Seabrook Island, SC

New Construction, Baxter

Almost done.

McGill Rose Garden, Charlotte

A great day at McGill Rose Garden in Charlotte. This small garden is a hidden gem in the uptown area of the city. I was happy to complete 95% of this on location. It took about 2.5 hours.

Spring in Baxter

This is a neighbor's home that has gorgeous gardens and landscaping. I was looking for a scene to paint and picked this one. I wanted to paint the other side of their house, but it was completely in shadow in the early morning, so I had to quickly pick a new scene. I was happy that I completed most of it in "plein air", got the perspective fairly accurate, and only had to do some minor touch ups at home. Their daughter is sitting on the porch and I hid the names of their two boys in the painting. This one was fun to paint!

Baxter houses

This painting was in the "unfinished" pile. I pulled it out for practice and completed it with Easter colors. It's a bit bright, but it was fun to do. While I was originally painting this, the water sprinklers turned on and I had to quit or get soaked. This is Tuckerton Street in Baxter, Fort Mill, SC.

Charlotte Suburbs- Waxhaw NC

Fellow artist Yvette invited us to her lovely home in Waxhaw NC for a day of painting. I did most of this outdoors, but then had to alter some colors once I got it home. Almost done- some of the gardens still need to be completed.

Glass Bowl

Mixing the whites/ off whites is still challenging with oil paints. This was good practice.SOLD

Escape

More practice with oil paints....really enjoying them. The knife is my favorite part of the painting because I drew it straight on the first try!

Practice with Oils

Painting with oils is new to me, but I am enjoying the learning process. After a few more still life paintings I think there will be an improvement in my technique.

Charlotte Museum of History

I'm experimenting with oils and starting to finally like them. I found a medium I liked and this made all the difference for me- 2 part linseed oil, one part stand oil and one part turpenoid. This is the first "plein air" oil I have done in a long time.

This house was the home of the Hezekiah Alexander family when they came to Charlotte. The corner stone says 1774.

Newport Beach, California

I visited this area of Southern California about four years ago and took lots of photos. I started this painting in a new art class I'm taking with Greg Barnes, here in Charlotte. Finished this at home- I like it, but that big rock is pretty close to the center, even thought I thought I moved it enough. It felt great to do a very quick, loose painting after doing the house portraits that require much more perfection. I tried, really tried, oils paints for my class, but I quickly went back to acrylics. I just like them much better.

House Portraits

Here are two house portraits I did as Christmas gifts. Both were done from photos. The green house ( 18X24) is in my neighborhood and the red house (11x14) is in Mississippi.

3rd place in Greenville SC show

We traveled to Greenville SC last night for an art show opening. I was happy to win third prize ($400.00) for this painting. I was impressed with the show and I liked Greenville a lot- it was our first time there. Hope to go back soon. The judge was Carl Blair and he picked a good variety for the show. Most entries were from the Carolinas, but there were also entries from California, Texas, Nebraska and Virginia.SOLD

Docked boats

This is an old one that I am re- doing for a show that requires the paintings to be square in size. I don't have many square paintings and I'm short on time, so I'm hoping this one will work. Hope to finish it tonight- after all the trick or treaters!-SOLD

San Francisco Beach

Enjoyed our first trip to the San Francisco area! Great scenery everywhere.

Park Road Park, Charlotte

Painted this morning on a lovely fall day here in Charlotte. I love plein air painting because you can just about finish a whole painting in a few hours.

Coyote

We've had some coyotes in the neighborhood, so I felt inspired to paint one. He's almost finished. SOLD

Freedom Park

Early fall in Freedom Park, Charlotte. I added the people later- I think I'll keep them- but not sure.

Grazing Sheep

These sheep were grazing at the Ann Springs Greenway in Fort Mill.

Cute Cow

This cow was at the Ann Springs Greenway in Fort Mill. I thought he was cute and took a photo.SOLD

Weddington NC garden

We visited a lovely garden in Weddington a few days ago. It was cloudy and threatening rain but I was able to get most of the painting done. When it's done, I'll post it.

Ganondagan

Ganondagan is a New York State historic site near Rochester, NY. The Seneca Indians once lived here and a longhouse sits on the property for visitors to explore. The scenery here is wonderful. I especially like visiting in the fall. I've been here several times to paint and several times as a school nurse on school field trips. This painting was done from a photo.

Blue Bowl Again

I'm entering a small works show in Greenville SC. I will probably submit this painting and the one below- of the yellow apples. I can submit two, but they only accept one- IF I get accepted at all.

Yellow Apples

I love this bowl and how it creates interesting reflections.

Route 51 Farm- Work in Progress

This is a studio piece from a plein air painting of this scene. It's such a "traditional" scene that I couldn't pass it up.

Slices

Weddington Park

Had fun painting today in Weddington with my plein air friends. I made the scene more like "fall" to get away from an all green painting

Baxter Village Park

I did this today in the Alison Park area of Baxter Village.I was trying to use the "colorist" approach instead of using all greens and local colors. It's hard for me to do this without making the colors too garish- still trying!There were two lawn workers cutting grass and blowing leaves around with a loud leaf blower. The noise almost made me quit- but I stuck it out.

Thinking of Carol

I worked on this painting a bit more after posting this photo. I'll try to update it tomorrow. I love Carol Marine's blog and website. I was so sad to hear that her house and studio burned in the Austin, TX fires this week. I painted this today in honor of her. She makes painting tea cups and fruit look SO easy- but it's certainly not easy at all!

Deborah's Back Porch

It's a little crooked, but I like the light/shadow effect. Deborah, a fellow painter, invited us to her home in the NODA area of Charlotte for a day of painting. It was a lovely location! Thanks Deborah! We also had a delicious lunch at the backyard picnic table.

River Walk in Rock Hill SC

This is a new river front park along the Catawba River in Rock Hill, SC. There is a lovely 2.5 mile paved trail along the river. Kudos to Rock Hill for picking a wonderful location for a park! Both of these paintings were done 100% plein air- they still need some touch ups.

No Camera

I have some new paintings to post, but I have lost my camera. My kids are traveling and at camp with their cameras, so it might be a week or two before I have any news posts. But, I will update as soon as I can.

My acrylic paints are holding up very well down here in South Carolina. The days have been hot but the humidity is helping to keep my paints moist! That has been very helpful.

Sunflower field, Gaston County NC

Wow, we went to a great place today! The countryside was beautiful and I was glad to find such a nice area. My camera is still missing, so photos are not the best quality.

Fort Mill Farm

This farm is near the intersection of Gold Hill Road and Route 160. I saw the owners outside shucking peas and I asked if I could paint from their field. It was a rare cloudy and cool day. A few touch ups and it will be finished. On a frustrating note- my camera has been missing for more than a week, so I'm using my daughter's camera for blog photos.

Grand Canyon

We visited a few years ago. This scene is an overlook that had a railing and lots of tourists. I replaced them with the horses- seemed more interesting!

Neighbor on the corner

It has been very hot so I've been standing in my yard and painting what I can "see". Then I can go into air conditioning and cool off! The acrylics are holding up well in the heat- I think the humidity is helping.

Our House

Matthews Weddington Road

Luckily there was some shade here because it was about 93 degrees! This little dog decided to hang out with us.

Three Daughters

I made my girls pose for this about eight years ago. Hard to believe two are now in college and the youngest is 12! I don't do many portraits, but after seeing the Robert Henri show at the Mint Museum, I'm considering doing a few more. This is a big one for me- 36X24. Definitely some varnish glare on this one.

Rainy day painting

Had plans to go plein air painting but the weather was questionable so I stayed home. I like to do these make up paintings. The shadows and the shiny surfaces are really good practice.

Baxter Village Roses

This was a tough one for me! The fence and the building shadows were tricky and I almost didn't complete the painting. It still needs some work, but almost done.