I have decided. When 'The Bug' comes home, I am removing the dark green leg. It may show up in the photo, but the painting does not need it.

Bulldog Smile

Watercolor

15"x 22"

$650.00

I guess I need to get another photo of this painting when it comes home. Being 300 lb rough paper, the bumps are showing a shadow that I cannot edit out and hold onto the integrity of the image. Grumble, grumble.

This was the third painting I enter in a show and it won juror's choice award. Boy was I spoiled.

This one was painted while I was caring for my mother-in-law, who had cancer. I was spending months away form my bulldog puppy. My daughter was caring for her in my absence and the dog became the darling of the art school that my daughter was attending.

This is the largest size of paper that I can fit in my suitcase.

There is a lot of wet into wet work here. I think the fluid look of the eyes make the painting. When I took this photo of Maggie she was only three months old. I thought she had that loving look a baby gets when looking at it's mother. Actually her jaw had not grown enough for the fangs to show in the typical bulldog smile. When I had returned home her jaw had protruded and her smile, with teeth, appeared. I drove her nuts trying to get the right photo at the right angle to aid me. I added those teeth last, after the painting could have been done. People believe that watercolor is unforgiving and hard to change. This painting is proof that that is not so.

There is a another bulldog painting that I painted before this one. It also won a Juror's choice award. When ever I exhibited both paintings together 'The Bulldog Smile' would always win over the other one. This week I put this painting in a show that is displaying in our local library and it won first place again. I am not surprised.

This painting is now hanging at Hammons Hall. I like the colors and the whimsy. This is the first painting I did after bringing my parents home to live with me. I had just moved and my studio still needed to be set up. There was a leak in the roof while I was in Florida caring for my mom after heart surgery. My husband and the contractor had knocked a big hole in the wall and pulled the carpet back. Everything was pushed to one side. No wonder I did not paint much during that time.

Sunflowers and Blackbird

20"x13.5"

$400.00

I have always liked sunflowers. yellow has been my favorite color since childhood. This flowers always face the direction where they get the most sun. In my old house they faced to the outside of the fence. At my new house they face my porch. Location, location. I try to do one sunflower painting a season. There is another one in this series. The next sunflower painting will be more realistic presenting the drama of their size.

This painting started out as play. First I created the centers by laying down paint and then touching the paint with drops of alcohol. Then I started creating the pedals by laying down the oranges and yellows then used a rubber spatula to move the paint around. The hard edge of the spatula also marked the paper with lines to help define the pedals. A lot of painting around the edges and additons of line and color for the background. The blackbird showed up late in the painting process. I like how the blue of the sky is in the flower's center and mixed in the stems.

The Bug

11'x15'

Watercolor

$150.00

This was a little difficult because the photo was fuzzy. I was attracted to the detailing of the wings. This is a funny angle for this bug because his body is long and narrow. I am not sure the legs are right yet. This has been entered in the Hammons Hall show. It may come out of the frame when it gets home.

Orchids des Rouge

Watercolor

15"X 22"

$450.00

I love painting white. I discovered this when painting white face clowns. I purchased this orchid specifically to paint. Being the first one I owned, I was surprised how long the flowers last.

The real reason for this painting was to created the riotous red background. I used gold pigment in the background to add elegance. This often hangs in my red powder room if it is not hanging in public.

Scaffolding, City View
Watercolor
20"x 16"
$500.00

I won second place in the professional division, in the Neocho art show. This painting was done from a photo of scaffolding outside the Smithsonian Art museum. It told forever to get a clear photo in such low light. I like how you can see the city through the scaffolding. I wish that I had entered this one in Watercolor USA, but not I think the painting is too old.