I took a picture of a group having a picnic in the San Jose Rose Garden during one of my families "Covid picnics", but as I painted the subjects I just didn't like the back drop of the photo. My friend Shannon suggested a beach scene...and so it was! I loved the big bright umbrella. We all need some time in the sun these days.

Taking a class in 'direct' painting....learning again.

Here's to new beginnings....clearly I am feeling optimistic as I see this as a sunrise versus a sunset.

Just couldn't resist painting this photo of my new grand nephew, Milo.

I painted this from a photo my cousin Andria shared of her grand kids swinging on a tree swing overlooking an amazing Hawaiian view (I think on Ohau)

Another inspired painting thanks to cousin Andria's grand kids.

Painted this from a quick photo I took of a common shrub growing in my neighborhood.

This is from a photo of the pond in the backyard. While the lillies are aways special, I was trying to capture the reflection of the sky and clouds.

This will be my final attempt at hibiscus for this year I think. The shadows are inspiring, compelling and so hard.

This painting was inspired by a photo my aunt took in her front yard in Texas. Knowing I could not replicate the stunning photo she took, I have put my own twist on the subject in my painting.

We have an orange hibiscus in our backyard, but I LOVE the giant yellow hibiscus in Hawaii. Some how my love of the yellow flower came through in this painting of our orange hibiscus. Really liked how the sun was hitting the blooms at sunset.

This summer, during Covid shelter in place order, we met my neice Rachel and her husband Matt at the San Jose Rose Garden for a 'distanced' picnic. I photographed the fountain at that time. I loved the turquois patina on the fountain and the iron fencing around the pool.

Really inspired by the colors in this leucadendron. I snapped a photo of this a year ago outside the Hayward Arts Center but didn't have the courage to try painting it until today.

Snapped a shot of a vase of roses Joey picked me for my sunroom home office. Really liked how a ray of sun shot across the vase and the nicknacks on my desk.

Yet another rose from on of my neighbor's front yards. The shadows of the petals intrigued me.

This is a rose from a neighbors yard that I walk by every day. Such a metamorphosis it goes through from bud to full bloom.

Can't go wrong with Poppies. Was inspired by a neighbors crop that came up in their yard this spring.

Cows pacticing social distancy

Iowa on my mind. Wish I would have put a farm house in here, but like how it came out.

Iowa State Bird

Inspired by photos of San Diego Zoo's new baby hippo.

I love the layers of petals and the shadows.

This is another painting that just came out of a wash I laid down. Really like the sky.

This is a small lake Joey, Maddy and I hiked up to last summer when we visited Petaluma.

This painting came out of the blue. I was just playing with putting down a wash and it evolved from there. It reminds me of the inland waters near Petaluma.

Updated the painting to show some strap leaves in lower part of painting. Really loving this now.

Succulents are fun to paint. I work on 1 petal at a time.

Just can't leave the blue hybiscus alone. I like this one because it shows the phases of the blooms

Second attempt of the hibiscus. I traced this image to make sure the petal sizes were accurate.

Blue Hibiscus from our yard

I especially like how the background wash turned out on this painting. My goal was to reflect the simple beauty of the dew drops on the bamboo.

Tried out a new technique in rice paper this weekend. this is actually a kit for watercolor batiking. Lots of wax involved in this.

Tried the batik process on another painting today. This is a from a photo of the Point Arena lighthouse I took on a recent trip to Mendocino.

Not really excited about this one. Was inspired by the white daisy reflection, but all the green got in my way.

The boy in this painting was actually hunting for Easter eggs at the annual family gathering, but I felt the beach was a better backdrop.

This is June. I met her one day after seeing a movie with my 6' 7" friend Charlotte who used to be a cashier at June's local Safeway store. June stopped Charlotte and I on the street to say hi to Charlotte. June had missed Charlotte and they had a lot of catching up to do. She was adorable in her purple rain coat and had to tilt her head to look up at Charlotte. I snuck a photo of her while they chatted.

Sometimes paintings accidently come out quite nicely all on their own. That's the case with this one in regards to the background.

This selfie was taken on the pier in Oceanside California. This was not the first time I had painted people, but it was the first time I had painted myself. Regardless of the quality of the painting it is full of memories of a good time with my sisters.

Sleigh ride in the snow. Loved the horses in this picture. The building in the background was a last minute add. This was the first time I ever included people in my painting.

I painted this from a photo of a sunset through a thick woods. I had to invent a way to represent the 'snow' and how the light illuminated it.

   

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Figuring out how to represent the heavy snow on the branches of the trees was the biggest challenge of this painting.

This painting was inspired by a photo I found online. I really liked the blurred image of the horses running through the stillness of a snow covered woods.

I painted this from a photo I found online. Like the running horses, its another 'motion and stillness' effect I was trying to capture. The beak of this bird was hidden in the photo I painted from. After I finished the painting I realized chickadee's don't have hummingbird beaks! ahg!

Continuing my attempt at capturing motion and stillness ,this was painted from photos of a series of images of chickadees in different moments of landing. I also made sure the beaks were correct this time.

This painting is from a photo I took of a red ginger on one of our many trips to Maui.

In Hawaii there are lots of large leafed plants everywhere. I couldn't wait to get home and attempt this painting.

These kayaks were moored at Lake Chabot. The yellowness of the water was the brown summer hillside behind the dock area.

This was painted from a photo a co-worker had on her desk of her daughter, Lilly.

Plein air painting from Bartholomew Winery in Sonoma.

Cousin's 'retirement' home in Honakaa on the Big Island in Hawaii. Such great memories of our visits.

Balboa Park Casa Del Prado Theater I did for my nephew Jacob. He grew up acting in productions at this theater. This was a graduation present for him when he finished college. He has returned to San Diego and now works at this theater.

This is one of the first paintings I ever did without first drawing the scene to guide my painting. I was also using a technique my teacher called chasing the wet edge to give it the impressonistic feel.

I painted this from a photo I took while hiking around Lake Chabot in Castro Valley. I loved the reflection of the hillside in the far side of the lake. In the forground the Scrub Oaks and wild grasses framed the view.

This is one of several paintings I did of west coast bird life that feed in the wet sands of northern california. I really loved the reflections of the birds, as well as the contrast of the white birds on the wet sands.

My favorite sea bird painting. This was peiced together from a few different photos.

The reflections of the pelicans was the draw and challenge of this painting.

Loved the challenge of the grill and windshield reflection. It is from a photo of a truck on my mothers family farm.

I painted this in a class taught by an artist who only painted glass images. The techique requires a lot of tracing of squiggles before you ever get to paint. You can see the shadow is still in pencil as I ran out of time before I could finish.

Another family farm picture. Can you spot my uncle, cousins and 2nd cousin? Really liked how the banners and the star on the barn door came out. If you're ever near Des Moines Iowa, visit the Howell Greenhouse and Pumpkin Patch.

Love painting mushrooms. The browns and blues are just as comforting to me as sauteed mushrooms!

Yes these are apples from our three apple trees. I painted this on a sunny afternoon in our backyard with my friend (and fellow painter) Shannon Whitney. Check out her website when you're done looking at mine.

Pineapple plant growing at my cousin's home in Honakaa, Hawaii. I didn't really like this until I rediscovered the painting years later.

My sister and her husband had the good fortune to live in Bristol England for two years. She was constantly sending photo's of the places they explored. This is from the Stourhead National Trust estate.

Sheep where one of my sisters favorite things to photograph. She even brought home some yard art of sheep for her San DIego backyard garden.

I will pretty much paint anything that I find inspiring. This is from a photo I took of a TV program we were watching one evening.

Love this succulent . It grows in a pot in my backyard. The original owners left it for us when we bought the house.

Joey and I go to Lake Tahoe every fall just before the snow to enjoy the fall colors. These wet leaves caught my eye as we walked in the woods. Althought I didn't capture that 'wet' feeling I still like how it came out.

This is my neice Jamie's dog Stella who Jamie swears was her doggie solemate! I painted this for Jamie after Stella passed away. It is from a photo of Stella riding with Jamie in her car.