Another Pretty Face

Another Pretty Face

This is one of the cows I recently discovered in a field just inside Moore County. 

6 x 6 in. oil on archival panel

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Artichoke On Yellow

Artichoke On Yellow

Not everyone loves artichokes like I do but they are one of my favorite vegetables. They are fun to eat and are delicious hot or cold. I used to take half an artichoke left over from dinner in my lunchbox sometimes along with a little bit of lemon and garlic flavored dip that my dad used to make to go with them.

6 x 6 oil on panel

Meet Bridget

Meet Bridget

This is my new friend Bridget. She walks on a leash with her human, Pat.  We meet them on the trail every morning and Bridget always carries a very fat, long stick. One morning I brought my camera and asked Pat if I could take a photo of her beautiful dog. Bridget is a little camera shy but I managed to get a few pictures.

 6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Sheepish Grin

Sheepish Grin

I have lately found more farm animals to photograph so here is one of them that I decided to paint today and it is just a very quick study.  I really like the look on this animal's face.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Red Pears

Two Red Pears = One Red Pair

I bought these pears today to add to a larger still life that I have set up so I figured I would just try them out and see how I could fit them nicely into the other composition.  And yes, as I usually tell you, they were really fun to paint. That's one of the reasons I love daily painting-it gives you an opportunity to do a test drive on new subject matter and see what you might want to make use of again.

Business In Brantome

Business In Brantome

This gentleman did not look at all like the usual visitor to town where most of the people were casually dressed and strolling through town at a very relaxed pace.  He was in quite a hurry and carried  his briefcase over his shoulder. He certainly looked nice in his white jacket and straw hat.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Cape Porpoise Lobster Boat

Cape Porpoise Lobster Boat

Our annual mother-daughter trip to Maine didn't happen this summer which made me sad, but on

a trip to Boston in August I made it to Maine for one day.  Accompanied by my son Hampton and his wife Kim AND my grand baby Brynlee, we had a wonderful afternoon boat trip with my cousin.

He even let me take his place at the helm and I navigated in and out of Cape Porpoise harbor and then back to Kennebunkport. This is one of the many boats we passed by as we were coming into Cape Porpoise and I like the gull sitting on the top.  I plan to do a larger one of this.We had so much fun that day and this is a painting from that adventure!

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Cow Country

Cow Country

This is my first cow painting ever and I am pretty pleased with my first attempt.

I would like to paint more of these beautiful animals and I probably will soon.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Dogwood Leaves And Berries

Dogwood Leaves And Berries

The leaves on the Dogwoods are still mostly green but a few over-achievers are starting to show their beautiful colors already. The red berries are large and shiny.  This was really fun to paint.

It made me think of elementary school when we did so many cool art projects with fall leaves.

6 x 6 in. oil on canvas panel

Houses In Vaxholm

Houses In Vaxholm

We took the ferry from Stockholm out to Vaxholm and I have so many great photos that I have not painted from this area.  This painting had a small mishap just before I photographed it -hitting the ground after falling off the easel I had placed it on outdoors.  Please disregard the little bits of sand and other detritus that attached itself to the wet paint.  It is scheduled for repairs and then it will look brand new again.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Out Of Season

Gardenias bloom here in June so this beauty on one of my plants yesterday morning was a nice surprise.  These are my very favorite flowers because I love the scent.  Yesterday would have been my dad's birthday so it made me smile to see a gift from nature.  The small crystalline pot is from Dover pottery in Seagrove and  HERE is a link to their explanation of this unusual glaze.

6 x 6 in. oil on Gessobord

Claudette's Chickens

Claudette's Chickens

It was almost exactly a year ago that I saw these chickens in

the beautiful town of Bernardieres, France.  While we explored, we met Claudette and she invited us into her farmhouse and wanted to show us her brand new kitchen.  We passed through the multitude of chickens in the yard, into the kitchen and then to the back door to meet her cows.  She was wearing a Las Vegas T-shirt and spoke only French.  Amazingly, we had a great

conversation with her.  I have forgotten the names of her cows! Below you can see a photo of Claudette with one of her cows and a picture of her kitchen.

6 x 6 oil on gessobord

The Walking Route

The Walking Route

This is a photo I took last fall along with quite a few others one day when my brother and I went on a photo excursion in the country not too far from Chapel Hill and Carrboro.  

6 x 6 oil on panel

Creamer And Fruit

Creamer And Fruit

I did not get a chance to photograph this painting before dark so the colors are not accurate and there is some glare on the painting.  I will take a better photo tomorrow in good light.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Three On A Plate

Three On A Plate

These are very small eggplants on a small plate.  I am trying a different color mix this time because they are more reddish purple than most.  Time to cook them tomorrow.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

American Apple

American Apple

I have been painting a lot of Granny Smith apples lately but today I chose a bright red apple.

I learned something new today about U. S. apple production-we rank second in number of  apples grown, and China ranks number one with about seven times more than the four million tons of apples we produce.  And the top apple growing state?  Washington! (but North Carolina is in the top ten).

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

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Riley's Pool

Riley's Pool

What a great way to cool off!  Riley is a beautiful and sweet dog who lives in Winston-Salem and he is also a great swimmer. We have a lot of hot days still ahead and there are times that I wish I could just dive into some cool water, especially after working in the garden.

5 x 7 in. oil on panel

Italian Plums

I looked everywhere for these and finally found them at Whole Foods when we were in Greenville, S.C. over the week-end. They are not only beautiful but are delicious, too. They have a free-stone pit which is easily removed and they are a nice small size.  Thanks to my friend, Debbie Taylor, for the idea.  Check out her painting blog HERE.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Broccoli Plant

Broccoli Plant

The Fall garden is planted with cabbage, broccoli, and collards.  Bill is working tonight and he mentioned last night that it was time for me to "work my magic " on the new plants.  This is a man that knows flattery sometimes works, especially regarding skills that I take pride in.  So.... there I was until dark this evening, putting down layers of newspaper mulch and covering it all with a thick layer of the most wonderful mulch that we got from a friend's yard( as a result of a huge old tree crashing down in her yard last summer and the stump being ground up)

I hope to paint broccoli again in a few weeks when I can show you the results!

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Eggplant Parmesan Wanna'bes

Eggplant Parmesan Candidates

Knowing only the finest are chosen for my preparation of this recipe, these three are doing their very best to make a good impression.  I would say they have passed the test after a good session of posing for their portrait.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Red Plums

Red Plums

I found these at the market yesterday and I have not tasted them yet but they sure are pretty and were fun to paint.

6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Island Retreat

Island Retreat

This is a painting of a beautiful house on Bald Head Island, very close to the harbor area.  We passed by there one evening on the way back from dinner and there was such a beautiful glow of light on the house that I could not resist making it the subject of a large ( 36 x 48") painting.

It was accepted into a show at the Clayton Center, near Raleigh, and Bill and I attended the opening reception last night. I was quite thrilled to receive one of the Judge's Choice Awards.  In addition, I made some new artist friends and got to chat with a friend that I had not seen in years-we went to elementary and high school together.

What a great time it was!     See photo below of winning artists.

Piggy Bank

Piggy Bank

This is a painting for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge.  It felt really nice to work on such a fun challenge titled, "Paint Your Pig".  Well, this is mine and she's a good little saver of coins. I still have my  old bank from my childhood days- it is a heavy little dog made of metal and colorfully painted and can be taken apart into two halves by removing one screw. 

To look at more of the Challenge paintings, click HERE

6 X 6 IN. OIL ON PANEL

Plenty Of Sunshine Headin' This Way

Plenty Of Sunshine

What a difference one day can make.  My friend Teej and I skipped our early morning walk today because it was raining a little still and we figured the trail probably got washed away in places from the driving rains yesterday and last night. Naturally, it was sunny and beautiful a couple of hours later.  For some reason I had way too much energy today and decided to get a head start on Fall house cleaning even though we are not very close to that changeover here in NC yet.  It was great though,  and everything is beginning to sparkle-Bill even noticed when he came home. I have to admit, I do love to clean, especially washing windows. But....I'd rather be painting!
6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Simple Gift

Simple Gift

This was picked in between thundershowers and tornado warnings this morning.  They pretty much went on all day-the tornado warning siren was even used on campus at UNC in Chapel Hill.  Fortunately there was no serious damage in our area. Still getting heavy rain, though.

On a very sad note-

Carol Marine, a wonderful artist and friend, lost her home in the Texas wildfires over the week-end.  Please keep her, her husband, and young son in your prayers, along with all the others who lost their homes.

5 x 7 " oil on panel

Working Vacation

Working Vacation

It's so great that many people can work from home ( or beach) at times and do not have to be in the office every single day. You can get a lot done with a laptop and mobile phone. This man was definitely working hard but at least his "office" had a great view of the ocean and nice breezes.

6 x 6 oil on panel

Made In North Carolina

Made In North Carolina

We collect pottery from a well known pottery area just west of Pinehurst known as Seagrove.
This is a very small pot, about six inches high, with just a small handful of flowers. Every time I  use one of these handmade pieces, I have a new appreciation for all of the wonderful potters who love clay as much as I love paint.  They are very  talented and many of these pottery studios
 go back for several generations. This piece was made in 1991 by Gayline Williams.


6 x 6 in. oil on panel

Granny Smith Apples

Apples In Glass

This was my painting project today, another twelve by twenty four inch canvas.  I still have a few things I want to tweak just a bit but it is basically complete. I bought this glass container at Pier 1 a couple of years ago and it comes in handy to make a pretty centerpiece.  Is it too soon to start thinking about Christmas?  I have a friend who addresses all her Christmas cards during the summer when she is sitting around the pool.  I am not that diligent. I hope you are having a relaxing and fun Labor Day week-end!

Apples And Hydrangea

Apples And Hydrangea

This was great fun to paint and I hope to do more of these flowers because my Hydrangea are starting another round of blooms and usually they will keep going until about October.  I'm still looking for more ways to use the green apples and I have an idea for tomorrow so tune in again to see them in a new setting.

 8 x 10 in. oil on panel

Still Life With Pitcher And Apples

Still Life With Pitcher And Apples     SOLD

I decided to try a larger painting with apples today and picked flowers to put in this pitcher.  This is a fun size painting and is headed to ONE ELEVEN MAIN in Aberdeen as soon as it is dry and I can frame it.  It will probably be there by Tuesday, along with some other new paintings.

12 x 24 in. oil painting