Gaining Momentum

Tuscan Grillwork

2006-09-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Early Morning in my Garden

2006-09-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have a large lot, almost an acre in the suburbs of Portland and over the last three years I have added many trees, shrubs, fountains, and a gazebo. Sunday I did a count of the trees and was shocked to get to 76! 76 trees equal alot of leaves, although some of the trees are evergreens. I'm going to photograph my garden through the seasons this year. Here is a start...September early morning photo.

Quick Clowns

2006-09-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have a collection of nesting dolls, that my mother left me. I'm keeping them in case I ever have grandchildren. They're actually kind of fun to draw.

Plates of Garden Food

2006-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quick painting in watercolor of some garden goodies on my glass plates

Match; Illustration Friday Challenge

2006-08-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Her eyeshadow matches her sweater, which matches the colors in the carpet. Her lipstick matches her hair color. Drawn in new watercolor journal with my new w.c. crayons.

Too Hot to Go Outside ToDay

2006-08-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Sunday and I really wanted to work in my garden after church, but it was so hot out, I decided to stay inside. Instead, I baked an apple pie and painted with my new set of watercolor crayons I got on sale from Dick Blick. Some elephants from a trip to Mexico.

My Pet Fish

2006-08-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Also my favorite color combination...turquoise and apple green.

Illustration Friday - Play

2006-08-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some recent watercolors/and color pencils of pets at play. The cat is ready to pounce on his prey, the toy mouse. The terrier is itching to have you run after him, and the basset hound just wants you to throw the ball, or pet him!

More Hood River Sunflowers

2006-08-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

I like to draw sunflowers. They make me feel happy.

Tea Time on Thursday Afternoon

2006-08-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

I needed a cup of tea this afternoon and drank from this cup. Quickly painted in my journal on bad paper again.

Hood River Sunflower

2006-08-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I drove up the gorge to Hood River, with a friend, to poke around the town, take in a few wineries and go to the Van Gogh Festival. We saw fields and fields of sunflowers, zinnias, an old barn, some wine, and alot of produce. People were plopped down in the fields, painting under umbrellas [because of the heat] and I took some photos. Of course, it was high noon and the light was a bit harsh, but the sunflowers looked magnificent, nonetheless.

Hosta Garden

2006-08-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday - Clean

2006-08-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

An elephant's version of clean is giving himself a dust bath. Painted in watercolor and w.c. pencils in my journal on really bad paper.

My Favorite Flower

2006-07-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

Morning by the Fountain

2006-07-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

I added a fountain to my garden a few years ago and a wrought iron gazebo. I love sitting there in the morning having my morning coffee and reading. I am greeted by the bees, the butterflies and of course, all my dogs.

Tegan in the Garden

2006-07-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

A friend visiting from California poses for a photo moments before leaving for her 20th high school reunion. Watercolor 6" x 7".

In Memoriam: Paul Kaufmann

2006-07-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Grief Flowers
I lost a relative a few weeks ago. He died by taking his own life. I can't understand it. No note. No will. A somewhat wealthy man. He was sixty. He lived with our family from the age of 10 or 11. He was a second cousin, but after he came to live with us, I always considered him my brother. He served in Viet Nam. Later, he attended OSU but did not graduate. He married a girl, a stewardess. No children, they later divorced. He also was an alcoholic. His live-in lady partner had given him an ultimatum. Either quit drinking or I'm going to move out. I think he tried to quit, but did not get the kind of help he needed to do so. He did not believe in God. I am so sorry for his sad life, a life with no hope but to end it senselessly.

Prince Charles

2006-07-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

I took a photo of my dog in the vegetable garden and painted a watercolor of it. The Chinese word is dog. His name is Prince Charles, Charlie for short.

AAAHEEAAHEEAAH!

2006-06-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Jungle Jane

Arizona painting

2006-06-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

More practice with watercolor painting and then taking it into Corel Painter.

Watercolor Portrait

2006-06-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Profile of an older man.

Old Drawings...Colored Pencil Portraits

2006-06-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Sometime ago I was doing alot of work with colored pencil. The style was realistic, the technique very time-consuming! Layers and layers of colored pencil applied with a very light hand. I enjoyed it, but many times would quit a painting (true colored pencil artists describe this technique as painting), because I would get bored. I love all artist styles, but I prefer working with mixed media.

Inside My Head At Any Given Moment

2006-06-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last week someone sent me a link to a blog that illustrated what was inside their head. Great illustrations. So here is my version of that...

2006-06-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last week and I forgot to upload my birthday cake illo. Darn, and it would have been perfect for the IF theme that week.

Sketching Faces

2006-06-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Even tho the drawings don't look like the photos that much, I think I am starting to capture differences. Each face has a distinct look that sets them apart. Too often my "portrait illustrations" look alike. Very hard. Must do more.

Sorry...Illustration Friday Challenge

2006-05-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry honey, he whispered in her ear. Drawing done in colored pencil and then painted in Corel Painter IX.

Last weeks IF Angels and Demons

2006-05-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

I forgot to load this last week, probably because I don't like it. Was in too much of a rush to finish. Just an angel. I don't like drawing demons, they scare me.

Pencil Sketch

2006-05-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Even tho I have trepidations about drawing in public, I am going to start doing it someday. But I want to get more comfortable drawing people in general, so my project this week is to draw more people, albeit from photos. So here are two pencil drawings. One is from an advertisement and the other is a friend and her grandbaby.

Is It Time to Go Home Yet?????

2006-05-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Get me out of here...I have a life beyond work!

Springtime Orchard In Oregon

2006-05-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Another painting I did earlier, taken into Corel and enhanced.

Fat...Illustration Friday Challenge

2006-05-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is what I painted first. Fat Lips. I scanned the painting and then repainted it in Corel Painter.

My Impressionistic Garden

2006-05-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

I just got Corel Painter IX and a large Wacom tablet. I just started experimenting with the program and I like love it!

This is a photo of my garden that I cloned and painted in Corel.

Eat Your Breakfast!

2006-05-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

Eat right...one of my favorite healthy style breakfasts is shredded wheat with raspberries. Yummy.

Pig Sketch

2006-05-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Friends and food. Not a great time to stay on a diet with out of town guests, trying new restaurants, barbeques, and margaritas on the deck. Now I'm back on track with more salads, swimming and walking the dogs.

My Sweet Dog Zoe

2006-04-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

I have several dogs. Zoe is my oldest, a springer spaniel. She will be 16 years old this May. She is doing well for her age. She can't hear, but other than not being able to jump up on the bed without some help, she is remarkable. I also have two Westies, and one black lab/chow mix. The lab is my son's dog which I am taking care of while he trys living in LA. Here is a picture of my Zoe, and a quick rendering.

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary...Pablo Picasso

Spotted Animals

2006-04-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

I love spotted animals...and strange looking bugs

Moth or Butterfly?

2006-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I'm using the color palette of pinks and reds lately. Perhaps I'm craving the sun.

Must hurry and finish my drawings for Illo Friday.

I do not understand how anyone can live without one small place of enchantment to turn to. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Miami Woman

2006-04-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

I want to live in a tropical climate. Not in Florida, since I'm a West Coast kinda gal, but maybe Baja, Ca, Scottsdale, Arizona or Mexico. Especially after the cold and wet Easter weekend and winter. I'll still keep my home here but have a place to go where I can warm up!

Angel Wing

2006-04-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

It is not how much you do but how much love you put into the doing that matters....Mother Teresa.

Drawn on Easter Sunday after things had settled down.

Good Friday - Sorrowful Angels

2006-04-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today I'm posting a drawing I did several months ago of angels, Our Holy Mother, and Jesus. It's just a drawing that started out as a sketch, from a vintage postcard of Mexican shrines. Finished on the airplane.

We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds. - Anton Chekov

Speedy Rabbit - Happy Easter

2006-04-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

The jackrabbit can run at fast speeds and some species of hares can jump up to 5 feet high and 22 feet long.

Colored pencil, water colour, and pencil.

SPRING GREEN FROG

2006-04-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

I can tell it's Spring when I go for walks in the evening serenaded by the throaty songs of frogs. I love Spring!

I drew this in my sketchbook in pencil and then painted with watercolor. From a photo.

Fishy Fish

2006-04-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

It was my second time to Hawaii that I went snorkling and after that first time all I wanted to do was snorkle. Something happened when I went in the water with all the fish. I somehow felt I had been there before. I knew the fish. They knew me. If I could have grown gulls and sprouted fins I would not have been happier. My boyfriend was perplexed by my obession with the water. One day stands out clearly. We drove to the far side of the island where we found a fairly secluded beach and cove. There were some sail boats anchored close by. Sun, sand...it was paradise, really. I dropped the picnic basket, blankets, and practically ran to the beach, pulling on my fins and mask. Looking back over my shoulder I shouted...see you later. He grunted...be careful, and I was in the water. I swam around, peering into fish eyes, marveling at the variety, beauty and color. Time seemed to stand still. I kept swimming farther and farther, not looking back toward the beach. Schools of fish swam by and I began to notice how much darker the bottom looked. Bigger fish started to swim by me. But I was still oblivious to the distance from the shore. And then I noticed something or maybe I felt something. A gigantic portuguese man-of-war jellyfish was gliding by my left side. I knew these could be dangerous if they stung. I jerked my head above the surface of the water, tore the mask off and saw that I was at the far edge of the cove, almost into open sea where the currents were ready to take me out. I felt fear flood my body, and I started swimming back to shore. The current was strong, and by the time I made it back to shore I was so weak I could hardly stand up. The whole time I was swimming farther and farther out, I had no fear. Now I know better. I continue to love the Hawaiian waters, but swim more cautiously and with one or more individuals now.

Good for Me!

2006-04-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Confessions are good for the soul, right? I'm not going to try and deny it, but yes, I ate at a Taco Bell on Saturday. After three weeks of healthy eating and reducing portion sizes to fit on the head of a pin, I eagerly gulped down a burrito the size of a guinea pig and loved every bite. And guess what! I've lost ten pounds in three weeks. So I'll keep it up and instead of eating fast food, I'll draw what I want to eat, and paint what I really ate. Maybe that will work to keep me on track.

So here's what I really, really, really wanted to eat for lunch. Juicy burger on a sesame seed bun and slab fries.

But here's what I ate. Salad and bottled water. I'm so proud!