Today's Paintings 3/16/09

Autumn Sunrise V
Original 64" x 20" x 0.75" painting
Four 16" x 20" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Utah Sunrise Manti La Sal National Forest V
Original 54" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Three 18" x 24" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas.

Today's work includes the newest edition in the Autumn Sunrise series, done on four 16" x 20" canvases (total width: 64"). This painting's big sister sold over the weekend to a new patron in New York, and will be on its way to its new home today.

The newest edition in the Utah Sunrise series also has a big sister that shipped today to its new home. My family and I were on vacation two years ago, and were camping in Utah when I took the photo that inspired this series.

Quote of the day: "We live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though this is how it sometimes appears." --M.C. Escher

Today's Paintings 3/15/09

Abstract Apple Tree II
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Autumn Aspens Commission
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's paintings include a new, larger version in the Abstract Apple Tree series. I'm using more earth tones in my decorative line of paintings.

I also completed a commission in the Autumn Aspens series for a patron who's a school teacher in Oregon.

Quote of the day: "Art should astonish, transmute, transfix. One must work at the tissue between truth and paranoia." --David Whiteley

Today's Paintings 3/14/09

Red Prairie Sky and Creek IV
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Asparagus
Original 12" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

For today's work I decided to paint a variation of the Prairie Sky and Creek series featuring a red sky. There was a quote on the wall in the painting studio at CSU, my alma mater, which stated: "If you can't make it good, make it big. If you can't make it big, make it red." I always loved that quote.

The second painting I did today is on a tall (36") canvas depicting asparagus stalks. I've done quite a few culinary-type paintings over the years. Back in December I had a patron who is a chef purchase several of my smaller pieces depicting fruits and vegetables. These paintings are often displayed in my patrons' kitchens.

Incidentally, I varnish all of my paintings, and mount hanger wire on the back so that they're ready to hang right out of the box--no framing required. Although I have had several patrons who have chosen to frame their pieces. The varnish protects the paint, so if you do hang your painting in a high-humidity environment as kitchens tend to be, the paint is protected from the higher humidity levels or the occasional splatter if you're a little more flamboyant in your cooking style.

Quote of the day: "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." --Edgar Degas

Today's Paintings 3/13/09

Autumn Aspens V
Original 12" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Lemon Tree VI
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's paintings are reproductions of popular compositions that I have had a lot of success with, and which my patrons typically snap up. I'm fortunate to have a large body of work to draw from, having been selling my originals for over five years now. I've had the good fortune to have built up a decent client base, and have had the privilege of sending my paintings across the globe to brighten people's homes.

Quote of the day: "Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing." --Marc Chagall

Today's Paintings 3/12/09

Prairie Creek and Sky IV
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Springtime Garden II
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Poppies and Blue Sky IX
Original 54" x 24" 0.75" painting
Three 18" x 24" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today was one of those painting at dawn kind of days. I have been working on commissions for weeks now, as well as painting new pieces to list on my sales venues. Today's paintings are recreations of compositions that do well on my sales venues. The Poppies and Blue Sky series is hot right now.

I have two more commissions in the works right now, and requests for a few more in the works. My job rocks! I love to paint, and have taken on an apprentice (my husband), who up to now has been my back office guy--he does the accounting, computer stuff, and shipping. It'll be interesting to see how that works out. I was thinking the other day that I take things like how to hold a brush for granted.

We're also lined up to teach classes on selling your art online. One of our classes starts next month at Colorado Free University. We're also in the process of developing a webinar to teach how to sell art online. More information is available on my web site.

Quote of the day: "Without atmosphere a painting is nothing." --Rembrandt

Red Trees and Shadows Commission

Red Trees and Shadows Commission
Original 42" x 56" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics

This commission was requested by a new patron who found this composition in my portfolio on my web site. She requested a much larger version of it than I had previously painted, and I was quite happy to accommodate her. Since she lives in Canada, and shipping a stretched painting of those dimensions was going to be prohibitively expensive, we opted to ship it unstretched, and she will have it stretched at a local frame shop where she lives.

Quote of the day: "Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them." --Albert Einstein

Springtime Garden

Springtime Garden
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

My thoughts turned to Spring this morning as I looked out on the sunny day and the intense blue sky. It's a chilly morning, but the birds were singing, and I see the flowers that will bloom in the fallow earth around me.

This painting was purchased by a patron in Canada who I know gets a glimpse of the season to be every time she looks at this piece. Despite losing an hour to daylight savings I still managed to get the full compliment of sleep--fortunately the time changes always happen on a weekend so I can permit myself that little indulgence.

Quote of the day: "Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'" --Robin Williams

Garden Path VII

Garden Path VII
Original 22" x 28" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

The Garden Path series is a popular one among my patrons. This rendering is on a 22" x 28" canvas, and has an abundance of flowers and the blue shadows that I love to paint.

We had a glorious week weather-wise, but yesterday and today were much colder than it's been. There were some flurries even--a reminder that we're in that transition season where it can be toasty warm one day, and cold and snowy the next. The nice thing about Colorado is that if you don't like the weather you can wait five minutes (or a day) and it will change.

Monument Valley Sunset

Monument Valley Sunset
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Two summers ago my family and I went on a vacation--our Southwest Odyssey--through Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. This painting was inspired by the truly awesome beauty of the landscape at Monument Valley in Arizona. This painting won an international award on Art.com last year in their Places competition--one of fifteen awards given.

I am fortunate enough to live in the West where the stark beauty of the desert is only a few hours driving from my home in Golden. It never escapes me each and every time I travel in the West what a privilege it is to be so close to such awesome beauty, and to be able to transform my photos and memories of those places into paintings.

Quote of the day: "I dream of a hard and brutal mysticism in which the naked self merges with a nonhuman world and yet somehow survives still intact, individual, separate. Paradox and bedrock." --Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Path and Pink Blossoms

Path and Pink Blossoms
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

The weather here has been very spring-like the past few days--too windy for my tastes, but warm enough to break out the capris and and sandals. This painting was inspired by the cherry blossoms that will present themselves in a few weeks, and which I truly enjoy seeing every year. I love the spring here: a time of renewal, new life, and sometimes lots of heavy, wet snow!

Quote of the day: "What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit." --John Updike

Tall Red Trees VII

Tall Red Trees VII
Original 24" x 36" x 1.5" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

The latest edition in the Tall Red Trees series, this painting was done in the abstract landscape style that I have grown to love a lot, and which my patrons also appreciate and have come to recognize as a signature style in my work. I love to celebrate color in my work!

Quote of the day: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." --Pablo Picasso

Present Moment Living

Present Moment Living
Original 72" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Three 24" x 36" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvases

Having recently sold an abstract commission to an art broker in New Mexico, I decided to expand my repertoire in the abstract domain with today's painting. This painting was inspired by looking through a book of landscape photographs and taking note of the geometry of the landscapes themselves, and well as the geometry of everyday objects I see around my house and studio.

The Alaska commission shipped today, along with two other commissions, and two paintings that sold from my sales venues. Life is good.

Quote of the day: "Action is character." --F. Scott Fitzgerald

Today's Paintings 3/2/09

Sunrise Poppies VI
Original 18" x 24" x 1.5" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Sunrise and Autumn Trees
Original 24" x 30" x 1.5" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Four Abstract Trees
Original 72" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Four 18" x 24" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Red Poppies on Yellow Commission
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Still Life with Blue Wall Commission
Original 16" x 20" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Word of the day: prolific. Some days I wake up and paint from dawn til dusk. I managed to produce three new paintings to list on my sales venues, AND two commissions!! I LOVE my job! The Sunrise Poppies series is hot right now, so I had to paint another one of those. Sunrise and Autumn Trees is a variation on a composition I played with last summer. Four Abstract Trees is the latest incarnation in the Abstract Trees series, and the first time I've done it on four canvases.

The Red Poppies on Yellow and Still Life with Blue Wall are both commissions. My commission work has really picked up in the past few weeks, for which I'm very grateful (thank you patrons!).

Quote of the day: "Every good painter paints what he is." --Jackson Pollock

Recent Work Through 2/27/09

Sunrise Poppies V
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Prairie Sky and Country Road III
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Here are two new paintings from the Sunrise Poppies and Prairie Sky series. My patrons really gravitate to these compositions, so I like to keep them happy by having new editions of these paintings available on my sales venues.

Today I'm going to be working on some new paintings to list on my sales venues, and I have some new commissions lined up that I need to get started. I'll post some of today's work later this afternoon, so stay tuned.

Quote of the day: "Artists have to show us what is not going well within the person and within the society, not try to cover it up." --Thich Nhat Hanh

Alaska Commission Update 2/26/09

Alaska in Early Fall
Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

I think this painting is done (yay!). I sent a proof to my publisher earlier today, who said it was "superb", and has forwarded it to the client for approval. Here are some closeups:

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Quote of the day: "That stroke you are about to make on a painting is as much you as the next word you utter or the next breath you take." --Harley Brown

Alaska Commission Update - 2/25/09

Alaska in Early Fall
Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

Here's the latest photo of my Alaska commission. I still have some work to do on it, but it's coming along nicely. My publisher is happy, so that makes me happy too. I hope to finish it up tomorrow, unless he asks for changes.

I need to get busy. I'm working on a painting to list tonight on my sales venues. I'll post an image of that later on.

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Fauve Landscape IV
Original 22" x 28" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

This is a new composition in the Fauve Landscape series. The Fauvists were noted for their use of bright colors. The most notable of the Fauvists was Henri Matisse.

Quote of the day: "To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the truth within the soul." --Mahatma Gandhi

Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms

Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms V
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

This painting sold today on one of my sales venues. I enjoy painting this composition because of the contrast the pink blossoms have with the blue sky. The tree trunk seems to get more twisted every time I paint it. The weather has been very spring-like the past few days, and I look forward to seeing real blossoms on the trees in a couple of months.

I made some great progress on the Alaska painting today. My publisher is anxious to see where I'm at with it, but I didn't have good enough light for a photo today. I will post an update here tomorrow.

Quote of the day: "Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." --Leonardo da Vinci

Red Trees

Red Trees VI
Original 72" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

I've had a couple of requests recently to reproduce this composition--including one from a woman in Toronto who wants this in a large format like this one. This painting is a variation of a composition I used when I started painting for a living almost six years ago.

It's been a wild ride getting started in my own business, and I think often about how far I've come in establishing myself as an artist who can make a living doing what I love to do. I have a lot of gratitude for that.

Quote of the day: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." --John F. Kennedy

Recent Work

Prairie Sky at Sunset
Original 30" x 40" 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas


Red Poppies on Yellow VII
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas


Still Life with Daisy Bouquet and Red Vase V
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's paintings are variations on two of my favorite compositions: the floral Red Poppies on Yellow series, and the abstract landscape Prairie Sky at Sunset. The third painting is one I painted a few days ago, and is a very popular still life in the Still Life with Daisy Bouquet and Red Vase series.

One of my patrons who owns a restaurant in Vail, CO purchased the previous iteration of the Daisy Bouquet painting along with a painting in the Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky series, and a painting in the Fauve Farm series.

I worked on the Alaska commission more today, and should get that painting finished tomorrow. I'll be sure to share a photo of the finished painting with you.

Quote of the day: "At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough." --Toni Morrison

Alaska Commission

Alaska in Early Fall

Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

Here's an in-progress photo of the Alaska commission I'm working on for my Atlanta-area publisher. I'm working from a patron's photos from his recent trip to Alaska (see below). Stay tuned to see the finished painting.

Here's an updated photo taken later this afternoon. I plan to get this done over the weekend, and will post another update photo when it's done.

Patron's Photo: Alaska Wilderness

Quote of the day: "Painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity." --Mark Rothko