Ella and Tim

Ella and Tim - oil - 8 x 8 

What's better than a new baby in the family? Here is my baby gift to the new parents of sweet little Ella. The paint is still wet but I'll be taking it with me to a family event anyway. I really should learn not to procrastinate.

The Wedding Dance

The Wedding Dance - oil - 20 x 16

This is the second wedding painting I have done as wedding gift for my family. The handsome groom in the painting is my nephew, Ben. They were married a year and half ago, but it's better late than never. In hind sight I would rather have painted this larger. The faces were so small, I was using tiny brushes to get the detail I needed to capture their likeness. Now that I am finished, I hope they feel, as I do, that The Wedding Dance reflects the love they have for each other. 

Mother's Kiss

Mother's Kiss - oil   8 x 10 

The mother in the painting Mother and Child, ask me to paint this painting of her friend's baby. The features on an infant are so subtle and delicate that the colors in the skin tones also need to be painted very subtle. I took a little more time on this painting than I usually do to to achieve these soft skin tones.

2012 winner- "Snow Is Here"

Here I am posing with Kacy (the painting's subject) after it was announced that my painting was the winner of the Celebrate Frederick Holiday Art Competition. "Snow Is Here" will be used for the 2013 holiday season advertising for Celebrate Frederick and the city of Frederick, MD.

Snow is Here

Snow is Here oil - 36 x 24 - sold

This is my 5th year to enter The 2012 Frederick Holiday Art Competition. This is KC catching snowflakes by Carol Creek in historic Frederick, MD. Since I have not won in the past, this year I am trying something a little different. Snow is Here is painted in a more illustrative style and is twice the size of what I usually enter. Tomorrow night the winner will be announced.  

Mother and Child

Mother and Child  oil - 10 x 8 

My friend asked me to paint this painting of Rachel and her baby. There is nothing more touching than a mother's love. The glow around the baby is from the light above shinning down but I love how it appears as though the light is coming from the baby. 

Mock Hawaiian Tiki Totem Poles

I know, I know I haven't posted in a while. I've had some other projects I've been working on and my studio is uninhabitable while we are renovating our basement family room. I have at least three paintings almost finished and at least three more I need to start soon so I hope to get in the habit of posting here again very soon. In the mean time, here are some photos of totem poles I crafted from papermache', with the help from some friends, for the Baltimore Yacht Club Opening Weekend hawaiian islands theme decorations.

 First we masking taped newspaper to cement tube forms and poster board tape together to form a tube.

Then papermache'd over it all.

"The Children" before paint

with paint

finished

we set the totem tubes over paint cans for stability on the bar and hung a bamboo frame and thatching from the ceiling for the tiki bar effect 

The masks were made from papermache' on poster board hung over the wall sconces

Lucy and Sally

Lucy and Sally  oil - 16 x 20

I haven't posted lately, not only because Christmas preparations are in full swing, but because I have been working on this painting of two adorable puppies. The painting will be revealed at our annual Christmas Eve party where the owners of Lucy and Sally will be surprised by their kid's thoughtful Christmas gift. I am so excited that I will be there when the kids either show their parents the painting, or wait until they recognize their dogs hanging on the wall. Either way will make for a fun time for all.

Winter Playground

Winter Playground  oil - 24 x 18

This is my entry in the Celebrate Frederick Holiday Poster Competition this year. The winner was announced last night at the Delaplaine Arts Center's opening reception. Although I did not win, I thought the winning painting was very good. I have a cool idea to paint for next year so I'll try again. By doing a holiday painting each year (four years in a row now), it has become a holiday tradition for me. This year I played Christmas music while I painted Winter Playground, to put me in the Christmas mood.  

When it snows ain't it thrillin'

Though your nose gets a chillin'

We'll frolic and play the Eskimo way

Walking in a winter wonderland.........

Happily Planted

Happily Planted  oil - 10 x 8

In probably her most favorite seat in the world, is my Aunt Judy. Here she is sitting in a beach chair, on the beach, in Nags Head, NC where life is good. Her birthday was on Saturday and I wanted to paint something for her and I needed to paint something for the "Fall Challenge". So, to kill two birds with one stone, I painted this today. The challenge was to use a limited pallet of two reds, two blues and two yellows along with white. I have been wanting to try a more illustrated look, by outlining a figure in a dark value and keeping the brush strokes loose. I just love how this turned out! I hope she likes it too.

Taylor

Taylor  oil - 6 x 6

This is another mini-portrait of a rider and her horse that once dry and framed, will be ready to give as a Christmas present. This is Danielle's sister Taylor. The photograph was beautiful and would have made a gorgeous large portrait. Taylor was wearing a sleeveless dress but I painted her in a riding jacket. This way her portrait will be similar to her sister's.

I think they look great in these dark cherry frames hanging side by side. 

Danielle

Danielle  oil -  6 x 6 

A friend of mine asked me to paint two small paintings, of two of her granddaughters with their horses, in time for her to give them as a Christmas gift. This is the first of the set. This photo is so beautiful that this would be beautiful painted much larger. It is rather difficult to get much detail in such a small painting especially when Danielle's face is about the size of a quarter on this 6x6 canvas. These little paintings will make lovely gifts. If you know this family don't tell them that a painting of them is posted on my blog.  It will be a surprise this Christmas. 

Becky

Becky - oil  6 x 6

This is one of the gals from BYC, wearing a derby on the day of the Kentucky Derby. It's taken a while to finish this because I just haven't been satisfied with it. Also, I have been busy with vacations, art shows and mowing (as a result of record breaking rain falls) therefore posting weekly on my blog was put on hold. Now, I am back!  I will be posting my progress on some of the larger paintings I will be working on, for wedding gifts, The Frederick Holiday Poster Competition, and commissioned paintings for Christmas presents.  This month some of my paintings were sold at a wonderful art show called Art at the Mill, in Virginia. The Mill will be having another show in the spring that I would like enter with new paintings. In addition to all these commitments, I said I would post a new painting every week, but now I am way behind.  I counted about 40 daily paintings I have done so far. That makes 16 more paintings I'll need to do before years end. Wow!

Gidget

Gidget  oil - 8 x 8

A German Shorthaired Pointer who wants to play ball. Is there any other kind? I got together with some friends to paint, but I forgot to bring any reference materials to paint from, so I borrowed this photo from my friend Emily of her dog Gidget. Emily said she would trade this painting for one she will paint of my dog Tug. I'll bet I am getting the better end of this deal.

Princess Erin

Princess Erin  oil - 6 x 6

This is Baltimore Yacht Club's princess Erin, returning to BYC, on the bow of her commodore's boat,  after the Queen of the Chesapeake Pageant. I loved the way the light falls on her and the view of her from behind gazing over the piers.