Portrait of a Loving Family

8x10

Commission.  Due to the small size, I used more pastel pencils than I normally do.  I feel I'm done with this "for now," but I always like to take a break for a few days and come back with fresh eyes, to be sure I'm happy with it.

Still Life with Roses

11x14

Finished a few months ago!  I find painting still lifes, especially florals, to be very calming.

Waiting for the Boy

10x8

I love the play of light and shadows that hit our piano in the afternoon. 

The end of 2013 was a jumble of activity, with little time for painting.  I'm really hoping to find more time at the easel in the the coming weeks and months.

Harmony

16x12

Palms

11x14

There are so many beautiful places in Florida.  :)  I tried to capture the feelings of peace and calmness with this painting.

Catching Waves

14x11

I've been trying to work through a painter's block, and finally I feel that I've made some progress.  (The last painting I worked on was relegated to the "not to be shown" pile--so the fact that I'm posting this one is progress!)  I'm not sure why painter's block happens to me occasionally, but when it does, it's frustrating.  I feel that nothing I'm working on is looking the way I want it to look, and I lose enthusiasm for what I'm doing.  I think so much of painting, for me anyway, is dependent upon getting in the "zone" --that place where the work flows easily and all else (stresses, worries, non-art related thoughts) are quieted.  It's pretty much impossible to find that zone when I'm dealing with a block.  I'm really hopeful this will be the end of it, for now, anyway.

Mallard

10x8

There are several of these cute little mallards at a nearby park.  On the day I took the reference photo used for this painting, the mallards were acting wary of the many geese that obviously rule the pond.  This one was especially cautious and stayed close to the water. 

Lake Santeetlah in the Smoky Mountains

18x12

We took a family vacation to this beautiful spot in North Carolina, and I knew I had to paint it.

Cardinal in a Snowy Pine

5x7, painted for this year's Christmas card.  Merry Christmas!

Living History

14x11

Reliving history on a cloudy day in St. Augustine at the Castillo de San Marcos.

April in St. Augustine

11x14

I love St. Augustine.  I'm not a fan of painting buildings, though!  This painting definitely presented a few challenges.

Vincenzo and Philomena Fiore

12x18

I was honored to be asked to paint a portrait of my husband's great grandparents for the cover of an upcoming Fiore "memories and recipes" book for a family reunion. The reference photo was taken in the early 1900s and it was challenging to guess colors while trying to capture a likeness. This was a fun project and I hope I was able to get a decent enough likeness. If they could see this, would they recognize themselves or wonder "who are these people?"

Bluebird

5x7

I did one last small one before starting on a couple of paintings that will be more time consuming.  This little guy was a lot of fun to paint!

Purple Columbine

5x7

I've been in the mood to create fast, little paintings.  I like to keep floral paintings "looser" than I do my other paintings, but I think I could've gone even less detailed with this one.  This was a good exercise for me and I think I may do one more small one before moving on to a project that's going to take more time.

Blue Heron

5x7  I was in the mood for painting a small, fast one, and I had fun with this!

Spring Park

18x24 

I have painted various scenes from this park several times.  Spring Park is incredibly peaceful and pretty.  I tried to make the feeling of tranquility and the sense of quiet come through in this painting.

Ann James Award

On Friday, I was honored and thrilled to receive the Ann James Award for Best Pastel Portrait/Figure Painting at the St. Augustine Art Association's annual juried Portrait and Figure Show for this painting "Striker"!

This same night I was also awarded an Honorable Mention for "Guard Tower" at the AGOP Creative Compulsions juried exhibition at Avondale Artworks in Avondale (Jacksonville).  What a fantastic way to start the new year!!

Poinsettias in Bloom

5x7  Painted for this year's Christmas card.

"Guard Tower--Castillo de San Marcos"

18x12

This is still one of my favorite places.  I never get tired of St. Augustine.  When my youngest son was about 3, he started to call this place the "mountain" because the fort sits up on a high enough hill that it's great fun for the kids to run (and roll) down.  He still asks me if we can go to "the mountain" pretty much every time we go to St. Augustine.

November in Spring Park

12x9

I had a fun day yesterday plein air painting with the newly formed First Coast Pastel Society.  The day started sunny and suddenly turned cloudy and rainy, but it was fun.  This day reiterated what I already knew to be true--plein air painting is hard!  Well, hard for me, anyway.  I tend to take a long time with each painting, focusing on details, and when I try to go fast I get frustrated and unhappy with the results.  This painting spent a very long time in the "ugly stage" and I almost abandoned it, but I'm glad I stuck with it.  Towards the end of the day it finally started to come together and look the way I wanted it to!

It was interesting to see every artist's unique style--not just in the finished paintings but in the whole process.  Some were able to complete beautiful paintings in a short amount of time--just getting it all "in there" with vibrant colors and gestural strokes of the pastels... and then there was me... but it really was fun and and I hope to participate in plein air groups more often.  And hey, completing a painting in one day is a huge accomplishment for me!