Painting what you love is not always painting what you know. I have loved being on or near the water all my life. My dream, when I was young, was to go around the world in a sailboat. Big dream for someone who never had a dinghy...much less a sailboat! I take that back; we had a nifty catamaran in Quantico, Virginia for about a year. We sailed it on the Potomac.

Anyway...back to my story. Many years ago I painted a small watercolor of an old car parked in an ancient barn. I was showing it at an outdoor venue in Virginia where  an antique car show happened to be going on at the same time.  Many of the visitors were car afficionados and they kept commenting on my painting: "That car didn't have those headlights...that bumper is wrong...etc." It was a "made up" car, but they didn't know that. Moral of the story...don't show a car painting to automobile experts unless you know it's right!

And now back to the present. While painting in a plein air event in Pt. Aransas, Texas during a big regatta weekend I watched many beautiful sailboats coming into the harbor. It was a super windy and unusually chilly day. One of my small sketches eventually led to this 30x40 studio painting entitled Regatta. Although I am not a "boat person" I do love being around them, watching and painting the shapes, colors, and action. When this beauty came in and docked in front of me the crew had to fight to get that sail furled. Between the the wind, the activity of the sailors hauling in the sail , and the wonderful complementary colors, I was having a great time capturing it on my camera and in my sketchbook.

Now I love this painting. I think the composition is great, and the action believable. I have been told, however, that the sail wouldn't be that way if they were docked. It must have snagged or something and they had to fix it after coming in. So...what do you think? Did I capture a great moment for a painting, or did I catch them in a embarrasing situation...and does it even matter? I wonder what the owner of the boat would say. :)

I love working on a large canvas, but realize that many people don't have room for them. Recently I was fortunate to receive a commission for a 34x54 oil painting for a lovely couple who wanted something peaceful and calm, but also local. This is SERENITY.

 I so enjoyed painting it, that I went on to do another oil that is 40x60 entitled  LIFE IS GOOD. 

The second painting is from a scene in South Padre Island. It was challenging to paint it in a room shared with dogs and cats who all seemed interested in the process! Life is Good is now at Wind Way Gallery in Rockport, TX. It takes up my entire alloted space. Looks great on the wall.

Thanks for your interest. Please feel free to comment.

You really can "go home again." Lately I have revisited a number of paintings that at one time I thought were just fine. Funny how you can look at something a year or so later and go, "Wow...I need to do something about that one!"

 Such is the case with Egret Paradise.  This scene is from a highway not far from my home in Aransas County, Texas. I was driving to San Antonio in the early morning when I saw these incredible birds in great number in a wetland area near Copano Bay. I quickly turned around and photographed them. They were so incredibly beautiful that I spent almost an hour just looking at them. Unfortunately, the drought we are experiencing in South Texas has just about dried up all the water in that area. When the rains return, hopefully the wetlands will come back.

Before:                  After: 

The 18x24 oil painting was originally finished in 2011. I recently re-worked the central area that contains the egrets. The first birds, as you can see in the before picture, were very small and almost all in shadow, practically invisible. They were meant to be the focal point! I cleaned the painting and added medium to the area to be re-painted. I proceeded to paint each bird larger and more in the light. I also strengthened the water and foreground grasses. The painting now reflects my original intent! I will be posting more re-worked paintings in the future.

Thanks for reading my blog!

I believe I have mentioned before that I am part of a plein air group of nine women artists in Rockport, Texas. We Paint Texas! In the past three years we have been to Big Bend, Castroville, Palmetto State Park, South Padre Island, and Sea Drift. We were invited to show our work in Ft. Worth in the Atrium Gallery of the University of North Texas Health Science campus. It is a beautiful show of about ninety paintings. Three of us made the drive to Ft. Worth to hang the works. It was a lot of creative fun in spite of all my wrong turns! 

 Above are four of my paintings, then works by Caro Jackson, Susan Forrest, Betty Shamel, and Lisa Baer.

If you are in the Ft. Worth area, please try to see it. It will be there through Gallery Night on March 23, 2013. The other Rockport-9 artists are Anita Diebel, Mary Frazier, Ann Reimer, Carol Koutnik, Lisa Baer, Betty Shamel, Susan Forrest, and Caro Jackson.

Recently I painted out in Port Aransas, TX with my wonderful plein air group, the Rockport 9. We spent two days painting around the island. My favorite spot was on the beach with dunes and grasses on one side, the channel on the other. I have always loved painting paths, drives, creeks, etc. that lead your eye into the area while providing a little mystery. This area had great tire tracks in the sand curving toward a natural center of interest. When I painted a larger studio painting from the plein air work I was so surprised a few days after it was finished to discover that I had inadvertently painted the dunes and the rocks in an arrow shape with the little white house sitting on top. What was I thinking? I scraped, re-painted and placed that little house where it belonged. Now I am looking at the painting and think I might tone down that bright rock on the right and make the little house a bit stronger to be the center of interest. What do you think?

Accepted into the 2008 Degas Pastel Society National Exhibition in New Orleans, LA. Received Honorable Mention.

In spite of all this, I recently added more color into the palm trees to make them more backlit. I think it improved the painting so am going to submit it to another pastel competition. I also re-framed it. Because I managed to cut it to fit the frame, but didn't get it square, I had to special order a frame to fit it at 17 1/2 x 23 1/2. I must have clicked on the wrong frame and received this very ornate, gold, almost 21 pound frame! After a year it now sports a smooth, gold, plein aire style frame. Much better!

Check out the Limited Edition Prints section in my portfolio. It is a great way to buy fine art at a reasonable price. They make great gifts! Currently I only have two prints: Fulton Sunrise and Morning Light. I chose these paintings because I felt that they were  representative of the Rockport/Fulton harbors, and as it turned out they go together well.  Both are printed on canvas or watercolor paper with archival inks. Excellent quality and spot on in their likeness to the original paintings. The 18x24 are limited to 50 prints while the 9x12 are in editions of 200.

I went to the Rockport beach one morning at sunrise. The colors of the sky were just beautiful, but most amazing were the hundreds upon hundreds of Skimmers coming across the bay. They swooped up and down onto the shallow waters of the beach. It was just delightful to see. Very close by this beach is a large nesting area for the Skimmers, as well as many other seabirds including our noisy Laughing Gulls. It is a very special place. I plan to paint more of these birds on the beach.

The other day some young men came into Wind Way Gallery in Rockport asking for shark pictures. They said all they could find was birds! Needless to say, I couldn't help them. :)

I'm also still painting the view from my studio window. The property has sold and is being developed. I don't know what will be built on it, so I am trying to capture it in different light and moods while I can. I guess it is true that things never stay the same!

Yesterday, I spent a great afternoon painting out with my Rockport Plein Air painting friends. The sky was overcast, but you could still see cloud formations. It is always a challenge to bring out more color on such a day. I started with an alizarin crimson/raw umber combination for toning the canvas. Used this combo throughout the painting for darkening areas, or underpainting the palms and grass. Painted about one and a half hours just trying to capture the feel of the day. I was pleased with it, but if I make a studio painting I will probably increase the size of the palms and boats.

It is always fun to paint with friends. The best part is the critique afterwards at the art center. We call it Wine and Whine.

Here in Rockport, Texas, we have these beautiful Live Oak trees. They are special because many are bent in a curve from the prevailing winds off Aransas Bay. I discovered they are unique to our small area of the Gulf Coast, yet many have been lost to increased development of business and home sites. I've always loved these trees, the palms, and the bays that are more green than blue. You will see many of these subjects in my paintings.

Like many artists, I strive to help protect the valuable natural resources of our area through my art. There  many such paintings in the portfolio section of my website.  See Centurion in the Oil Paintings Portfolio. It is one of my favorites because this tree is located behind our house. Some of my beloved pets are buried under its protection. When the sun sets, it lights up the trunks of the oaks and turns them a golden red.