Echo Valley

"The story is that  [we were on] an early morning walk while on vacation.  It was a sweet memory as we walked to the cabin.  We thought a painting would be a great way to capture the moment"

They told me this was the view from their campsite and that the ever-under-construction Chief Crazy Horse Monument  could be seen just behind the hillside.

It looks like a beautiful place to spend a morning hiking.

It was a pleasure to put it on canvas... one stroke at a time.

Take one minute to watch this painting go from blank white canvas to peaceful landscape.

Original Oil Painting on 18"x 36" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD] 

Ice Cream Cone

Favorite Ice Cream Treats:

Cold Stone - Cake Batter with Almonds & Heath Bar

Braums - Chocolate Almond in a Flat-Bottom Cone
Shakes - Concrete with Snickers or Heath Bar
Dairy Queen - Blizzard with Snickers or Heath Bar

Home - French Vanilla with Peaches or Raspberries

So many choices...

Cherries candied? or fresh?

Peaches chopped on top? or blended in?

Strawberries fresh? or syrup-y?

Chocolate ice cream? or poured on top?

Pecans? or Almonds?

Candy sprinkles? or cookie crumbles?

Homemade? or store bought?

Sherbets? or frozen custard?

Soft served? or hand dipped?

My Weekly-ish Challenge was "Pink & Red," so voila!

Sadly, I developed an allergic reaction to strawberries a few years ago, so I can't choose strawberry ice cream to eat, it was perfect to paint. And, with all that palette knife work, I can't wait until it's dry enough to run my fingers across... Zoom in! Those paint smears look good enough to lick... but don't!

Original Palette Knife Oil Painting on 12"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

Click Ice Cream Cone if you want to have this one on your own wall (so you can touch it)!

Magnolia Blossom

If you only saw the painting, you might think, "Oh, it's a big white flower done in an artsy way."

But... 

... if you saw me holding it...

... Then you might think, "Oh my!  It's a really really big white flower done in an artsy way!"

Next you might wonder, "Does she set her camera to the 15-second delay on the porch banister then run back and forth until she gets herself and the painting in the frame?"

Finally you might ask, "Why?"  

Well...

Yes, It certainly is.

Yes. That's exactly what I do.

And, well, why not?  Many months (years?) ago, I when I needed a big 24"x 24" canvas, I placed the order and saw the discount if I ordered 5. Needless to say, the other 4 have been in the way... waiting patiently for a long time.

My Weekly-ish Challenge was "A Single White Flower."  

First I started a sweet little painting of a hummingbird that I'd watch flit around my hostas, the hosta plants I'd dug from my Dad's house as little plants that have now become big and beautiful and blooming to entice hummingbirds.  The bird sipped from one of those single white flowers.  Yes, I will eventually finish that sweet little painting, but I decided that I would simply be playing it safe if that was to be the painting I submitted. 

I'd watched a tutorial by an artist named Nicol Wikman who encouraged "going big" and "painting loosely" by "holding the brush as if it was a magic wand."  I loved it.  I tried it. I love it.

Yes, I'm going to put it in my Etsy shop and of course I will be excited when it does sell, but honestly... until that day comes... I think this one is going on my bedroom wall where I can enjoy it myself.

Original Oil Painting on 24"x 24" Wrapped Canvas

Visit Magnolia Blossom if you want to take this off my wall and put it on yours.

Art Soul Gathering 2025

I participated in an on-line event called Art Soul Gathering. I didn't purchase the longer course, but I very much enjoyed doing a few of the free sample lessons offered last week. Each teacher had a different style and different skills and techniques to teach.   It's always good practice for me to draw and paint a face even if the styles and materials are very different.... and even if I don't get it quite right... still good practice.

Using just 2 colors

Using the side of a junk-mail credit card

Covering collaged papers

Embellishing with embroidery...
only I cheated and just drew the lines.

Using only four colors + some pink at the end
and torn collage paper.

A Girl & Her Cat

Why did I decide to paint Buff & me in our usual spot?

Here's the story...

My friend Cheri and I have been doing a Weekly-ish Challenge for 5 years. We started early on in the Pandemic. The rules are very strict... HA! are more like a gentle guide. We take turns choosing a word, phrase, or topic. We each use that as inspiration to do a painting then "meet" back for a good long phone call to chat and reveal our works via text photos.

After our hundredth challenge we changed the rules for the hundredth time just a bit.

This little box of cards entered the game.

The first time, we drew these cards, and I did this...

The next time, we drew these, and I did this...

This time we drew these three...
followed the directions for the last card and
turned over the first one to the opposite side.

Was there any question as to what I would paint?

So, I was to do a girl and cat with those colors in "my style."

The question was whether I even knew what my style was any more.

First I did a mixed media piece.  It was fun, a style I've been playing in. 

I could be done.  

But, my heart is with oils;  I should do it in "my style" not a borrowed style.

Ha ha... you can tell by my different glasses

styles that these photos are taken over the years.

Painting a portrait doesn't come easily or naturally to me.  I guess I'm more mathematical minded than artistic minded. Once I get it "finished." I do some tricks to make me revise and edit. One is to look at the painting in the mirror.  It's amazing how the mistakes jump out.  Another is to take a photo and look at the painting on the phone or computer screen.  More mistakes make themselves known.  Finally, I resort to geometry.

That's when I see that... oh, my nose is way bigger than I thought... oh, my mouth is way thinner than I thought... oh, my hair needs to be growing out of my head not just glued on around the forehead... oh, my neck is way wider... let's just leave that... artistic license/artist's vanity...

And... sometimes if I'm not available...

Original Oil Painting on 7"x 9" Canvas Board

NFS

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins...

This semester's OLLI class was this  week!  I absolutely love guiding seniors along the way to complete a painting. Just look!  They're masterpieces!!! We had such a good time, and each of them should be so proud.

These ladies worked so hard!

We even made the newspaper!!!

When I teach one of these classes, I always create a few models and examples.

As is always true, theirs are priceless.

My examples, however, are for sale in my Etsy shop.

AND...

*** DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER THESE PUMPKINS AND ALL PAINTINGS AUTUMN RELATED WILL BE ON SALE 50% OFF! 

Click HERE to have a look! (Or send me a message. 😀)

I Like... (8/25)

Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

Click on HER BLOG to see what positive things others like.

I like looking outside the backdoor and seeing
Fancy-like and her five crazy-fluffy babies.

I like nachos topped with vegetables from the garden.

I like making a little Lake Bag for each G4 (great grand kid)
at our yearly 3-day family gathering.
(**cat inspected and approved... below)

I like this big wonderful family!

I like having a yard full of happy hens.

I like a big garden tomato... actually any tomato from the garden.

I like an art lesson that tells me to start with a walk
around where I live to collect things I find. 
In my family, we call that a Serendipity Walk.

I like seeing flowers bloom
 and knowing a friend gave me the bulbs for them.

I like to see butterflies in my garden and on my flowers.

I like tomatoes.

I like my pretty daily harvests.

I like knowing that  although much has changed in the last half century,
somethings are exactly the same. :)

LeeAnne's  conversation starter topics this month:

Did you get school clothes and shoes for the start of school? My mother sewed everything I wore. I always had whatever clothes I needed, but I don't remember specifically getting brand new clothes made for the beginning of school. Did you look through the enormous Sears catalogue at all the possibilities and dream?  Absolutely.  But I don't think I bothered looking at the clothes.  I went right to the toy section. Remember going to the store with probably a mom, and trying on clothes?  I honestly don't have any memory of shopping for or trying on  clothes in a store. A shoe store for your "school shoes"  We had two shoe stores on Main Street in my town.  One was called Quality, and the other was called Budget. I do remember going to Budget. The guy would put my little foot in that measuring tool then bring a stack of shoe boxes. He'd put them on my foot and push on the toe to see how they fit. 

Did you take your lunch and did you use a little brown bag or have a lunch box? 

 I almost always ate the school lunches. In upper elementary I did get a lunchbox and pack myself a lunch sometimes.  It was in the shape of Snoopy's yellow doghouse. I usually bought lunch tickets too, for days when they had a really good meal like salisbury steak or sloppy joes. Ha ha... yeah, they did make a good sloppy joe didn't they!   What meals did you look forward to?  big square cheese pizza slices... fish sticks with tartar sauce... jello with fruit "cottontail"... applesauce... 
**Extra credit if you show a pic of one of your lunchbox.

Did you get a new notebook and paper to use that year? I remember having to have a red Big Chief note pad for practicing letters in first grade. The thing with those was that you needed to make all your pencil strokes or eraser strokes from top to bottom.  If you went up instead of down, you'd get a rip in your paper.  I remember picking a notebook was a big deal. I remember the year I got thin ruled paper instead of big lines. That was a big deal! I remember getting flair pens to use instead of pencils.Yep. 8th grade!  Do you still like having notebooks and calling them journals? Oh, my goodness... Do I "like" journals and notebooks? Ummm... I need a bigger word... need, appreciate, love, collect, accumulate, amass, hoard...

Did you do the pledge of allegiance every morning and then sing a patriotic song? Yes. And, as a teacher, we did that too.

What is your learning style, then and now? The main styles are auditory (hearing) rote or memorization, visual (maybe reading or seeing charts)  kinesthetic (that's me, learn by doing something like writing or making or touching) Are there other ways to learn I've forgotten? Is it still your style today? Can I just be a little of everything? I know that if I write it down and use color I am much more likely to remember.