30 in 30 - Day 4

"Experimental Calla Lily"

Oil, 6"x6"

$100

Click here for more information.

This calla lily was all about the experiment.  Normally I do a photo shoot of what I am going to paint. Inspired by my plein air experiences, I painted this flower from life.  I used a walnut oil based paint by M. Graham which I have been using for plein air and I painted this on a gessoed board instead of a linen board.  Not bad for an experiment.

30 in 30 - Day 3

"Back Bay"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$125.00 

Click here for more information.

The Back Bay the inland delta in Newport Beach, California. It connects the Upper Newport Bay with the Newport Harbor. It is a nature reserve home to several species of birds with hiking and biking trails. I have driven past this place for years but this was my first time to stop and consider it as an artist. I look forward to meeting the Back Bay again with my easel many more times.

30 in 30 - Day 2

"Balboa Island at Topaz"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$125.00 

Click here for more information.

Welcome to Balboa Island!  This is a wonderful place in Orange County with adorable beach cottages and lots of boats.  The streets are historic and many locals can look at a photo or painting from the area and tell you exactly what street you would have to be on to see that view. For this painting, I was standing at the end of Topaz.  This painting was mostly completed on location, with a few final details added in the studio.  A beautiful and peaceful place to work for the day!

30 in 30 - Day 1

"Irvine Regional Park"

Oil, 8" x 10" on linen panel.

$100.00 

Click here for more information.

Well here we are again with another 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge hosted by palette knife artist, Leslie Saeta. This painting was started au plein air (out of doors in natural light) and completed in the studio. It is a lovely view from the vast and gorgeous Irvine Regional Park. I have recently started studying plein air painting with a fabulous artist, Kim VanDerHoek, and let me tell me you, plein air and studio painting are completely different in approach but they complement each other each other in the end.  When I am in the studio, I make most of my editing choices before I pick up the brush.  When I am outdoors, I am continuously editing what I see in front of me.

Thank you for following me in the challenge once again!

Watercolor Experimenting

I have had a set of watercolors for two years and never opened them. I was way over-thinking getting started.  recently i was reading posts by artist Dreama Tolle Perry who finished leading a two-week workshop in France.  During the trip she posted some watercolor postcards that she painted along with reference photos for those of us who did not go to France.  Yesterday, I reread all the blog posts from the trip and that was what finally got me to open the watercolors and just jump in.  Today i did this watercolor version of a painting I did previously in oil, Red Pear.

Is there anything you have thought about for a long time and are afraid to just jump in and try?

Audrey Completed

I have completed Audrey, the succulent flower that blooms once a year.  What a treasure to catch this in a painting.  This is an 18x24 piece and is much larger than the pieces I have done recently.  It was enormous fun to spread that much color around!  Initially I had planned to do more with the background but after I got all the initial pinkish gray in, I felt like to do any more would detract from the star of the show.

Audrey - a little background

Today I was able to start adding some background to Audrey - laying in some pinkish, gray tones.