Wells Street Bridge

16 x 20

oil on board

I started this one last year when the weather in northern Indiana was more typical of the winter months up here. It was freezing out and too cold to stay outside and paint. I worked then from the photo, but it was a long season and I soon lost enthusiasm so I set it aside, probably feeling too winter weary to stay with it. Then last week, attending the artist reception at The Castle Gallery, I found inspiration in all the beautiful paintings of snow scenes and became enthused to tackle the challenge of capturing the colors and play of light in snow. After this went back up on the easel, it fairly, as the saying goes, "painted itself". The snow in the foreground was the main challenge, but inspired by the works of local artists, Fred Doloresco and my friend Douglas Runyan, I dived in with my brush loaded with paint and laid it on thickly. And I think it worked.  By the way, after I finished today, my husband and I took a bike ride to look at Christmas decorations with temperatures in the mid-60's. Weird.

Thank You Mr. Sullivan

24 x 30

oil on canvas

Chicago's beautiful old Carson Pirie Scott building, now called The Sullivan Center, is one of the masterpieces of architect Louis Sullivan and one of my favorites. This commission gave me another wonderful excuse to go visit my favorite city so I could photograph the building. I won't lie, it was challenging for this girl who prefers figurative and portrait painting and I'm celebrating that it's finished! 

The ironwork on Sullivan's building is magnificent and actually practical since it is fireproof. This building was designed after Chicago's infamous fire and so created to prevent another such catastrophe. Chicago's architecture is an absolute treasure and if you ever get a chance to go up there and take the architectural tour, it will be time well spent.

Doodle

5 x 7 

oil on panel

No, it's not her name, it described my process for beginning this little portrait of my paint friend, Karen. I was sitting at my easel when a very talkative, always entertaining friend called. Knowing this was going to be one of those mega-conversations, I began a loose and somewhat distracted oil sketch of Karen, taken from a photo during one of our plein air outtings. By the time the phone call ended, I had moved from doodling to laying in the thick layer of paint. I was surprised by how close the likeness was for having not given great attention to what I was doing. Later I tweaked things and tried to get closer to a good portrait. It's not perfect, but it was fun. In this picture, she's wearing her big floppy paint hat, her apron, and has her backpack slung over one shoulder, a lot of information that doesn't read well in this closely cropped picture, but I like the light on her face.

October Morning

8 x 10

oil on canvas board

     Yesterday I met up with some friends from our local artist guild and took part in a paint out in the charming town of Roanoke, Indiana. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I had a great time, although I painted too slow to keep up with the changing shadows, so I finished it today. Painting within a time restriction and chasing the light is a really good exercise for keeping loose and making decisions for color and values quickly.

Pretty in Pink

16 x 20

oil on canvas

   Family love is captured on a screened porch between two beauties in pink.  This is my wonderful neighbor and her little great granddaughter at the reception following a family wedding.

Shadow Dance

16 x 20

oil on canvas

A little girl plays in the surf at Malibu. While she was splashing in the puddles and making shadows in the sand, my nephew's wedding was taking place just to the left of her little playground.

 Jeremy and Alyssa

There were also people repelling down the rocks during the ceremony and others climbing down while we were getting pictures, as noticed in this shot. Lots of fun happenings there on the beach. Another fun fact about this particular location is, this is the site of the final shot in the original "Planet of the Apes" where Charlton Heston rides up and sees the torso of the Statue of Liberty washed up on the shore.

Garden Ornaments

20 x 16

oil on canvas

 A young woman poses on an ornamental bridge in a lovely Indiana flower garden as light filters through pink and green leaves.
For purchase information, please contact The Castle Gallery

"Sushi"

9 x 12

oil on canvas

It took me awhile to like sushi and I'm still a lightweight, inasmuch as I still haven't developed an appreciation for the more exotic selections on the menu, but what I do like, I LOVE! The last time I met my friend for lunch at a favorite local restaurant, the staff was gracious enough to let me take their photo. There is such atmosphere and color here!
 For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

Santa Monica Street Dance

12 x 12

oil on 1/2" cradled panel

On my first trip to California I learned what all the fuss is about. A weekday visit to Santa Monica treated us to a Chinese celebration and street dance, apparently not uncommon to this spectacular city. The amazing, pervasive sunshine set up great shadows on these dancers.

For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

Up the Creek

18 x 14

oil on canvas

I was crossing over a little bridge on a woodsy road and had to stop the car and take the photo I used for this painting.  The foreground was in shadow from the thick woods while the background was glittering with morning sun. The reflected blue sky was just this pretty. I painted it pretty loosely, that is loosely for me.
This painting is available through The Castle Gallery

Rob

6 x 6

oil on panel

Our good friend Rob. An incredible musician and along with his wife Susie, is the other half of The Flying Suracis. He not only tears up the guitar and bass, he can grill killer brats, is effortlessly funny, and shares my deep, abiding love of Beatle music.

In the Shade Garden

12 x 14

oil on canvas

I so enjoyed this challenge of getting the dappled light and shade right in the skin tones on this painting.  The model took some time to catch up on her studies while she provided this classic pose.
For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

In the Golden Hour on Theme and Main

11 x 14

oil on canvas

Recently, we were taking a drive to check out the rivers in town which, thanks to the relentless rains this summer, have been very high for weeks. At this location along the St.Mary's river, the sun was just beginning to set and it was brilliantly flashing between the trees. We had to pull the car over to just appreciate the beauty of the moment.
For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

Barr Street Market

11 x 16

oil on board

sold

It's so exciting to be back into the season of garden fresh vegetables and farmer's markets. We went out to one last weekend and it was enough to inspire me to finish this painting that I began last year. This is a popular local market, full of the colors and fragrances of summer.

The Landing

11 x 14

oil on board

I'm trying to do more plein air painting and am lucky to have a group of painter friends who have organized weekly outings. Last week we met downtown on Columbia Street West, historically known as "The Landing" since it was the point of landing and departure for people and goods using stagecoaches or boats on the Erie and Wabash Canal. For as long as I can remember, it's since been the site of various bars, delis, hotels, shops, coffee houses and candy parlors as well as empty buildings. Currently it's pretty quiet and largely unoccupied except for a couple of restaurants, some professional buildings, and one very popular and stalwart bar which is subject of my painting. That's probably going to change again soon, for the better, since our city has been actively and successfully revitalizing the downtown area for awhile with expansions that will bring this old street back to life.

For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery