September 21, 2022

This is an oldie but goodie! Mt St Helens Visitors Center, 12 x 16, acrylic on mounted canvas paper.

When I was first realizing my passion for painting, I met with a trained, and very talented, artist friend for advice. She suggested I choose a photo from my phone and paint it. I scrolled through the camera roll and chose this image, not paying attention to where it was taken. I started painting and realized that it was taken at the Mt St Helens Visitors Center, looking directly at the famous mountain. Unfortunately, the clouds shrouded the view and I had to wait for another trip to see the massive crater and stand in awe of the power of nature. Nonetheless, I feel it captured the lovely view of the lake and trees. As only the second or third painting I had ever attempted, this work very much inspired me to keep going with my artistic endeavours.

September 18, 2022

I really enjoyed painting this Pink Water Lily yesterday while watching IU football on my patio. It’s from a photo of my goldfish pond. I can see why Monet painted so many images of his pond at Giverny.  8 x 10, acrylic on mounted canvas

September 16, 2022

This is a time lapse of the creation of Pink Street Umbrellas (Lisbon), 16 x 20, Oil on Stretched canvas.

We were walking through Lisbon this summer and came across this street. Long ago it was a “Red Light District”, but has since been turned into a night spot with clubs and restaurants. I was fascinated by the scene: the vivid colors, the geometry of the rows of hanging umbrellas set against their inherent curves, and the overall emotion of the sight. I had to capture it!

I used the Time Lapse setting on my iPhone camera this morning to capture this hibiscus bloom opening. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. The lighting and position of the bloom were perfect. It took about 45 minutes to fully open.