You, Me and my iPhone

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I caught this cute couple in a coffee shop in SOHO. The greatest thing about NYC: everyone was totally oblivious to my taking pictures! That might have something to do with the fact that every other person has a camera and is using it. Which made it very easy for me to get close-up pictures of anything and everything. Which made me very happy. Which made the real new yorkers very confused - seeing someone happy and smiling walking around. : )

Stacked Glass

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I had just a few extra paintings that I did before my trip East, and this is the last of them. Since it contains glass, please allow me to (shamelessly) promote my July Advanced workshop in Springfield, OR - during which we will spend a whole day exploring and painting glass! Also covered: flowers, white, metal, and one day spent on a larger painting.

I also wanted to mention that I wrote a book. What?! I said I never would? I really thought I wouldn't, but about a year ago Random House convinced me. We are in the final stages of creating it now and they are predicting an October release date. November at the latest. What's it about? Daily painting! I'm including lots of examples of work by other daily painters, as well as the many things I have learned from painting every day. It will repeat a lot of things from my ArtBytes and workshops, with some new stuff too. This won't be the last you hear of it, for sure! I'm VERY excited!

Pitcher Perfect

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I am home! It's been one heck of a month of activity. A perfect month, really. And the last 2 weeks were an especial whirlwind. I spent 3 1/2 days in NYC, 2 days in Long Island, 2 days in the Catskills, 5 days in Maine, 1 day in Boston, and a few days simply travelling. I rode planes, trains, buses, cars and the infamous NY subway. I was bilked by costumed people in Times Square. I had the best and worst burgers of my life. I discovered buffalo wings (who knew?!). I lost a scarf and bought 3 more to replace it. I henna-ed my friend's bald head (her photos). And best of all, I spent much-needed quality time with my peeps. I also took over 3,000 photos (many of which you will see translated into paint, very soon!) - a few of which you will see below. I could go on and on.

The Golden Bowl

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I had a few leftover apples from my workshop last week, and a day to paint them. Otherwise I've been spending some quality time with my family (my boy turned 9! when did that happen?!) and packing for another trip. Tomorrow I am off to the NE for some picture taking and friend visiting. I'll be gone a little over 2 weeks. And then I'll be back at it - I promise.

Wiggly Walk

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I think I am setting a new personal record - fewest posts ever! And I hate it because it means I'm also not painting much. BUT, the reasons for it are all good. My excuse this past week was a workshop in Springfield, OR. I had a great group of kids, mostly well behaved, all willing to go out on limbs and try new things. This group wins the most-courageous award!

(click to see larger version)

Above are a few pictures of my kids hard at work. If you click to see the larger version you will notice some squinting, which I made sure to tell them to do at least 13 times (the magic number)!

To the left is our group shot. There was no one else around so I had to rig my camera to take the picture and then run in. They waited so long on those stairs I decided to only take one picture - and then it turns out I stuck my head in front of one of my kids! Sorry!

I had a great time with you guys - thanks for everything!

Diaper Butt

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We are back from visiting family and our new granddaughter in Texas, just in time for me to teach a workshop all next week in Springfield. I'll post about that soon. Meanwhile, here's another painting from the Portland zoo - more butts. : )

Canyon Light

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WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENTS:

July 7-11, 2014 - Springfield, OR - Advanced (meaning you must have taken a workshop of mine previously) - register here

August 18-22, 2014 - Springfield, OR - my regular Daily Painting Workshop - register here (and to read a description of the class)

As for the painting above, I took the photo for it on a hike around Mesa Verde National Park a few years ago. The gal is my stepdaughter, Sophie, who I've been thinking about a lot lately. She is the brand new mother of Nina, my new granddaughter. We are off to see them tomorrow, in Texas, for a week. I am a tiny bit ahead with my paintings, so I'll post those as time allows.

Blue Suit

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The photo for this was taken at Slide Rock State Park, just outside of Sedona. She was watching her loved ones slide down the rocks along the river, in the frigid water - crazy! I was happy to be plein air painting, but paused long enough to snap a photo of her. The background was a big slab of rock in shadow, but I was happy to change it into something fairly abstract. : )

Ta Da!

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These guys are auditioning for the circus and this is the completion of their first act! Do you think they'll get the job?

By the way, my latest abstract is kinda still-life-ish, so I thought I'd share it here.

Three Against Four

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WORKSHOP PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be announcing 2 more workshops soon - both that will happen in Springfield Oregon, this summer. All the info and registration links will be posted on Thursday, March 13th at 9pm CST (that means 7pm on the West coast and 10pm on the East coast).

Also, we are leaving on Friday to see our new grandbaby (and family and friends) in Texas for a week, so I won't be able to ship any paintings between March 14-21, but will as soon as I return. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Snuggle Up Tomatoes

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I've decided to start a separate blog for my abstract paintings, that way those of you who like them can follow both if you want, and those of you who don't like them, don't have to. I figure they're different enough from what I usually do - that, and my business manager advised it. He's cute, so I tend to listen to him so he'll stick around. : )

Field of Flowers

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After my fist abstract I went whole hog working on the second one. I ended up wiping it off about 5 times before I realized it just wasn't working. I needed some sort of plan. So I started looking through pictures on Pinterest for ideas. I realized I could take a photo I liked, use the colors and values, arrange them however I like, and make it completely abstract! And it worked!

Hanging Over the Rails

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I said to my friend, "I just did a painting I'm really proud of." She said, "Oh yeah? What's it of?" I said, "Little girls' butts." It didn't sound right.

On a different note, thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your support regarding my foray into abstract art! I didn't know what the reaction would be and it's quite nice to get so many "hooray's!" I am quite enjoying it. I will post more soon, and thoughts about process as well. I am learning a TON.

Moon Over the Plains

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I know, not what you expected, huh?! In fact totally out there. And yet, I've been thinking about doing abstract for years and years! I just thought, for some strange reason, that it needed to be in acrylic (why? I don't know). But this is oil. What happened was - I painted a real stinker the other day (realism). And after I wiped it off I thought - I'll just play with my paint on this panel. I put down some random colors, but the further I got the worse it looked. So I wiped it off again. This time, the wipe off wasn't complete and the few colors that remained were somewhat interesting. So I put more down, and came up with this!

I have no idea what the market is for this kind of work, especially since you're all used to what I normally do. So I am starting the bidding at $1. I will say, I've done a couple more since and I LOVE the process! I don't plan to stop painting what I normally paint, but I will continue to explore.

Apple Trail

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I had such fun with the foil last time, I thought I'd pull it out again. But this time I wrinkled it a bit first to get a bigger variety of reflections. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Pink House 3

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In case you're wondering, the first two pink houses (this being Pink House 3) were done a few years ago in Colorado. Here are 1 and 2.

Meanwhile, I would like to announce the birth of my first grandchild, Nina! Both her and her mom (my stepdaughter) are happy and healthy and cute as can be. We'll be flying to see them in Texas in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to meet her in person!

Parked for a Getaway

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This is a sight from around my hometown of Eugene, OR. I almost bought myself a used motorcycle back when I was in college. I didn't have a car and figured it would be a good, cheap way to get around. I think the guy figured out that I was out of my depth because he sold it to someone else. After that I went back to taking the bus.

Dapple the Gallery

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I dug deeeep into my image files to find the reference for this one. My husband and I took a trip to Seattle soon after we got married (almost 14 years ago). We spent part of the trip wandering around downtown, exploring, me taking pictures. This one came from the area where the galleries are kept (not sure exactly where now, maybe Pioneer Square?). At any rate, I'm sure I was taken by the dapples then, and they spoke to me again yesterday when I painted this.

Mrs. Sideways Glance

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This is another one from a Stuart Robertson Reynolds photo. I love the personality of this little gal. Thank you again, Stuart!

Mr. Not to Be Taken Lightly

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A few months ago I was perusing Pinterest and found this very cool bird photo. I followed the links to the photographer's site and found more! I wrote to him and asked if he would mind an artist (me) painting from a few of his photos, and he kindly granted permission. Thank you, Stuart Robertson Reynolds!

Meanwhile, here is my tattoo! On my 18th birthday my mom and I got tattoos together. My mom designed her own, but I had no idea what to get, so I picked the first thing that spoke to me in their books - a small dragonfly. I never regretted it, but through the years it faded to almost nothing. So I designed this one to go right over the old one. I had to leave the bandage on overnight, but I was so excited to see it again I woke up at 4 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep! I love it.