I finished the third large marble painting just in time to enjoy the weekend! I love the way the colored centers swirl within the marble... they remind me of Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings... very sensual!

48" x 48"

I am working on several paintings that are very close up images of the bottles and jars... I love the way the painting almost become abstract... and yet still representational.. this is the first of three... but I have one more large shooter marble to finish before I get to the other two... but in the meantime... I'm..

"Having a Ball" 48" x 60"

This is the third painting that i had started last week... finished it today!! I love painting these huge marbles.. there are so many intricacies in the glass... and i love the way the background inverts..


"Shooter 2" 48" x 48"

"Red" 24" x 24"

Last week I worked on a marble painting but had to put it aside for a few days and so I started a large painting of bottles excavated from the ravine. Today I finished them both!! I am always amazed at how cool the old colored glass looks when the light shines through it!

"Renner & Weber" 48" x 60"

Last weekend I was invited to a birthday party for one of my favorite people.. Sharon. It was her 65th and her theme was "65 rocks!" She asked everyone to bring a rock for her new garden/ pond area... I LOVED it! Imagine someone who loves rocks like I do.. we were bound to be friends!! I went into the woods and found a beauty of a rock for her, covered with the most lovely turquoise and green mosses.. the party really got me into rock mode again so that's what I painted this week... I had these around the house.. then went for a walk in the creek yesterday and found more... I do love my rocks.. :)

48"x 48"

I had planned to paint six marbles next... but then my husband came home with a marble that one of the women from his office had found in the parking lot... she thought it must be mine as I have been painting marbles.. nope, wasn't mine.. but it is now! :) Isn't it a beauty? I thought it deserved a canvas all to itself... Thank you Patti for thinking of me!

48" x 48"

Okay...It's been a bit busy lately...but I got the paintings delivered for my show in Columbus on the 29th... got my girl delivered to NYC to get back to school... and now I need to get back to in the studio and get some painting done!!

If you can attend, please come to my show in Columbus! August 29, 6-8, at the Kathryn Gallery on High Street in the Short North! I would love to meet all my blog friends in person!

This is the next painting in the marble series...

"Marbles Four"

24" x 48"

I have been working on this painting for what feels like forever... it was really hard to get the darks right... and the perspective was a bear.. i wanted to challenge myself but ended up frustrating myself a bit!

"At the Window" 48" x 60"

Next marble painting... Called "Two Blue"... I think this is my favorite... I think the background adds a lot...

30" x 40"

FINALLY finished this painting... feels like I've been working on it forever... I tentatively titled it, "Sometimes I feel like you Look Right Through Me" ...

48" x 48"

"Marbles Three"

... the series continues... :) but I get the day off! I'm going to Cedar Point with my family... gonna take lots of pics... maybe the start of a whole new series...

Earlier this week I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise... so before I sat and had coffee with my husband on the front porch and watched it unfold, I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.. It isn't what I had planned to paint this week... but you know what they say about the best laid plans... :) Have a great weekend!

Titled, "Monday Morning"

24" x 36"

I finished this one today and was pretty happy with the way it turned out.. Now I will get back to some larger paintings...

"Marbles Five"

24" x 36"

I'm working on a marbles series as part of a show I have coming up on August 29 at The Kathryn Gallery in Columbus. I am working like crazy but won't post them all until after the show... but here's a peek at one...

11" x 14"

I have been looking at the beautiful colors of the water on the pond.. the reflections of the blues and greens of the sky and trees ... and I've wanted to try to paint them. So this was the week.. and it's SO much harder than I thought! My hat is off to all those people who paint water so beautifully!! This is my attempt.. I wanted to call it "Froggy Style"... but they are toads... but that's all I've come up with.. so that will be the working title.. :) Have a good weekend!

48" x 60"

Another painting from the photos of the canning jars that I took a couple of weeks ago...

Titled "Perfect Mason"

48" x 48"

It seemed about time to clean up the rest of the glass jars and bottles that have been laying around from my foraging adventures in the ravine. My husband has been quite patient and the laundry tub was made for things other than storing the bottles! So I washed most of them and decided to put some in the dishwasher to see if they would clean up any better. When I took them out they were so pretty in the sun that I took pictures. This painting is from those pictures..

I titled it "There is One in Every Crowd"

36" x 60"

Every time I've opened the cupboard where our drinking glasses are this week, I see this jar. It's against the back wall of the cupboard... sometimes the kids use the jars as glasses or for cereal... but this one hasn't moved this week.. so I finally grabbed the camera and took a picture. I really liked the way the glass was so soft and the letters were shadowed against the back wall. I also thought it was fun that the words were backwards...

36" x 60"

Last summer I went to the auction of a woman that was originally from NYC, but had lived here for many years. SUCH a character! I loved her!! Her boys had grown and moved away by the time I met her, but I heard all about their lives every time I'd run into her. I felt like I knew them... and did finally get to meet them at her auction.. (She didn't pass away, but moved out west and the boys were taking care of things here) anyway... that's where I found this typewriter... I know she spent years pecking away at this thing and it made me happy to think about her while I painted it..

"Maureen's Typewriter"

48" x 60"

This week I went back to painting the mason jars... I really liked painting the blue one in the painting of three, so this time I painted two. I think my family will be happy this one is done... it's ALL I did this week... now it's time to go back to the real world... cooking and cleaning and mom duties!

"Overlap"

48" x 60"

Spring is always such a busy time but I did manage to get some small works finished this weekend... the first is from a photo taken on our trip to NYC last month when we picked Cat up from college... it's an arrow to the parking garage and I loved the colors... ...This is the first of the NYC series.. titled "Enter"... 16" x 20".



























The second is for the Different Stroke challenge hosted by Karin Jurick... I had purchased the canvas to paint the last challenge of hers (taxis on Madison Ave in NYC) but just ran out of time.. but it was perfect this challenge as well! She provided a black and white image and we were to fill in the colors... I went with the spring colors.. my favorite!

8" x 24"

This is the other painting I have been working on.. Trying to get it done in time for the Ohio State Fair. The submissions have to be postmarked by Friday... I have plenty of time, right?!? :)

Anyway, I haven't chosen a title.. guess I have to do that by Friday too... but hey.. it's only Wednesday!!

36" x 60"

This is what I have been working on lately... lots of detail and very time consuming! I am almost finished so I thought I'd post a picture so my dad knows that I really have been working!! :)

48" x 60"

"Tying Up Loose Ends"

The Gallery in The Vault in Wooster Ohio called yesterday to say that they are in the running for an award from the Cleveland TV station, fox8. If they win, they will be featured on TV and it would be great publicity and bragging rights!! It's a lovely gallery with wonderful people running it and I'd love to see them win! If you get a chance, I would appreciate your help by voting here... Thanks!

http://fox8.cityvoter.com/contests/best-of-the-akron-canton-hot-list/4651/arts-and-entertainment/art-gallery