Recent Work

These images are from some recent work. the first image is called "Got Love?" It is an acrylic done with my new Golden Open Acrylics. I love these paints! They can be blended much like oils even 2 days or more after putting them on the canvas. The other three images are visitors to my bird feeders. These guys are used to seeing me around the feeders in fact the Chickadees darn near eat out of my hand and the nuthatches dart in and out so quick you hardly can get a shot off.

Sofie, Love At First Sight.......this is my Mom's dog who she took in from a friend who could not take care of her anymore. This is an Acrylic and will be a part of the "Helping Paws 2009" online exhibit beginning October 1, 2009 and running through January, 2010. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this painting will benefit The Humane Society of Delaware County, Ohio. Prints are also available.

You can purchase this original painting or a print by contacting me. The price is $250 with 25% going to the charity.

Please consider the adoption option and support your local shelters.

Delaware All Horse Parade

This past Sunday was the Delaware County All Horse Parade which kicks off our County Fair, the best fair East of the Mississippi! I am a staff photographer for the fair this year and will be covering the Little Brown Jug and the Juggette as well as the rest of the races. I will also be poking around the show barns and arenas and catching the action at the Open and Jr. Fair shows. This is always a very busy time but oh so fun to be a part of the action. Best seat in the house for the Little Brown Jug!

The fair starts on Saturday, September 19 and runs until the 26th.

Here are a few shots from the parade. Hope you enjoy them.

Boots and Becky

This is my latest commission, Boots and Becky, a cute pair who I think, really didn't like each other very much. I managed to get some nice pictures of them and used Photoshop to composite them into a decent composition. The painting is an 11 x 14 inch oil.

I delivered the painting tonight. 1 down, one more to go!

It has been a while since I have done a dog commission but I must say, I have missed doing them. This pair was very photogenic so it is possible that they may show up in my future work.

Niagara Falls Sentinel

I completed this painting this week for a miniature show in Nags Head, North Carolina. http://www.seasideart.com/EventDetails.aspx?id=22. It is 4 x 5 inches painted in Acrylic and titled "Niagara Falls Sentinel". My plan is to do a life-sized painting of this same bird at some point. I have a lot of photos of him, some really interesting ones of him calling loudly when I got too close.
My husband had a hard time trying to figure out what held my interest so long but I couldn't resist the perfect light from the early morning sunrise. Gorgeous!

The Wilds!

This is a simple study produced while I was on vacation last year. Giraffes are such funny creatures. The reference for this drawing was captured at The Wilds http://www.thewilds.org, a 10,000 acre wildlife preserve located in East Central Ohio. The Wilds houses many endangered and threatened species from Asia, Africa and North America, including Cheetahs, African Wild Dogs, several species of Rhinoceros, Bactrian Deer, Grevy Zebra, Bactrian Camels, American Bison, Przewalski's Wild Horse, Sichuan Takin, Banteng, several species of antelope such as Fringe-eared oryx, Scimitar-horned oryx, Sable antelope, Persian Onager, and Common Eland. These species are free ranging except for the carnivores which are housed at the carnivore facility with large pastures to stretch their legs.

I have a lot of photos taken at a photography workshop last year. I took so many that it is difficult to go through them all. There is an artist workshop scheduled for May, 2009, 3 days all enclusive for $175.00! This is a great place to visit and for that kind of money, well worth the material you will come back with. The landscape is gorgeous and at that time of year, there will be lots of flowers too. If anyone is interested in attending, please let me know. I am looking for comrads to go with. See there website for more information.

Here are a couple of shots from the photo workshop. This year they have two! And YES, that is a bird sitting on that Sable antelope's back!

" 'Til the Cows Come Home"

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my sister saying that our Mother was gravely ill. At the time, I was preparing to go photograph horses for the Spring Solstice project for the Equine Photographers Network Exhibition. Needless to say, I packed a quick bag and camera in hand, headed to Cincinnati (actually Southeast Indiana but close enough) where my Mom was brought into the ER. My thought was that if I got a chance, I would shoot horses along the way for the project but the opportunity did not present itself.

The following day, I was driving the winding roads in Southeast Indiana, taking in the beautiful scenery of the Ohio River Valley and trying to calm my Dad's obvious distress and worry about Mom. On the way back to the hospital, I saw some sows and a field full of Chickens and roosters, aglow in the late evening light. The temptation was too great! I pulled in the driveway and fortunately, the farm owners were out, granting permission for me to photograph the animals. The resulting photographs produced some excellent references.

This work is a Colored Pencil, 9 x 12, called " 'Til the Cows Come Home" He was quite a "hoot"! I am teaching a colored Pencil Class this summer and felt I should brush up on my skills and get a feel for the medium. I worked three days on this, a lot of time for the size and I probably could have worked another three days but had to get it finished for a local show at the High Road Gallery in Worthington, Ohio.

I plan on producing an oil from the same reference photos. The colors will be so much more vibrant in oils.

As a postscript to this post, my Mom is still recovering in the hospital but doing much better. She needs to regain her strength.

"Hobby" Day 3 Watercolor progress

Today's work on Hobby included further defining the subtle highlight and shadow details of the horse. I am happy with the progress so far and I think it will start coming together nicely.

It was difficult to not get distracted with the warm weather and absolutely gorgeous day going on outside the studio windows. I did take the time to clean the windows and rather enjoyed the antics of the feeder birds who are becoming very active with the pending breeding season. The American Goldfinches are starting to molt and get their bright yellow breeding plumage. I am contemplating a stop at the local Tractor Supply to buy one of the nice copper bird baths I saw there yesterday!

Watercolor Progress "Hobby"

I haven't worked a lot on this due to a remodeling project is the studio but did manage to get in a few hours. I have the eye defined a bit and you can see some of the dimension in the muscles and facial structures.

Vignettes are a bit of a challenge for me. I never know where to end them. This was supposed to be an 11 x 14 but the horse did not fit comfortably into that space so I had to re-draw it. It needed the extra space in front of the nose.

The studio is still a work in progress. We decided to put a landing at the bottom of the stairs which meant opening up the head space and properly re-configuring the plumbing and wiring. We were going to do this at a later date but decided that it made sense to do it now and deal with the mess. It also allows us to properly install the new lighting and ceiling. My husband is a true craftsman! He had to rebuild a wall that had been put up crooked which made more mess but it will be so much better in the long run.

I just ordered some beautiful hanging flower baskets to hang outside the windows of the studio. My hummingbirds will be so happy when they get here. Actually, the hummers will arrive before the flowers so will have to keep the feeders fresh for them! I love Spring!

New Commission: "Hobby"

I am starting a new commission and would like to post it here as a work-in-progress. The horse is named "Hobby". My 12 year old son actually took the reference for this painting. I had turned him loose with my Nikon D-70s at the Delaware Horse Parade where my client was riding with her side-saddle club. I presented several possible references for her to choose from and by popular vote, Simon's picture was chosen.

Here is yesterday's work along with the reference. Watercolor paintings take a while to develop, layering color, one on top of the other to get the desired density and values of colors. It has been a while since I have painted in watercolor other than a few black and white pieces produced last year. This will be a nice change!

On another note, Spring is in the air here in Ohio. the crocus is blooming; the Turkey Vultures are souring; and the birds are acting goofy. The horses are starting to shed as well even though it is in the low 30s today. We have a ton of geese on the river, all fighting over the females so lots of ruckus! I wish I could capture some of this spring behavior but I shipped my primary lens off for repair. The eagles up the road should be sitting on eggs by now so I hope to get them on the nest.