Rolling Hills Over Farmland

"Rolling Clouds Over Farmland"
6X6
Oil on Gessoed Panel
Available

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Warming up with a small and simple landscape. This is one of those scenes that grabs you as you are driving along on the North Carolina roads. Red clay, green trees, and blue skies...and with luck, some really pretty clouds crossing the horizons. Having been away from my brushes for a couple of weeks has not done my skills any good whatsoever. Couldn't be helped, but now I hope the path is cleared somewhat and I can get back to it. Of course there is the task of putting up the ornaments and getting the house finished with the holidays and ready for the New Year. And the ever present care of the "ancient one."

One of my personal challenges for the New Year is to tackle my phobia of doing landscapes. I've been studying them over the holiday and having long hard talks with myself on the subject. I intend to conquer this thing and just plunge forward. I do still plan some still lives and animals, too....so it looks like we're in for a mix of different genre this coming year. In other words, you never know what you are going to get at Painted Plums. Hopefully, you'll find something you really really like!

Scottish Christmas Dreams

"Scotties and Snowman"
6X6
Watercolor
©Cheryl A. Pass

Hey out there....still struggling with time constraints and family obligations, made even worse with Christmas activities. This little watercolor card design was inspired some time ago by the darling Scottie we used to have named Bailey. He was so cute and fun! We still miss him. We have some adorable Christmas Scottie ornaments on our tree because of Bailey. I think after I write this I will take a moment to go look at the "Barney Cam" at Whitehouse.gov so I can enjoy some more Scottie antics. If you ever want a great dog, the Scottish Terrier is the one. (Don't tell Bosley, our replacement who is an adorable rescued Mutt who makes us very happy, too! Besides, if you had to find a good replacement...Bosley is it!)

Hoping to get back to it soon with my oils. Just have had zero time lately. I know you also have holiday craziness at your heels, too...so thanks so much for stopping by and staying tuned!!

'One Turtle Dove'

"Christmas Turtle Dove"
8X10
Oil on Panel
NFS (for now)

Click on picture for a larger view.

Commonly known as Mourning Doves....my mother used to call them "Rain Doves" because they would always fly into the yard just before a rain came. Now I know them to also be the classic "Turtle Doves" from the 12 Days of Christmas. We have them hanging around our yard frequently. They are so beautiful and I love them, in spite of the efforts they make at grabbing the seeds we put out for the smaller songbirds. They waddle around and flee with noisy flapping when I let our dog out. Their colors are so subtle, yet I think they look very sophisticated in their soft browns and black spots. The blue around their eyes is a very beautiful blue...recalling that softest of sky meets the sea kind of blue.

Sorry for not keeping up with posts for a while. This thing with taking care of my Dad has really cramped my time. And while I am not painting as frequently, when I do have time, I am researching ideas and thinking of what to paint next. I recently went to a gallery crawl in Charlotte and feasted my eyes on wonderful works by other artists. And I keep looking at the websites of artists I admire, gathering as much as I can by studying their works. In fact, I think I have come up with a new malady....I am calling it "Admiration Paralysis." I can get so taken with other artists' work that I hit my head against the wall asking myself how could I ever be THAT good and WHY am I even doing this!!! But after beating myself up, I force myself back to the easel and tell myself just to dive in there and keep going. I am running out of time for Christmas cards...but may try to get this image done on a card to send. If not, I'll just send out some other cards I bought on stand-by.