Two Apples

"Two Apples", 9 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes I just want someone to tell me what to do, so today I went to Carol Marine's lovely Daily Paintworks Challenge website and took the challenge.

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Blue Dress - NFS

"Blue Dress", 18 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
What can I say--its of one of my daughters and I like the colors.  I decided to stop at an early stage of painting--something I should probably do more often.

Roses - SOLD

"Roses", 14 x 14 In, Oil on Raymar Panel
The thing I like about this painting is that there was not any angst in painting it--just big brush strokes. It is strange how in experimenting it is possible to circle around pushing on one area or another or maybe I should say sometimes beyond one area or another.

<--!Purchase this unframed painting.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.-->

Barns Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

"Barns Nisqually Wildlife Refuge", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
Plein Air Washington spent two days at the beautiful Nisqually Wildlife Refuge on the Nisqually River Delta in southern Puget Sound, "established in 1974 for the protection of migratory birds. Three thousand acres of salt and freshwater marshes, grasslands, riparian, and mixed forest habitats provide resting and nesting areas for migratory waterfowl, songbirds, raptors, and wading birds." The Nisqually River originates from the Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainier, a glacier I crossed when I first climbed the mountain many years ago up the Kautz route.

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Reflection - SOLD

"Reflection", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
This is another view from the same model as the last post. In this one I am experimenting with paint application.

SOLD

Waiting - NFS

"Waiting", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Raymar Panel
For the last few years I've been working with mostly smaller panels and I didn't think I could go back to the larger ones I painted 20 years ago. But I'm moving up! I'm actually taking old paintings and sanding them down and painting over them. There is something extremely satisfying about doing this. It is also March 21 and the sun came out today--the winter may not be completely over, but things are changing--the new rhodies we bought have buds and one is starting to bloom. If anyone around here wants to buy rhodies, I highly recommend Rogers Rhodoes. Paul Rogers has the nature of an artist--rather than miles of canvas, he has miles of rhodies and he can't seem to stop himself from acquiring ever new varieties. You have to see it for yourself. Be sure to wear boots.

Meg - NFS

"Meg", 9 x 7 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is a quick sketch, the kind I really like to do. Just do it and be done. I realized something this morning. When I go away on vacation and I post ahead, I can post any old thing. But when I am here, I stress about each painting--whether it is good enough to post. It is as though when I am on vacation, I'm not around to take the heat. Very strange, since it is all on the internet. Do any of you other painters encounter these baffling quirks of the mind?

Green Dress

"Green Dress", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
I keep coming back to the portraits these days, especially ones of my daughters.

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Red Roses - Sold

"Red Roses", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
Maybe you have noticed that I am not posting paintings so often. I am giving myself time to work with larger canvases, to experiment more, to think about and rework some of the paintings and sometimes to throw them in the dust bin. I still paint almost every day, but I am just going about it a little differently.

Girl with Green Scarf - NFS

"Girl with Green Scarf", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
The best motivator for me when painting is to think of each painting as an experiment. I was recently reading Dan McCaw's book and found the exact same advice. There is a wonderful interview with Dan on the Artist Helping Artists Network.

Vancouver Island Winter

"Vancouver Island Winter", 14 x 18 In, Oil on Raymar Panel
When I first started painting regularly, I routinely painted 30 x 40 canvases. With plein air, the canvas size became so much smaller and for years I was happy with 8 x 10's and 10 x 12's. Now, at least some of the time, I am moving up in size, though 14 x 18 is not really that big. My thinking has to change with a bigger canvas and that is the challenge.

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Desert Valley

"Desert Valley", 11 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
The desert sky is so big in Utah, one of my favorite places to travel to.

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Gray Dress - NFS

"Gray Dress", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
Another in the portrait series. Yesterday I did five paintings of the same subject and scraped them all. Is it the winter? Maybe.

Dreaming - NFS

"Dreaming", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
This is a painting of my daughter. I have a portfolio of photographs and sometimes I do the same one over and over, maybe a year later than the first--different size, different background, different brushes, different altogether. Its sort of like painting the moods of Zangle Cove, but more psychological.