Winter Snow Bridge

watercolor 5" x 7" art ~ matted to 8" x 10" $40

This is a little watercolor that I challenged myself to just using one size of brush. I used a mop brush. It was a small one, but it was still a mop. This is a scene from our snow storm of 2008. I added the bridge. This may be the last painting of 2009 so if it is, I would like to wish everyone a very Blessed and healthy New Year. Special thanks to everyone who took the time to view my blog or write a message on it. This is what inspires us to live our passions. Thanks for letting us follow our dreams.

Winter Sunset

graphite pencil 5" x 7" value sketch $25
watercolor 7-1/2" x 11-1/2" matted to 12" x 16" $60

This was today's painting. I thought I would show you the value sketch that I did for this painting. I try to do one for every painting but it is just a guide and I am free to take my liberties to change anything that I would want. You can see that I did this by making the barn smaller which made it further in the distance. I also wanted to create a mood so I made this a sunset.

Winter Reflections

watercolor 5" x 8" $40

Well, we definitely had a white Christmas here in Indiana. If you need snow, let me know and I will be happy to send you some. My decorations will stay up till Jan. 6. Two of the family parties that we hosted are over and there is just one more party to host. That is my party for my students. It is this Saturday and there is a watercolor competition that I hold for them with ribbons and prizes. Yes, there will be lots of food and I still have cookies.

This little watercolor looks like it can be a card, but this is actually a painting that I completed from the sketch that I posted a few entries ago...I took my artistic license and changed a few things...like the season!!

I am glad that I can now get back to painting. I miss it when I can not create in some form. My paints were all dried up because the lid to my palette opened some how. I like to paint with my watercolors really creamy. Here's to the ending of a year that needs to more on and make room for the next!!

Ho Ho Ho...Merry Christmas!!

watercolor 21" x 21" "Santa Los"

Here's Wishing that all your dreams come true during this magical time of year!!

This is a painting that I just painted of my dad who passed away 15 years ago. It is this year's Christmas card.

The house is all cleaned, the gifts are all wrapped, cookies are baked, the turkey is in the oven, now to just sit back and wait for all the wonders of this beautiful holiday!
He's watching you!!

Holiday Ornaments

watercolor and pastel 5 x 7

This is from my visit up to Chicago in November. The photo inspiration was taken at Macy's Department Store which used to be Marshall Fields. I miss Field's. Macy's was always that store that was in New York that had the Thanksgiving day parade.
I thought I would experiment a bit and I added some pastel to the ribbon. It was good to paint since I have been so busy with Christmas preparations. Yesterday and today I made pierogie's (sp?). It is a polish food that is like a dumpling. Now I have to clean up the mess I made in the kitchen. Where are the kitchen elfs when you need them.

Winter Card Workshop

watercolor 5 x 7 cards

I taught a winter card workshop in my studio this past weekend. Here you will see what we were painting. The top three show the step-by-step process. Then underneath those three you will see 2 finished cards mounted to card stock. It was one of those lets have fun and make something special for our friends kind of workshop. We had a great lunch, too.

Getting ready to paint...the value of a value sketch

graphite pencil 5" x 7" $30

Ok. All of the trees are decorated and so are other areas of the house, gifts are wrapped, parties are in the workings, shopping is done and now I can go back to painting. I am ready for Christmas. In another week I will be baking up a storm...and some cookies, too.
Here is a little value sketch that I just completed for a future painting. It was from a fall photo that I took, but with this snow and ice storm that we were hit with last night... I think it just might be a winter scene. I love to plan out my paintings with these little sketches so I can decide on value, design and color. Come back and see what it becomes.

Let it Snow

watercolor

Well it was supposed to snow last night, but it didn't. I am still busy decorating the house. Decorated the tree in the family room last night. That is a county tree with some of the ornaments that I made myself. Maybe I will post some of my trees later. I have two 4' tress that I want to finish up today.. those are decorated with white lights and angels. Tonight I will decorate the living room tree which is 10' tall. Fortunately it is one of those pencil trees, but it will still take hours to do. My nephew is supposed to come over to help out. He loves to help me and I am sure he can use a little cash at this time of year. lol

December Already

watercolor 18 x 24

Well I have two trees up. The snowman tree in the sunroom and then the basket tree in the dinning room. Now for the 10 foot tree in the living roon.I don't want to think about that one. Last year I had 27 strands of 100 lights. What was I thinking....I will put less on this year.
This is the painting that I did last Sunday for the St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society meeting. It was a lot of fun to do and I had about an hour to get it done. All went well.
My new DVDs were delivered today so they are now available for sale for $20 plus shipping. Great gift idea.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

I am on my way to getting my house ready for the holidays. So I will have to put my painting on hold till I am done. Tomorrow I will start decorating the trees...did I tell you that I have one in every room of the house. No, there are no trees in the closets.
Here's hoping everyone is busy and happy decorating. Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving Day yesterday?

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

watercolor 6 x 18 matted 12 x 24

Thought I would do a little more of a traditional painting of Holly. I love Holly and I even live on a street named Holly Lane and it is on the corner of Pine Ave. so this is really Christmas personified! And, I am Miss Christmas. All of the Christmas dishes are in the China hutch and I have started to decorate my house.
I also set up a new show today at one of the restaurants that exhibits my work. It is an all winter/Christmas show. Looking good, here's hoping for some sales.
Well, back to decorating....

Colorful Holly

watercolor 6 x 18

I am showing this as a horizontal but I painted it as a vertical and I have it hanging as a vertical in my Kitchen. I am beginning to decorate for the holidays and I thought I would get the holiday paintings up first. This painting as a lot of color and was a lot of fun to do as a demo for my students this past Friday.
Today I gave a demo for the St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society in South Bend, IN. They were a great group of people and I hope that they learned a thing or two from the demonstration. I painted a snow scene of the local Dunes. Maybe I will post that in a day or two when I unpack everything.

Winter Around the Corner

watercolor 22 x 30

This is the painting that was recently accepted into the current exhibit at the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, IN. When I painted this way back in Jan or Feb I showed you parts of the painting on this blog. Now here is the whole completed painting. It is a full sheet of watercolor paper, so it is a big one. This is a typical winter here where I live...and old man winter will be here soon.

More Grapes

watercolor 7 x 11 / matted 12 x 16 $75

Hopefully this will be the last of my grape paintings. I may do one with a wine bottle and then I think I will be ready for the wine festival. Out of the last three paintings, I like this one the best. Enjoy!!

Things are still GRAPE here.

watercolor 7 x 11 / with mat 12 x 16

Thought I would do some red grapes this time. I have no idea which grapes make which wines. But, I do know what colors I need to use to make the grapes.

Have a Grape Day

watercolor 7 x 11 / matted 12 x 16

I decided to do a few paintings of grapes and wine bottles for an up coming wine festival that I will be participating in at the end of the month. I will be able to exhibit my work and sell it too :) I plan to do a demo to show the guests how I paint in watercolor and I will be offering a workshop at this country club sometime in January. They made this neat poster announcing that I will be at this festival and about 700 pieces of information was sent out. Sounds like a win-win situation for me.

Winter

watercolor 7 x 11

This is another demo that I did for one of my classes. The assignment was to find the color that you use the most from your palette. Mine is Indigo. Then for the month of November they are not allowed to use that color. They have to substitute something for it. For this painting, I used Marine Blue. For my reference I used a photo that I took in the summer and I changed the season. I can do that you know since I have an artistic license. Now I am not responsible if it snows tomorrow.

Fall

watercolor 12 x 18

This was a demo that I did for one of my classes. The assignment was to try using a "mop watercolor brush." That was a fun experience since they actually handle like a mop. It was a challenge and I wanted to see if they could paint looser. I think they enjoyed it.

Basket of Cheer

Watercolor 13 x 20 Framed 21 x 28
Matted Gicle' print 19 x 26-$100 / Matted gicle' print 12 x 16-$30

This is a painting that I recently completed and one of the prints hangs in Scarborough Faire's restaurant. I will be selling both sizes of this print along with the note cards at this Wine Festival that I am participating in at the end of the month. I will also be doing a demo at this festival so I have to start thinking about that...there's never a dull moment in my studio.

Feed the Birds

watercolor 5 x 7

Here is another painting for my bird series. Will it be the last one??? I may do this in a larger format. But right now I have a lot on my palette. I have 3 more weeks of studio classes and then I will be teaching workshops.
My DVD is now complete and ready to sell. I will try to get it up on the blog soon.
Take it easel!!

Before the cut up

watercolors 5 x 7

These were the paintings of the flowers that I taught for the watercolor workshop that I did this past weekend. We had so much fun and they will be rerunning the class on Nov. 7 since this class filled up before it was advertised. The fun part was teaching them some of the card making techniques. I think I will be doing more of these. It was a different type of class than what I normally teach.
There will be a winter card class on Dec. 12.

Flower Cards

watercolor 7 x 11

This is one of the flowers that we painted at the workshop that I taught this past weekend. We were doing a series of flowers that were then made into cards. We all had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed teaching it. Time just flew by. Since this class filled up before they even had a chance to advertise it, they asked me to teach it again on Nov. 7. We will be painting flowers again, but we will paint different ones and then we will also make them into cards.

Winter Birches

watercolor 11 x 7

This is another demo that I did for my students last week. Now if it snows this week, I am not responsible. But this painting could be used on a christmas card and there are 61 days till Christmas you know. Maybe I will do some pumpkins for Halloween this week.

Fall is in the Air

watercolor 7 x 11

It is fall in Indiana, and for a few days we had some beautiful colors. Unfortunately, it has been raining here so much that I am afraid that all the beautiful colors will be gone by tomorrow. Enjoy the colors while you can or you will just have to paint them in your mind...do you mind?

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

Here is the second painting for my client. Now to get some mats made and to finish framing both of them.
Well, back to the drawing board and to finish getting ready for my tomorrow's classes.
Take it easel.

Black and White Flower

watercolor 12 x 16 art/ framed 16 x 20 SOLD

In my bin of matted watercolors I had some black and white studies. A client of mine liked them and asked if I would make her a set of flowers done in this study of black and white. I used lamp black which I never use when I paint. I was surprised to find a tube of black in my painting supplies. Now I have to frame them in black. I think they will look very contemporary when finished.

Our Art After Dark Gala this past Saturday was a big success and we all had a great time. We made some money for the art center :) So many people were so generous with their donations for the silent auction and I am sure the winners of the items were totally thrilled. We even had an exhibit of miniature paintings and the ones that didn't sell are for sale at the gallery. So, you still have time to purchase one or two.

Watch the Birdie

watercolor 5 x 7

Another in my bird series...This is the young man who shot my new DVD which hopefully will be here next week. He is a great photographer and I wish he hadn't moved away to Iowa. But I wish him well..

Where's the Birdie?

watercolor 5 x7

Here it is only the middle of October and I already miss summer. Where have all the birds gone to. It is supposed to be a bit warmer next week. Hopefully I can get my gardens ready for fall.

Abandoned

watercolor: art 18-3/4 x 27-3/4 framed 29 x 38

Saturday I had 3 gallery openings that I was requested to be at. Unfortunately, I only made one of the openings, but I did win the Curator's Award for this painting and I was there for this opening. That always encourages an artist to keep on doing what they love to do so much.

Painting the Birdie

watercolor 5 x 7

Here is a little study of Kathy painting on location. I am going to miss those summer days. It has been so cold and rainy here this past week. Will there be an Indian Summer? If it stays like this, I will not be getting those corn stalks or mums.

Mini Fall Dunes II

watercolor 5 x 7 framed 8 x 10 $75

Here is another fall dunes. This is the same area as the painting from yesterday. Our Indiana dunes are so pretty anytime of the year. I am so blest to live so close to them (Lake Michigan). These two would make a nice pair and they are matted and framed the same. Enjoy!

Mini Fall Dunes I

watercolor 5 x 7 / framed 8 x 10 $75

I decided to go and do some more of those little 5 x 7 paintings. These will probably be the ones that will be selling for gifts this holiday season. They sold well at the art fair.
Fall is in the air so ... thought I would stop painting the leaves and paint the whole tree. Enjoy!

Class Demo-Fall Leaves

Ok, this is it. The last of the leaf paintings. This was also a demo and I even challenged myself by limiting my palette, changing the colors that I use and keeping it a bit higher in key than I normally paint. I thought the teal and the peachy orange work well together.
Just finished a new painting tonight. Will look at it tomorrow (or should I say later today) to see what it looks like with a fresh eye.
Kathy has left the studio!

Class Demo-Leaves I

watercolor 7 x 11 SOLD

This was a little study to show my students how to paint negative leaves in a positive way. It is so much fun to teach this and no two painting come out alike. It is an assignment where they are not looking at any photographs of leaves. They really have to concentrate. I couldn't even paint two the same if I wanted to with this technique.

Sunset Dunes

watercolor 3-1/2 x 5-1/2 with mat and frame 8x10 $100

This is one that I did for the miniature show for the art center. Time to start painting a bit bigger.

Mini Leaves I

watercolor 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 with mat and frame $100

It is fall here in Indiana and that means all of the leaves will be falling. Now that will be a lot of work for a couple months of racking and picking up the leaves from all of the trees that we have around here. But this is one of my favorite subjects to paint. You will be seeing more leaf paintings soon. One of my classes will be painting them as a subject matter.

Happy Fall, you all!!

Buckingham Fountain-Chicago, Illinois

watercolor 3-1/2 x 5-1/2 matted and framed to 8 x 10 - $100

This is Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, Illinois. It is a neat place to visit during the spring, summer and fall. Many people get married or take their wedding photos here. And, they do turn off the fountain in the winter.
You can find people from all over the world visiting this area in Chicago and most of them are all taking photos. It is about 45 minutes from where I live.

Golden Leaves

watercolor 3 x 5/matted with gold frame $100

This is another miniature that I might enter into the art exhibit at our fundraiser.
Did you know that to be considered a miniature that the art can not be bigger that 5 x 7 and the outside of the frame can not be bigger than 8 x 10. If it is a little bigger, it is considered a small works. I didn't know that!

watercolor 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 /matted with black frame $100

The Fundraiser Gala that we are having Oct. 17 for the art center will also have a miniature art show. The paintings can be no larger than 5 x 7 and the outside of the frame can not be bigger than 8 x 10. All these framed painting will $100. I painted a few for this show.

Art After Dark

This is the invite that I designed for the big fundraiser that the Chesterton Gallery is having on Oct. 17. It is a big gala--dinner/dance/silent auction/and a miniature art show. This will be an exciting night so if you want to attend and get more information, e-mail me.
You will be seeing my little paintings that I just completed for the miniature show in the next few days. They are small.

Painting on Location

watercolor 6x 8

This was another demo that I did for one of my classes. It is a small watercolor done on Hot Press #140 paper. It is very easy to lift the paint off of this paper. In fact, sometimes toooo easy. I lifted out the birdbath. The chair was negatively painted (in a positive way). I didn't use any masking fluid to keep the white of the chair. What is white is actually the white of the paper. I painted all around the openings of the chair.
I finished framing those little miniature paintings today and boy do I hate trying to cut glass. I will be showing these little paintings in the days to come. Keep watching.

Hydrangea?

watercolor 11 x 7

Another demo for one of my other classes. They are doing flowers.... These were supposed to be hydrangea, but they look more like lilacs....I will have to do another hydrangea later. Right now I am working on some miniature paintings for a fundraiser that our local art center is having in October.

Giving a Hoot

11 x 7 watercolor

My classes resumed so I was doing demos for the classes. This class wanted to do birds so I thought I would do an owl since we all give a hoot about watercolor.
Spent the last few days putting up the Halloween and Fall decorations. I do have a lot "stuff" that I have accumulated over the years. And, I do love to decorate.

Pumpkins: Sitting in the Window

watercolor 5 x 8

Thought I would do another pumpkin painting. This is a small one and it is on hot press paper. It is a challenge to work on because the paint wants to lift. I used a limited palette for this painting because I wanted to capture that earthy feeling and achieve the warmth.

Sold 3 of my 8 x 10 framed pieces today!! That makes one excited to paint.
Two classes tomorrow with demos in both of them. Stay tuned...

Pumpkins at the ART tour

watercolor 11 x 17

Yesterday was ART tour in Chesterton Indiana. Various establishments in town hosted artists where they were able to exhibit their work. Some of us even demonstrated our talents.
I gave this watercolor demonstration at the Chesterton Art Gallery. I did it in 35 minutes. That is pretty quick.
It is always neat to see new and old faces coming to see you work. Special Thanks to all of you who were there.

Old News, New News

watercolor 5 x 7

Thought I would do a little figure study of a photo that I took at a local restaurant. I added the newspaper for old news and then I added a laptop for the new news. He was actually looking at a menu, I think.
Classes resume tomorrow so I was busy getting the studio back in order. Now to get back on schedule with classes, meetings and workshops. I am doing a demo this Saturday at ART Tour in Chesterton. Maybe I will see you there.

Summer's Over

watercolor 18 x 24

I do not know where this past summer has vanished to, but the hydrangea are still blooming and some of them are beginning to turn green and pink. Maybe I will be doing a painting of those next. There are so many things I want to paint. I was gong through all of my "want to paint references" tonight. My classes begin Sept. 9th ...let's see, what should we begin working on. Some of the students want to do some figures...maybe we should start with a color chart of flesh tones.
Have a great Labor Day Weekend. Don't labor too much. Great day to clean up your studio.

Are You Going to Scarborough Faire?

watercolor 22 x 30

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme...Just finished this painting for my new collection of paintings for my friends' restaurant...Scarborough Faire. It is located in Schererville, IN. It is a really darling place to eat...either inside or out. And, did I say the food was delicious?!!
They just sold two of my 8 x 10 paintings of water lilies yesterday. That always motivates an artist to paint. I am trying to get a few new ones that really speak of the restaurant so that we can make a series of cards to sell there. So back to the studio....No, not at this hour. It is time to close the palette and hit the pillow.