Poppies on Gold
















4' x 5' Original Oil Painting on gallery wrapped canvas. Brilliant giant poppies on a field of gold.

After a bit of a painting hiatus due to visiting family and the holidays, it felt good to get out my brushes and put this one to bed. I started it some time last winter......and then my toddler pierced the canvas somehow....which derailed my motivation to finish it. Thanks to one of my blogging painter-buddies, I was able to repair the canvas and finish the piece. The scar has an archival patch on the back side and is now hidden under layers of paint. I cannot tell even when I am looking for it. This one is going up over the mantle in my house as the last of the finished pieces I had on hand went off to the gallery. My kids asked why we didn't have any paintings anymore....all I could think of was the expression "the cobbler's kids never have any shoes". So I thought I would hang this cheerful piece over our mantle for my family to enjoy and then I am off to finish a few commissions that I have up and going.

Poppies on Blue















SOLD - 4' by 5' oil painting on gallery wrapped canvas. This piece was started in early August and I took it to the Perrysburg/Levis Commons Fine Art Fair to work on it. I like to paint at the little fairs as it makes good use of my down-time and gives those that are interested and view of my process. This piece is on hold for approval by a couple from Arizona that have started to collect my work. They are coming to my studio tomorrow and I am optimistic that this one will go home with them. It is a very dramatic piece with a lot of energy. There is a little bit of atmosphere in this one that was non-existant in earlier work as I am intending to give my images a little bit of "flux" by softening edges or mixing a "little chocolate in my peanut-butter" as professor Hall Groat II puts it. He is one of my more seasoned painting peers from NYC that is active in my Google Group of painters. The web has enabled me to work singularly in my studio yet commune with other artists for a virtual cup of coffee and "art chat" every day.

Sunflowers for Sylvania - On my Easel



















4' x 3' oil on canvas. This one is now well underway and I hope to finish it over the next few days. Yesterday I played outside with my kids late in the late day sun and then went downstairs and painted after dinner. You can feel the change of season in the palette that appears in the leaves. I love to those natural influences that just come out intuitively without too much thinking.

Poppies in the Sun














SOLD - 30" x 40" oil painting on gallery wrapped canvas. Aaah! Finally, finishing one after weeks of starting new paintings. I am off to Chicago this week and then back in town on Friday to set up for the Harvest of the Arts festival in Saline, MI. For those of you that are in the area, stop on by!

Sunflowers for Sylvania - On my Easel



















4' x 3' oil on canvas. This piece is just getting underway. I haven't posted work in a while since the Perrysburg show. Not that I haven't been painting, just spending more time starting them than finishing them. When I have something in mind to paint, I just have to get it out onto a canvas to clear my head. Then I can go back to other work.

Atelier de Rhoney














For some reason, my students prefer to work in their underwear. I don't mind; it saves on the laundry. Besides, isn't it all about being free to create!!

Poppy Study 4















SOLD - 11" x 14" Oil on Canvas, painted with the palette knife. The open poppies are so inviting. I love the luscious centers; very fun to paint!

Poppy Study 3



















SOLD - 14" x 11" Oil on canvas. Just another little sketch with the knife.

Poppy Study 2



















SOLD - 14" x 11" Oil on 3/4" wrapped canvas. This is another little practice sketch with my palette knife. I started the big (4' x 5') poppy piece last night! Will post a progress of that work soon.

Poppy Study 1















SOLD - This little oil painting is 11"x14" and is painted with a palette knife. I have a couple of larger poppy pieces in the works and I wanted to brush up on my knife skills as at least one of them is going to end up being painted entirely with the knife.

On My Easel
















These poppies are larger than life at 4' x 5'. I blocked in all of the negative spaces first hoping to make those shapes interesting so they can hang with the poppies once all that cadmium comes into play.

First of the "Giants"



















18" x 24" Charcoal Drawing. After a two-week hiatus from painting due to the Ann Arbor Art Fair and a family vacation, I felt the need to "warm up" so to speak before I attack some of the new canvas' I have ready to roll in the studio. I started with one of my favorite subjects to paint and created some sketches of the sunflowers in my gardens. This one is a volunteer from last year's giants and the first one to bloom. I feel a new series coming on.......

Ann Arbor Art Fair 2007



















What an awesome week at the Ann Arbor Art Fair! Here is a photo of me in my booth with my studio assistants! Note the big poppy piece behind me did find a new home :) You would think that 4 days of the fair would have left me exhausted, but I found it to be just the opposite. The enthusiasm of the patrons, visits by friends and family and the creative energies from all those artists, not to mention their actual works, left me charged and ready to paint! My very supportive husband wants to double my booth size for next year!

Just around the corner from me at the show were my friends and fellow artists Sarah Stanton and Jay Kukor. They had an awesome week too. Their handmade silver jewelry is very urban-hip and sophisticated all at the same time. Check out their stuff at www.sarahstantondesigns.com

It's back to my day job this week! The kids and the easel will be calling at all the odd hours and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Fall Orchard



















4' x 3' Oil Painting on 3/4" wrapped Canvas. This is likely the last piece I will finish before I am off to set up at the Ann Arbor Art Fair tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Mother's Orchard















3' x 4' Oil Painting on Gallery Wrapped Canvas. Anyone that knows my Mom, knows that she would like this orchard.... Today is my last day to paint before setting up for the Ann Arbor Art Fair tomorrow and Mother's Orchard is going with me!

Dreaming of Merlot














30" x 40" Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas. This piece has a little bit of a surreal and dream-like quality....the fact that I enjoy a nice red now and then made it easy to name!

Grape Study



















This little piece (11" x 14" oil painting of grapes on the vine) was an exercise for the sake of the grapes. Fellow blogging Artist Ed Terpening made a great suggestion on my grape piece below; which was to abstract the grapes a bit by painting them in mass first and then adding a little detail. I would like to refine this subject a little more in a future piece, but I definitely feel that this approach is a much better solution for the direction that I am working. Thanks again Ed!

Grapes on the Vine



















24" x 24" oil painting on wrapped canvas. I have been collecting photos and sketches of grapes for a long time hoping to dive in one day. This is my first attempt and it was a lot of fun. Any suggestions from my artist friends out there?? Please post them! I have a composition planned for a larger canvas that I am sketching through now and hope to start tomorrow.

Farthest from the Tree



















24" x 24" Oil Painting on 3/4" wrapped canvas support. Orchards and apples are one of my favorite subjects. I especially like to create the composition and the color from my memories and experience rather than a specific reference photo.

Sunflower Trio
















20" x 24" wrapped canvas. I painted this one directly onto white canvas which is unusual for me as I always paint into a colored ground. The canvas, though primed, seemed like it kept absorbing my paint and I would have to go back repaint passages that I would have rather kept. Lesson learned. I am off to my studio to prime some canvas in tasty colors.......much more fun!!

Sunflower Lovers



















3' x 3' Oil on gallery wrapped canvas. This is the third painting that I have done that is was inspired by these two particular sunflowers that I watch grown together in my garden. From my kitchen window, I could see their friendship turn into something more.

Best Friends



















This painting is 3' x 3' oil on gallery wrapped canvas. The images are created from composite sketches of sunflowers I grew in my garden last year. There is something majestic about sunflowers that makes them very fun and challenging to paint. This piece will go to the Ann Arbor Art Fair.

The Mod Squad








3' x 9' Triptych composed of (3) 3' x 3' gallery wrapped canvas' and painted in oils. This piece is a commission for a new salon opening in my neighboring town of Saline, MI. I grew a row of Zinnias in my vegetable garden last year and loved all the variety of color. The salon owner was looking for something bright and funky to be the focal point of the styling room. I purposefully composed each Zinnia with a different 'do! I hope her patrons enjoy the piece. By the way, the name of the business is "Mod Squad Salon".

Spring Poppies
















22' x 28' Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas. This one was 90% complete months ago and the spring poppies inspired me to wrap it up. Lushly painted with my palette knife. Stay tuned as I have three other poppy pieces in the works!