It’s hard to describe your own work. Here it is, look at it – what do you think?
I paint the things I’m attracted to, on location if possible; painting on location brings an immediacy to my work not often found in the studio. Some of my work is very detailed; if I am attracted to the intricacy of the subject I will often make a very thoughtful, intricate painting…I love to draw, and so a very detailed drawing is like solving a puzzle for me.
Some of my paintings are concerned with impressions, the way things make me feel, such as the way the colors of the sunset are echoed on the land…this is looser, more about color and less about detail. I like to paint the light instead of painting the figure; this allows me to show the model without a lot of detail, and also to weave the figure into the background. I try to always keep rhythm and a flowing line in my work.
I have a never ending fascination with the county fair, and am also enchanted with bull riding, perhaps because I love a huge gnarly sweaty crowd scene with lots of color and motion. My husband and I have just moved from rural western Pennsylvania to somewhat coastal Virginia; my plan is to temporarily abandon painting county fair scenes and focus on the beach. The crowd is just as fascinating, and the water as backdrop is just stellar...all those warm skin tones against the blue! Stay tuned.
Society's 45th Annual Exhibition! The two stars of this painting are my great niece and nephew; he is in an advisory role, while she is the worker, oblivious to the amount of sand in her hair as she builds the castle. It was huge fun to paint, and I hope that shows!
This one's 22" x 23", professionally framed in a lovely wooden moulding with a 4" cream mat, and is $1200.
The show opens May 3 at the Academy Center of the Arts in
Lynchburg, VA.
I'm just so thrilled to announce that "Sandcastle" juried in to the Virginia Watercolor
Here's how a painting starts.....
Sometimes, when I start a big barn door of a painting, the drawing takes so long to do that I want to be sure about the colors before slapping paint down...so I'll do a small study (this one's 7" x 9") to get things figured out. The painting was done for a truly creative show called "Elements" at the LibertyTown Arts Workshop. Fire, ice, water and earth are the elements; each Libertytown artist was assigned one of these to depict. Mine was earth, so here you have a tractor plowing corn fields under a gorgeous, juicy sunset. I'm trying to create some contrast between the floating pinks and purples in the sky and the solid greens and earth tones in the foreground.
So, I plunged in, and this painting finished up relatively quickly and easily because I felt sure about my colors. It's 19" x 24", which framed up to 30" x 35". I am quite pleased with the feeling of movement inherent in the tractor and surrounding field. I've used an extravagant amount of Windsor Newton gold gouache in this; it's my favorite new paint...it glitters when used thickly, and makes a glowing, subtle wash, which added drama to my sunset.
This painting, "Plowing the Corn Fields", is for sale in the "Poetry of Place" show described above!
Plowing the Corn Fields $750.00
Mark Rengers Gallery
I'm delighted to report that I have lots of new paintings at the Mark Rengers Gallery. I'm feeling very lucky to be represented by this wonderful place...it's located in the charming artistic village of Sewickley, just minutes from Pittsburgh; it was formerly the Sewickley Gallery and Frame Shop. The folks who run this gallery are awesome; it's a full service gallery and picture framing shop, and they have work from a plethora of outstanding artists. For more details, check out markrengersgallery.com. It's my favorite gallery!
Lost In Thought
Image size 11" x 13"; with blue Crescent 9549 31/2" mat,
18" x 20". Shrinkwrapped. $400.
Sunset After the Rain
Image size 7 5/8" square; with 3 1/2" cream Crescent 9509 mat: 14 5/8" square. Shrinkwrapped. $200.
Waiting For Merlot
Image size 13" x 18"; with 3 1/2" cream Crescent 9509 mat 20"x 25".
Shrinkwrapped. $400.
So Many Shades of Red
Image size 11 1/2" x 14 1/2"; framed size 20" x 23 3/4". Professionally framed in a lovely fluted gold over red moulding; mat is a 4" cream Crescent 9506. UV glass.
$800.
Along the Trail to Cucumber Falls
Image size 10 1/4" x 14"; with 3 1/2" cream Crescent 9509 mat,
17 1/4" x 21". Shrinkwrapped. SOLD!
Lone Tree at Twilight
Image size 11 1/4" x 14 1/2"; framed size 20" x 23 1/2".
Professionally framed in a lovely fluted gold over red moulding; mat is a 4" cream Crescent 9506. UV glass.
$800.
Many more of my paintings are on the “Recent Work” page…
Sunset On the Back 40
Image size 7" x 7 1/4"; with blue Crescent 9549 3" mat,
13" x 13 1/4". Shrinkwrapped. $175.
After A Day at the Beach
Image size 12" x 16 1/2"; with 3 1/2" cream Crescent 9509 mat, 19" x 23 1/2". Shrinkwrapped. $400.