Cousin Trent

I took this photograph of my cousin, Trent, last November on Thanksgiving Day. I thought he would make an interesting subject to paint because he was wearing three sets of glasses. The painting doesn't really look like him, what do you think? It's really difficult for me to paint someone I know.....especially someone I've known all my life. You would think it would be easier to paint a familiar face but it's not for me.

Oops! My sister just pointed out that I took this photo in October not on Thanksgiving Day. We had a family gathering after my Uncle Clyde passed away and Trent came for that. I'm getting forgetful!

Man From Lahore

Man From Lahore is my latest portrait painting. A friend of mine, Ken Womack, took this photo on one of his many travels around Lahore, Pakistan. Ken is a preacher and works for Mission Catalyst International as the Director of Pastoral Training so he has the opportunity to travel around the world.

Here it is the first day of Spring and we get a snow storm! I took advantage of the bad weather and worked in my studio all day so I'm not complaining. I finished this painting, started another one of my 'hippy' cousin, and did some hand embroidery on a felted piece that I'm trying to get finished. I enjoyed my day...let the snow keep falling!

Cats

My cats never share the same chair so this is a rare shot. Dudley (the seal point Ragdoll) found Tiger (the orange and white one) sleeping in his favorite chair which is located close to my desk in the office. Dudley didn't like that because he considers that chair his personal property. Needless to say, it wasn't long before Tiger jumped down and let Dudley have his chair.

My last two oil paintings aren't good enough to upload to my blog so that's why you are getting to see photos of two of my cats. I'm currently adding some hand embroidery to my latest felted piece so I'll post a photo of that when it's finished. I really enjoy hand stitching on wool felt.....it's much more enjoyable than hand quilting.

Birthday Party

Ron and I went to my sister's house Sunday to celebrate Mother and Ron's birthdays. Sue fixed a wonderful dinner and made a super delicious Italian Cream Cake. Laryssa talked her Aunt Rebecca into painting her finger nails and toe nails.

Daddy does his favorite thing.....sleep! He sleeps (and snores!) while sitting up. He was sleeping while Mom opened her birthday presents.

My mother opening her presents. She turned 75.

My husband, Ron, will have a birthday next week. Here he is reading his birthday cards. Of course, he must have that blue tooth device in his ear.

Old Isaac's Place

I just finished this little 8" x 10" last night. I chose this scene to paint because I love the old rickety fence. Whoa, I see a glaring error in this painting that I need to fix! It really helps to look at a photo of a painting that you thought was finished!

Now I'm working on a portrait of a family member. Why is it so much harder to paint someone that you know? It seems like it would be an advantage because you know your subject but it's more difficult to me. I think it will be a nice painting when I'm finished but it won't look like my family member, that's for sure! I need to practice drawing the person then I will try it again later.

More Paintings and One Fiber Piece in Process!

I don't think these two still life paintings need an explaination but since this is a blog I should say something about them, lol! The pears are more realistic than the flower arrangement and that was done on purpose. I painted the pears from a photograph and the flowers were painted from a still life setup in my studio. It was intended to be more whimsical. I actually used a piece of hand dyed fabric for the back ground that was exactly that color of bright yellow green.

This portrait of an older woman praying is my latest painting. The hands were hard for me to paint. I really like this painting....not that it is well painted but I like the subject.

I felted this piece Sunday afternoon. This is just a start, it has a long way to go before it is finished. I have more defined felting to do then I will add embroidery stitches and maybe some beads. You may remember this design.....I took it from one of my abstract paintings. The painting is 6" x 8" and this piece will be about 18" x 24" when it's finished. Maybe I'll have it finished in time to enter into Fiberworks in June.

My little Dudley

This is Dudley, my little Ragdoll. He is fully matured and only weighs 8 1/2 pounds which is small for a Ragdoll but he was the runt of the litter. I didn't enhance this photo at all, his eyes are really this blue. I need to get a good photo of him so I can paint his portrait.

Dorothea

"Dorothea" is still wet and setting on my easel at the moment. This is another 11 x 14 oil painting. I think I'm stuck on that size but when you buy panels from Raymar you have to buy 10 at a time. This is also a good size for portraits. This is the first portrait that I've painted with the subject wearing glasses. They are hard to do and you can tell I need practice!

Old Hermit

This is "Old Hermit" the latest painting in my portrait series that is also 11" x 14". I really like this painting. Carla came over Saturday and after buying frames at our favorite frame shop (Pirates Alley) we came back to the studio and painted. It was one of those special painting sessions where things just 'clicked'. I wish that happened more often! Anyway we were both very pleased with our paintings that day.

Old Barn

I really need to get a better photograph of this painting. I don't like the way the barn has a glazy look on the roof and the left side but I didn't take the time to setup any special lighting. I'll have to experiment with that later. Anyway this is my latest painting. It's on an 8" x 10" canvas panel board that I purchase from RayMar Art.  They are a very high quality panel that won't warp and I love them.

UPDATE (4/7/10): I just sold this painting to a very dear friend. Thank you, Erika, I hope you enjoy the painting!