“Magnolia Muse”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

I sketched this the other week but just could not finish it until now. The magnolias bloom, flower and fade so fast that I knew to go back to complete this would be pointless….

“Winter Hibiscus”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

It’s wonderful to have a flower pop in front of me unexpectedly. I was painting china in the hutch the other day. When I walked into the next room, this hibiscus stood out like a house on fire. I couldn’t wait to finish what I was doing to get to this blossom…

“In Doc’s Hutch”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

Having not regularly done a still life, this was a challenge. In someone else’s kitchen where I never painted before it was even more so especially with them all watching me create. Luckily, I was offered a glass or two of wine as I worked and the painting flowed smoothly out from under my brush…

“Pepper Play”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

It felt good to change gears and work inside on a still life. I purposely tried to loosen up a little and not always have sharp, crisp, delineations between colors……

“Late Bloomer”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I wandered about at the Polly Hill Arboretum this evening scouting for subject matter. I found only one bloom from the bigleaf magnolia cultivar. This is one of my favorite magnolias, Magnolia Macrophylla “Julian Hill”. The leaves are almost a foot wide and sometimes almost 2 feet long with giant blooms 18 inches wide! It was just past ripe and the weather had begun what would become a long, slow spitting contest which carried on through sunset. When I returned emptyhanded to my studio, I looked in my unfinished pile and found this magnolia I had started a while ago. The visit to the arboretum had given me the right idea on how to finish this piece…

“Spring In The Air”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I was introduced to this yellow blossoming magnolia tree a week and a half ago. I have been watching and patiently waiting for the full bloom to come. I received the email early this morn that today was my day. I have not been disappointed. It is a magnificent creamy yellow citricy color, quite different from the whites and the pink blush white blossoms I usually have painted. A real challenge to create out of a limited value range of yellows and still stay on track. There are no pure white highlights, but the lightest light yellows. I did cheat and put in 2 areas of white on top of the yellow highlights just to give it a final push against the subtler darker yellow values. But they do not read as pure white as the traces of the underpainting of yellow contaminate the attempt…

“Morning Bright”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

Continuing with my daffodil obsession, I found this orange cup by a neighbor’s stonewall. I couldn’t paint it where it was or I would have been found run over by the side of the road. So I cut and brought it home to paint outside on the east porch (in a vase) with this actual wall and view behind it. Plein air, sort of, alla prima for sure…

“Loving Cup”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

I found this daffodil dancing in drizzle at the edge of a stonewall. I turned about and snipped it for this studio still life. I have enjoyed its cheery company on a very rainy day…

“On the Pond”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

The first daffodils are out, but it was all rain the first day. I had to work from the van a couple of times to get them right. They are such optimists in the winter landscape. Always make my heart skip a beat upon first discovery!…

“Slices”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

A little fun in the kitchen last night…