CHRISTMAS, 2011

Christmas in my part of Oklahoma was a day of sunshine and welcome warmth.

Hope your Christmas was good and you had a wonderful day with family.

SEASON OF THE PUMPKIN

oil/canvas panel

palette knife/brush

8x10

Our class lesson last evening.

I feel so privileged to have in class a group of individuals who are so enthusiastic about learning to paint.  They are unfailingly supportive of each other and of me.  

While this is purported to be a landscape class, we sometimes do still life.   Since it is October, we had to paint a pumpkin.  This is my effort for the class and the others painted marvelous and different versions.  Good job, guys!

BAINBRIDGE SALT FLATS

11X14

OIL/CANVAS PANEL

PALETTE KNIFE/BRUSH








 The northwestern part of the United States is one of the most scenic parts of this country.  I recently visited there and spent time on Bainbridge Island,  Whidbey Island, and the Seattle coast line.  I left behind the scorching Oklahoma August and enjoyed perfect weather there.

Bainbridge Island is off the coast of Seattle in Puget Sound.  Drove my car onboard a ferry and floated over,  such a treat.  I came upon the salt flats while hiking.  There were several paintings to be had, I could turn in any direction and find a knockout.  I particularly liked this scene. 

We used a photo of it for class Monday evening.  I am so pleased to say that everyone in class produced a knock-out painting.....all different according to their style and all exceptionally good.

ABSTRACT BLUE

Acrylic/paper board





This was a ton of fun to do.
Think I will try another.

Good way to beat the heat, stay indoors and abstract.

SEAVIEW NEAR CAMBRIA

8x10

oil/canvas panel

palette knife

Have been longing to find a cool place away from the dreadfully hot temperatures we are having.   Looking through my photos, I found this Cambria sea scene on the California coast.  Remembering the time I spent there and painting it helped a bit.   I used it last evening for a  class painting and saw really good results. 

I have been teaching for about a year and a half.  I had heard others instructors say how much they enjoyed teaching but I did not know how much it would enrich my painting life.   It affords me the opportunity to meet, work with, and come to know and like people I would never have known otherwise.   So, thanks guys!  .....love having you in class.

 

OKLAHOMA HAY BALES

11x14

oil/canvas panel

palette knife








There is a stretch of road I drive between my house and the main highway that, regardless of the season, offers a scene that is beautiful to see and enjoy.  It is situated in the hills and remains hidden until you round a curve and come up on it.   It is a lovely surprise each time.  I think the prairie grass that grows in the front and back pasture  has been baled  to feed the two horses who live across the road.   The grasses that grow beside the road and fence are loaded with color.  There are  a lot of alizarin grasses in the summer and fall, mixed with some purples, greens, and golds.  Since we are in the midst of a moderate drouth, the colors will soon fade.    Am hoping for rain.

  This is not a plein air piece.  The temperatures here are 100+.    I parked at the side of the road and took a couple of photos which we used for a class painting last Monday evening.

OZARKS WATERFALL

11X14
palette knife
oil/canvas board







Heat and drouth in Oklahoma makes the memory of this scene even sweeter.  I used my photo taken not too recently in a gentler season.

BOOK AND BOWL

8x10
oil/canvas panel
palette knife/brush

Summer in Oklahoma is a good time to do studio paintings.  106 degrees yesterday, no rain recently.

The book is very old and I have owned it for a long time.  The bowl was given to me by a friend.  It had belonged to her mother who was a still life painter. (Thanks, Cathy.  )  The apple, after serving its purpose, went in to the frying pan to be sauteed with butter and cinnamon, a little brown sugar.

Oh, the apple also went to class and modeled for our class painting for the week.  Well-traveled Granny Smith.

FARMERS' MARKET TOMATOES

8x10
oil/canvas board
palette knife

Summer tomatoes are delicious.  They are grown locally and I can get them just picked at the farmers' market.  I just don't buy them off season as they tend to have the flavor of styrofoam.   They are fun to paint.  I took them to class Monday for our weekly painting project.

TALL GRASS PRAIRIE IN MAY

8X10
oil/canvas panel











I had the opportunity to visit Oklahoma's Tall Grass Prairie Preserve recently with an artist friend for a day of plein aire painting.   There were some wildflowers blooming although it is still a bit early in the year.  We chose this scene for the distant view and the few wild flowers.  We enjoyed this cool and windy day, had our sack lunch, and stayed on the lookout for bison.  None were to be seen, guess they were beyond a hill somewhere.  We did, however, see the long horns.....and they saw us, stopping their chewing to observe our activities.

We are fortunate to have the preserve in Oklahoma and to have it near enough for a day trip.   It is a pleasure to visit and see the changes with each season.

MOSSY POND

8x10
oil/canvas panel

During April, Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum staged its annual Rendezvous art event.  Curt Walters was one of the featured artists this year.  He is probably best known for his Grand Canyon paintings which are magnificent.  While in Tulsa for this event, he conducted a master's class workshop for a limited number of participants.  Lucky me, I was one of those.
It was a great  experience. This little painting is one I did on the beautiful grounds of the Gilcrease museum during the workshop.

                                                Gilcrease pond

                                  Curt is preparing to do his first demo.

FIVE BY FIVE, ON 5/5 AT 5:55 PM

5x5 inches
oil/canvas

The Tulsa Artist Coalition has a fund raiser each year on May 5.  The exhibit opens at 5:55 pm and each painting sells for $55.

This is my entry/donaton for this year.  I believe this is at least my fourth year to participate.  It is great to see the rows of paintings, all 5x5, on the walls and note how rapidly they sell.

If you live in Tulsa or close enough to drive in, you must not miss this event...,,come see the art, meet the artists, and enjoy a glass of wine.

PATH TO WOODS, HAYWARD HILL

11x14
oil,canvas board
palette knife

I have painted this area many times.  It is about three miles from my home and along a road I travel several days each week. There are many views along this hilly road that offers beautiful scenes that seem to change dramatically with each season or even time of day.
How fortunate I am to have this to enjoy. 

RIVER SUNSET

8x10
oil/canvas board
palette knife

The sun has set on a lovely April day with a promise of more warm days taking us into summer.

A SPRING RIVER SCENE

14  x18

oil/canvas board

palette knife

I have painted this scene before and it is fun to revisit.  The colors are especially pretty in Spring.  This will be a class lesson this evening. I am looking forward to sharing it with them.

OKLAHOMA COUNTRY SCENE

9x12
oil
palette knife/brush


This typical northern Oklahoma scene is near the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve.

This will be a painting I will most likely use for class.  It offers lessons in perspective, value, and shapes.

It is getting to be prime plein aire time in Oklahoma.  It is getting warmer, greener, windier, and buggier ( is that in the dictionary?)  

LOVE THOSE KNIFE PAINTERS!!

A great class last evening.........as you can see, everyone is doing well with the palette knife technique.  We used a photo I took when I painted the same scene at Keystone last Saturday.  I so enjoy teaching the class and I love these guys.

KEYSTONE WOODS IN MARCH

8x10
Palette knife and brush
oil/canvas board

Yesterday was perhaps our first perfect spring day this year.   The temperature was in the low 70's and the winds were mild and pleasant.
So, a great time to be out painting.
I met a friend at the Keystone Woods and we spent the day painting, eating, and visiting.

The woods are always paintable and now they are in flux, shedding winter and adding summer.  This scene is one I particularly liked.  The path goes up the hill then round behind the big cedar becoming a wider path, now a lane that leads you through
almost a canopy of cedars with a
glimpse of sky at the end......another
painting for another day.

LANDSCAPE PAINTER PAINTS ROOSTER

8X10
palette knife, oil
 
THE ROOSTER OF AJIJIC

On my first trip to Mexico, quite a few years back, I fell in love with roosters.  My friend, Joyce, and I took tons of photos of roosters, all loaded with personality, this  one especially so.  Roosters are also very good at being your alarm clock.  I woke to the call of several every morning I was there.

This guy was our lesson for class this week.

CALIFORNIA CYPRESS

9X12
oil/palette knife

When on Carpinteria beach, if you turn to face away from the ocean, there is this marvelous view of cypress outlined against the mountain and sky.  I am sure it has been painted by many artists.  I took a bit of artistic liberty and changed the outline of the mountains a bit.   Marvelous day there, high sixties and no wind.

SUMMERLAND BEACH

11x14
palette knife


Sure do love the California beaches.  This beach located between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, offers a bit of solitude along with its beauty.  It is just off the 101 but, once there, you feel secluded  as you walk (or paint).  The shore birds are there to greet the changing tide and feed on
the edibles left on the shore.
Doesn't get any better than this.

KEYSTONE WOODS, NEAR PIER 51

9X12
oil/canvas board
palette knife


Some shaded areas in the woods still have snow though most elsewhere has melted away. 

As I have mentioned before in this blog, Oklahoma winters can be quite beautiful.   We have grasses (I should learn the name of them) that turn orange and alizarin in our cold weather.  They grow along the highways and woods and glow against the dark green of the cedars and the white of snow. 

This scene was yesterday and, with the warmth of todays sunshine, the rest of the snow will be gone.  I will not miss it.  I long for spring and am thinking I need to go somewhere warmer for a bit, perhaps a sunny beach and a warm ocean would do the trick.

HAPPY NEW YEAR