Osprey Obsession

Our Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge is COLOR.
How can you go wrong? 
This is my interpretation.
I photographed an Osprey nest from my jetski and made this painting from it!

Everglades Palmetto

10x10 acrylic on Raymar panel

Tree is this month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge topic.
I've included the reference photo this was painted from.
It's easy to see that I edited the scene quite a bit, adding the clump of background trees and creating water in the foreground.
I painted this in acrylics, which I find that I really love working with.

Tools Too

Tools Too
6x6 oil on panel 
Click to Bid

Painting these studio "props" was so much fun that I felt like doing this again. So I did. 
Check out my Gallery in Daily Paintworks.

Meanwhile, I had a great day today with my friend and Everglades painter,  JoAnn Sanborn.
We took a drive out to Fakahatchee Strand to stoke our painting mojo and take some photographs. 

JoAnn Sanborn, Everglades Artist

Tools - Girls Just Wanna Paint Challenge

"Painter's Tools"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
Click to Bid

The Girls Just Wanna Paint subject was tools.

I've arranged my "tools", including a tube of paint, several brushes, palette knife and my turps cups, on a backdrop and played with the color. I almost did not include the lettering on the tube but felt it was necessary.

It's been quite a while since I set up a still life of this nature and I really enjoyed it.

Look for other paintings in this series and check out the GJWP here.

My block in

Luxury 2 and Life Lessons

"Morning Tea"

Class Demo NFS

The subject is Luxury

morning tea

painting 

a warm bed

beloved pets

real friends 

being loved

beautiful music

Check out the interpretations by my homies @ Girls Just Wanna Paint. 

Beach Day

Beach Day

8x8 oil on panel

SOLD

This painting, Beach Day, is my entry for the Girls Just Wanna Paint December challenge "luxury". 
I was sketching this couple on the beach in July of 2014 and she noticed and came over to see the sketch. 
Recently, she emailed me and asked if I'd ever done a painting from the sketch. I hadn't, so I did.
I sent her the image and she loved it but, told me that her husband had passed after a long neurological illness he'd been suffering from even as I did the sketch.
It saddened me as I'd been thinking that she'd give it to him for Christmas. Sitting on the beach in the summer is a wonderful luxury, but time is the luxury we forget we have.

Happy New Year to all. 

Live. Love. Laugh. Paint. Do.

Peace

"In flight"

6x6 oil on panel

My favorite thing to see is what's called a murmuration. 
It's a large flock of birds flying together and abruptly changing direction in unison. Many times the birds will land en masse on the utility wires, light for a few minutes and burst forth into flight again.
I began this painting by putting the shapes of the birds in with burnt umber and then painted the sky against them to create vibrant edges. I wanted to capture the motion of the birds as they flit about the wires.
This is my painting for Girls Just Wanna Paint's November challenge "peace".  

Little Italy, Philadelphia

"little Italy, Philadelphia

6x6 oil on panel

Don and I took an awesome vacation to…. wait…. New Jersey!

We stayed at the deluxe Marriott Fairways Villas in Galloway and among the many activities we could choose from was a day trip to Philadelphia.

I haven't seen Independence Hall or the Liberty Bell since I was 10 and the Liberty Bell was still outside in the rain, but it was fantastic! 

Yes, we did the Rocky steps which is what the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art are now called.

Anyway, I digress. 

This is my entry for the Girls Just Wanna Paint October Challenge, "Chiaroscuro".

It's a dramatically lit (that's what chiaroscuro means) doorway in Philadelphia's 9th Street, Italian neighborhood

Expressive Brushwork Workshop

South River Marsh, Late Afternoon

12x16 oil on canvas board

$300

You may have to tilt the screen to see the range of color in the sky in this late afternoon plein air painting done at the marsh on 3A in Scituate. I had such fun blocking this in loosely and applying lively, energetic brushstrokes in broken color to finish it.

I've been focusing on loose brush work and will be teaching a one day workshop featuring this topic, in my studio on Saturday, November 11, 2017 from 10 - 4.

6 students maximum

Email me for details.

WENDL15@verizon.net 

Nocturne

Truro Dune Shack
6x8 oil on panel

This month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge is nocturne, which means a night time painting. I dug into the archives for this painting of a full moon over Truro in the winter, reflected in Pilgrim Lake.
I've hit a speed bump this summer, having lost my Irish Twin (13 months apart) Anna Marie to pancreatic cancer in June, a short 8 weeks from her diagnosis. I don't mind sharing this because cancer is the disease that touches us all. 
I am blessed to have my GJWP painting "sisters" who lift me up, make me laugh and carry me through the rough patches.
I'll be posting some of my new work so stay tuned and thanks for hanging with me for all of these years.

My "Irish twin" sister Anna Marie and I with her first grandson, Winthrop Davies Cottrell

January 2013

Lily Pads

"Lily Pads"

12x12 

$350

This compilation of acrylic, watercolor, sharpie and metal leaf is my entry for our Girls Just Wanna Paint monthly challenge. 

Click here to see the Girls' interpretations of Still Life. 

This is my first in a series of 12x12 canvases of organic subjects, this one being lily pads.

Interlude: a stained glass mosaic

"Interlude"

6x8 stained glass mosaic

NFS

I spent a blissful "interlude" last Tuesday at Derby Academy Summer Arts Camp. My multi talented friend, Sally Dean Mello teaches in the program and invited me over to check out the kids' work and try my hand at creating a glass mosaic. 
She furnished me with a frame into which she glued a sheet of glass, showed me how to score and break the glass pieces and sent me on my way. 
Sally, her friend and fellow counselor Judy Benzaquin, and I sat together working on our pieces along with the kids who were creating their own works. 
It was exactly what my soul needed and this mosaic just seemed to create itself. I'm hooked ;)
Be sure to check out Girls Just Wanna Paint , tomorrow, to see the works for our July topic: Bliss.

Parrsboro Plein Air

Canada Day

8x8 oil on board 

$250 buy now with PayPal

I applied for and was accepted to the first annual Parrsboro Plein Air paint out. 
Not only is this my first ever Plein Air competion, it is taking place in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, a place I've been visiting for close to 20 years and where my husband's mother's family is from.  
It is one of the most spectacular places I've been and I know it well.
I painted this at Sargent's cottage at second beach. 
Notice the reflection of Blomidon in the windows.

Lilacs in Watercolor

"Lilacs"

4"x8" Watercolor

We arrived home from Naples to the scent of lilacs, fresh ocean air and the unexpected treat of daffodils which I expected to be long gone by. 
The first leg of our trip was to Charleston, SC, a beautiful and charming city in every way. 
We took a delightful Carriage ride during which the driver gave us the lowdown on the care of the horses. They are logged in and out for every trip, regulated as to how many days and hours they can work, get shipped off for two week vacations out to pasture and are very well cared for. The weather was a balmy 75 degrees with no humidity! 
We spent some time checking out Charleston's rich selection of art galleries and had a lovely dinner at the Francis Marion Hotel. 
My hubby was a Navy man stationed in Charleston, but there is no trace left of the Navy Base as he knew it.

The Carriage Horses make Charleston

The next part of the adventure took us over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and landed us on the DelMarVa peninsula which, brought us near to the Chincoteague National Seashore.
The day out on Chincoteague was spectacularly beautiful and the only horses we saw were spotted from the top of the lighthouse.

Huffing and puffing ;)

Four shades of lilacs!

daffodils

Wolfie and Abba 

Imagination GJWP

"Imagination"

6x8 paper, paint and rhinestone collage

I am struggling mightily with artist's block this winter. 

I have also been working in some different mediums and trying to go in a new direction but, it is taking time.

This paper collage is one of the ways I've been using my "Imagination", which is the Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge theme this month, to find my way.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper that I'd done some random painting on. The verse is from a calendar that I was throwing way but, when I noticed the verses, I cut them all out and added them to my collage files and I drew the dragonfly, glued it onto the paper and embellished it with rhinestones.

I actually first used the dragonfly, in 2012 in a collage piece for the Outside The Box, show given by North River Arts Society. It holds special meaning for me and I will be using it often in my upcoming work.

Stay tuned.

Florida Palms

I did this pen and ink sketch for our Girls Just Wanna Paint March challenge last Tuesday on a most perfect beach day.

But, I forgot to post it! 

Check out our blog here!

Palms and Palapa at Lowdermilk Beach

micron pen sketchbook drawing

nfs

Painting at The Von Liebig

This winter is flying by and my students have been a source of inspiration and joy.

Here are some of my class demos.

Zorn Demo for my Color Mixing Workshop

This palette consists of Cad Red, Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black and White

My Onion demo

My Tomato Demo

My White Dove demo

My Radish Demo

……...and some of my student's work. 

Page Ginns

Marcia Walsh

GJWP Challenge Yearning for Spring

Buzzing Bees 6x8, acrylic on canvas panel

Nothing says Spring like flowers and bees.

Check out the Girls Just Wanna Paint blog to see our depictions of yearning for spring

If you've been trying to sign up for my classes through the Von Liebig website and had trouble finding them, the website is undergoing a redo and it's unreliable.

Here is the schedule and you can call the front desk at 

239-262-6517 to register. 

Class Title:  A Painting A Day - 

Instructor Mary Sheehan Winn

Date: 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/7

Day/Time:  Friday, 9am-12pm

Member Price: $35

Bees Are the Voice of the Garden

"Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee"

8x10 oil on stretched canvas

This month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge was to paint a quote and since I am fascinated with bees I went for this title.

But, I like this one too.

"Bees are the voice of the garden"

Naples and Von Liebig Classes

My Demo

nfs

(because it's on a larger canvas board and can't be cut down)

After a long drive we arrived in Naples on Thursday, January 12th. 

I had a full blown sinus cold but, was happy to see familiar faces in class the next day. Although I felt a bit out of line for exposing everyone to my germs, I passed out the Clorox wipes and everyone was happy that I didn't cancel. Thank you for your warm welcome!

If you've been trying to sign up for my classes through the Von Liebig website and had trouble finding my classes, the website is undergoing a redo and it's unreliable.

Here is the schedule and you can call the front desk at 

239-262-6517 to register. 

Class Title:  A Painting A Day - 

Instructor Mary Sheehan Winn

Date: 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/10, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/7

Day/Time:  Friday, 9am-12pm

Member Price: $35

Class Title:  Color Mixing Workshop

Instructor Mary Sheehan Winn

Date: 2/17

Day/Time:  9am-4pm with a break for lunch

Member Price: $75