AAUW Art Contest Winner

Exciting news!  My "Foxy Impression" image was voted as a winner in the AAUW art contest. This is the second year I've won and I'm thrilled!  The American Association of University Women holds this contest to promote women artists and gain recognition in their field.  Members vote for their favorite images and the top six were picked from a large field of entries.  The quality was especially good this year and I'm honored to have this image selected. "Foxy" has been very popular this year as I've sold many prints.  Teenagers really like him a lot-maybe because he looks sneaky? :)

Getting ready for our 5th holiday shop!  It's always like a party or shopping with friends.

Come visit if you can!

SKARTS Fall Artists Studio Tour

Working to frame some new artwork for the studio tour.  Since my "studio" is just a kitchen table, I am teaming up with a few other artists to present at Loft 42. For more info click on the link to the right. I am eager to see the other artists' studios too to see get a peek at how everyone works on their creations!

Backyard Birds

Love the goldfinches- so bright, cheery and hungry! I wish they would stay still so I could paint them better, but they are quite busy.

Lavender Fest 2015

This year's lavender fest was bigger than ever!  I have to say I've never experienced anything quite like it.  There were about 5000 people in attendance-it was finally gorgeous summer weather and it seems like everyone from near and far came to pick lavender and buy buy buy! I was running out of prints and notecards by the end of the first day, and never sat down, ate, or used the restroom from 7 am to 3 pm!

My wonderful hardworking friend Julie hustled alongside me all day and came bright and early the next day to package up more items.  Lots of originals sold as well, and there were some tender stories to go along with them about how they reminded people of their children, or flowers their mother gave them, or a special place they had visited.  It was all so rewarding and reminds me of why I paint in the first place.

My sherpa Julie on the left.

Loads of lavender

People in the tent all weekend!

Even the dogs love lavender. :)

workshop with Ratindra Das

I learned some different ways of working with paper and color with Ratindra Das during a 4 day workshop recently.  New to me was applying lots of water with a big brush to both sides of the paper as opposed to soaking in a tub or starting dry. It was calming to begin this way, and the paper laid flat the entire time with no need for clips or tape. Next was to wash the entire sheet with color-I used quin gold and opera rose-and lift where you want the white to remain. It was a very freeing way to begin and a nice change of pace!  This is a scene I've always wanted to try from an Amsterdam visit of boats in the canal.

Notecard Contest

Some cool news to share: my painting of a blue indigo bunting won a notecard contest sponsored by the AAUW (American Association of University Women). It was one of 6 finalists out of 150 entries!  They printed them up with matching envelopes and sent them to all of the members in the USA.  What a nice feeling to be picked!