The Inspiration of Music!

A while back, I was listening to NPR and the wisdom of the song made me run for my notebook to write it down and save it with a little line design. Here it is...sharing...

A Sketch in Time

 

 

The Beauty of Spring

When the sun is shining and flowers are starting to bloom, funny thing -- the colors and beauty of blossoms and flowers turn up in the paintings. They just jump out there and happen!

This little 2-minute sketch is an ode to the sweet bird who visited me and sat on the railing -- looking a me, looking around, looking at me and then finally sailing off for something else that was, apparently, more pressing.

A Welcome Visitor

 

 

Ice Crystals in the Sunshine

It was so beautiful outside I forgot it was cold and kept snapping photos of ice crystals on pine needles and shimmering branches in the sunlight. Extraordinary contrast and color was the payoff.

Last night branches were cracking and I kept hoping nothing would crash down on my house. Whew! No damage...only fantastic sights to see.

 

 And there was more!! I loved the lines and the close ups of ice

 

crystals in the sunshine.

Wishing for Spring, Dreaming of Roses

When you're a painter, you create your own world. With some snow still hanging around and talk of ice on the roads I'd rather think of spring and red roses. Here's what I worked on yesterday and today:
 

Floating Into Spring, Watercolor and Ink on Paper, 30"x24"

a. lower right hand corner

b. close-up

c. close up

                                                         

d. close up

                                                                             

e. close up

f. close up

g. close up

                                                                 

 

                              

Happiness is Making a Painting

Yesterday was pretty ho-hum...until I broke out the paints and starting playing with them. The very, very best part of my day. I found myself making strokes and adding colors that built something that looked like the sunshine and surf that I miss so much....Southern California, beaches in Hawaii. Oh, way too far away.

"Blue and Gold" is watercolor and ink on paper, 30"x24".

Colors CAN Dance!

It's true! Colors can dance. They can  play tricks with your eyes -- and your heart. Have you ever seen a red that made you smile? A blue that brought you back to the day you spent at the beach and watched the ocean? And yellows! They can be pure sunshine.

I felt as if I captured some of that in these two paintings:

"Dancing in the River"

"Skinny Dipping in the River"

Oceans of Life and Bright Spirits

Life brings events that defy words and twist our beings into positions we never thought we would find ourselves. A phone call did it for me last night. A cousin called from Virginia Beach...her brother...my cousin was gone...He died in an unfortunate accident in his home. A fall...that's all it took to end his life.

I painted ocean scenes for her and for my late cousin's sons...symbolic of our voyages on this planet. Without exception, they are all beyond our control. We can make plans, but the universe often has other designs.

When I turn to my paints and brushes, it seems to make more sense than trying to sort out what is going around me.

Ocean Voyage I

Ocean Voyage II

Ocean Voyage III

And while the paints and brushes were out, I made another painting to send to a friend of the arts.

Bright Spirits