Carley

She looks like she's big and fierce and in charge, doesn't she.  I think she might be one of those three things.  You can guess which?

Here's a peek into the process. Enjoy!

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Smoky Mountain Stream

 

I'd love to spend some time sitting on a big rock right there. 

I think there are "beach people" and "city people" and "lake people" and "big-sky people"... Which one are you? I think we're "mountain people."

Ron especially loves stopping at creeks and just spending time watching the water flow over the rocks. Here are some photos from some time we spent in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee a while back.  I used one of them as a reference for this painting.

This pretty little stream is my response to the third art challenge with my friend Cheri.  This week's challenge was "Rocks."

Original Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Little Red Tricycle

 

Did you have one of these? I did.  It looked just like this one, and I rode it until I was much too big for it.

This little painting makes me smile. It's funny how an image of something so familiar from the past can bring long-forgotten memories to the surface.

This little tricycle is my response to the second art challenge with my friend Cheri.  This week's challenge was "Three Circles."

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

Click Little Red Tricycle if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Autumn Buck & Doe

When we go for walks down our road, we're greeted by our forest friends. They stop what they're doing and stare at us until one of them gives the signal (that sounds like a sneeze).  Then up go their tails and away they go into the trees.

We see them every single day, so they know us. That doesn't mean they trust us.  That's okay.  They need to be wary of people.

I do wish I could take some good photos of them, but I've decided that good wildlife photographers have an abundance of patience.  I'm more of a, "Well, hello there!"  📸*point...snap* then keep walking kind of girl.

If you click over to Inspiration Collaboration and look at Sara's Inspiration Image Winter Wonderland, you'll understand exactly why I had to paint my deer friends this month.

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas
Click Autumn Buck & Doe if you'd like to own this little painting.

Mae

This pretty little pup painting will be someone's Christmas surprise.

Sometimes it's fun to watch how a painting comes together. 

Enjoy this little video of the process.

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 10" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

 

Christmas Tree Surprise (Mini x 6)

This was a fun little project.

Six tiny paintings for six special ladies.

I'm not saying anything new to say that 2020 has been difficult.  We know it's been especially difficult for some of our older friends who are practically home bound with Covid precautions.

I hope these happy little paintings brought a little Christmas cheer to some who we love... My Aunt Anita in Missouri... Ms. Hannah in the retirement center that my dad lives in... Ms. Francis who took care of my kids in the nursery when they were babies... Ms. Mary Ella who greeted us at the door every single Sunday morning for decades...

 

To give some size perspective, here they are beside a large version of this painting.

Original acrylic paintings on 5"x 7" Canvas Board

[GIFTS]

The 16"x 20" version is available. Click HERE if you're interested.

Mama Hen

 I love how this mama hen puts her wing over her baby when it's cold.

Blueberry Muffin

Blueberries are kind of new to me.  I don't think I ever had one as a kid.  It's hard to believe, but I was actually an adult with kids of my own the first time I had a blueberry muffin made with fresh blueberries. 

Not to worry! I've made up for it!  Several times during the month of June, I'll be at Stay-n-Step Blueberry Farm to fill a gallon bucket. 

I like to put so many blueberries in my muffins that they're just a yummy mess.

This muffin is the first from a weekly art challenge with my friend Cheri. This week's challenge was "Breakfast."

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Revisiting Christmas Past

I love coming across old fireplace chimneys.  I wonder about the house that it used to be a part of. I wonder about the family that sat by its hearth.

We discovered this one on a hiking trail in a nearby state park.

 I pass this one on the way to the grocery store.

Sometimes you just have to stop the car right in the road and snap a picture.

Christmas Past
 I painted this chimney twice in 2010 and decided 2020 was a good time to revisit it. 

Remember When...
When I painted this ten years ago, this is what I wrote:
This chimney sits along the road that goes between my two brothers' houses.  It just sits there in a little field all alone, but it's not lonely.  Imagine what this old chimney has seen.  I can imagine it kept  a family's cabin warm for years and years.  I can imagine the farmer who stacked the logs and built the fire.  I can imagine his wife who poked the logs and kept the fire going.  I can imagine the children doing homework in front of it.  I can imagine a cat curled up on the hearth.  I can imagine stockings hanging from the mantle year after year.  I can imagine... 

I knew that I'd revisit Christmas Past the moment I saw Sara's December inspiration image on Inspiration Collaboration. If the black birds could decorate a Christmas tree in a snowy field with lights and ornaments, then cardinals could hang stockings and garland on a mantle.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas

Click Revisiting Christmas Past if you'd like to purchase this painting.

Christmas Past is available in giclee or print. Contact me if you're interested.

Inspiration Collaboration - December 2020

Four new images have been chosen to inspire you to create art of your own.  Click HERE to read the thoughts behind each one.

It's easy to be a part.  Click HERE for instructions.  We look forward to seeing what you create!

Sunflower Bouquet (Palette Knife)

I was in the mood to play with paint, and this felt like a good image for doing that.  The only materials I used, were  palette knives and a cheap beginner's oil paint set because I wanted to let myself be lavish with the amount of paint I applied each time I laid it down on the canvas.

True, sunflowers aren't exactly in season right now.  That's okay.  I used so much paint, it may be next summer before it's completely dry!  Mmmm.... I can't wait until it does dry so I can run my fingers across the texture of the paint on the canvas.  And, yes, whenever I'm in an art museum, I have to remind myself not to touch!

What fun!  How long did it take? Oh, a little more than one football game. (Go Hogs! Woo Pig Sooie! Well, they lost, but we're loyal anyway.)

It was also fun to revisit a reference photo that I'd painted ten years ago.  

In 2010 I wrote, "A flower is just more beautiful if you put the seed in the ground yourself, watered the sprout, kept the weeds away, and noticed the first bloom."

Very true. I love that.

Original Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Flamingo on Water

 

Flamingos are so fun to paint... bold and colorful and swish-y, so I've painted several over the years.  This is actually the second time I've painted this guy... but... The last one was really huge, 16"x 16", and this one is really tiny, 6"x 6".

 I've been thinking about what I want to do creatively in 2021.  I know that if I write my thoughts down like a to-do list, that will make them real goals instead of just fleeting ideas. One of those ideas (which is about to become a goal since I'm putting it in writing) is to paint more small paintings, ones in which I practice putting a stroke of paint down in the right place, leaving it alone, and moving along. I need to play with paint more. That's what I tried to do with this one.

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 6" Canvas Board

[GIFT]

Click Flamingo on Blue if you'd like to see the bigger one.

A Sprinkle of Color

We face a very important choice before we dip... What flavor?

We face another decision after we dip...What will we sprinkle (or pour) on top?

Me? It's cake batter ice cream with almonds and Heath bar sprinkles... or French vanilla with almonds and raspberries... or soft serve vanilla with caramel and Snickers pieces...

What do you choose?

This painting was done in response to the November art challenge, A Pop of Colour, from Inspiration Collaboration.

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Autumn in Northwest Arkansas

 

Someone to Watch Over Me

I want each my paintings to tell a story on canvas. 
I feel like this one does.

I love it when out of the blue I get an e-mail asking if I might be able to do a special painting for someone.  Once I learn the reason... the story, I begin to bond with the story that the blank canvas will begin to tell.

Before I can begin, though, there are details to work out:  Which photo will be used? (The best photograph doesn't necessarily make the best painting.) What size of canvas will be right? (It depends both on the subject and on the commitment of wall space.) What shape of canvas will be right for the composition? (Square, vertical, horizontal) What is the timeframe? (A few weeks or as soon as possible?)

I want to make clear that none of my paintings is ever going to be an exact duplicate of a photo. I like having freedom to use my artistic license when needed.  While I won't make up random things, I can make tweaks. So the last question is always, "Is there anything you would like to see changed, removed, or added?"  

This time I got some pretty specific requests.

Could you change the neighborhood outside the window to a fall scene?

Could you incorporate a red heart or some red hearts somewhere?

Could you add a redheaded woodpecker?

Wow... ummm... okay... those are some pretty specific requests.  My e-mail reply probably said, "Sure!" My mind was probably reeling with, "How in the world am I going to accomplish those!"  But, because I knew the story... the reasons, I knew I'd find a way. And, I did.

I hope that the real story is honored by the story put on canvas.

We'll see if this works... 

I thought you might like watching the process. Let me know what you think!

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Beethoven's Fifth

When Sara and I were creating Inspiration Collaboration, we were careful to avoid the word “challenge” because we didn’t want to give a tone of it being work or that participating would be hard.  

That said, getting my first look (a few days early) of Sara’s inspiration image 5 + 1, all I could think was, "Oh, my... this is going to be a really... big... challenge..."  

My train of thought... 

    What!? Oh dear... No way... 

        Ok... I can do this... Think...

            Lines... black lines... five... parallel... continuing off sides...

                A bird... small like a dot...

                    Bold... beautiful... simple... powerful...

Sometimes the art fairy who brings great ideas shows up like a gentle tinkling of bells...

But other times... 

                    BaBaBa Baaaaaaaaaaaamph! 

                          BaBaBa Baaaaaaaaaaaaamph!

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 20" Wrapped Canvas

If you'd like to purchase this painting for your own wall, click Beethoven's Fifth.

Evening Walks

Autumn evenings are fine for walking the dog and enjoying the neighborhood. 

Some neighbors line up to say hello.

Others just go on about their business.

They might even offer a chair and ask you to stay a while.

Or they might show up back at your own house.