Split Mountain, Dinosaur National Park UT

We did a family trip to Colorado with a day trip to Utah to see Dinosaur National Park. The weather was uncertain which made for difficult photography. I was able to use an image of this colorful rock formation as inspiration. The formation is called Split Mountain Canyon. This is the Green River. This is a studio painting in oil.

Ghost Ranch

This is my very first plein air oil painting. I bought the outdoor painting rig for our trip to Santa Fe. Ghost Ranch is a few miles north of Santa Fe, and is one of the places that Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted. I set up the painting rig and laid out my colors, the wind came up and flipped the whole easel over, flinging the glass palette full of paint out, jam side down, into the grass. So there I am picking twigs and rocks out of my paint, before I even touched the canvas. The whole time I was painting, I had to hold the easel down by one corner so it wouldn't fly away. I asked an experienced artist about my experience, and was advised that this is normal. Guess I should have bought the ballast bag... The horse in the picture is reputed to be over 40 years old, I have never seen a horse with a greater sway-back in my life!

Tioga Pass, Late Spring Storm

Lest you think I've given up oil painting, here is the first oil painting of 2009, titled "Tioga Pass, Late Spring Storm".

This is from a photo that my husband Tony shot on a trip to Yosemite. We crossed Tioga pass on Memorial Day weekend, when the pass was newly opened for the summer. We stopped at a small turnout next to a brook and Tony decided to take the shot. He set up his camera, but a storm was brewing and there was no sunlight to pop the brights in the view. So he waited, and waited....when I woke up an hour later Tony was still waiting for the light. The temp had fallen toward freezing, and he was wearing shorts! I was greeted by the view of the photographer doing jumping jacks to keep from freezing solid. Finally Tony took his shot and we raced down the pass to Lee Vining on the east side. That night it snowed and the pass closed for 3 days.

Lovely Lisa

This oil painting was commissioned as a gift. Much research went into the various types of orchids, to select one that would suit the recipient. Capturing the subtle colors of the orchid petals was a challenge, along with achieving the sense of the pot in space.

Pacific Beach Sunset

This is a large oil painting, 24 x 30 inches. It is an interpretation from a photograph shot by Tony Chong on a trip up the Big Sur coastline. I painted this scene about 9 years ago, and it is interesting to see how my skill with oils has evolved. Tony and I would like to do an art show some time showing his photos and my paintings from them.

Paint the Parks Art Show

I also received a Certificate of Merit art award in the mail on Saturday, from the Paint the Parks national competition. So now I am an "award" winning artist! Here is the oil painting, "El Dorado":

Sunset, Morro Bay

Love those colorful sunsets! I have entered this painting into the Oil Painters of America western regional show, along with the oil painting of the buffalo in the great plains. We'll see if anything comes of that. This was an interesting exercise, much harder to paint natural-looking water than I thought. The little tiny dots are birds flying home to roost on the rocks.

Windmills

The first of the 3 paintings done in one day. This is larger, 11x14. I was happy that I managed to preserve whites around the windows and railing and the buildings actually have some sense of roundness. I was not happy with the bland, solid light blue sky that was in the picture. One thing you learn as an artist is that it is sometimes necessary to enhance what you see, to make a better composition. My husband recommended that I add some clouds to improve the balance of the painting. I painted the sky and clouds as you see them, over the existing vanes of the windmill. As soon as I laid in the sky, the water reflections became apparent and the balance of the entire painting was apparent.

Little Newt

I had one really great day where I painted 3 complete paintings, a new high for me. I painted the Windmills. While that was drying, I painted the Lady in Red. While THAT was drying, I painted this picture of one of my cats, Little Newt. I'm pleased that it actually looks like a cat, and not a meatloaf. I'm happy with the use of negative space in this painting. For once I don't feel I overworked the subject.

Aspens - Autumn Light

Back to the subject of aspens again...this time in oil. This is a "plein air" style picture, practicing painting a whole picture in a single session. I was quite pleased with the result.