Yosemite Paintings

"Yosemite Blues"
Original Watercolor
9"x 12"
$180.00

After doing some sketchs on site I was anxious to paint some scenes of the valley back in the studio so I could use my good watercolor papers and really have fun with the blues and greys of the distant mountains done with my sedimentary colors. This painting is done on Fabriano Artistico Extra White cold press 140 lb. It is one of the first landscapes I have done where I have included people in the composition. I felt they were needed to give a sense of scale to the mountains. Yosemite's beauty is almost beyond words and I am fortunate to be able to express my feelings for this valley in pencil or pigment.

This is a watercolor sketch done in Yosemite in May. I was set up to paint while sitting on the tailgate of our car parked near the chapel. My daughter was taking a nap in the car and Bill was over by the river taking photographs. It took more time to sketch than usual because cars kept driving in front of my view. It wasn't such a good idea to go to the park on Memorial Day weekend. There were lots of people enjoying the beauty of this perfect spring day. So my next sketches were done in more secluded spots.

Trip to California

We recently returned from a ten day trip to California where we visited good friends, in-laws and several of the state and national parks. This watercolor sketch was painted just south of Point Lobos. Wildflowers were abundant and growing right down to the edges of the coastal cliffs. It was cold though and even with a coat on I didn't stay more than 20 minutes. It's nice to be painting in the comfort of my studio again.

Drive across Sheep Mountains

"West of the Sheep Mountains"
7" x 11"
Original Watercolor

Last weekend my husband and I drove across the Sheep Mountain range just north of Las Vegas. The wildflower updates on desertusa.com reported spectacular blooms up on this range and the reports were right. This is a scene near Corn Creek Field Station at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. The creosote bushes were in full bloom and their yellows next to the delicate blues and lavendars of the mountains were irresistible for painting.

We took 7 hours to drive across this range on the Mormon Pass Road mainly because we stop so often to sketch or photograph. The beavertail and hedge hog cactus were blooming in the foothills and up higher the yuccas were putting on a show. But the best color was on the east side of the range where the fields of marigolds, larkspur and globe mallow stretched for miles. We even found claret cup cactus glowing with flowers on the rock walls of Peek-A-Boo Canyon. It was a wonderful spring day in the Mojave Desert.

Sketchbook Pages

Boulder City Fine Art Festival 2009

Bill and I and Liz had a great time this past weekend out at the Boulder City Fine Art Festival in Boulder City, Nevada. It is sponsored by the Boulder City Art Guild and held on the shady lawns of Bicentennial Park. There were over 80 artists there, all of whom are creating art that is thought-provoking, genuine and well-made. We had many good conversations with our fellow artist-neighbors as well as the art patrons. Some of the conversations were quite light-hearted and funny while others were discussions on the current state of art education in the schools.

This is a photo of me walking back to our booth after being presented with the Cliff Segerblom Award. Cliff Segerblom was chief photographer for the Bureau of Reclamation Hoover Dam Project. Mr. Segerblom, as a photographer and a painter, and his wife Gene Segerblom, as a teacher, writer and historian, have a long history of service to southern Nevada. During my years as exhibition chairman for the Nevada Watercolor Society I had the pleasure of presenting this award to several accomplished artists. So it was an honor to be awarded with this distinction myself. I also had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Mrs. Segerblom during the art show. Nevada is fortunate to have such supporters of the arts in our state and I am most grateful for this award.

This is a photo of an 18"x 24" watercolor titled "Sky Blue Pool". The photo shows the painting along with the ribbon which was part of the Cliff Segerblom Award which I received at the Boulder City Fine Art Festival. The painting shows a tranquil pool of rainwater I came across out at Valley of Fire State Park and my interpretation of the scene. 

Featured on Brush - Paper - Water!

Chris Beck has graciously picked my blog to be featured on her blog Brush - Paper - Water. The feature is going up tonight and will probably be available for viewing on Wednesday. This is a great honor as the other artists she has chosen in the past to showcase on this blog are all so imaginative and accomplished in their bodies of work. Chris' paintings are so beautiful, she works in a contemporary realist manner with a perfect compositional design sense, not to mention so much of her work is playful and inventive. Thanks so much again, Chris, for your confidence in me and my work. Here's the link again, http://brush-paper-water.blogspot.com/

"Afternoon Iris" Original 5 x 7 watercolor

"Afternoon Iris"

5 x 7

Original Watercolor

$65

I haven't been able to get out and paint on location the past couple of weeks for a few reasons. We've had very strong winds here in Las Vegas for quite a while and that put a damper on a couple of weekends. Also, I've been working fervently on new large studio paintings (and all the framing that goes along with that) to show at the Boulder City Fine Arts Festival on April 18th and 19th. I was determined, however, to get out of the studio and paint and so, I took my watercolors and moved to the dining room. I set a vase of flowers up on an old chinese chest we keep in front of a picture window, pulled up a chair, and painted this little watercolor. The background is from my imagination as the view out from the window behind the flower was actually our backyard block wall. Thankfully the winds have finally died down some and we'll be able to go on our regular jaunts once again.