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