August 2017 update

August 15, 2017

My where has the time gone.  I have been painting at least once a month for the past year an half, so I have so many paintings to add. I have taken a few more classes at Whatcom Community College that have expanded my scope of style of painting. One of the classes was called, "Impressionist painting outside" instructor Maria Monk. This was my first use of oil paints and also paint with a palette Knife. Its amazing how creamy oils can be and a different freedom that using a knife has added to my painting. Here is most of the paintings I have done since my last post.

This was the start of a painting class of Plein Air painting (painting outside)

These two paintings were done during my classes at Lake Padden in Washington state.

This painting was painted during my classes time at Cornwall Park in Bellingham Washington.

My last painting from the Plein Air Class done at Semiahmoo in Washington State.

This was painted at a small pond near Birch Bay called Beaver pond.

This is a painting from Artist point with oil and knife technique.

This painting is from Artist Point Washington looking toward Table Mountain, painted in oil with a palette knife.

This painting is the same study of Table Mountain but done in acrylic and brush. 

I was trying to compare my paintings from oil and acrylic and seeing which one I liked better. I think for me its like apple to oranges.

This one is title "Catching Lunch" acrylic on canvas board.

"Lion in the grass" a study I painted from a trip to Africa a few years ago.

"Trumpeter swans in flight" where I live trumpeter swans arrive in late November and leave in March each year. They are such majestic birds that I wanted to capture them on canvas. Also a side note, I joined the Whatcom Art Guild (WAG) and this piece was pick to show for the month of September in Fairhaven Washington.

Mt Baker one of my go to painting subjects, I just can't get enough of painting her.

I met with friends to paint outside at Woodstock Farms in Fairhaven. The first painting was done on location the second was done at home from a picture. I find that my second painting is usually one I like better then my first try.

This is from a picture a friend took. Its from Marina Park in Fairhaven. I experimented on using yellow as my under color of the sky.

This one is done with acrylic paints and from a picture I took on Lummi Island Washington.

Acrylic of Mt Baker picture taken at near sunset.

Drayton Harbor Blaine Washington, kind of an over cast day but so fun to paint.

June 15, 2016

I think the older I get the faster time fly's. I can hardly believe that June is half over and before you know it, I'll be celebrating Christmas! :D

This last weekend I went to my niece's wedding Diana, what a beautiful bride and handsome groom. The weather was perfect in central Oregon and saw all my brother's and sister's. I am so thankful for family and that we enjoy getting together.

Okay on the painting front, I met at Linda's this week to paint and I worked on two 8 x 10 inch paintings. The first one is a study to paint a larger painting the lake scene and the other is one that I have wanted to paint for awhile. In fact I have a stack of pictures I want to paint some day.

May 18, 2016

This week I am celebrating two of my children's birthday's, one turning 30 and the other 28 years old. Can I be this old! I am so proud of them and I'm happy to for what God has in store for them.

I have been meeting faithfully with my friend Linda each month to paint, and I am also signing up for a class at the Community College in June and July, with the same teacher as my last class. It is however an outside class. I can hardly wait for this one.

Here is today's painting, "Popeye" 11 x 14 and the finished one of Boulevard Park I did on a 16 x 20 canvas both done in acrylic.

March 2016

They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb and I am so ready for calmer and warmer weather.  My yard work has started by mowing the lawn for the first time last week, and filling my yard wast can to the top. Now just to stay ahead of the weeds this year?

This past month I started a painting class at the community college called, "Painting like an Impressionist".  The first class was to paint four colorful blocks with the sun shinning on them to create some great shadows. Man it was one of the hardest painting I think I have done. First we were to use only a pallet knife, which I have have never none, an also painting in oils which is a first for me too, and secondly to paint all shadowed areas in the cool hues and all the sunlit areas in warm hues. So with yellow in the shadow I had to pick from blue, purple or green....my brain was a bit warped.  However by the second classes I think I'm catching on. Here are the blocks and painting I achieved from the first class....

Then Class two of a still life.

Class 3, this is a picture I have of Boulevard Park in Fairheaven, WA.  I really am enjoying this style of painting right now.

My last class I was "very ambitious" of my choose of picture. It's a street scene which I have always wanted to tackle. I have a long way to go but I'm excited to finish the painting. I will post a post class picture, keep in mind very rough. 

So I work a little more today on the Street scene,

Not sure about the snow might do some more work on this, but I'll just keep studying and thinking on it for a few days.

January 2016

A new year and a new understanding of how blogs work. (I should say limited understanding but more then when I started). My daughter informed me that when you post a picture on your blog and then move that said picture, it disappears from your post. So just posted all the old paintings.

Now I am going to post all my painting I have done in the past five years or so. Here we go....

Painting 1-4 I did while taking a painting class through the community college.

 This next picture is of the cloud formation I saw when in Florida at Cape Canaveral, after a rocket lifted off into space.

 This was a free form painting I started out and just let the spirit move me. I thought of the light that your life is going through and the struggles you face but with Christ blood in the waves that keep you heading in the right direction.

 This was working on an impressionist that I love the colors and the content of the painting. Artists name I will look up soon.

This is again the painting that got me all fired up to paint.

 Then I just wanted to paint everything. This painting I gave to my great friend Yuki.

 Little Wilbur

 I saw a great photo of this New Orleans trolley and loved the colors and the perspective. 

 I wanted to paint a painting for my son Frank and I ended up painting 2 paintings, These paintings were from pictures he took while on a  hike in the Northwest. The robin was a bird that ran ahead of him for a mile, which was very impressive and I thought was worth capturing in a painting.

This picture I did a study of a cow painting I liked, I gave this painting to my daughter Amanda

The following four pictures I painted for my Nephew and wife, Nathan and Sharon. I went to visit them and for a hostess gift I gave them the sheep picture. It was painted from one of their photos while in Europe'

 The other three are 8x10 of animal's she picked out she wanted for her children's room. 

I was just informed in my nephews Christmas letter that they now are on the wall of the guest room of their home. :D

This painting was for my niece's wedding gift. Nikki,  it was from a picture of a place where her family camped every Summer.

 This was a picture I found on line that I just loved the colors and the feeling that it gave me, cool and calm.

 This is another chicken I painted that I loved the colors, I felt I captured the colors well. I also gave this painting away to a dear friend, Alicia.

I then painted this painting in the fall of 2012 and this just stumped me. I believe that the values of the colors are so close that is what is throwing me off. So after this painting I kind of had a painters block.

I struggled for a bit, painted this horse picture from a picture I took when in Hawaii

Then for my youngest daughter Michelle. 

 I painted this painting from a picture I had on a calendar.

This I painted for my twin sister Doris, a study of Claude Monet 

The next painting was for my husband Ken Christmas present. the building is of the Church he preached at for 9 years and the man on the utility pole is to represent the product he sells

The rest of the paintings I'm not sure of the order but wanted to include them all.

Birch Bay WA

An Elephant to remind me of the wonderful safari that my Husband and I took

Mt Shuksan in WA 

I gave this picture to a dear friend, Margie from a retreat we went to in Leavenworth WA

This painting I gave to a friend Jenny for her birthday, her daughter is in Spain and  she said that these storks where everywhere on the roof tops.

This is of Whatcom lake a picture I took in the spring

I saw this picture and loved the contrasted of the two colors of the cows 

I tried my hand at painting a human! I found this picture in a magazine "Miss Red Hat Lady"

My son Frank bought a boxer and I found this picture and painted it to remind me of him. 

This was a study of painting done by Cheri Christiansen 

little Speedy is his name

Deuce the dog of my friend Larry. 

He past away and I was inspired by a picture that was taken of him.

Bellingham Marine Park

"Vanilla Milkshake" my next door neighbor Melinda has this in her livingroom

From my Caribbean cruize in Oct 2015, painting for my friends Jenny and Yuki as souvenirs  

A Christmas gift to a good friend Karen. It really was a combo Birthday/Christmas gift.