Zinnia's Last Stand

Autumn is upon us, but I have a stand of zinnias that aren't quite finished. They won't be around long with the damp, cool weather of our Pacific Northwest fall season, so I took a few reference shots and created this fanciful version of the scene before me.

Zinnia's Last Stand, ©Dorothy Jenson 2015

 6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Path to the Dock

Our family reunion was spent in northern Wisconsin this summer. For our large family we rented a large home on lake front property. It used to be a YMCA camp! The back yard sloped sharply down to the edge of the lake, but there was a nice stone pathway to follow to reach a wonderful dock for swimming. We had such a good time there! Ready to go for a swim? This way to the dock...

Path to the Dock, © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6" acrylic on wrapped canvas

Days End

Life has been full recently, with little time to paint. I was able to spend a little over two weeks in Wisconsin helping care for my daughter's family and their 4th born child! There's nothing quite like holding a newborn. Back at home there's always one thing or another keeping me from painting. Today I got back to the studio and painted a fun interpretation of a recent sunset viewed from my back porch. I love our new home in the country!

Days End © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6" acrylic on wrapped canvas

Bus Stop Moms

It's been a long time since I participated in one of the Daily Paintworks challenges, but today was the day! The theme is "Back to School" and I found a photo reference from the Paint my Photo website that excited me and I could hardly wait to get started. This piece ended up being much more tedious to paint, but still, the process was enjoyable and time flew by as I worked. The finished painting turned out just the way I imagined it, which is saying something. Lots of times my paintings go in surprising directions, but this one became just what I wanted it to be. I love the clothing and postures of these "bus stop moms" and the colorful bus and construction signs behind them. I love how the trees turned out and I love the rim of bright light that shines through the painting.

Bus Stop Moms, 6x6 inch acrylic on canvas

Smoky Sunset

We've had some terrible wildfires here in the state of Washington this summer. Lives lost, homes lost, and lots of smoke throughout the state. Just terrible. Some of our sunsets during that period were also blazing with a bright red sun amid the hazy, smoky landscape. Standing on my back porch I can watch the sun go down over a large meadow and forest lands beyond. Today's painting is my colorful interpretation of one of those sunsets.

 

Smoky Sunset, 6 x 6 inch acrylic on canvas

West Coast Fog

About a year ago I was walking the beach in Neskowin, Oregon, and snapped a quick photo of the rising fog. Lots of things about the photo appealed to me, so when Daily Paintworks issued a challenge last week to paint fog, I knew it was time to give this one a try. I love the layers on the distant hills and the figures along the shoreline. Almost like being there again.

West Coast Fog, 6 x 6 inch acrylic on canvas

Daisies on the Hill

This summer as we settled into our new home in the country I couldn't have been more delighted when I discovered that the fields around our landscape were covered with wild daisies for a couple months! You may see daisies pop up in my paintings more often, I think. :)

Daisies on the Hill

6 x 6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas, varnished

Morning Run

I am not a runner, but I do like walking. One morning I was enjoying the dike road trail that parallels the Columbia River in Washington and got a quick reference photo of one of the local runners who like to use this trail. That reference photo became today's small painting.

 

Morning Run, 6 x 6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Water Lilly Morning

Has it been forever since I painted? Almost!! It has been a crazy summer with moving, family, travel, and finally organizing my new studio, and it is now time to paint again. Hooray!

Water Lilly Morning, 6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Moving!

Art supplies in boxes...oh, no! It's true, we are moving to Washington state as soon as our house sells. I will be taking a hiatus from art until we get settled and my new studio is ready. Hopefully it won't take too long! I've decided to pack my supplies now so that I won't get distracted when I really should be organizing, packing and cleaning. Sigh.

 

Moving Boxes © Dorothy Jenson Art 2015

tape on cardboard boxes, sizes vary   :)

Barn Owl Swoop

The DPW challenge this week is to paint a bird in flight. I chose an image by the UK photographer, Villager Jim, who has given me permission to use his photos for small paintings. What I loved about this image was the bright lights around the feather tips. Here he comes!

Barn Owl Swoop © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on canvas

Mountain Dreams

I'm back to my Van Gogh starry night games again! Today my swirly, glowing stars are over South Sister, a mountain in central Oregon. I LOVE the yellow and orange in the sky, as well as the bright moonlight on the face of the mountain. Looking at this painting I almost get a little shiver. Doesn't it look like a cold night to you?

 

Mountain Dreams © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Treetop Melody

​It's full on spring over here in the northwest where I live, with daffodils blooming along with the pink blossoming trees. These are the tall maples behind my house, and even though the rest of my neighborhood may look spring-like, these trees won't leaf out until almost May. I absolutely love watching the sky show through the leafless trees. Every day it is different. Here's one straight out of my imagination, but it probably did look almost like this one time!

 

Treetop Melody © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Spring Party

While I realize that it is so very cold in the eastern part of the US, we here in the Northwest are experiencing an early spring. It's the "pink" season here already, where the redbud trees and other pink blossoming trees that I don't know the names of are making my hometown look as though it is decorated with pink cotton candy trees. It is gorgeous! The child's song, "Popcorn Popping" comes to mind, as well as party confetti. I went with the party theme and painted four 6x6 inch panels with one lovely, somewhat abstract pink blossoming tree. I can't think of anything else to call it except "Spring Party". Here's a photo of the four panels together. I'll be selling them as singles for $40 each, or the whole set of four for $120.  Happy Springtime!

Spring Party, © Dorothy Jenson 2015

acrylic on four 6x6 inch wood panels

Meadow Dreams

Well, who knows what is going to happen when I sit down in my studio? I'm not always sure I do. Today I was thinking about abstract...just designing with color to see what comes up. Part way through I realized it was a meadow-like abstract. Since I love meadows, it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. Then it became almost fantasy, or dream like. With lots and lots of color. I like color, too, so there you go. I wonder who else likes meadows and color?

Meadow Dreams © Dorothy Jenson 2015

acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

Sparks Lake Wildflowers

I've always wanted a painting of Sparks Lake, Oregon, as a reminder of all the wonderful days we have spent canoe camping there, year after year. So much fun canoeing, swimming, painting, hiking, being with dear friends and family. There's no place like it anywhere. I finally made the attempt to paint one of the many beautiful viewpoints, and this painting includes South Sister reflecting in the lake, along with wildflowers growing in the lava rock islands. It's like this every year! I tried to keep it "loose" but definitely representative, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

 

Sparks Lake Wildflowers © Dorothy Jenson 2015

16x20 inches on wrapped canvas

Wolf Duo

Another week, another challenge! This time we are encouraged to paint "animals that mate for life". When I looked online for a list of animals that fit the category, I found that the statement itself is challenged, but no matter. Some animals are come pretty close to the standard! I decided to paint wolves and found a great reference photo by ESP on the Paint My Photo website. It has an unusual vantage point of looking slightly down upon the wolves and I found it interesting. Don't know if this is really a "couple", but we can just pretend, right?

Wolf Duo  © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch oil on gessobord

Lavender Farm with Tractor

Probably most artists want to paint a lavender field at some time, and I'm no different in that respect. Last night I was looking through the Paint My Photo website, looking for something fun to paint, when my imagination was caught by a lovely photo offered by Sandi Lear. She called it "Shades of Purple", but my painting is called "Lavender Farm with Tractor". Not very original, I know, but in case I do lavenders again, I want to remember that this particular painting has a tractor in it! I really, really enjoyed painting this, especially that cute little tractor. :)

Lavender Farm with Tractor © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6 x6 inch oil on Gessobord panel

Winter Trees

Still thinking about tree gestures, which is the Daily Paintworks weekly challenge, and was prowling through photos in the morgue file online, when this sweet image came to view. Simple, yet breathtakingly beautiful. I knew I would have to paint it. I thought about calling it "Pink Sky", but the subject is really the trees, so there you have it. I love it, especially the delicate branches in the bare tree tops. Plus that lavender, bluish field of snow.

Winter Trees © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6 x 6 inch oil on Gessobord panel

Fancy Brights

I love the colors in this little painting. The oranges, purples, blues and dark green. So bright and beautiful! Today didn't seem like it would be a painting day, but this afternoon I was drawn to the studio to try my hand painting a butterfly and flower, and I'm glad I did.

Fancy Brights © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch oil on Gessobord

Pine Tree in Lava Land

In Central Oregon we often visit the Lava Lands Visitor Center and walk the "Trail of the Molten Land". The last time we were there I allowed my grandchildren (ages 6-8) to use my pocket camera and practice taking pictures of anything they wanted. One of the images they took was of this very tenacious young pine tree growing all by itself in the lava rock, with Rabbit brush blooming all around. The Daily Paintworks Challenge this week is to give a tree it's "gesture", and I thought this tree would be a perfect subject. The tree bends with the adversity of living among heat, bitter cold and rock, but it survives year after year. Another part of the challenge (for me!) was to paint the lava rock!

 

Pine Tree in Lava Land © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6 x 6 inch oil on gessobord

Watching the Big One

When I'm visiting the coast, I always have a small camera tucked into my pocket. It comes out constantly to take photos of anyone or anything that looks interesting to me. Most of the photos are never used for anything, but every once in a while one of them is a gem. I loved the reference for this painting. Just a guy, standing there in the breeze, watching the waves crash. It looks as though that wave is going to come in and knock him down, but the camera compressed the scene, because he really wasn't as close as all that.

 

Watching the Big One © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas, varnished

Teacup Zinnias

Last summer I did a photo shoot on the back porch of little flowers and teacups. Here is one of them. Three cute little zinnia blossoms in an intricate teacup. Check out that fancy handle! We've got some surprising and head-spinning things going on in our life right now, so it's a wonder I can even concentrate to do a little painting....and it was a bit of a struggle today, but I'm finally pleased with the result. My favorite parts are the light turquoise color in the petals and the little sparkles of gold on the cup.

Teacup Zinnias © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Tulips Today

The challenge this week was a floral still life! Our host provided a still life photo of tulips and asked us to improve upon what we saw. I decided to change the colors up a bit and create a much warmer portrait of fruit and tulips. I'll post the original image and then my interpretation.

 

It's a lovely set-up, but here's how I changed it to make it "mine":

What do you think? I love it!

 

 

Tulips Today © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on canvas

 

Daffodils on a Cloudy Day

Same daffodils on my windowsill as before, although I did make the trumpets on these a little more orange. It was a cloudy day this time, instead of foggy, so there are the basic shapes of trees in the background. I just wanted to play with color and shapes on this one, so it's not very detailed. I like it though!

Daffodils on a Cloudy Day © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch oil on gessobord

Mt Hood Morning

Another sunrise? Sorry, I can't resist. I see these beautiful mornings that make such an impression on me and I just have to try my hand at painting them. What's interesting about this painting is that it is the very same morning that I painted yesterday! The initial color blast faded and became the serene golden and pink tones around Mt Hood. Too pretty.

Mt Hood Morning, © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch oil on gessobord

January's Promise

I witnessed this wonderful sunrise today as I was out walking with a friend. During our early morning rambles through the years we have seen countless amazing cloudscapes, and each time I think I should paint it. That would be a LOT of sunrise pictures! Well, I couldn't pass this one up. My cell phone was helpful to take a quick reference photo, then I let memory take over to create my impression of the new day.

January's Promise © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 oil on gessobord

Foggy Day Daffodils

I bought some little daffodils (or are they narcissi?) at the grocery store and set them in the windowsill in my bedroom next to my green rocking chair. You can see them in my painting, Sweet January. Today I let them be the star of the show and tried to keep my handling loose. The background outside is still quite foggy, so they get to be called the "foggy day" daffodils. :)

This is actually my second attempt. Yesterday I tried painting them in acrylic and it was a total disaster. I scrubbed the canvas completely in the sink! Today, I'm using oil and lots happier with the result.

Foggy Day Daffodils © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch oil on wood panel

Sweet January

 

The Daily Paintworks challenge this week is to paint our "relaxation station". Well, this is it! I actually bought a small pot of yellow narcissi's to add a spot of extra color on the window ledge just for this painting! It's a soft, foggy January day (at least it was when I took the reference photo) so the lighting is somewhat subdued and blurry out the window. The scarf on the chair was knitted for me by my friend Paulene, and it's always there, ready when I need it. This is my chair to think a while, relax a little, read, and maybe even nod off. I also have a great view of the backyard and the woods beyond. I love my relaxation station! 

 

Sweet January, © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on wrapped canvas

Siesta

Carrying a little camera with me provides lots of fodder for future paintings. One day I spied this gentleman taking a nap in the late afternoon on a bluff that looks over onto our downtown and river below. Of course I'm going to take a photo! All dressed in white, with a wide brimmed hat, laying so peacefully in the grasses on the hillside, he makes a lovely subject for my painting.

Siesta © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inches, oil on wood panel, $50

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Pacific Dawn

Palette knife painting interests me somewhat, and I gave it a try for fun. I think most artists use oils for thick, creamy texture, but I used acrylic with a little medium added to slow the drying a bit. Didn't get much texture, but the process was fun. My reference photo was taken at the coast in January as we went for a very early morning walk on the beach. Sunrises may be somewhat cliché, but they are so beautiful!

Pacific Dawn © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 acrylic on wood panel, varnished $30

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Retired Maytag

After painting my classic Bernina yesterday, I remembered a photo I took on a morning walk not too long ago of an antique Maytag wringer washer that was left out in a neglected part of someone's side yard. The washer intrigued me then, and today it was time to try painting it. My husband has a rather painful memory of a washer similar to this one. Those wringers caught one of his little 3 year old hands when he was trying to "help" and carries the scar on his palm to this day of the damage done. I wonder about the stories this washer could tell. How excited was the first owner to receive it brand new? How many loads of diapers did it handle? How long did it serve? Lots of memories here for someone.

Retired Maytag © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inches, acrylic on wood panel $50

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Bernina 830

The Daily Paintworks challenge for the week is to paint what's by our easels. I took a look around my studio and knew immediately that I was going to paint my hardworking 1977 Bernina 830. Yes, my sewing room is also my art studio. It's a little crowded, but it works!

This old Bernina still works perfectly. At a maintenance service a couple years ago, the shop owner's eyes lit up when he saw what I had brought in. He called his employees around to show them the classic machine, which was, he said, the year that Bernina got EVERYTHING right. Then he offered to buy her for a very generous price. Of course, I turned him down. Bernina and I are best friends after all these years, and we understand one another well.

Bernina 830 © Dorothy Jenson 2015

acrylic on wood panel, $50

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The Prettiest of Views

I love visiting Yosemite National Park!! It would be so awesome to spend a season or two, or three, being an artist in residence there. For today, though, I have to resort to a photo reference to create a painting of Half Dome. This reference was taken by a photographer named Gregg Boydston, and I spotted it on Instagram. I asked if I could use it as reference for a small painting,  and he said "Sure!" Awesome!

Remember Pitch Perfect and the song, "You're gonna miss me"? A line in the song says, "The one with the prettiest of views" and that kept going through my head this afternoon, so it was a no brainer for a title.

The Prettiest of Views, © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6" oil on wood panel, $50

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Mt Rushmore

Yesterday's "Liberty" painting was so much fun (and sold so quickly!) that I decided to try another national monument. How about four guys on a rock? Wow, talk about a challenge, and this isn't even an assignment. My goal was to keep it loose and painterly, and I think I succeeded. Phew!

Mt Rushmore © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6" oil on wood panel, $50

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Liberty's Flame

Seriously, I don't know where some of my ideas come from. Last night the "Statue of Liberty" popped into my mind, and it seemed as if I ought to try and paint her. In oils, too! Well, it was easy to find a good image to use in the morgue files online, and today I made the attempt. At first I kept thinking, "whatever possessed me to paint something so hard??", but little by little the painting was coming together, and I even liked it! Working in oil takes a whole different approach than acrylic, and it was quite fun doing something a little different. (Once I got past questioning my sanity!)

Liberty's Flame © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6" oil on wood panel, $50

SOLD!

Green Light and Starlight Waltz

Last week was not a painting week....in fact I was barely home! It was a week spent with local family and the role of Grandma took precedence over art. What a sweet (and exhausting!) week it was getting to know my littles even better. Love them so much!

I didn't have a chance to post the last painting I did before leaving the studio. It was another Daily Paintworks Challenge to paint a cityscape "loosely" from a given reference photo. My completed painting turned out better than I thought it would (it nearly drove me nuts during the process!) and it has already sold. Hooray!

Green Light © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 " on wood   SOLD

Before tackling the challenge for this week, I wanted to loosen up from my absence by painting a happy evening sky scape again, this time featuring our lovely Mt. Hood. Another starry, swirly sky!

Starlight Waltz © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6" on wood panel $50

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Twin Rock Sunset

We witnessed a rare event in Rockaway on the Oregon coast this weekend! At this time of year, the sun goes down so that it is visible through the tunnel in Twin Rocks, just off the beach. One of the locals says she has lived there 9 years and only seen it twice because of rain and cloud cover that is common for this time of year. How amazing that we happened to be there on a sunny weekend!! It was a longer hike down the beach than anticipated, and we had to wade/jump/splash through two creeks to get to a decent viewing area, but we made it in time!

I took a few photos with my cell phone camera, and enjoyed the beautiful view, then used my photo reference to create this little acrylic painting of the event while relaxing in our motel the next day.

Twin Rock Sunset © Dorothy Jenson 2015

6x6 inch acrylic on wood panel, varnished

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