Our love...Maggie...always watching me paint...

Albert is watching me all the time I am painting..

This is done to express 'out with the rascals!'

very bright colors...playing with shadows

did you lay that??

greens/greens/greens

These paintings are all acrylic...I am working hard to gain spontaneity to describe the landscapre...all are on 16x20 canvases

This painting is on a 20"x40" acrylic painting done for my dear friends in Louisville Dan and Beth...they wanted something that was rolling and light and buttery with mostly warm colors and a shock of orange....this photo is not quite as vibrant as the REAL thing...hope they like it!

I did this painting also as a choice for my Philadelphia friends...also in acrylic on a 30"x40" canvas...My intent was to paint flowers that expressed the passion and joy that surrounds creative people...the reference photo for this painting was from a trip to Butchart Gardens in Victoria Canada---55 acreas of stunning flower show...I took my children there over 15 years ago in a camper...even children 'got' the magnificience of the place.

What a fun painting this was to do for my Philadelphia friends. She was done in acrylics on a 30"x40" canvas...a double lily...lilies have many symbolic meanings..mostly friendship and devotion...it is the May birth flower as well as the 30th wedding anniversary flower...so I was thinking of more than matching a sofa...I was thinking of the celebration of life and love and friendship.

triptyck in acrylic each 30"x60" fun

Fall in Paradise

This photo does not really do the painting justice...meaning the reds are very different from each other..that is what I was going with and in person..well...it is much more vibrant...red is my favorite color to paint with..it adds such passion but I usually dont bring out the red til the end because I can get carried away so this one I just flat-out started with the red...also in acrylic 4'x7'.

Silver Fox gallery represents my work in downtown Hendersonville on Main Street...this is another of the series 4'x7'...in acrylic...if you notice three circles "appear" in each of this series I think it must be the spiritual Father/Son/Holy Mother that seeks expression..I LOVE this and loved doing it...my process is that I paint these canvases two at a time propped against the garage doors. I do two at a time to let the paint dry while I work on the next one...this allows me to add layers which I now am getting pretty efficient at with the Golden GAC 100 as well as the gloss gel..this has added a whole new dimension to the paints and I just am having so much fun....

We just got back from Vegas with the all six kids---WOW! Tom creates a charity golf tournament every two years and invites his friends and so far they have raised over $4million and it all goes to children charities. I am so in awe of Tom's continued commitment to making the lives better for children...so this is what I do...and all the proceeds of my paintings go to the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson County. Last year my efforts produced $60,000 revenue---this year--not so good...but I am still painting like a fool and am so excited about these abstract BEINGS...like it is really them painting themselves while I hold on to the brush..this is also 4'x7'...I just put 18 paintings at our favorite restaurant FLIGHTS in downtown Hendersonville...one a huge six panel 15'x5' abstract with a floral feeling (I"M telling you they paint themselves once I get out of the way...)all the paintings at Flights are for sale...

This is my second attempt at these huge ones...4'x7' canvas with acrylics...it actually has deeper colors than what came out here in the photo but you get the gist of where I was going...

So now I am experimenting with my abstract language...I get so excited with these 'happenings' as I just begin with large strokes/colors I like and then the painting will start to 'speak' to me...this one is done with acrylics on a 4'x7' stretched canvas

so this is our Albert...in encaustic...only 12"x12"...I LOVE WAX!!!and albert

I snapped this photo a while ago at Myrtle Beach when I was at the Springmaid Watercolor workshop..just dug it out for inspiration....she is on a gallery wrapped canvas 36"x36" in acrylic...I captured the solitude I felt she was expressing in her pose

Wow! this was a lot of fun! I title her..EVER FORWARD...and she is another acrylic huge 4'x7'...this painting is a she...I recently took a workshop from a fabulous teacher/artist Anne Templeton...she said look at your paintings---do you tend to use curves or hard edges/organic or geometric...obviously this was painted in my 'feminine' mode

so I was thinking about Flights (the great restaurant in Hendersonville) and how to merge the bird image with the wine/food concept..and what you can see in this photo is the wine in the glass...what I am always cognizant of is that your painting must tell its own story without explanation

so what shall I call this relationship...this is also 30"x40" in acrylic. I have a difficult time naming paintings..it's like naming kids..you've got to wait til they're on the ground and look into their eyes..."what do you want to be called for this period you will be walking on the earth little one?" these two are not looking me in the eyes so it is more difficult

so this is a bit more detail of Matilda

second in series

so this is my new series...I begin with a 'series' because then I can keep focused..she is 30"x40" in acrylic..actually the colors in person are much more...sublime...I am using glazing..layers upon layers..

My children are my miracle and my hope and make me carry on. They are my life/they are my days and nights and give me the joyful foundation from which I look at life. They make me strong and make me commit to being authentic...When they were young I only was a vegetarian because I wanted them to respect life (theirs and others and animals) and I wanted them to be conscious about what they put in their mouths and stomachs. I am so blessed to have my children. I am so blessed to have my flowers so I paint my flowers and my children just carry on and give me such delight!

I grew up on a farm in Ohio where we raised sheep. We named the sheep after flowers...mine was Rosie/my sister's was Daisy. Our sheep would meet us out our back door and honestly follow us around all day on the farm...When the flock had multiplied to 28 my dad decided he did not want to be in the sheep business so we got rid of the sheep but I never got rid of Rosie and when my daughter Keegan was the star in her high school senior class play she was Rosie!

I am fascinated by flowers...I do my garden every day and they are so lively and earnest...always looking for the sun...I provide the water but I am not much of a weeder. I bring flowers into my home but only pick the ones that are 'hidden' from view because they need an audience too!

this painting is the third in the series...it is smaller 12"x12"..the rocks are cooler but I have tried hard to make the water move/the rocks stay still...I LOVE the paint rocks..they have such a soul and will hold still long enough to actually do their portrait...water is more impetuous and difficult to give it life..still a challenge worth doing....

Second in this series...more muslims and christians...note how the rocks squeeze the water but the water gets through...the water is always flowing and will make its way...no matter what!

I am sooo excited about this painting! It is done with oils but I 'discovered' an classic oil technique of 'oiling up the canvas'...equal parts gum turpentine/cold pressed linseed oil and damar varnish...it is so JUICY! It is 3'x4'---the beginning of my rocks vs water series...I think the Christian/Muslim issues are like this and we have to see the "issues" and "conflicts" from a different viewpoint...be able to be the rocks/be able to be the water and see that they are complimentary and make life interesting. We'd better figure this out soon! I worry about my paintings so I don't have to worry about the future...

This is also an acrylic...note the texture...really bumpy! I am bored with smooth paintings but sometimes i get into trouble...bumps where I dont want them...sorta like my body!

This is a barn that EVERYONE who is a barn painter in Cashiers has painted. It is in oil and apparently has quite a history...it was fun/done in oil...actually the finished painting is a LOT more colorful and dynamic but I think it is interesting...I used to paint portraits of people and now I paint portraits of barns...gotta tell you something about where I am going with all of this....

shrooms...what is important?

This was painted in an hour...just shapes that turned out to be mushrooms. When I was a little girl in Ohio my brothers and I would go pick mushrooms and come home with a pillowcase full of them...we would put them in a pot with lots of butter and fry them up! Why we never died I don't know but my grandmother had instructed us as to which mushrooms were edible...I guess she knew what she was talking about...

I went to a workshop by Phil Garret of Golden Acrylic...so NOW I am so into acrylics. This painting is way cooler in person and is my first acrylic with the golden products... belong to Lake Toxaway Art Guild. For me painting is a solitary experience and I create infinitely more authentically when I am alone BUT that being said...I need to have friends who are interested and committed to the same path so we can share and explore and learn and grow. And they are just downright good people who are fun to be with and I am so grateful for each of them. We have several workshops in the summer while I am in Lake Toxaway and we have a huge art show on the first Monday of every October---it will be fun again I am sure!

This is also my new shot at abstracting an idea...this is the volcano EYJAFJALLAJOKULL--THE REALLY BIG PICTURE...two end pieces are 20"x60" and the two center pieces 36"x60"...I kept thinking chaos, nature, activity...Iceland is the white...

I am sooo excited! This is my new discovery of my expression. This piece is three panels of 30"x60" each...the title of this is BP OIL FIASCO---it's not all about YOU!

This is a new big 4 piece acrylic piece...112"x60"...my response to the BP debacle...

two guys

I wish this was a better photo because these guys are electric! They are done in oil on 4'x1' panels...not as a pair but I was too lazy to separate...(and not computer suave enough to accomplish)