Early Blues

"Early Blues"

6x6

Oil on Panel

starting bid $25

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I am hungry to go to Long Hill Reservation in Beverly when the blue flowers come out. There are thousands of siberian squill and scilla and they pop up everywhere. It was a beautiful day when I sat down and painted these nestled in some rocks at the base of a greening-up tree.

"Purple Shadow, Lavender Sky"

"Purple Shadow, Lavender Sky"

6x6

Oil on Panel

starting bid $50

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The sun had finally come out on Islesford Maine, and we had one more day to paint in our Henry Isaac/Ashley Bryan Labor Day Weekend workshop. (What a joy THAT was) But seeing the sun after nothing but fog and rain brought our some colors in me I didn't know I had, and it brought out a looseness I can't usually get even if I try. Go ahead and bid, you might get this for a bargain price!

"Hiding at the Party"

"Hiding at the Party"

6x6

Oil on Panel

startng bid $40

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It was another play day when I did this. Abstracts always feel like play. I seem to grab curves and intersect lines with them in an opposing way, and then throw on lots of color. Here it looked a little tight and I finished with big splashes of palette knife in bright color. It looks to me like a lima bean hiding in the middle of the party. He was very important right from the beginning but I don't know why!

"One of the Dozen"

"One of the Dozen"

6x6 

Oil on panel

starting bid $75

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This is still wet! It is one of the beautiful classic dozen roses that my husband gave me for Valentines Day. Challenging to paint, but I am so happy that it came out so well! My friend tells me that now I have to paint 11 more…..I don't know , my paints are at the studio and there is a  blizzard between me and them…we will see.

Daisies, Veronica, and Coreopsis

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $75

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This was the first time I did a bouquet cluster with the purpose of getting the light on it. All the flowers are from my garden. It is amazing just how many you can cram into a 6x6 panel!

"Lenten Rose (Hellebore)"

"Lenten Rose (Hellebore)"

6x6 oil on panel

framed with an exhibition quality 

light wood contemporary float frame

opening bid: $75

Buy it now $175

After the auction price:$250

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For two years now I have purchased a gorgeous white Hellebore plant and proceded to almost kill it. Last year I DID kill it. This one is struggling but it is still making it. Hopefully, it will last long enough for me to get it into the ground. (Considering there is about 3 feet of snow out there, it may be a while!) Anyhow, it has now been immortalized in paint. I shared it earlier and lots of my readers liked it. Now, it is your chance to get this sweet piece at a good price, on auction! Bid away!

"Harbor with Roses"

6x6 oil on panel

framed with an exhibition quality 

light wood contemporary float frame

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This little piece is a perfect partner for the last two, making triplets. They look great together. This one was painted on my trip to the island of Islesford, off the coast of aAcadia National Park. Perfect day, roses in just the right place, lovely harbor. It really helped that our trip to that point had all been grey, rainy, and foggy. This was pure bliss to paint.

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

"Harbor Sentries"

6x6 oil on panel

framed with an exhibition quality 

light wood contemporary float frame

click here to bid

When I was painting in Maine, I was remembering an exercise we did in Carol Marine's class where we counted our strokes. The purpose was to be thoughtful and clear exactly what we wanted to paint, how it would be painted and exactly what color so that we did not have to go back. The process is harder than you might think. So I tried it on this small harborscape I did in Rockport, Maine. This piece had about 50 strokes, total, and I am happy with the way it came out. I call it Harbor Sentries because the masts and posts look very much like guards. 

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

"Hidden Town Beach"

6x6 oil on panel

Framed with a high quality exhibit floating frame.

On Auction now: click here to bid.

Remembering good days in this one. I even have it in my office now, but I will give it up if you want to buy it! This painting is one from Rockport, Maine. I was at the little park on the harbor and near the building there. While I was there a schol bus brought a whole bunch of happy kids to swim at the beach that is hidden behind the spit of land in front. But the flag announces its location!

I was again trying to use my limited strokes, but this time I did not count them, just tried hard to make every stroke count. But I had a problem, the rain started and I was only half finished. I was able to finish it in the studio, however, and I like how it came out!

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

Daisies and Veronica on Green

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $75

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Sometimes it feels good just to put a flower in front of me, light it up , and paint happily away. It's not a big important gallery painting, but these bring me a lot of joy!  I like the unusual composition that the curving veronica makes with the daisies off-center. This one makes me happy. Here, I am focusing on the light and I especially like it when I get further away and see the shadow on the background.

Lavender Delphinium

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $75

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Here's another ode to summer in the middle of winter. I think posting flowers is a good idea, don't you? Last summer, I was sad when a big storm knocked down all my delphinium just as they filled out. But the upside is I got to pick massive handfuls of them for the house. This one was lucky enough to go to the studio and get painted. I am getting excited about painting flowers with strong shadows from a strong close light!

Fog and Float

Fog and Float

6x6

Oil on Panel

opening bid $100

buy it now $200

This piece has been exhibited and
has a high quality exhibit line frame, contemporary floater style

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When I was painting up in Islesford, where we had a lot of rain, we also had fog. A lot of fog. How mystical it seems, even magical to look out into a white and grey world and find some motion, then shapes arranging themselves in front of you? And in this case, the whole monochromatic scene was punctuated very strongly with a bright orange/red float. Mmmm, I like this one.

White Floats and Boat

6x6

Oil on Panel

opening bid $75

buy it now $175

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This was done on a lovely day in Manchester-by-the-Sea, on the North Shore of Boston. What a beautiful day that was. There were larger and more dramatic boats around this lovely harbor, but I liked this small white one with two floats nearby. Sort of "the everyday sailor" instead of the "the watered gentry". The touch of red came from a reflected hull of another boat and I thought it was just what it needed. It looks like it might have been an easy painting, a simple boat….but they move constantly and change from every angle. I think this came out all right in spite of that!

Stonington Family Business

Stonington Family Business

6x6

Oil on Panel

Framed with high quality exhibit line frame (light wood, floating)

opening bid $100

buy it now $295

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I was painting on the town landing in Stonington and was drawn to a wonderful truck being loaded at the dock over an expanse of water. I especially loved the yellows and how they reflected in the water and seemed to respond to each other. I like that I was able to catch the man loading in the back. Putting my brushes away, a man came over to look. "That's a Stonington family business", he said. "It would be a great gift". But no, he didn't buy it.  

Waiting at Manchester-By-The-Sea

Waiting at Manchester-By-The-Sea

6x6

Oil on Panel

Click for Link to Auction!

What a wonderful discovery, finding Manchester-By-The-Sea harbor not far from my home on the North Shore of Boston. I visited with a friend whose pastel class came frequently to work. Just lovely - still a working harbor where you would not expect to find one. I liked the sunlight on this small working boat and the reflections.

Women With Cello and Violin

6x6

Oil on Panel

This is my second paint sketch from my morning of painting at the open rehearsal of Music at Eden's Edge, the chamber music ensemble. There were four members of the group present and I was positioned to get the cello and violin player most directly. 

I have a history of figure drawing, most artists do, and it seems that returning to it is like coming back to the place where you can get renewed, or maybe, made humble again....... You can also get pretty frustrated with figures, because the slightest movement and everything changes. I found that I would try to really see a specific movement, shape, color, light, and put it down, trying to catch the essence of it. If it didn't really go with the next one, because of time and movement of the model, somehow it generally works OK it it is authentically drawn/painted from something clearly seen. I think it may be time to do more of this!

Woman With Cello #1

6x6

oil on panel

I had an opportunity today to paint a chamber music ensemble, Music at Eden's Edge  at the North Shore Art Association in a "really open rehearsal" open for listening and for artists to paint and draw. 

It was an absolute delight and I did two paint sketches. I haven't had time to determine if they are finished so I will not price them at this time, but I wanted to share them. Now, it is a challenge to paint figures, and I haven't done it for some time, and it is even more of a challenge when they are moving, and playing their instruments! I was particularly taken with the cello player in her white dress. I kept remembering a May Sartom poem: 

"Girl With Cello" by May Sarton

There had been no such music here until

A girl came in from falling dark and snow

To bring into this house her glowing cello

As if some silent, magic animal.

She sat, head bent, her long hair all a-spill

Over the breathing wood, and drew the bow.

There had been no such music here until

A girl came in from falling dark and snow.

And she drew out that sound so like a wail,

A rich dark suffering joy, as if to show

All that a wrist holds and fingers know

When they caress a magic animal.

There had been no such music here until

A girl came in from falling dark and snow.

"Red Boat"

6x6 oil on panel

$295

It's a good idea not to get too complacent. At all......It was my last day in Rockland. I had struggled all week to put the learnings from Carol Marine's class into my normal way of working, and had finally had a pretty good day on Thursday. So I took on this boatyard (see below) I LOVED the way the tugboat in drydock contrasted with historical and contemporary vessels both in and out of the water. Well, first my panel fell into my palette. Then I had to bungee everything because of the wind. And when I started painting, it was like painting with stickum on formica. I was painting on a surface I did not realize was extra slick. It was awful, but I kept plugging. The "drawing" part was very hard, getting all the parts in scale and place.Three hours later, I finally had a basic cover on the panel and quit. Trust me, you will not see this one., it was really bad. So I had to end the week with something I could handle successfully. 

So I turned around and found the little red sailboat, waiting patiently for me in a small cove. Simple, straightforward, kinda sweet. Ahhhh. at last. A better ending to my two weeks in Maine.

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

"Friendship Harbor Walkway"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89

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"You First"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89
click here to bid

Well now I know that that tall pear is a bully. Look what he is doing today! Pushing her ahead of him into the copper bowl so that she can take the brunt of the unknown! Even the color is kinda evil.