From My Garden #1 ( SOLD )

I've been reading several other artists Blogs and decided I have relied too much sometimes on photo's I've taken. While they certainly are convenient and are my orginal photos I feel as though I really am not learning to see values well enough by trying to paint from them So, I've set up a still life box in my studio with lighting and hope to learn more about values. This is my first attempt with the still life box. I am going to number them as I go along and hopefully will see an improvement in my style. I'm trying to find "my voice" or painting style. So far I have been less then happy with my style of painting.

Distant Farm, (SOLD)

This pastel was done in a pastel class given by Gary Michael. garylmichaelart.com.
The painting was done on Wallis Paper, which is such a wonderful surface to work on.

A Pair of Pears Price $75.

Five Crows in a Row Price (SOLD).

This collage recently won a First Place award at a local art show in the Portland area. The 'Thursday Painters" is a group of artist that get together to paint almost every Thursday . Sometimes we like to get away from each of our regular painting mediums and challenge ourselves. I like doing collages and assemblages, so I brought a box of assorted papers for us to "play " with. This was my challenge.

I'm happy to say this collage won another award, this time at the North Clackamas Art Guilds. It was choosen as the Best of Mixed Media.

Limes on a plate

Orange Sections ( SOLD )

Lemons ,

I have recently been working in Pastels and preparing my own surface to work on. I use Gator Board that I coat with a combination of Gesso, acrylic medium or white glue and Pumice. It makes a great surface to work on because I can put down many layers of pastel without using any fixative.

"THE COW" "GIRLS" Pastel Painting ( SOLD)

I am thrilled to announce that this Pastel was recently honored with "Best of Show" at the juried Canby Oregon Arts Festival, a town near Portland OR.

Stripes and Pears, Price $ 100.

This painting was done using water based oil paints by Winsor Newton. I bought them because I paint with a group of women every Thursday. We call ourselves the "Thursday Painters" , not very original, but that's who we are. Anyway, I figured using the water based oils would be easier to cart with me since I wouldn't need a solvent; and they would be less offensive to my fellow painters that don't work in oils. Well, I really am having a hard time using them. They just don't have the lovely buttery consistency of oils. They are very stiff in application, take longer to dry then traditional oil paint and the longer they sit out exposed to the air the more difficult to work with.

LONELY PEAR, Price $75.

Magnolia Pod ( NFS )

Half a Grapefruit,

Coffee in Blue Cup (SOLD)