy and I went to the Seattle Art Museum yesterday to see a rememberance exhibition of the work of Andrew Wyeth. His paintings were either in water color or tempera and the detail was breathtaking, they were painted mainly in subtle shades of browns and greys. Unfortunately there were many people viewing the exhibition so that it was impossible to take our time to really take them in. None the less his paintings were worth seeing as they were so beautiful and brilliantly executed.

'From the Depths'

8" x 8" mixed media on canvas board $65 + $8 shipping

Another painting I started not knowing whence it would take me... all I knew was the colours I wanted to use and that I would incorporate metal objects and use plenty of texture. It really gets ones creative juices working when you let a painting just happen.
I was asked to teach abstract painting to some of my fellow painting ladies when I lived in Spain. Well I thought 'that should be easy' but it wasn't, because apart from showing them how to achieve certain effects you can't really teach abstract painting because it stems from one's own creativity and ideas.

'Beginnings'

6" x 8" acrylics on canvas board $39.90 + $8 shipping

Hows zat for a change of direction! I spent all yesterday experimenting (playing) with my acrylics trying out different techniques on acrylic paper, only to remember why I don't much like working on paper for acrylics, (it tends to buckle and take ages to dry) so I got out a board and let loose not knowing what would come out of it. The painting took shape by itself and this is the result, I used hints of silver, gold and metalic green, not too much so it wouldn't look gaudy.

'Home Sweet Home' No3

8" x 10" oil on panel $105 + $8 shipping

This is number 3 in my door series, I think I might take a break and paint something else less detailed. It is funny, some paintings, I have loads of ideas for titles and others I can't think of one. For this one I had loads such as 'Just One Kiss' and 'Relaxin at Home' etc but went for the simple one 'Home Sweet Home.'

'Gardener's House'

8" x 10" oil on masonite $ 105 + $8 shipping

No 2 of my door series, this has been quite time consuming, so much detail on such a small board. This is such a pretty doorway, I love the lavender colours and the little trowel hanging by the door, giving me the idea for the title.
For some reason it was very difficult to photograph I just couldn't get it square and get the colours right but I got there in the end.

Kreative Blogger Award

Thank you to Lyn O'Neal for honouring me with this award, it is really great and I feel special!

I will pass this award on to seven other artists whose blogs I enjoy and are inspirational.

7 things about me:-

1) I was born in London, England.
2) I have lived in Germany, Spain, Ireland and now the U.S. for awhile.
3) I have owned my own restaurant
4) I speak fluent German
5) I have 2 grown daughters 33 & 37
6) I love chocolate
7) I miss my dog Mickey who is with friends in Germany


Susan Carlin - for being such a generous and kind spirit and of course her artistic talent
Gary Keimig - for his beautiful daily landscapes.
Sam Dolman - for his wonderful, full of character animal paintings.
Teresa Madsen - her wonderful artistic talent
Kate Evans - for her budding artistic talent and cos she's my daughter
Greg Larock - for his generosity with his knowledge and informative blog
Keith Proctor - for his superb paintings of his son

List 7 things about you and pass it along to 7 Kreative Bloggers. Go visit these artist's supreme blogs!

'Invited Home'

8" x10" oil on panel $105 + $8 shipping

I was wandering round the suburbs of Seattle, waiting for my daughter, I had my camera with me, it was a beautiful sunny day and the houses were so interesting, so many different colours and shapes and interesting doorways. I was attracted to the play of sunlight and shadows on the steps and house on this one.I decided to paint a series of doors and houses so this is the first one.

I got some strange looks from passerbys, maybe they thought I was casing the joints for my next burglary. There was even a bloke in a car who went around the block a few times watching me.

'Pike Place Market'

12" x 15" oil on board $250 + $10 shipping

When I was half way through this one, I wondered why I had chosen such a complicated subject and painted it so tightly, although I had cropped it quite a bit. It ended up being quite a labour of love so I have sworn that the next painting will be much looser if I can manage it!

'Beach at Tulalip 2' SOLD

7 1/4" x 10" acrylic on gessoed board

'Beach at Tulalip 1'

7 1/4" x 10" acrylic on gessoed board $79 + $8 shipping

This painting I painted using a palette knife, my perfectionist self had a hard time with this!
The scene is from a recent visit to Tulalip the weather was warm but overcast with a persistant light rain drizzling down on our heads, despite that, we enjoyed beach combing along with a few other folk and found an abundance of crab, even though most were very small and a few other interesting objects not to mention plenty of ref. pics.

'Tranquility'

9" x 12' oil on masonite $140 + $8 shipping

This is a scene from my visit to the Japanese gardens near Seattle where we fed the beautiful Koi carp with their many colours, they will probably get a painting done of them sooner or later.
We entered the garden in the rain and before we were half way through the clouds parted and the sun came out and made the garden even more beautiful. Not only did the sun come out but also the turtles came out of the water to sunbathe, like this little fella on the rock in the foreground.

'Sweet Things"

12" x 16" acrylic on board $150 + $10 shipping

This was a lot harder to paint than I thought it would be, I chose to paint it in acrylics instead of oils which I don't think was a wise choice. I tried out a new wet palett which turned my paint very liquid in a short while which was annoying. I almost didn't finish it as I got more and more frustrated. I guess I have got so used to my lovely oil paints it is hard to go back to a previous medium.

'Singing for his Supper'

9" x 12" oil on gessoed board $140 + $8 shipping

This man was singing at the entrance of Pike Place Market in Seattle the famous indoor market that sells everything from fruit & veg to magic tricks and a great place to get some interesting ref photos, like this gentleman..I have a few more that I will tackle sooner or later.
This was a tricky subject with a lot of shapes to get right and angles. I had to photograph it 3 times as every time on looking at the resulting photo, I found things that needed correcting.

'Taking in the View'

11" x 14" oil on canvas $180 + $10 shipping

This young rider, high up in the mountains with a back drop of evergreens, has stopped to admire the view, which I am sure is breathtaking. How wonderful to be both riding and enjoying the country around you.

' Showing Their Best'

12" x 16" oil on Masonite $230 + $12 shipping

This the first painting after a short break while my hubby was visiting us (I haven't seen him since Christmas)
I had rather a weird painting experience as the paint seemed to be absorbed by the board, although it had 3 layers of gesso on it, I used bristle brushes instead of flat synthetic ones and I also used a new brand of white paint. I didn't dilute my paint with any OMS as I usually do either so maybe one of these factors or maybe all contributed to the paint drying so quickly.

Anyway the Dahlias I painted were at a show in a local park, 1000's of them on display in every color and shape, I took loads of pics and decided to paint these beauties.

Post Script:
I have just figured out the problem it was the gesso so in the future I will use acrylic paint over the primer to seal it.

Oil Painters of America

My family and I decided to visit the Howard /Mandville Gallery in Kirkland, WA again and we hit the jackpot, more by accident than by design, as the gallery was hosting the 2009 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, containing around 150 beautiful paintings. So many different styles and subject matter all exquisite, what a joy to behold! We would have liked to have spent a whole day there soaking up all the wonderful art (and secretly hoping a bit would rub off!!) but our time was limited so we sighed and left.

'Sunshine'

12" x 12" oil on Masonite $185 + $10 shipping

I haven't painted any flowers for a while and my daughter photographed this lovely one in a friends garden and I thought that it would make a great subject to paint.

'Spanish Couple' Commission

9" x 12" oil on canvas board

This double portrait I did from a very small digital photo, which made it very hard. In the original photo the background was jumbled and uninteresting, at first I painted in a plain background which I wasn't happy with and I was rather stumped as to know how to handle the problem so I got advice from Susan (Carlin) and she suggested putting in an abstract landscape. I found this landscape photo of Lleida in Spain where the couple are from and painted it in loosely in the background, it was at first too bright so I glazed over it with Liquin and a mixed grey which toned it down a bit so that the couple were brought forward. I have laboured over this painting for a couple of weeks now, so I am glad that it is finally finished!

'Streets of San Francisco'

7" x 14" oil on Masonite $99 + $8 shipping

This is my effort for this weeks challenge on Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. To say it was a challenge is rather an understatement!

'Follow Me'

11" x 14" oil on Masonite $180 + $8 shipping

These sisters caught my eye wading out into the lake on this hot sunny day, their lovely long hair shining in the sunlight.

'White Barn'

8" x 10" oil on Masonite $105+ $8 shipping

We encountered this barn along highway 2 and thought it had a lot of character.

'Misty Mountains' click here for purchase details

14" x 7" oil on Masonite $99

Katy and I drove out the other day to Sultan in WA to see if we could find some interesting buildings and scenes and we stopped at one point and I looked towards the mountains and saw this scene, it was a very hot day and there was just a strip of wild flowers or maybe rapeseed left in the field in front of the house. I had a piece of board that was just the shape I was looking for, it was great to use a different format for a change.

'Abandoned' click here for purchase info

8" x 10" oil on masonite $105

This beautiful old barn sits on a hill abandoned and slowly decaying away, which seems such a shame, as to me, it is such a wonderful structure, in its shape and lovely colours. It would be great to maybe move and restore it. I loved painting this one although the shape of the roof did throw up a few problems.

'Waiting' click here to purchase

8" x 11" acrylic on masonite $120

This little girl sitting so still at the park with her Mum standing behind caught my eye at a recent visit to our local park, I was trying to figure out what she must have been thinking sitting there, I liked her shades and the interesting shadows on her seat.
I got really frustrated with my new liquitex acrylics, after painting so long with oils they are so different to paint with, they seemed to instantly dry the moment my brush hit the board and then the paint dries darker , which makes getting values right really difficult and blending was impossible too. I used to only paint with acrylics and I don't remember it being this hard!

'Lin & Dave' nfs

8" x 10" oil on canvasboard

This is quite a 'tight' portrait of some friends of mine, the ref photo wasn't the best quality, taken at night with a flash, so I had to improvise a bit. I have been working on it all week and feel rather lost now as what to paint next. I really hate it when I get to the point of not having any more inspiration. I have painted a couple of paintings lately that won't be published on this blog they were so aweful I'm not kidding either, no false modesty here, real disasters!

Just bought a bunch of acrylic paint on ebay, which arrived in the post this morning which I may try out. Most of my old acrylic paints are somewhere in Spain in storage, by the time they see the light of day again I'm sure they will have dried up completely. That's my excuse for buying a brand new set anyway!

'Relaxin' click to purchase

8" x 10" oil on masonite $105

This is my entry for the latest challenge on DSFDF and boy did I learn a lot! I took Karin's advice and sketched it first in my sketch book, I drew it several times and each time getting it slightly better, then I sketched it to the size of my board and then traced it onto the board. It helped greatly to get an accurate figure although I still had to do some more correcting to the final image, that darn chair nearly drove me potty it is still not totally correct but hey it will have to do!.

'Digging Deep' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on masonite $105 plus postage

I watched this little boy at play with his sister, I'm not sure what he was trying to dig up, but he was having a great time. It would be nice to be a child again and be carefree again!

'Summer Fun' click here to purchase

10" x 10" oil on canvas board $130 plus postage

This little girl ran down to the waters edge of Lake Tye here in Monroe on a beautiful sunny day in June and I managed to get a few ref photos of her. She looks excited to be on the beach and to join in the fun with all the other children.

'Boating' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on masonite $105 + postage

This is my painting for the 'Different Strokes from Different Folks' blog . I thought that this would be quite an easy one, my first two starts got wiped off and then I started again on a new panel and after I had got the basic drawing right the painting of it flowed quite well. It is probably not a subject that I would think to paint myself and that is the beauty of the challenge, making one paint subjects out of our comfort zones.

after 'Ecstasy' click here to purchase

14" x 18" oil on canvas $320 plus postage

This is a painting for the web-site 'Following the Masters' the original 'Ecstasy' is by Maxfield Parrish and is a much larger painting. This is my rendering of his painting, I loved painting the clouds with all their subtle tones, and the blue of the sky I created through several layers of glazes, using french ultra marine and Liquin, as U.M. is a translucent colour it was quite hard to apply without forming streaks. With a lot of softening and blending I got there in the end. I used a very limited palette to complete this project and enjoyed immensely the whole painting of it.

'A Road Less Travelled' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on canvas panel $105 plus postage

This is a scene somewhere along the road leading out of Monroe, it was so still and peaceful with only the occasional automobile passing through. I noticed the patterns of light and shade on the road surface and the whole scene in it's simplicity appealed to me. However photographing my painting proved to be more difficult. The shadows look very blue, on my painting they are much grayer. I have adjusted the colours the best I could and this is the result!

'Roses on the Roof' click to purchase

12" x 12" oil on gessoed board $185 + postage

This tumble down building or maybe is it a shed, was next to the barn from my previous painting. It looked so pretty covered in pale pink rambling roses, I am guessing its a wild rose as I have seen many around here blooming at the moment. The wood of the building had mellowed over time into this silvery grey with just the hint of its original colour here and there. The thought that this painting might end up looking a bit 'kitschy' did cross my mind,

'Red Barn' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on masonite $ 105

Yesterday my daughter and I drove out of Monroe on the way to Sultan, I spotted this beautiful old barn and 2 equally beautiful horses in the field in front of it. We both snapped away and got lots of good shots. Later at another beauty spot by a river after taking what I thought would be some more ref photos to paint I realized that there was no memory stick in my camera!! fortunately Katy had taken a few of the barn so not all was lost.

Anyway I got cracking today and painted this one after a lot of cropping and fiddling till I decided on this composition.

' Brian' NFS

8" x 10" oil on masonite

With this portrait I wanted to stay loose and paint with not too many brushstrokes which was difficult as I do like to perfect things, that's my perfectionist nature!

I painted this on black gessoed masonite which was again a challenge so different from working on canvas.

'Summer Abundance' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on masonite $105 + shipping

This is my DSFDF offering, I really enjoyed painting this one yesterday and it was one of those paintings that just flowed off my brush without hesitation. It's great when that happens!

'So Much Attention' click here to purchase

12" x 12" oil on masonite $185 plus postage

I bought a sheet of Masonite or MDF as we call it in England at the local hardware store, and had them cut it for me into various sizes, which was a lot of work for some poor fellow! So now I have over 30 boards for about $10, which was a great bargain. I have primed this board with black gesso and it was a new experience painting on this slick surface, and something I have to get used to. I found that if I used bristle brushes it tended to remove the paint rather than put it on, so I used soft synthetic flats.

This is a painting of a scene from a recent trip to our local park with my daughter's dog Sunny, he is a child magnet and every little one on the playground wanting to pet him, which of course he doesn't mind at all! These three little girls all couldn't get enough of him.

'First Teeth' NFS - commission

12" x 10" oil on stretched canvas

This little sweetie, I painted for a lady who resides in the care-home that my daughter works in.

The baby girl is her great-granddaughter, I hope she likes it!

'Competition' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p & p

I think this might be the last in the series for a while, on to new challenges, I have a portrait commission to finish now,

'Looking Good' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p&p

I really have been enjoying painting western themed paintings, and this hunk was no acception although his check shirt was a bit of a pain to get right. I hope that I can find a rodeo in our area so I can take my own reference shots. I took a bunch of photos of kids at the local park today that I might use for a future painting, the weather has been so great lately, it makes everybody feel good.

'Pennsylvania Landscape' click here to purchase

11" x 14" acrylic on canvas board $180 + p & p

This is another one for Karin Jurick's challenge blog DSFDF. We were given a black and white photo to work from and could use any colours.
I covered the board with crumpled tissue paper first, stuck on with gesso and then I painted it red, when that was dry, off I went. I think that there will be some very different paintings arising from this challenge, interesting to see everybody's ideas. It was nice to use acrylics again and I enjoy the fact that they dry so fast and you can dry brush very quickly over a base colour and make changes easily with almost no waiting.

Howard/Mandville Gallery

A HAPPY ART DAY

Wow, what a wonderful day I have just had! I drove to Kirkland near Seattle to the above gallery where Karin Jurick has a number of her paintings on display, I was completely blown away by her paintings and to see them up close and beautifully framed was absolutely an experience I will never forget, it makes such a difference to see the paintings in person so much better even than the best photograph of them, to see every brush stroke and color nuance just amazing.

The whole gallery was in fact filled with the most beautiful paintings and sculptures, it was an absolute delight, I know that I will keep going back as I can't get enough of seeing such beautiful art.

My daughter and I then went on to the B.F.A. graduation show at Cornish Art College, where her boyfriend Brian's art work was displayed then we all went to the Seattle Art Museum and spent a happy afternoon perusing the many wonderful paintings there, especially The Indian Paintings by George de Forest Brush which were absolutely breathtaking.

'Madison Avenue' SOLD

14" x 18" oil on canvas $320 + p & p

This scene was posted on 'Different Strokes From Different Folks' for anybody to paint.

Well I have to say it was a real struggle and it almost ended up getting thrown out! But I decided to soldier on.

I can see so much wrong with it, when I thought I had finished, I showed it to my daughter who asked me whether the taxi on the left had a puncture and on looking at it I realized it was completely wonky, I was going to leave it but decided it would annoy me too much. How I didn't notice it myself I don't know, anyway the darn thing is as finished as it's ever going to be!!!

'Little Cowboy' SOLD

8" x 10" oil on canvas board $105 + p &p

I just love these two, I wonder where they are going.

'Stepping Out' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on canvas board $105+ p & p

This pretty pony has a beautiful mane and markings and was a challenge to paint.

My computer has been out of action for a while due to Trojan horses, viruses and such like and has really screwed up our computer, although it has been fixed we are still finding programs it has altered including my photo download program. So due to that, my paintings are backed up a bit and although my output has slowed a bit lately due to flying back to Dublin and back here to Washington, here are the ones that I haven't been able to post....

'Taking a break' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $ 65 + p & p
This young cowboy is resting for a while or maybe observing something that is left for us to figure out.

'Anticipation' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p & p

'Snoqualmie River Reflections' click here to purchase

9" x 12" oil on canvas board $140 + p & p

I needed a change of subject so I decided to paint this scene from a recent trip to Duvall with my daughter and her dog sunny, it was a beautiful spring day with the trees just beginning to come into leaf. The river was so calm that the beautiful green buildings and the trees reflected perfectly on to it.

'A Walk on the Beach' click here to purchase

10" x 10" oil on canvas board $130+ p & P

This is a painting I have just finished for 'Following the Masters' a monthly painting challenge.

This month the subject is a painting by Spanish artist Joachin Sorrola y Bastida. The original is of course much, much larger than mine, none-the-less it was a beautiful painting to try and copy.

'Smile' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel $65 + p &p

This little portrait is of a girl posted on the blog-site 'Windows to the Words Art'

'A Companion of Diana' click here to purchase

6" x 12" oil on stretched canvas $99 + p&p

This is one I painted for another challenge -'Different Strokes from Different Folks' the brain child of very talented artist Karin Jurick.

The marble sculpture was sculpted by Jean-Louis Lemoyne, titled 'A Companion of Diana', commissioned by Louis XIV in 1724. Diana was goddess of the moon and of the hunt, this nymph is one of Diana's companions, with her hound. This sculpture belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

'Jo' NFS

8" x 10" oil on canvas board

This is Jo my 8 year old grandson, I managed to get a ref photo in an unguarded moment when he was playing with some other children at the park. He has such a very pale skin that it has been really difficult to get a usable photo to work from. I had to darken the background for some contrast.

Jo is the chattiest little boy that I have ever known and is full of silliness and giggles so posing was out of the question. Still I prefer natural poses anyway, I just had to catch him when he held still for a second!

'Hannibal" NFS

8" x 8" oil on canvas board

This is Hannibal a dog owned by my daughter's friend Elke in Germany, and has since, sadly passed away.
So this is a surprise gift which we hope will help to lessen her sadness.
Hanni, the rough haired Dachshund, was a pleasure to paint with all the different colours and textures in his coat and sweet expression.

'Quiet Moment' click here to purchase

12" x 10" oil on stretched canvas $155 + p & p

This little lad has sandy knees and I'm guessing he is chilling out in the shade after playing in the sand. This was a challenging one as there were so many subtle colour changes and highlights on his skin and getting the angles right on the features of his face took some doing.

For me the fun of painting is learning something new from every painting and improving, which is sometimes slow and at other times, one takes a large leap forward. Of course a lot of practice helps, so on to the next one.....

'Dusty' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p & p

This pair of dusty boots and jeans could tell a story that is left up to your imagination.

'Surfer Girl' SOLD

8" x 10" oil on board

Here is my offering for DSFDF , Karin Yuricks blog, just made it by the dead-line. It took me ages to decide which part of the photo I wanted to paint and how to crop it.

'Smiling Eyes' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $75 + p & p

Here's a painting of a sweet little tousled haired boy with the most beautiful dark eyes. I painted this for another painting challenge web-site called Windows to the Words by James Parker and can be found on http:windowtothewordsart.blogspot.com.

After spending a lot of time on the last 2 paintings I decided to make this a fast one, to see how quickly I could get a reasonable likeness and finish the painting. It took me aprox 3 hours yesterday, but of course I couldn't resist tweaking it this morning!

'Narcissus' click here to purchase

14" x 18" oil on stretched canvas $320

This is a painting I have just finished for the painting challenge on Following the Masters blogsite set up by Michelle Burnett. The original painting is by John William Waterhouse and is in the pre-Raphaelite style. The original is many times larger than my effort and I would love to see it in person and really get a feel for it and see how it was executed.

'Katy'' NFS

14" x 18" oil on canvas

This is my youngest daughter Katy, a portrait that has taken a while to complete, I think that I am happy with the resulting painting, it hasn't been an easy one for some reason.

'Sunny' NFS

8" x 10" oil on canvas board

Here is Sunny a cute doggy with a very thick soft coat and was a rescue dog from Greece who had a very rough beginning, but is a very happy doggy now.

'Shirley' NFS

8" x 10' oil on canvas board
This is Shirley, my daughter Katy's dearly loved dog who sadly passed away due to heart problems.

'Butter Wouldn't Melt' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on canvas board $105 = p&p

This is Blackie again, my daughter is holding him so that I could get a snap of him, what a job that was, he doesn't hold still for a minute. As I am writing this he is attacking my bag full of photographic equipment and his sharp claws can shred anything in a matter of minutes! Little so and so.... in the painting he looks so innocent!

It is snowing here in WA at the moment coming down in thick flakes and looks very pretty out of the window, it snowed a bit yesterday but melted away as soon as the sun came out.

I have been painting a portrait of my daughter over the past week and I just can't get her features right, normally I don't have this much trouble oh well I hope I get there in the end.

'Blackie' click here to purchase

8" x 10" oil on canvas board $105 + p & p

This is cat number 3 of the 5 cats my daughter owns, he is black all over and still a teenager in cat years and is the most vocal of the group and playful. Here he sits surveying his territory, it was hard to capture him sitting still for more than a few seconds. He loves to ambush the other older cats and sometimes gets a clout for his troubles!

'Mannequin' (available)

5" x 7" acrylic on canvas board

I painted this from a photo of a group of mannequins in a shop window. I chose just one to paint from all of them, she has such an aloof and sad face with a reflection from the glass to her left.

'Tabby' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p & p

This is Tabby in close up, he is the mouser of the gang and likes to bring home 'presents' which are not the kind one wants! But like all his feline friends he loves to be cuddled and fussed over.

'Tigger' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p & p

Well this is my first painting for a while and it is of one of my daughter's cats, his name is Tigger and he has a beautiful thick coat of long fur, here he is looking out of the window studying the local bird life.

I have made myself a painting corner in the living room and am hoping that I will be able to continue painting regardless of all the furry friends in the room, should be interesting!

Taking a break

I'm off on Friday to the States for a few months and will resume painting when I get there.
It will be great to get new motifs to paint and the scenery I know, is beautiful in Washington State so I am looking forward to that and seeing my daughter and grandson. I hope the weather won't be as bad as it has been, loads of snow followed by torrential rain and flooding. Also hope I can visit some art galleries and museums and do a bit of exploring around the area.

'Digging for Gold' click here to purchase

12" x 14" oil on canvas panel $198 + p & p

This as you may have guessed is one of my favourite subjects! So I couldn't resist painting this little girl.

'Little Gardener' click here to purchase

12"x 14" oil on canvas panel $198 + p & p

Another larger one which took a couple of days to finish, I seem to enjoy painting figures and portraits best of all.

'Chocó Indian Woman' click to purchase

12" x 14" oil on canvas panel $198 + p & p

After painting this interesting subject I went on-line to find out a bit about Chocó Indians :-

Cariban-speaking Indian people of the Panamanian and Colombian lowlands. The Northern Chocó, the most populous, live in villages along the lower reaches of rivers flowing into the Golfo de San Miguel (in Panama) and the rivers of Colombia’s Pacific coast; the Southern Chocó are concentrated around the Río San José; and the Catio inhabit the eastern portions of the Atrato valley.

'Little Boy Blue'

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel

This is decidedly my favourite painting at the moment!

'My Mickey' NFS

6" x 8" oil on canvas board

This is my dog Mickey who is unfortunately still in Spain and is about to travel to Germany to stay with my friend there for several months while I go off to America to visit my daughter Katy. I really miss him, but hopefully we will be re-united soon.

'The Jefferson Memorial' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel $65 + p&p

here is another painting from Karin Juricks blog 'Different Strokes from Different Folks' It's hard painting buildings and landscapes so small, it gets a bit 'fiddley.'

'A Character' click here to purchase

6" x 8" oil on canvas board $65 + p&p

I found another ref. photo for my man in a hat series, I liked his face though much of it is in shadow in the bright sunshine.