Sunflower MoonSprinkle *SOLD

How can you not love a sunflower with their floppy heads and bright petals? I tried a new technique of sprinkling masking fluid over my drawing - before adding paint. The technique felt less like water drops and more like floating wishes to me. Since evening is the best time to send wishes in the air - I titled it MoonSprinkle. 

Sunflower MoonSprinkle is a 10" x 10" watercolor painting on Arches 140 lb cold press paper. It is framed and available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN for $66.00 | 218-547-3729

Bittersweet - Bright n Bold *SOLD

I strayed from my cobalt turquoise background and went for a cobalt grey background for this 8" square bittersweet painting. The bright orange berries seems to like their cool cobalt background. I also used a deep red for the underpainting here, instead of my usual phthalo blue outline.

Bittersweet - Bright n Bold is 8" x 8" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. It is available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN for $65.00 | 218-547-3729

Bittersweet - Sweet n Sassy *SOLD

Ahh…another Bittersweet painting has arrived! This color combination of yellows, oranges and a hint of blue could be overwhelming…unless it is a tiny little 6" square painting. Put together on this small canvas, the bright colors become sweet and sassy…which is what I had to name it.

Bittersweet - Sweet n Sassy is a  5"x5" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. It is available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN for $55.00 | 218-547-3729

Shingobee View *SOLD

One of my favorite places to visit, in Minnesota, is Shingobee national forest. This is probably because it has elevation variation and a variety of terrain. It is beautiful there, no matter what the season.

My attraction for textile design is combined with the terrain of Shingobee for this little painting. One Fall afternoon, I sat at the top of Shingobee hill and sketched the forms of the forest in simple repeating shapes. The result is this colorful - abstract - textile feeling painting. 

Shingobee View is a 9"x12" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. It is available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN | 218-547-3729

Sitting Tall *SOLD

The more I paint in watercolor…the more I love it. The fact that it lets me paint some areas tight and defined and then let the watercolor just run in other areas - makes it addicting. This painting style is what I used with Sitting Tall. The tree has detail but the ground it sits on is loose.

I will be teaching a class on this method this week and I can't wait to see the paintings that come out of the lesson.

Sitting Tall is a 12.5" x 7" watercolor painting on arches 140 lb cold press paper. This piece will be available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN after it is framed. 

New Crop of Bittersweet paintings 2015

Bittersweet - Sunny Days
5"x5" acrylic on stretched canvas
$52.00

Bittersweet - Bright Afternoon
8"x8" acrylic on stretched canvas
$65.00

With the grey winter days, surrounding us this week, I decided it was time for some bright bittersweet paintings. This batch of bittersweet ranges in size from 5" square to 8" square. The square format adds a modern feel to these bright little pieces. Enjoy - I have more on the way!

Each piece is available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN. | 218-547-3729
Prices, sizes and titles for each original piece are listed below each painting. 

Bittersweet - Old Fashion
5"x5" acrylic on stretched canvas
$52.00

Bittersweet - Blue Sky
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
$55.00

Calm Within *SOLD

With this painting -  I wanted to create a simple, flowing and calm piece that sits back and sets a relaxed tone. The movement of the leaves is meant to have a rhythm of a  dancers spin or yoga stretch. 

My color palette included a base of yellow ochre with variations of paynes grey, burnt sienna and cobalt turquoise. The original sketch was done in cadmium red, pyrolle red, burnt sienna and naples yellow. From there, I over-painted to crete smooth lines and rich layers. 

Calm Within is a 30"x40" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. It is available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN | 218-547-3729

Hosta Shoots - Aphrodite *SOLD

This painting was inspired by a flower I had seen in my Aunt and Godmother's gardens. Being a master gardener, my Aunt has beautiful gardens.  One plant in particular caught my attention. It was a white lily looking shoot. I was trying to remember what it was called when, while flipping through a flower seed catalog, it gave me it's name. It was the flower shoot from a Hosta or a Aphrodite Plantain Lily (Hosta Plantaginea Aphrodite). 

This makes sense since lilies are my favorites and I am fond of Hostas. I gave this piece a Nouveau swirl and used an over-painting style to give it a modern feeling with clean lines. 

Hosta Shoots - Aphrodite is 12" x 36" acrylic on stretched canvas with 1.5" stretcher bars and painted edges. Available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN for $295.00 | 218-547-3729

Dogwood Blossoms *SOLD

The twisting shapes and sweet petals of a dogwood branch make it a perfect painting subject. This little 6"x8" dogwood blossom watercolor is not true to the dogwood color BUT that is the fun of painting…making your own colors. The background is a light washed yellow ochre which fades to green. I used a salt wash technique to give the piece a textured/aged effect.


Available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN  | 218-547-3729

Scandinavian Garden - Poppy Style *SOLD

In the tradition of my Modern Scandinavian Series, I created this vivid little Poppy watercolor. The final piece is 8" x 10" on Arches 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used M. Graham watercolors which have a rich intensity that works well for the elongated Scandinavian feel.

Scandinavian Garden - Poppy style will be available at Peculiar Painter in Walker, MN after it is framed. 

Cliff-Top Trees *SOLD

The fun part of using watercolor is letting it run. Of course you can guide the flow of the colors but the course the colors will choose is unknown and most often - wonderful. This piece has an open linear flow to it by mixing tight detail, along with loose watercolor runs.

I am teaching this technique in a studio class next week. The class is 3 hours long. This piece is 7" x 16" and created in just under 3 hours. The class will create pieces a bit smaller in order to meet the 3 hour timeframe. I have photographed the painting in stages and put them together in a video to show the process. The link is below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ThMhFGHB4