To an artist, a red brick ranch may not be the most inspiring subject matter. But there’s something about putting watercolors on paper that can magically transform even the most mundane subject, like a simple ranch-style house, into something special. I was commissioned by a friend to do a house portrait of her parents’ home […]
Category: Paintings
Good Neighbors, Great Memories
Indulge me, please. I’m feeling a little sentimental about this painting, and I have to tell you the story behind it. Before we built our new house in 2000, we lived just 5 miles away, and our next door neighbors were a retired couple named Ola and Albert, who became dear friends to us over […]
Well-Loved
Karli with her painting My niece Karli is such a sweetie-pie. From the time she was a baby, she’s been loved by everyone who knows her. She’s kind, compassionate, funny, and one of the best people I know. Next year, she’ll be heading off to college, and I’m really going to miss her. We’ve always […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Days 13-16
With only three days left until we had to fly back to the US, our wonderful Irish adventure was coming to a close. As we left the west coast and pointed our car toward Dublin, I was feeling a little worn out and ready to head home. Two weeks is a long time to be […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Days 11-13
I took way too many art supplies with me when I went to Ireland, just like I do for every trip. I always have such high hopes of all that I’ll accomplish: “Oooh, I might want to try out those colored pencils! And I just might need that spatter screen and all those drawing pencils […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Days 10-11
I hope you’re enjoying this sketchbook journey through Ireland. We’re past the midpoint of our trip, but there are still lots of sketches I’d like to show you… This next page was a bit of a catch-all, where I wrote down an assortment of interesting observations and facts that didn’t really fit in anywhere else. […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Days 8-9
The Dingle Peninsula is the Ireland that everyone knows from photos on calendars with titles like “Magnificent Scenery of the Emerald Isle.” Stone walls surround vibrant green pastures where flocks of sheep idly graze. Picturesque cottages perch atop towering cliffs with waves crashing below. It’s almost too beautiful to be real. But a few weeks […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Day 7
The 7″ x 10″ Canson watercolor sketch book that I used for my travel journal contained 20 pages of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used both sides of the paper, which gave me 40 pages to fill during my 2-week trip. The whole time I was in Ireland, I had a niggling worry in the […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Days 4-6
Dunluce Castle was our last stop in Northern Ireland. The crumbling structure looks as if it might tumble down the cliffs into the churning waters of the Atlantic during a rough winter storm. When I did this little sketch of the castle, I framed it with a Celtic border, drawn after we were out of […]
Sketchbook Journeys – Ireland: Days 3-4
I wanted to stop and visit every cute little town we drove through in Ireland. They all looked so inviting, with their colorful buildings, interesting shops, pretty houses, and window boxes filled with cascading flowers. We did make a stop in Ballycastle, where I sat in the warm sunshine on a stone wall, balancing my […]
