Fancy Robin

Cute little Robin, all fancied up and ready to step out. She walks with confidence knowing that she looks good. With the sunshine color in the background and her colorful attire, this sweet bird reminds me that spring is just around the corner!

Fancy Robin, 6 x 6 acrylic on wrapped canvas

Dotty Giraffe

Still on a whimsical roll, so here's another entry for the animals category! I call this one the "Dotty Giraffe" because he looks rather goofy, and well, he has lots of spots. Extra spots all over. What's up with the polka dots? Good question: I don't know. They just keep falling off my paint brush. Don't know how long it's going to last.

Dotty Giraffe, 6 x 6 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

Remember that all original paintings are available for purchase in my Daily Paintworks Gallery.

Prints for all my artwork can be found at Fine Art America.

And if you need note cards, there are still some available at my Etsy Shop.

Thanks for looking!

Animal Whimsy

My art goes in all directions, as anyone who visits this blog often will know. I do pastels, both realistic and bold, and now sometimes acrylics. I like landscapes, a little architecture, and animals.

After doing two lovely commissioned 5 x 7 pastels of northwest landscape (which I will show off later...they were purchased as a gift for someone else!), I was ready to switch back to wet paint again. 

So this last week I've been having fun with animals. I often paint with only a black and white reference so that I can make up whatever color strikes me at the time. These paintings are all on little 6 x 6  wrapped canvases, which can be hung without any kind of framing. The little zebra (shown below) sold the same day I posted on DPW!

Heads Up, acrylic on 6 x 6 canvas

On Guard, acrylic on 6 x 6 canvas

Zebra Colors, acrylic on 6 x 6 canvas

SOLD

Sunny Elephant, acrylic on 6 x 6 canvas

Passing Through

Because I just love playing with color, that's why. Are deer supposed to be brown? Always? Not in my world. This deer passed through the edges of our campsite a couple years ago. She was kind enough to pause and let me take her picture standing there amidst the yellow blooming wildflowers. I wonder what she would think of this portrait?

Passing Through, 8 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

Citrus Challenge Painting

The DPW challenge this week is to paint citrus, and a photo was included if we wanted to use it. I decided to give it a try with the acrylics, thinking it wouldn't be too hard, right? It's not called "challenge" without good reason! Looking through my collection of pastels and choosing colors for a painting is so much easier than mixing liquid paint to find the right color. But I fiddled with it and fiddled with it until I decided it was done. (Or I may have given up.) I'll share the original challenge photo, and what finally ended up on my canvas.

 

Here's what we had to work with.

The Citrus Challenge, 8 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

Spring Kitty

We have lots of snow, and no reason to go out today, so I painted Spring. Or what was Spring last year. On a morning walk with a friend last March we passed by a flowering garden and saw a beautiful cat posing ever so elegantly in the midst of it all. My camera was in my coat pocket, so I sweet talked the kitty into staying put so I could take a picture or two. No hesitancy here! Finally, on this beautiful snow day, I have painted the spring kitty!

Spring Kitty, 10 x 10" acrylic on wrapped canvas

Happy Camp

There is this magical place where I go camping every year with my husband and several good friends. It's a lake in central Oregon nestled beneath three peaks: Mt Bachelor, South Sister, and Broken Top. The primitive campsites are reached by canoe, so we pile all of our most comfortable camping gear into the canoes and paddle almost two miles to find the best place available. (There are many good places, but it's first come first served, so we hope for the best!) One of our favorite camp sites on the lake is on an overlook, sometimes called "The Ritz" because of it's fancy rock-lined pathways and a picnic table built of rough logs. Once we arrive we set up tents, a kitchen, a dining fly, post the American flag, and then cozy up for a week of relaxation in the great outdoors. It doesn't get much better than that. This painting represents the view of one who is paddling up close to the bluff, looking up to see the dining fly and flag. The kitchen and sleeping tents are around the corner.

 

Happy Camp, 10 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

River View

This painting fairly jumped off the paintbrush today. I was in a whimsical mood and wanting to play with color, so I picked a photo reference of a Willamette River overlook from the Promenade in Oregon City. We are expecting a snow storm today and perhaps that is why I felt the need to channel some extra color and early summer warmth. I put in poppies because there actually were poppies on that rocky bluff when I took the picture. I feel better now. Let the storm rage on!

River View, 8 x 10 acrylic on wrapped canvas

A Day Off

It's only a couple hours from the coast in my part of the state, so it's a common thing for people to take a day off and head to the beach. This painting is about a couple who are taking a break from whatever their normal life is and walking hand in hand along the shore. Today I gave myself permission to be a little more relaxed with the paintbrush and I rather like the results. I really don't enjoy fussing over tiny details....even though I did decide to add the figures today and that was kind of "fussy". The beach looked too lonely without a bit of life. Maybe next time I'll add sea birds. :)

A Day Off, 8 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah

We did a US car camping road trip a couple summers ago and managed to visit most of the National Parks along the way. By visit, I mean stay over night and then move on. Someday I want to go back and spend several days....maybe even a month or so....at each one to fully enjoy the experience! Anyway, today's painting represents the day we hiked a couple miles on the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park. I don't know what those tall wildflowers were, but they sure were gorgeous!

Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah, 10 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

Sheep in the Meadow

Today I drew from the copious photo files of the Paint My Photo website, a place where photographers and artists share their work with others. LindaLee Williams posted a lovely photo of sheep which I just couldn't resist. The sheep are walking through a field of wildflowers! (I LOVE wildflowers.) So that became my acrylic subject for the day.

Sheep in the Meadow, 8 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

January's Heather

It's January, and we went for a walk around the local community college campus, not expecting to see anything in bloom. Well, surprise! The Heathers are coming into full color! I had forgotten that they were one of the few plants that start blooming in the middle of winter around here. Lucky for me I had a camera in my pocket to take a few reference photos. I just couldn't resist making the colorful shrubbery "pop" in this painting...because that's how excited I was to see it along the trail.

January's Heather, 10 x 10 pastel on 3/4" wrapped canvas