A Walk Through the Orchard

This was painted using a reference photo of my son and his girlfriend. They were walking through an apple orchard on an apple-picking excursion with friends. When I saw the photo which was snapped by her girlfriend, I knew it would make a wonderful painting. We truly love her and it was a joy to do the painting. I gave the painting to her for Christmas. I was so very touched when I saw it brought tears to her eyes when she saw it. She is a very special young woman to us and to my son. The term 'girlfriend' seems very inadequate. It is such a joy to bring happiness to others through my artwork. This is watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper.

Dad

My Dad passed away a couple of years ago after a short but very difficult battle with cancer. The family is still reeling from the loss. I have finally been able to attempt a portrait of him. I gave this to my Mom for her birthday. This is a watercolor, 11" x 14" on 300 lb. cold pressed paper.

Ravens Dream

My nephew has a beautiful family with two little boys who my husband and I consider our grandchildren. They are all huge sports fans with the Baltimore Ravens being their most favorite NFL team. For my nephew's birthday, I painted sort of a fantasy painting depicting his two little guys stepping onto a quiet M & T Bank football field just before the stadium fills with a crowd in anticipation of a great game. Their mom had dressed them in their Raven's uniforms (yes...they both have them) and I took photos of them in my front yard to use as reference for the painting. I recently gave him the painting and he seemed pleased with it. This watercolor painting is 11" x 14" on 300 lb.cold press paper.

Beautiful People...

Isn't it so great when two wonderful people find each other, fall in love and get married?? This happened to two of our favorite young friends. This is a portrait I painted of them using an engagement photograph for reference. Carrie McCluskey of Carrie McCluskey Photography very kindly granted me permission to use her fabulous photography as I wanted to do a portrait of the couple as a wedding gift. We had a wonderful time at the wedding then spent the following week driving along the California coast on Route 1 to San Francisco. What fun memories we have of our time there!

Still Life - Apples

I enjoyed working on this still life and attempting to get the texture of the pottery just right. This little watercolor is on 140 lb. cold press paper measuring 6" x 8".

A Time For Reflection

This is a watercolor of my father-in-law at the Outer Banks in the Fall. We were on vacation there and this was a late afternoon on the beach. He loved his old captains hat & indeed he was the gentle spirited captain of our family. My brother-in-law who is a professional photographer (http://www.ocphoto.net/) snapped some wonderful photos that day and he generously allowed me to use them for reference. Papa passed away in June. A Time For Reflection is my first submission to Illustration Friday.

Painting a Snow Hill Landmark

Here is a watercolor painting of the Snow Hill Cannery. As always, clicking on the image enlarges it. This is a part of a small town near uson the Pocomoke River. You can see the bridge that goes over the river. It's a very familiar sight to residents in this area. The view is from behind the canoe shop (big red building). Watercolor Pen & Ink, 300 lb Paper

Red Poppies in Vase

I am a member of several online art groups. The July project for the Worldwide Artists Group is to try something you've never tried before. I decided to attempt abstraction of a vase of poppies using a reference photo from Bearded Bob on WetCanvas. Here is my effort. I'm doubtful it's actually abstract art but it was a new adventure and I actually enjoyed doing it. I'm working toward a more painterly, loose style. This was a good excercise toward that goal.

The Mistress

My husband has been asking me to do a painting of his airplane. He has a passion for flying and I promised him I'd do one for his Father's Day gift. He loves his plane so much that I have referred to it as his mistress for years! This is the painting and he seems to be quite pleased.

Finding a Spot

I love the beach! As a matter of fact, all of my family loves the beach and any kind of water-related activity. Our favorite vacation is renting a big beach house in the Outer Banks and spending quality time with our family. We love being there together... swimming or sunning, watching movies, doing puzzles, each evening cooking something delicious and eating in. I am blessed to have a wonderful family that enjoys being together. This watercolor painting reminds me of when the kids were little. We would drag our stuff over the dunes and onto the beach looking for a spot to spread out our blanket. This one was a lot of fun and since it's summer, I think I'll do more beach paintings. This was done on 300 lb. cold press Arches paper. The only thing is, I think I mistakenly ordered rough paper and I don't enjoy all the texture. Close up, it looks like my beach-goers have goose bumps!

Our Two Special Guys

You may remember our two nephews from a previous post. I had done a painting of them on the beach. I decided to tackle a portrait of the boys. Again, I was able to use a reference photo taken by my brother-in-law who is a photographer http://www.ocphoto.net/ . This one was quite a bit of work since it's basically two portraits in one! I'm pretty happy with this painting and will be hanging this one in my own home.

First Kiss

This was painted using a reference photo by ArtCrazy from the WetCanvas site. I loved the story told by the photo of a new mother kissing her newborn infant. I hope you like my watercolor rendition.

Watercolor Portrait

My son was recently here for a visit and my brother-in-law, who is a professional photographer, http://www.ocphoto.net/ snapped an excellent photo of him. He was kind enough to let me use it as a reference for this painting. Many of my paintings are renditions of Jim's wonderful photography.

On Her Wedding Day

About six months after I began to paint, I decided to do a portrait of my daughter on her wedding day. I knew it was a pretty lofty goal but I had this great reference photo just begging to be rendered into a watercolor painting. The photo is of my beautiful daughter just before the ceremony. The photographer http://www.ocphoto.net/ who is her uncle, did a wonderful job of catching her joy on that special day.

Floral Painting is Fun

I enjoyed doing the pink lisianthus floral and wanted to paint another floral. Although I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, I believe it comes from Taiwan.

Pink Lisianthus

I am a member of an online watercolor group that has been extremely helpful to my growth as a watercolorist. The group consists of painters from beginner to professional level and is one of the most generous and friendly forums I have ever been involved in. One of the other members began posting large florals and peaked my own interest in doing them. This is the first result of my foray into watercolor florals.

LaJolla Street Vendor

This is another painting I did from my trip to LaJolla Beach. My son lived in San Diego for several years and my husband and I enjoyed several trips to the area while he was a resident. Among my favorite haunts was LaJolla Beach and I took several photos on my trips there. This was a picture of a young woman selling t-shirts near the beach. It was a sunny day (as usual) and she was just sitting there engrossed in her book with her colorful array of goods spread on the table before her. Again this is one of my first paintings and there is much room for improvement. This is watercolor with ink on 140 lb. cold press paper.

Boys on the Beach

My husband and I have been married for almost 35 years. We live in an area near most of our family and we are indeed a very close knit clan! This painting is of our precious nephews on the beach. Although they are our nephews, we think of ourselves as grandparents to them. They are such an incredible bonus in our lives. I gave this painting to their parents for Christmas.

Daffoney

Her name was Daffoney (I know...very funny way to spell it!) and she was the beloved kitten of my college-age daughter. She was a darling little cat and was totally devoted to my daughter. She lived with her and a roommate in a small house near the university. Sadly she died of FIP at a very young age. My daughter was heartbroken and was still grieving over a year later when I took up watercolor painting. I gave her this small painting for Christmas this year.