More from Kauai....

On the left is a photo of our cottage in Waimea. Absolutely gorgeous, both inside and out. This cottage, and all the others on the grounds of the Waimea Plantation were the dwellings belonging to the sugar cane workers years ago. Sugar cane is no longer grown on the island, but these cottages remain. Each one is different, and they make a great place to stay while visiting Kauai. You get a sense of "Old Hawaii" staying here- so different from the hotel experience. The photo on the right is the view from our front porch. What a view! That big, beautiful tree is such a

wonderful place to sit in the shade and gaze out at the ocean. The grounds are lovingly maintained here, with a wide variety of trees, bushes and flowers scattered throughout.

The Waimea Beach is on the left. Every morning and afternoon I strolled along this beautiful beach, and I was most often alone. The sand is a reddish brown here, due to the run off from the iron rich soil from Waimea Canyon. Because the sand particles are so fine, the water is murky. Ocean water that is so murky is completely off limits for swimming.......sharks find these waters excellent for hunting, so you'll never see swimmers and surfers here! But it makes a beautiful spot to be part of nature- quiet, contemplative, restorative.

More to follow.......!

Kauai........

It has been so long since I've updated my blog! Way to long. After I finished a commission, I thought for sure I would have time to get back to things. Little did I envision a trip to Kauai.......2 weeks before Christmas! But when the husband has to go to Kauai for work.....going along seemed like the thing to do!

On the right is a photo taken at Polihali Beach. One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The sight of the Na Pali cliffs jutting into the ocean is truely breathtaking. We were there on a Sunday, and we were practically by ourselves! This beach is very difficult to get to. You have to drive through abandoned sugar cane fields on a rutted and rock strewn road. But so worth it at the end. I hope to do a painting of the cliffs one day. Oh how I hope I can truely and accurately portray this magnificent place!

On the left is one of the few surfers who dared to challenge the surf that day. They were so much fun to watch! It was nice to be able to photograph a surfer here- a good frame of reference to show how big the cliffs really are! I love the colors of the water here.

More blogs on Kauai to follow- Lots more photos to go through!!

Hydrangea leaves.....

I've been working on a private commission lately, so I cannot post images of my most recent work. Nevertheless, I'm always on the lookout for reference material....as any artist should be! I never expected to find inspiration while raking the gazillion leaves in our yard. This hydrangea is growing on the side of our garage, and while dragging a sheet loaded with wet, heavy leaves, I spotted the sun hitting the leaves in such a way that it made me drop everything and get my camera. I think the hydrangea is prettier now than in the summer full of blossoms. I love the colors of the leaves, and I got so lucky that the sun was hitting the bush in such a way as to make it look like I had used some fancy lighting effects!

Doing a painting of "just" leaves might seem unusual, but

leaves, on their own, can be just as beautiful as flowers. I can't get over how spectacular these leaves looked today. I'm so glad that I had the camera ready to go. Painting these leaves, with their yellow green centers fanning out towards their wine colored edges will be a challenge....and loads of fun!

A Clarence Center Halloween.......

It's one of my favorite times of the year. I love fall, and Halloween is so much fun- especially in our neighborhood! The photo on the left is on our front porch. The floating heads look so great contrasted with the pumpkins in the front. My husband carved the craft pumpkins- the scary cat one on the left, and my prized possession, my Edward and Bella pumpkin in the middle! After we took these photos, we then headed down the street to the Haunted House above all others.

The photo on the right shows the entire house, all lit up, at dusk.

He had just opened for the evening, and the smoke machines were just beginning to crank out their misty fog. What follows will be a series of the best photos we got this evening.

Halloween, Clarence Center style.....

Another Halloween, and we are again fortunate that our neighbors, Gary and Margaret Server, are doing Halloween proud! We love Halloween, and how lucky are we that we live just a few houses down from one of the most fabulous Halloween displays I've ever seen.


I went down to get some photos on a recent sunny day- even before everything was up and running. The photo on the left has my husband Bob with his back towards the camera, and Gary coming out his front door . Putting up all this takes months of work!

In the photo above, you can see the entry to the dungeon on the far left. The photo on the right is from inside the dungeon. The attention to detail is amazing. As you follow along dark, narrow passageways, you come upon the witches cave on the left here.

So wonderful! I think everyone is going to love it. What I'm not including here are all the deep, dark passageways leading to each spectacular room. SO exciting! Hard to believe that all this can take place in a garage- an extra large and deep garage admittidly, but when you're inside, you feel like you're in a large, haunted mansion. The gargoyle tower below is one of two towers on either side of the driveway. What a great sight to see as you're driving down the road! We are certainly looking forward to seeing the whole display turned on- with all the smoke machines fired up, the music on and the lighting effects that make it all so dramatic and scary. Happy Halloween 2009!

The "brick irises" are done.....

It feels so nice to get another painting done. I had a lot of fun with this one.
The last bit of work I had to do was to give the bricks some depth by putting some subtle shading underneath each individual brick. After that was done, I just had to put in some finishing touches; deeping some values and putting some textural elements onto the leaves, stems, and bricks.
I noticed that once it was finally done, that it really doesn't look like a watercolor! I'm pretty sure that some will assume it is a colored pencil, or possibly even a pastel or acrylic. At this point, I cannot imagine the learning curve involved in utilizing another medium!
I think I have my hands full with watercolor!!

Purple iris continuation......

I've been able to get a lot of painting time in lately- hurray! I still have a fair amount of work to do on this painting, though.

The iris flowers themselves are mostly done, along with the leaves and stems. The brick wall is now my focus. I've laid in a layer or two of color on each individual brick- always making sure that each brick has it's own unique color pattern. Now I'm in the process of shading the bricks and the mortar, to give the bricks a three-dimensional look. Otherwise, they would look like brick wallpaper! This is picky and time-consuming work.....right up my alley!

The colors on the actual painting are much more intense, but it's so dark this morning, that I couldn't get a photo without using a flash. When I take a photo when the painting is completed, I'll make sure to get one without a flash. This is going to be one colorful painting!

Purple iris progress......

I have made some noticeable progress of late on my painting. I've just about completed the irises, and only have a few stems and leaves to finish. It's been fun to have the rose leaves to paint, along with the iris leaves. The different shapes and varying shades of green have been a joy to work on.
I've had fun with the brick wall, too! I started laying down color on the bricks beginning at the bottom. Better to experiment with varying colors on the bricks that are behind the flowers and leaves, than to start at the top! I moisten only part of each individual brick before I put down the paint. Better to create the varigated look to the bricks that way. I've been using many different colors for the bricks, including Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, French Ultramarine, Dragon's Blood, Lemon Yellow, Sienna, and more. No two bricks are the same, so they shouldn't be painted in identical fashion.
Boy, this will be a colorful painting when it's completed!

The irises are coming along.......

Showing some actual progress on my latest painting!

I've been deepening the colors of the iris blossoms, leaves and stems. I love that rose leaves are interspersed among the iris leaves. They provide a nice contrast to the spear-like leaves of the irises.

I've been using Windsor Violet and Windsor Blue for the irises, coupled with the soft pink of Rose Madder Genuine. At this stage of the painting, I'm working on slowly building up the colors of the petals and leaves. I wanted to get those colors deepened before I work on the brick wall. That will be lots of fun.....and quite time consuming, to say the least!

Back to work!

A new iris painting has begun.....

After finishing the heavily detailed painting of Quebec City, I was anxious to do an iris painting. It's been a while! I had originally thought I would do a single iris painting, however when I came across this photo- of gorgeous purple blooms against a brick wall.....I decided this would be the one for me. I had originally photographed these irises a summer or two ago. I fell in love with the beautiful purple blooms and the blue-green foliage all contasted against the beautiful tones of the brick wall.

I began with a drawing of the irises and the foliage. It doesn't matter which medium an artist employs- an artist needs to know how to draw. I wonder sometimes how many irises I've drawn in my career so far! But I love it!

After drawing the irises, I then began to work on the brick wall. A ruler was necessary! I wanted the rows of bricks to be level and the bricks to be the same size. The formality of the brick wall will contrast nicely with the tangle of the iris and the rose leaves. What I have laid down so far is just a light varigated wash for the bricks. I painted the bricks and the mortar first, before I laid any color on the irises and leaves. Now I've begun to work on the leaves and the iris blooms. I need to get more color down on the flowers before I go back and deepen the bricks. That will be so much fun! Lots of work awaits!

Drawing of "Edward Cullen".......

Yes, I am aware I have OCD (obsessive Cullen disorder)! Too funny....!

Continuing...for several years I participated in figure drawing classes, and even ran the class for a few years. What a fantastic way to sharpen your drawing skills- there's nothing like drawing from life. It helps train your eye for accurately rendering perspective and spatial relationships so necessary no matter what media an artist employs. I was blown away by the talent in our local group. Some drew every day, and it showed!!

Wanting to get back to sketching more often, I bought a really nice sketchbook and a great drawing set- a Cretacolor from Austria. It has charcoal pencils, sticks, natural charcoal, and what I used for this drawing- graphite sticks, 6B and 9B.

Wondering what to sketch one evening, I eyed my Twilight Movie Companion book. ( Couldn't resist!) I saw the photo and thought it would be a good test. I didn't use any measuring device- I wanted to just eyeball it. While the likeness isn't completely perfect, it's darn close. Rendering eyes is tricky, but I always remember what my drawing teacher, Dot Huntley, told me- that the eye is always in shadow, as it sits encased in the eye socket and is shaded and protected by the brow and lid. How helpful that advice has always been for me. I notice some artists tend to make the eyes look as if they are stuck ON the face, instead of resting inside the eye socket.

I love the all graphite pencils. I didn't want to use charcoal as I was sitting in my family room and didn't want to get covered in charcoal. I love the depth of value charcoal gives, but I cannot use it without getting it all over me!

I know I want, and I need, to draw more often. Maybe, just maybe, I'll have to buy the "New Moon" movie companion book when it comes out........ !

A rose is a rose......

Last fall, while on a trip to Valu, a local hardware store, I noticed a sale bin filled with bare root roses, above which a crudely painted sign read "Roses- $ 2.00." Well, roses have always been my favorite flower, so I looked through the selection and found one of my longtime favorites- a 'Kordus Perfecta." I didn't know that rose was still available! With a price like that, there wasn't much to lose, so I bought it and took a chance on a $2.00 rose from a hardware store.

Last fall I planted it right near my front door, never really expecting much. Right now it is about 3 1/2 feet tall, and even though we've had more rain than the Amazon rain forest, it is rewarding me with some gorgeous August blooms. The blooms in June were gorgeous, of course, but what a treat to see roses at the end of the summer.

Little watercolors are fun to do, and I think a nice watercolor of a single rose will be a lot of fun to work on in the dead of winter.

Moral of the story? You never know what you'll stumble upon at a hardware store!

Quebec City conclusion.....

I'm very thrilled to have finally finished my Quebec City painting. Haven't settled on a title yet. This painting was fun to do, yet it did pose some unique challenges. Colors I rarely use were required for this piece. I had originally thought of changing the trim colors on the buildings, but then decided that I couldn't really do that and stay true the flavor of Quebec City. So I was forced to use the burnt umbers and warm, gold tones that are not my favorites.

Another unusual feature of this piece is that the center of interest, most often the part of a painting with the strongest contrast of color, is located pretty much in the background. I took the reference photo in the early morning, and I loved how the morning light shown upon the distant building, while the closer part of the street remained in shadow. Painting the stone road was certainly a challenge as well. I delineated the stones with pale lines before I put the varied washes down, so that the lines wouldn't stand out too much and look too prominent, or "painted on." I love the hanging multicolored balloon! Residences are interspersed amongst the storefronts and restaurants, and those residences were so lovingly maintained and artistically decorated.

So glad I finally got to do a painting of at least a tiny corner of a beautiful city.

The Lewiston Art Show "saga"......

On the left is a photo of my booth at this years Lewiston Art Show.

Saturday started out so well!! The sun ( I did see it on Saturday morning) was out and it is so nice now that the entire street is closed to traffic- just like Allentown. People have so much more room to stroll the festival, instead of trying to squeeze along the narrow Lewiston sidewalks.

The photo on the right is the featured artist at Lewiston this year, Travis Louie, creating his own chalk walk piece. The photo can't do it justice.

The rain started around 3 or so, the crowds thinned as the afternoon wore on, so we packed up a little early, with hopes of a better day on Sunday.

Sunday began with a nice blue sky, even though the humidity was oppressive. The clouds quickly rolled in, the sky darkened, and then........KA BOOM!! The rain began with large, intermittent raindrops, then quickly it began to pour. People scurried for cover, artists lept to bring their pieces into the "relative" safety of their tents. It got even darker, the lightning got closer and the winds kicked into overdrive. My tent was screwed into the street and the winds lifted it up, and it would have blown away had we not been hanging on to the posts as tightly as we could. The rainwater turned into a current that ran about a foot deep behind my tent. Standing in my tent, hanging on to the metal posts, all the while under a tree while the lightning was hitting so close......was truely frightening. When Bob felt he could safely run for it, he ran to the car, pulled it up to the tent (even though the road was technically closed to vehicular traffic until the show ended) and we as quickly as we possible could, loaded up my "water"colors and fled. We were in the car racing away at 1 pm. I ended up leaving my rug. It was deeply underwater- no sense trying to salvage it.

My paintings all made it out just fine- thanks to the Herculean feats of my husband. Not a great way to end the art festival season! But now is actually a fun time for me. I'll be participating in some gallery shows in the fall, and I get to spend more time "in studio" where I truely long to be. No rainstorms in my studio!!!!

Art Park Gallery- Buffalo Society of Artists.....

Friday night was my night to work at

the Art Park Gallery. Such a beautiful

gallery in such a beautiful spot- right on the Art Park grounds. The Buffalo

Philharmonic event that evening was Video Games Live- a symphonic performance of music from video games. I could recognize several themes- the Zelda music, especially! Spent many hours listening to that!!

The view on the left here is a selection of the artwork. So much talent on display here.

We had a sale the night I worked, and there have been steady sales so far- even in this economy. So many things are contributing to the success here, I believe. A wide variety of art is on exhibit- all media, and all styles- from abstract to photorealism with everything in between.

I'm breaking a rule and including photos of myself here, even though I acutely despise having my photo taken. Ugh! In the photo on the left, my fellow artist and friend Gail is on the right in the photo, and my painting "Jurassic Tree" is between us. It does help me to know that the gorgeous Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson cannot stand to look at themselves in photos or on screen!! It was a very enjoyable time, and nice to know that people are still loving and buying art. The photo on the right is of me and the gallery director Helen Russell. She has done so much work to keep the gallery going, and the fact it is such a success owes much to her drive and dedication.

Naval Park and Erie Basin Marina.......

A Sunday with nothing pressing, we decided, with cameras in hand, to spend a day at the waterfront. We had never toured the naval ships before, so what better time like the present!

I love the photo on the right- all the greys on the majestic ship matched in the threatening sky.

My husband on board the ship with his camera getting some shots, with the ever threating sky behind.

So nice to see the improvements in the waterfront. Touring the ships was so much fun! Following the yellow lines throughout the ships and the submarine, imagining what it must have been like sailing on those ships in wartime.

I took the photo on the left aboard the USS Little Rock. The cloud formation clearly indicates a powerful storm brewing.....what else is new?!

I'm hoping to do some paintings of our visit to the Naval Park. The ships, the beautiful waterfront, and the "interesting" skies we've had lately all would make wonderful paintings.

Day Lilies....

I can see that I'll be doing some day lily paintings in my future!
We have had so much cloudy and rainy weather, that I was
actually suprised to see sunshine this morning! My day lilies are in a bed where I can spot them from my kitchen window, and when I saw them glistening in the sun, I knew I had to photograph them....and quickly! This summer, one never knows how long the sun will shine!
I think the photo on the right would make a nice painting.
I will use some deep greens and blues for the background, probably Windsor Blue and Windsor Green, with some Indigo thrown in. I will use some Lemon Yellow for the center of the flower, and no doubt some of my discontinued Vermillion, coupled with various pinks for the flower petals.
I'm so glad these lilies are blooming so heartily. I know they like dry weather conditions, and with the cool and moist July we've been having, I was concerned that these blooms would suffer. Glad to be proven wrong!

Art on the Riverwalk 2009.....

Another "Art on the Riverwalk" has come and gone. Could there be a more perfect spot for an artshow? A grassy setting underneath large, sweeping maple trees facing the Niagara River....gorgeous!

The view on the left here shows my booth all set up and ready. With all the rain we've had this spring and summer, I was so thrilled to wake that Sunday morning to a cloudless, blue sky.

The photo on the right is the view I had looking out from my tent- directly across the river from the Grand Island hotel. What a sight to look at all day! The view on the lower left is a long view of the show. I love the photo at left- the dappled sunlight making patterns on the grass. The booths all nicely spread out under the canopy of the trees. We had a really nice time at the show. It's fun to catch up with friends, and I was surprised and honored to win an award at the show. Sales at the shows this year haven't been over the top, but people are still buying.

All in all, a wonderful show.

Purple poppy.....

I have an outdoor show this Sunday, "Art on the Riverwalk" and I wanted to have another smaller sized flower painting for the show. My purple poppy isn't quite

completed, but I'm sure I can have it ready for this weekend. These poppies were growing in my friend's garden when she called me to say if I wanted photos, I'd better get over quickly because a storm was fast approaching, and these beauties soon would be gone. I sped over, took many photos, and yes, the storm wiped all these out the next day. I was so glad for her call!

I did a quick drawing on my Windsor/Newton paper and began putting color down, using Windsor Violet, Rose Madder Genuine, and some Permanent Rose. The leaves and stems have Sap Green, mixed with some Prussian Blue and some Aqua. In the center I used Lemon Yellow and some Naples Yellow gouache for the little stems. I will purposely leave the background white, as I often do on these botanical paintings. I think it sets off the flower and makes the colors pop.

I sold 4 smaller paintings at Allentown, and I am glad that at least I have been able to get 1 smaller sized painting completed before the show.

Oh.....to have more hours in the day!! :D

East Aurora Art Show '09......

Another East Aurora Art Show has come and gone. Such a fun show to do! The view on the right is from my tent looking out upon the snow fence artists setting up. The snow fence is such a great option for those artists who don't have the whole tent and display set-up. Such a lovely setting. It's so nice getting to see friends who I may only get to see during this show. We all get there pretty early in the morning; so much work is involved setting up an art show. Caffeine is an absolute necessity!

The photo on the left is my booth at the show. Saturday couldn't have been more perfect. Sun and low 70's. A good friend and wonderful artist, Jane Stoddard, won Best of Show, and another friend won 1st place in watercolor. I was so happy for them-very well deserved. I won best of show last year, so I was so pleased that the wealth could be spread around.

If only Sunday could have been better. So much rain that we ended up leaving early. Last year was the same, too. Perfect Saturday, and rainy Sunday. What's up with that? My tent was so soaked that I had to hang it out to dry on my clothesline on Monday.......of course Monday was breezy and sunny!

There's always next year!

My McCartney Rose......

I'm so glad I went outside to check on my flowers. We're due to get some rain later today (yay!) but I wanted to check on the flowers on the side of our garage. I hadn't watered them in a while, and I was hoping they were OK.

So thrilled to see that my McCartney rose is flourishing! It's almost 5 feet tall and looks as healthy as ever. Seems my fertilizing a while back was heartily welcomed! I love this rose: the color- such a pure, true pink; the gorgeous tea-rose fragrance; the glossy green of the beautifully shaped leaves. And to think I bought it because it was named after Paul McCartney!

I've already done a painting of this rose a few years ago. I just may have to do another one. Better get more rose madder genuine!

Allentown 2009......

The Allentown Art Festival has come and gone for another year. How lucky we were with the

weather! The view on the left is of Delaware Ave. early Sunday morning, hours before the crowds appear. We got there pretty early to ensure we got a good parking spot- boy we wished there was a Tim Horton's nearby!

The photo on the right is the view looking into my booth. And yes.....that is a painting hanging on a tree! While setting up, I noticed a screw in the tree and decided to hang a painting on it. Later on I asked my husband if he had put the screw there last year. I didn't really have to ask! Engineers are a resourceful bunch! I ended up selling that painting, too!

The photo on the left is taken at the award ceremony Saturday evening. My motorcycle painting is in the center with a blue ribbon on the upper right. What a thrill, an absolute thrill. The award ceremony is so nice- they do such a great job. At the end of the day Saturday, we are all so exhausted- hot, sweaty, hungry, etc.. and they have great pizza, cookies and drinks for us to munch on before the ceremony begins. SO thoughtful!

There I am on the right getting the official photos taken.....and I just LOVE having my picture taken!! (Grrrr.!!) For some reason, I never look like Angelina Jolie in the photos! Damn.

A wonderful festival all around. A good friend of mine won second place after me, and another friend on 1st place in abstract watercolor. It makes it so much better when talented friends win, too.

Returning to Quebec City.....

It's been nice to get back to painting again! I laid down some tonal washes on the old stone walls of the buildings, plus I got in some detail work to help establish some darks. The buildings on the upper left have a lot of woodwork- boy will that take some time to do! The windows will also require a lot of detail work.

For the gold trim I'm using burnt umber, burnt sienna with some sepia thrown in. The stone road and building washes are a mixture of burnt umber, burnt sienna, french ultramarine, sepia, and a little cobalt blue. The green in the flower basket in the front is mostly sap green with some windsor yellow and a little indigo and burnt sienna.

I'll have little time to work on Quebec City this week, with the summer art festival season beginning this weekend with the Allentown Art Festival. I have no idea how it will be this year, and I'm definitely anxious about it. Will people be looking to buy, or will they be "just looking?" The amount of work required to do these shows is enormous....yikes! Not sure if I'm ready for all of it! We shall see!

My favorite columbine......

I love my columbine! I had never known that these gorgeous wildflowers even existed! When my kids were little, they would give me handfulls of these beautiful wildflowers that they picked in the woods behind our house. All moms know there is nothing better than flowers presented so lovingly in little sweaty hands! Plus, I had never seen columbine before! I love their unusual shape and soft white color.

I worked very hard to create a columbine garden in the shaded area behind our garage. These beauties love shade, so the north garden worked perfectly. I am so glad that the columbine have flourished there. I'm trying hard to keep them going. Anytime I see columbine in the stores, I never see my white variety for sale. I think it's important to save and protect native wildflowers. Lately I haven't seen any more growing in the woods. Important to nurture my garden all the more. Plus, I love the memory these flowers give me of those "flowers for mom" days! Now if only I could do them justice in a painting!

It's iris time.....

I've been busy with my camera these past few days! When the irises are ready, I have to be! My work these past couple of years making a new perennial bed have begun to pay off.

These irises have adapted quite well to their new environment. I'm not sure of their names- I just know that I like them! I really enjoy doing simple paintings of single irises. For the yellow iris I will probably use a lot of Windsor Lemon, with a little Dragon's Blood for the rust colored sections near the base. The blue iris will call for Cobalt Blue with some Windsor Blue as well. I like that the foliage is slightly different shades of green for each iris. These will be SO much fun to do!!