ANOTHER FLORIDA BEACH, OIL ON PANEL - SOLD

Still painting the occasional beach scene. This is the largest I have done at 11x14. I think it is my favorite to date.

GLOUCESTER WILDFLOWERS, 5X7,SOLD

My friend, Donna Vines, is from the Gloucester area. She is a wonderful photographer and artist.
Yesterday, we were painting together and she had the most beautiful photograph of what she called a marsh outside of Gloucester. I had my own plan to finish a painting I had started, but immediately changed my mind. Sooo, peeking over her shoulder, we painted the same scene.
You can find it in my Etsy store.

Donna's photos never fail to inspire me whether it be laundry on a line, a view of a friends yard. Her favorite thing to do is take a lovely photograph and then use oil paints on it. Check out her blog for something different.

OLIVER'S CABIN, CADES COVE, SMOKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Talk about scary! The Oliver's, a young family with one child and one on the way, built this cabin, the first in Cades Cove, to live among the Cherokee's in 1818. Can you imagine moving your family to an isolated area in the middle of hostile people with no one and nothing to depend on? Turns out, it was a good move. They were so busy building their cabin, that when winter came,they had no time to plant food! The Cherokee's brought them food and helped them survive. Cades Cove is a clearing in the middle of Smoky Mountain National Park. The flowers are actually day lilies.

This is an 8x10, oil on panel, in my Etsy shop.

LONGBOARD, 6x8

This is from a photo taken last summer at the beach. Is it just me, or, has this been an extremely long winter? Is it summer yet?

BLUE BOTTLE

This was a set-up that my paint group, Pieces of eight, worked on a few weeks ago. I was painting another set-up and photographed this for another time. I like the colors on this one! As always, it is in my Etsy store, just in case you must have it.

THOMPSON GAZELLE

This is one of my early efforts in oil. Our local zoo was opening an African exhibit. They contacted several local artists and assigned specific animals that were represented in the exhibit to each artist. They then created signs for the exhibition area, featuring the image and relaying information about the species represented. I was happy to donate to the zoo and still get a thrill when I visit and see "my sign".

TULIPS, 6x8, OIL ON PANEL

I love flowers, but I rarely paint them. It just takes too much preparation for me. Go to the florist and buy, keep them alive. Usually I paint something that has a longer shelf life. My weekly paint group, Pieces of Eight, tried these out last Monday. I ended up with a wiping my attempt but came home with several photos. So, this is my studio try, off the computer monitor, my new best friend. I can see that I need to tone down all that pink which completely overwhelms the poor tulip!

JUPITER LIGHTHOUSE, 5x7, ORIGINAL OIL, SOLD

A touch of old Florida, Jupiter lighthouse, as viewed from The Square Grouper. What, pray tell, is the Square Grouper??? Some would say it is the finest place in town to drink beer and eat a hot dog.

MILK AND COOKIES, 8X10, OIL

Today is going to be a fun day. My husband and I are driving south for a celebratory brunch with our daughter and her children. They live a little over 1 1/2 hours away from us, so we usually meet somewhere in the middle. The cause of celebration today is our 45th wedding anniversary. On one hand, it seems we have been married forever, but really, 45 YEARS! Where did the time go???

A week or so ago I blogged about a little Spring Scavenger hunt the Original Artists on Etsy Team was planning. It starts Saturday morning! One of our team members has donated an item as the prize and all you have to do to win it, is to FIND IT! If you are interested in trying, go to our team store now, pick a team member and go to their shop. Follow the clues until you find the treasure. If you think you have found the item, post the item number on our team blog in a comment. We also ask that you tell us about your favorite item that you found during the hunt. Good luck!

One more thing, I have been bestowed with the blogger award again. I am so very pleased to get this award multiple times, so, Fabio, I cannot thank you enough that you think I am worthy.

I will not bore you all with another list of favorite things, and although, I could easily pick another 7 favorite artists, I think I have had my time in the sun. So, I will just urge all of you to visit the site of Fabio Cembranelli and be amazed by his skill in watercolor. He is a wonderful, talented artist, and cute too!

MUSEUM QUALITY PEARS, OIL, 14X18

The image above is the completed painting, below is my first lousy try at photographing it. I also made some minor corrections.

Pleae excuse this blurry photograph. I have tried to photo this all afternoon and finally got one that was fairly glare-free only to see that it is not as clear as it could be. I just give up for today! I'll try again tomorrow, but I did want to get a new post up. The title refers not to my work, but to the fact that I found this bowl of pears in the snack bar of the National Gallery of Art a few weeks ago. My husband was so humiliated that I was in line, photographing fruit!