Wooden Bridge

After over 3 years not posting anything I am finally back. While I took a break from posting new work, I was still painting fairly regularly. 

In the meantime our world has changed so much. More than ever, staying connected with the environment through creativity is essential for me. Sharing my work with others gives me endless joy. Do not hesitate to leave any comments or suggestions, they are truly appreciated. Here is a 16“ x 20“ canvas that I just finished today in our nearby park.

Apple Dapple

Apples on a square metal plate with cool reflections -

Branches cast shadows

The funny thing with this painting is that I was initially inspired by these huge oaks trees framed by an orange fruit tree (left) and a palm (right). As the painting progressed, I totally fell in love with the shadow pattern that the tree branches cast on the ground. Hence the title.

Palm Nuts

 Palm nuts from South Florida - Greetings and Peace to y'all!

Red on Silver

The interesting reflection in the metal cup is what interested me the most. The colors bouncing off the table cloth was fun too.

Walking Among Giants

This painting is one of 5 oil paintings that I am showing in a group show at Art Gallery 21 in Wilton Manors, Florida. The show is still on for another week.

Blue on Red

Here a simple study playing with symmetry and balance.

Glass Spoon

What interested me the most in this painting was how the water breaks the shape of the spoon. This still life was set up on a small table.

Orange Blue Reflections

My favorite part in this painting is of course the reflection on the metal cup. 

Apple Chop

Apples are one of my favorite subjects to paint. To add interest, I played with the striped table cloth, the table's edge and viewing angle.

Tools of the Trade

Some of my painting paraphernalia standing in for today's still life -

Play of Colors

This oil painting is my entry for this year's "Island City Juried Art Exhibition". The exhibit runs from September 30th through October 28, 2017 at the Art Gallery 21 in Wilton Manors, Florida. You are more than welcome to visit on Fridays and Saturdays when the gallery is open for the public. I will also show 5 paintings there during the "Sunshine State Artists" group exhibit that runs from November 4th through December 2nd, 2017.

Persimmon Reflections

Hope this little kitchen scene is showing my joy of observing reflections.

Waving Ducks

These ceramic ducks are actually salt and pepper shakers. They are so kitschy cute that I could not resist to paint them. They are a hand-me-down from my husband's grandmother and therefore kinda special.

Enter Here

I am happily painting - here another South Florida Landscape with purple blue shadows on the sandy trail.

Morning at the Board Walk

I revisited this view that I painted some time ago. I am happier this time with the colors. I think that the glow of the early morning light is captured nicely. To give a point of reference I added a person in the back ground.

Blue Glass Bottle

It was love at first sight when I saw this blue glass bottle at a thrift store the other day. It was absolutely fun to observe and painting it. Now it is part of my arsenal of still life props and will have many more opportunities to be "on stage".

Dog Walk

The dog seemed so happy walking along the woman. What struck me was that he kept his owner's pace and did not once, that I could see, stop sniffing or pull the leash into another direction - that's a dream doggie for exercise walking.
I just love the figure in a landscape painting because it brings a closer connection to the viewer. I also like how I can manipulate the feeling of space by the size of the figure.
In case you are wondering, all my outdoor paintings are done on site, not from photographs.

Marsh Tranquility

This painting I finished about one year ago. Last November, I had it entered into the 4th Annual Island City Juried Art Exhibition at Art Gallery 21 in Wilton Manors, Florida. I received an Honorable Mention which was pretty awesome.

Marsh Lily Pads

This painting was done on location in the marsh of the nearby park. A magical place which is the perfect hang-out for fish, birds, water turtles and alligators. Here, my attention was drawn to the layers of colors. Hope you enjoy this image as much as it was for me to paint.

Sunflower Bunch

Here I played with the composition and decided on sunflowers being on top of the table and not in a vase.

Cutting Block

After traveling a lot this summer, I am getting back into a routine that allows time for painting. Diving fully into it by participating in the 5th Annual Island City Juried Art Exhibition. The Opening is on September 30th, 2016 at Art Gallery 21 in Wilton Manors, Florida. I entered the painting "Old Oaks" that you can see in a post from May 2014.
For now, the still life here is from a few months ago. I was inspired by the super cool herb cutting knife.

GETTING THERE IS ALL THE FUN!

Thank you everybody for showing your support by continuing to visit  my blog. 

As you can see I am still alive and painting! Unbelievable it has been a year that I did not post anything new. One of the reasons for the break was my focus on setting up an online shop. Still not anywhere near where I would like it to be, it is launched and will be tweaked as time goes on. The link to it is on the sidebar under "Paintings for Sale".

I posted the above painting today to remind myself that "It's the journey, not the destination" (Confucius) that matters - 

Willow and Cody

Again painting horses in the nearby park. Initially I had a difficult time to decide what position and how much of light and shadow I wanted to capture, not to mention the constant movement of the animals - challenge! When the smaller orange colored horse stepped into a sunspot that came through the trees I was inspired. A conversation with the caretaker of the horses gave me the names of these wonderful animals and their quirky habits. What characters, so fun to observe!

Morning Rays

Another beautiful morning painting in the park. The wonderfully twisted and bend branches of the old oak trees continue to captivate me.

Tree Pirouette

My fascination with old oak trees on the Florida Ridge continues. So much movement and beauty come through these twisted branches. Who knows what caused this tree to grow this way. It made for an interesting composition.

Oaks and Oranges

Here in South Florida there is not much elevation above sea level. A few natural ridges (elevations) used to be like little islands in the middle of the Everglades for the early people that lived here. Nowadays some of these special areas are protected and one can find wild sour oranges, possibly descendants of former orange groves, growing among old live oaks. So here it is, the mood when the first early sun rays are hitting some of the upper branches.
I will be showing this and other paintings at the end of season exhibit at the community based Art Gallery 21, 600 Ne 21 Court, Wilton Manors, Florida. Meet the artists during the opening on April 24 from 7 to 9 pm. If you are in the area, stop by and join us for wine and cheese!

Pear Family

I could not resist another painting of pears - they are one of my favorite fruits to paint. Reds balanced out with greens seem to make for a vibrant and harmonious painting.

Pepper Party

Here I experimented with a brighter and different color scheme. Pinks and bright greens bouncing off of each other. Doesn't the "glow-quality" of the shadows and background give this painting movement and life?... hence the title....

Limonade

The complementary colors really helped to keep this alive and vibrant. It was fun to paint the different reflected highlights such as light blue from the spot light and "orangey spots" bouncing off from the table cloth.

Palms along the Marsh

My first post for this year is a scene from along the marsh, one of my favorite hang-outs to paint. During this time of year, the lack of rain causes the reeds and other water plants to dry up. The results are beautiful yellows and oranges.  

Palms in Morning Light

For you to see the location and process of painting this landscape. I went to this spot three times to complete. The size is 18 inches x 24 inches, for me too big to complete in one sitting. This painting will be entered into the Annual Island City Juried Art Exhibition that will run from January 9 -30, 2015 at Art Gallery 21, Wilton Manors, Florida.

Reminiscing About The Year Past

Hope you can look back to a good year and best wishes for a fantastic 2015!!

Follow Me Into The Forest

This is another take of a previous painting (see below, earlier post), spring colors. I am fascinated by how the difference in color saturation is creating a completely different mood.

The Pavilion

I was able to finish this in 2 hours in the park the other day. I was able to move things along without fussing too much over details. The view from under the shady trees out to the pavilion seemed to make a nice composition... after moving a couple of tree trunks, of course.

Still Life in Red

I found it very interesting to play with the composition in this painting. The diagonal lines are slashing through the image and end up being echoed in the stem of the apple. The hot colored background gets some cooling from the shadows, plate, bottle and tin can.

Path in Morning Light

The amazing light on the dead, fern-covered tree in the back attracted me to this scene. The very early sun rays reflected in the yellow glow of the ski and the blue/pink shades on the ground reflected for me that special early morning feeling... stepping on dew drops, walking into spider webs...... oh yeah, Halloween is around the corner!!!

Harvest Duo

Squash and pumpkin for a harvest still life. I loved the color reflections that showed up on the dark green.

Persimmon Trio

Painting a still life, I usually stand pretty close to the set-up, focusing on the subject. For this one I stepped way back. It really helped to ignore details, put emphasis on colors and include more of the surroundings.

Path into the Forest

Painting in the park on Saturday morning with the sun lighting up the edge of the forest. I focused on the movement of the tree canope, balanced by the dappled light on the ground.