Pet Portraits

I made time for a couple of pet portraits in August too. I was able to photograph the chihuahua myself -which is always helpful when you're doing a painting. I was struck by how delicate and tiny she was. This is a 9" x 12" painting but she is about life size--weighing in at three pounds.

Panda, a shih tzu from Columbus, was another project I worked on and his owner was very happy with the painting, which included a detailed background.

Speed Painting

A Quick Pear study-- Yes I have a pear tree and it is bearing fruit-- which I love. You can learn a lot from spending an hour painting from life- set a timer it helps.

6" x 8"

Still Life with Pears and Copper Kettle

Still Life with Pears and Copper Kettle

Painted at Lakeside during a still life class I taught in August. I love the glass reflections and of course pears are my favorite fruit to paint.

Plein Air Painting in a Park

11" x 14" oil on panel

The second plein air session with my group of student painters was held in another park-- one with beautiful ponds-- George Bible Park in Bryan, Ohio.

Great Dane Portrait

My son has a Harlequin Great Dane named Khloe who is nine years old and I painted this piece from a photo he sent me that was taken when she was five. She's a sweet, gentle dog with a queenly air. When she walks into a room or anywhere, for that matter, people notice her.

Khloe 11" x 14"
oil on canvas

Green Gables at Lakeside

This is my favorite painting from the weekend at Lakeside, a view of the porch at the Lakeside Women's Club or Green Gables. I rented a room there Friday night. In the morning I painted and drank coffee while the lake breeze kept the humidity in check.

9" x 12" oil on linen

Still Life with Pears and Blueberries

9" x 12" oil on canvas

It's still a bit too rainy and cold to paint outside here in Northwest Ohio, so I painted one of my standard go-to subjects: pears. Painting from life produces fresh paintings with lovely lost edges.

Big Sable Light House - Michigan

This is Big Sable Lighthouse, a landmark in the state of Michigan. It was the subject of a recent painting class.

11" x 14" oil on canvas

Alla Prima Portrait Painting

Our model last Saturday was a thirteen year old named Mae-Lin who posed in a chef hat with a bowl.

9" x 12" oil on linen

Tea and Biscuits- oil painting

A small 8" x 10" oil painting of an antique teacup and saucer with some (very delicious) homemade cookies.

Oglethorpe County Courthouse, Georgia

This piece is a commission I did for a client who will give it to her mother in law, who served as a judge there for 30 years. This courthouse had some distinctive arches around the windows. More and more, I find myself very thankful for resources like Google when people send me blurry cell phone pictures.

I used the client's photo but changed the season to spring and cleaned up the landscaping.

20" x 24" oil on canvas

Napoleon Barn

We painted this Napoleon landmark at The Armory Arts & Event Center Thursday night. Will probably have another class in two or three weeks. PM me if you are interested. I demo as we paint and finished up the edges on this on tonight. I love the teal color of this building and the hot peach roof- just a gorgeous scenic barn. I'm hoping to do a plein air of it on location this summer. 

11x14 oil on canvas

Log Cabin Oil Painting

11 x 14 oil on linen

This house was a recent commissioned piece from Etsy.

Fall Painting

FALL COLOR

9x12 oil on canvas

This piece is a demo for a class I did in September. We all used the same photo reference but it's amazing how differently everyone's paintings looked when we were finished. A common error, even when I point out easy ways to judge proportion, is to make the focal point too large. About half of the barns ended up in the center of the painting, even though I was careful to point out that the barn rests on the left side of the canvas.

What I really like about this piece is the brilliant fall color in the background which manages to remain cool and unobtrusive because of the ultramarine underpainting and lack of detail.

Custom Beach Painting

A woman commissioned me recently to create a painting of her family on vacation. Three of the people were actually in the reference photo but I used some artistic license to add the others.

Port Clyde, Maine

Another view of the harbor in the afternoon from a different vantage point. Notice how the atmosphere is blue in the morning when the sun is weaker and there is moisture in the air. As the day warms the water molecules disappear and the air becomes clearer.

9" x 12" oil on canvas

Harbor View - Maine

I painted this view of St. George's Harbor on a July morning in Maine.

9" x 12" oil on canvas

1940 Dodge Coupe

I painted a picture of my friend's husband's car this morning. It was a wonderful day to be out painting. Cool and sunny with a nice breeze. September is a great month to paint en plein air.

12" x 12" oil on canvas

1940 Dodge Coupe

I painted a picture of my friend's husband's car this morning. It was a wonderful day to be out painting. Cool and sunny with a nice breeze. September is a great month to paint en plein air.

12" x 12" oil on canvas

Dip Nets

This is a restaurant where we painted in Port Clyde when it was raining. I loved the colorful lobster buoys and the yellow reflections from the overhang. My friend painted facing the other direction.