Cotswold Cottage

I worked from a black and white photo of an old-fashioned cottage with a thatched roof. Interesting exercise to make it "quaint and colorful".

Tiger Lily

This was a fun little exercise from art class. I didn't get the reflections of the tiger in the water, but the abstract background came out very interesting. I may do this one again, larger, some day. The hard part was getting the eye to look catlike.

Fall Farm Scene

Another small watercolor. I liked the mix of green and yellow in this picture. It is quite a bit looser than my usual style.

Strolling Under the Silk Floss Trees

This is a very small watercolor. I took the same general scene as depicted in "A Walk in the Woods", but changed it to a spring setting.

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.

Chinese Lotus

This watercolor was taken from the lotus flowers blooming in the Chinese garden at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California. I have a continuing series on lotus flowers. The photograph, shot by Tony, was in black and white.

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":

A Walk in the Woods

This piece, "A Walk in the Woods", is the piece that sold over the weekend. It is very small, 5x7". There were only a few watercolors in the show, which actually made it stand out.

"Enduring Beauty"-Art Show- California Art Club

I have a piece entered in the art show "Enduring Beauty" at the Women's Club of Pasadena. This show is sponsored by the California Art Club. The show opened with a reception on Saturday, 7/12/08, 5-7 pm. The show runs until December 2008, and the hours are 10 am-4pm, Monday through Friday. The address is: 160 N. Oakland Ave, Pasadena, CA 91501.

Thanks to the folks who came out to the reception, your support is greatly appreciated.

It was exciting, as my piece was the first one to sell during the reception. The buyer was very excited to be buying original art, and to be able to meet the artist.

This was a great show, as they use professional hanging service, there is a hosted bar and hors d'oevres, and a dinner/show following the art reception. It was a very nice event!

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.

El Dorado

We recently spent a wonderful week at Moab, Utah. This oil painting is of a rock formation in Arches National Park. The formation near the left of the picture is Balanced Rock. I named this painting El Dorado, as I imagined the conquistadors riding across the desert and seeing this formation shimmering in the sun like a lost fortress made of gold. I am entering this painting in the Paint the Parks 100 competition.

In the Garden of Flowering Fragrance

And now for something completely different...This is the new Chinese garden at the Huntington Gardens, Pasadena, California. They brought Chinese master craftsmen over in shifts to construct the bones of the garden. I wanted to achieve a dreamy effect and just let the paint flow.

Delicate Arch

More red rock from Arches National park. This is a formation called Delicate Arch. It is said to look like a cowboy's chaps from this angle. This is on a height which gave a great vista off to the east toward the Rockies in the distance. The canyon was tinted a pale green with the spring shrubs which had not yet shriveled to brown. Rain passed through which make the sky more interesting to paint. This is an 8x10, done in a more realistic style. I plan to enter it into the Paint the Parks competition.

Speckled Iris

My watercolor teacher is vacationing in England. A couple of the students got together to paint, and this was the result. This is taken from a photo shot by Tony of the iris blooming in our front yard. The petals really are speckled as shown. It is always a challenge to get the deep tones for shadows.

Book Cliffs

Grand Junction Colorado is bordered by large, worn-down mesas. This is a portion of the Book Cliffs, which runs for miles on the north side of the valley. The colors are very delicate, this picture is a little brighter than the original. We stayed at the Gallery, a local bed and breakfast. I painted this the night we stayed, and showed it to the proprietors as a sample of my work in the morning. They have agreed to hang my work for sale!!

The Three Gossips

We visited Arches National Park during our family trip to Utah in 2008. The scenery is so amazing that you actually get jaded after a few days because everywhere you look is a great view. We hiked around the base of massive red rock outcroppings. I sketched this in the field and painted it later. Despite the strong colors, this is a watercolor miniature 3x5 inches. I may do this again as an oil painting.

The Windmill

I completed this painting during a recent vacation to Colorado and Utah. There is an agricultural area by Grand Junction, the "wine country of Colorado".

Christmas Cactus

This is a walk down memory lane. This was painted about 3 years ago, and was the first time I achieved the proper "watery" effect when painting. This was a class assignment. I spent 2 hours drawing the flowers. When I put the paint onto the pot, it started running all over and I shrieked out loud, "It's ruined!!!" My watercolor teacher told me to let it dry, and this wonderful glazed pot was the result. 11x14", original watercolor.

Squashy Buildings 2

My friend Karen challenged me to re-create the squashy buildings. This is another 8x10" original watercolor. It was surprisingly hard to achieve the rainy effect a second time. I think I like this painting even better than #1. It must be the purple flowers in the foreground! This is in the private collection of Karen Hilb.