'Preening Lady Duck'

"Preening Lady Duck"
6X6
Oil on Masonite
Available

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I don't know if this is a quirk or something typical of artistic temperment, but when I am painting certain subjects, I seek allegory as I paint them. Does she have a Saturday date for a swim with a handsome Drake? Or is she merely picking at a bug in her feathers? Whichever it is, I also ask myself, "Where would this painting fit into someone's life?" Would you place it in a dressing room where it would remind you of primping? Or do you love ducks and would put it out with a collection of them? Would you give it to a friend with a card that says, "I hope things are just ducky!"

Silly artist....just thinking up reasons for someone else to love a painting that I enjoyed creating. I hope you like her. And I hope things are "just ducky" for you today!!
Thanks for visiting!

'Queen Anne's Road'

"Queen Anne's Road"
5X7
Oil on Masonite
Available
$150.00 unframed

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One of the prettiest gifts of sight in the summer is Queen Anne's Lace along the sides of country roads. This particular place had a profusion of blossoms that made me stop in the middle of the afternoon and grab a picture. Queen Anne lives here! You can tell this painting is of an August day with wheat colors morphing into gold with just a hint of what September will bring us.

'August Mountains'

"August Mountains"
5X7
Oil on Masonite Panel
Available
$175.00 Framed

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This is from our trip up to the mountains last month. You can pronounce that word 'August' either way, as the month or as the adjective meaning exalted or resplendent. Our North Carolina mountains are so beautiful! This painting is but a small reminder of the scenery as you drive up, around, and through them. I hope to do more paintings to keep these beautiful mountains in our hearts. This one shows some tall grass by the side of the road at a resting spot with a stunning view.

A lovely little gallery in Darlington, South Carolina has decided to represent some of my work recently. It is called the Chameleon Art Gallery, so, if you are in that neck of the woods, do stop in and take a look!

As some of you know I have taken on tending to my father who is nearly 91 yrs. and who fell a few weeks ago. It has been more time consuming than before, since his fall, so my paintings are not coming as fast as I would like. I think it has taken me almost two weeks now just to find a couple of hours to get my paints out. Each day I look for the amount of time I need. And each day I find only bits and pieces, here and there, not enough to make it worth getting the brushes wet.....however, I have found some time to plan paintings, so maybe that counts towards the ones in the future.

There are two shows coming up...entries due Thurs. this week and also on Oct. 4th. I have been varnishing and framing to prepare for those. Will fill you in on that later.
Stay tuned....

Fine Art meets Commercial Art

"A Taste of Kindness"
9X6
Acrylic on Paper
NFS
One of the career goals I have strived towards, when I had my stationery business and beyond, is that I love to match up fine art for use as commercial art. Those two categories cross paths often, but I happen to think the best of commercial art actually is fine art. The lousiest of commercial art is never fine art. Witness the upsurge in popularity of posters for collectors, i.e. Hollywood posters, Skiing posters, Travel posters, etc. Those posters achieve something of the best of both worlds. Same with magazine covers, a la Norman Rockwell. You get the point, I'm sure.

So this is the kind of project I think is a great deal of fun, bringing my fine art to the useful endeavor of taking a commercial message to someone in some way. My stationery business was like that. It was fulfilling a commercial need while at the same time making something beautiful for lots of people to enjoy using and sending. Great fun it was.
This time it is a Cookbook project to benefit the Battered Women's Shelter of my county. They are always seeking ways to increase their funding and this year they decided to embark on a Cookbook to sell. When I heard about it I was happy to offer to create some art for the covers to get them some shelf appeal and hopefully lots of sales. The art you see here is waiting on approval, so we'll see if this is what they will like. If not, I will be back to the drawing board. Below is an idea of what the cover will look like with type / copy.

That's it for today....stay tuned!!

Cover with Type

Hey, Hay, Hay!

"Hay Bales at the Edge of the Woods"
5 3/4 X 9
Watercolor
Available

$75.00 plus postage

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This is from my trip up country to the mountains a few weeks ago. I took my watercolor pencils with me and managed to squeeze in a little time to do this as a study for a larger painting I am planning to do. These hay bales looked like they had been forgotten almost, but I am guessing they are there to save as needed for the livestock. It was near dusk and the sun was streaming across them while the woods had a dark and mysterious look under the trees. That is what captured my interest.

Things are still hectic with all of the running back and forth to my Dad's, but he is doing better and healing is taking place. This afternoon I am meeting also with the Battered Women's Shelter administrators on the fund raising project, a recipe collection / cookbook. I already have several pieces of art that relate to foods so I am looking forward to seeing this work into a very nice publication for them. We'll see how it goes!!

Thanks for visiting my blog.