Standing Guard

I don't see many robins in our neighborhood but I have fond memories from up north where we saw many of them.  I think we're all familiar with robins egg blue as a color that is quite special and appealing. So, too,  the beautifully colored eggs of robins give us the good news that spring is finally arriving.   Well, if we were lucky enough to have a nest that we could peek into.  In truth, there is something very elemental about nests, eggs and birds that relates to the seasons and also to the continuity of life.  I truly enjoy painting them.

Waiting

I love to create nests using various painting methods and adding lace paper for texture.  It takes many layers of paint, splashed, spattered and applied with a brush plus lots of creative thought to get to a completed piece.  Recently I've begun adding birds to guard over the eggs in the nest.  This adds a feeling of expectation to the painting due to the bit of mystery about the impending births.

Hutchinson Island Lone Tree

 

This is a painting of the coastline of Hutchinson Island in Jensen Beach FL. Located there is a lone pine that leans toward the water which creates a naturally charming composition.  It's one of the favorite paintings that we do in my watercolor class and one that most everyone has success with.  It's simply sky, water, rocks, sand, the tree and some scrubby foliage.  Add some shadows and you have a lovely painted image that invites you to enjoy the view.

Blowing Rocks

While on a visit to Blowing Rocks State Park in Jupiter FL, I was awed by the natural beauty in the surrounding area.  It is located on a barrier island so it has the ocean on one side and the Indian River on the other.  This watercolor was developed from a photo taken on the river side.  The water is a gorgeous shade of aqua blue, there's lots of  varied colored foliage along with some bare wood that has twisted and bent into unusual shapes.  I love having paths in my paintings because it resonates with my belief that we are all on a path as we go through life.

The Owl and the Moon

My latest venture is into painting moons.  Seems like an easy thing to do, right?  Well, no, really it isn't.  After drawing a circle, adding a star studded sky, then what?  Multiple colors were added and allowed to drip down and form lacy patterns.  It still needed something else so I decided to add a branch with an owl on it.  Who Who  else is up in the dark and bright eyed along the moon?

Botanical Impint

This is one of the very first paintings I created using cuttings from the garden, spray paint and lots of imagination.  The very first part, the white impressions, looked so good that I hesitated to touch it further.  Finally, after a time I decided that I had to try 'using watercolors' to fill it in just to see what would happen. The result is a very happy looking painting that is one of a kind, unique and quite appealing.

Waterlily

My son Bobby and his family live in Washington State.  Last summer they vacationed in the northern part of the state and took many photos.  Always thinking of  'mom the painter' my son forwarded some pictures of waterlilies.  This is one of the paintings I created.  You'll notice that it's the depth of the shadow under the flower that really pulls this painting together along with the complimentary colors used.  I always appreciate receiving inspiration in this way.

Spring's Song

I used an unusual color combination to start this painting, along with some added impression material. Once again I had to study it for a very long time to decide how to proceed.  One day when I was into painting my 'nest' creations, I realized that this is what it needed. I could insert a nest into this lovely background and finally finish this piece.  Yes, it has lavender eggs and multicolored twigs and sticks but somehow it all fits in with the theme of being a somewhat fantasy piece.

Sunset Paddle

Years ago I found an old postcard depicting Jensen Beach in it's heyday as a strictly tourist destination.  I've experienced much inspiration developing paintings that depict a sunset over the Indian River.  Each and every one is different but somehow viewing that postcard makes me want to paint.  Perhaps it's the colors or the palms in silhouette?  I don't really know.  This time I decided to add some canoes giving the peaceful feeling of taking a paddle in the sunset at the end of the day.

Crescendo

This was probably one of the easiest paintings I've ever created.  It is part of my impression series but I have to say it needed little tweaking to make it a viable piece of art.  But, as usual it took months of study to decide how to proceed to the finish. What it definitely needed was a container for the large bouquet of soft focus blooms.  I decided that I would create something unusual and used a square shape with multiple intricate designs on it.  It works well creating a tension between the bursts of unformed loose flowers and the tightly designed container.

A Key Ride

The title gives it all away.  When in Key West it is easy to get around using a bicycle due to the  warm weather, close proximity of things and narrow lanes with lovely cottages that abound.  I have been a bike rider for 35 years both for exercise and for pleasure.  I love cruising along with the wind in my hair, feeling the warm breezes and hearing the birds sing.  This painting underlines the pleasure one can feel from the beauty of natural surroundings while enjoying a wonderful feeling of freedom.

High Note

This painting is the result of a new technique I developed because of my love of all things green.  When I am trimming my garden of overgrowth I find that I hesitate to just dump the cuttings into the pail.  So instead I take them to my studio and use them to create 'live' designs.  Using my impression method and spray watercolor paint I am able to make these unusual paintings.  There are several steps involved, some outlining and brush work too but the end result 'sings'!!

Tutti Frutti

This is another of my impression paintings created using spray watercolor paint and various items to create white images on paper.  It took a while but after studying I finally saw various sized round and oval impressions on this 'start'.  I decided to treat it like a still life and proceeded to paint  many colorful fruits from these shapes.  Melon, pomegranate, apples, oranges, limes, lemons, blueberries, strawberries, plums, mangoes and more.  The result is a pleasing array of multicolored edibles.