Ritual

"No love like dog love"

NFS

One 'ritual' when you share your life with a dog is the walk. This is Morey who was a wonderful yellow lab who lived just across our narrow beachside road. We called him our "it takes a village" dog because his person worked days and I would bring him outside for some yard lounging in the sun, or walk him to the beach. 

It takes so little to please a dog and I can see his jaunty step, nose to the wind as we make our way. 

This was my interpretation for the "Ritual" challenge and it will be hanging in our Girls Just Wanna Paint show at Thayer Academy which opens on Thursday November 21st. 

Check out our site for details.

Perfect Summer!

"Myrtle"

6x6 oil on panel
SOLD

Wednesday my sister and I went on an adventure to the New England Aquarium in Boston where we saw a fascinating IMAX movie about great white sharks and then toured the newly rebuilt Giant Ocean Tank which holds 2000 species of fish including sharks, eels, rays (my favorites) sea turtles and fishes. It is a work of art and an amazing glimpse into the undersea world! 
We started at the top of the tank and then walked down a descending spiral walkway all the way to the bottom seeing the creatures from different vantage points as we did. 
This magnificent Sea Turtle is about 80 years old! It was difficult but I managed to snap a decent photo of 'Myrtle', (all turtles seem to be named Myrtle) as she swam by. There are two giant turtles in the tank so I can't be sure that it was Myrtle, but let's pretend it was ;) 
We then had a fabulous lunch at The Reef, the aquarium's informal outdoor tent restaurant on what can only be described as a glorious summer day here in New England. 76 degrees, bright, warm sun and cool breezes, awesome lobster salad sliders and great company. My sis and I are soul mates ;) 

Garlic Demo

Three Garlic Cloves

6x6 oil on panel

A little block in done for my class. 

Busy here. Very busy ;)

Captain Ray and Ryan

Up On Stilts

SOLD

I have a file called "my neighborhood" where I store photos of scenes from my beachside neighborhood and the South Shore, the Cape and the region in general. My neighborhood is vast. This is a winter scene from Long Point Marine in Duxbury. 

This painting is available through DPW auctions.

Tools of the Trade

Click to Bid

It's fairly accurate to say that with a warm and a cool of each primary you can mix almost anything, but reds are a different story. Certain reds are necessary to get good pinks. Some of my fave's are Thalo Red Rose (Grumbacher) Quinacridone Magenta (WN) and Quinacridone Red (Utrecht). 

Bright sparkly reds are some of the important Tools of the Trade for me. Check out this month's Girls Just Wanna Paint blog for more paintings of 'tools'. Also, our GJWP show at Duxbury Free Library is up through June so go take a peek ;}

Sanibel Lighthouse

Sanibel Lighthouse   
click above to buy

Sanibel is a beautiful island but there's not much to see except this fabulous Lighthouse and of course, beautiful beaches which we also have here in Naples. My favorite part of the painting is the negative space in the struts of the tower. I love these kinds of structures and have many photos of water towers from our travels which I will turn into paintings. There's one in SC right next to the Piggly Wiggly that I've seen the sun rise upon, more than once. Dramatic. I'm working on some more Florida paintings for the Art Boutique at Tin City. Be sure to stop in and see the work there if you are in Naples. 
Happy Valentine's Day to all you friends and lovers. Wolfie and Abba gave 'Daddy' and I some cookies which I can't eat and some semi sweet chocolate which I can and did eat ;) 

Drive By

6x6 oil on gesso board

This is the shadow of our car against the concrete barriers as we pass through Providence, Rhode Island on our way to Naples. The hardest part of the entire trip is packing and leaving the house the day of travel. So many loose ends. It makes me tired just thinking about it. 

Coincidently, it's time for bed.

Today! Studio Drop In 1-5

Struttin' Her Stuff 6x6 oil 

SOLD

 STUDIO SALE 1-5 TODAY!

Come visit me at my Studio at 83 East Water Street, Rockland.

Call 617-671-9900 if you need directions.

Five Islands Barn

Five Islands Barn 
SOLD

I love the dramatic light in this painting which was the point to begin with. My patient husband stopped dozens of times for me to take photos on this ride down to Five Islands last summer. I photographed every barn we passed from multiple angles. Typically I tell Don to drive down the road and turn around which gives me a chance to shoot quite a few pictures. When I showed him this painting he said, "Oh Yeah, I remember it." A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? Click on the buy link to purchase.

Honey 'Dew' List

$125 plus $10 S&H click to buy

 So, Susan Roden and Kelley MacDonald are locked into their donut wars but I have snuck up on them showcasing yet another local donut franchise. The little donut holes are called Dew Drops at this place ;)

That's why I called it the "honey dew list". Clever eh?

Also, as soon as blogger works out the bugs in their new template, I'm going to switch from my favorite black background so that I won't have to use pastel colors for readability. It looks good on the blog but when it goes out in email it's on a white background and difficult if not impossible to read. Click on the buy link to purchase.

Sittin' it Out

6x6 oil on board

Ok, so I left you hanging but not intentionally. The power came on Monday night while I was cooking dinner by battery powered lamp and feeling so great about scoring 6 bags of ice at a liquor store that had just opened about an hour before and still has some left. Yup, 6 unnecessary bags of ice but WHATEVER. We have electricity. We're so spoiled, really but those long dark nights are just nasty.

This little cow creamer is sitting down. Don't ask me why but I bought a sitting pig creamer and a sitting duck creamer. Don't tell Don ;)
Check out Girls Just Wanna Paint for the latest posts from the ladies.

Goodnight Irene



Black Eyed Susan 6x6 oil on board

I'll make this short and sweet. We have no power and although things could be much worse it might be a while before we are plugged in again. The storm for us, wasn't all that bad although we lost our favorite shade tree. No biggie. Sitting in a dark house at night is a drag. Reading by candlelight doesn't work for me because two curious cats are way intrigued by the flickering candles. This little painting was a one stroke at a time exercise that I did on Saturday.
I'll be back. Really.

MG Roadster

Click to Bid

I had to stop and snag a photo of this cool MG Roadster circa 1950 or so. I remember that a friend of my parents had one of these in red and when I was a toddler he took me for a ride in it. I was quite fascinated with the small size of the car.

Golden Oldie

Click to Bid

 I love this beautiful cup given to me by my dear friend, Miss Sally Dean.  By the way, if you are in the area over the weekend, Duxbury Art Association is holding their annual Summer Members' Show at the Ellison Center for the Arts at 64 St. George Street in Duxbury, MA. I've put twenty of my small paintings into the Artist Studio Sale which will be open on Saturday from 10 to 4.  I might mention that the prices are attractive ;}

The Breakfast Club

 SOLD

Who doesn't love Pelicans? These guys are waiting for the scraps as the men above clean the fish after a deep sea fishing excursion. I love when they land in the water. They stick out their feet and land like they're on water skies which were probably designed after them, come to think of it!

I am busy washing blinds and windows and packing up the studio for our trip North on Friday morning.