10’x8′ oil on panel – Plein air Big Bend national park

More than a painting of a beautiful national park, this is a painting of friendship.  The guy who just had knee surgery needs his friend to cross the finish line tape as much as the guy running needs the support of his friends.   Those little dashes of color are friends waiting in the shade of the cottonwoods with their cooler and guitar to cheer on the first place runner of “Border to Badlands” 50 mile trail Run.   I am sitting just beyond them waiting for my runner, enjoying the fact that they brought a guitar and I have an afternoon to paint in the shade.

​​​
​Here is a short video of me adding the finish line flags and friends.  Just a few well placed strokes and a toothpick.  I know with a little suggestion (like the title of this painting) your imaginations will make sense of these dabs and dashes of color.

7″x5″ oil painting on panel (primed with oil and sand underpainting)

It is HOT today, and the sun is bright, and my painting umbrella at home. To capture this beautiful cactus and limit my time getting baked, I used a panel with a busy underpainting, carving the cactus out with sky, and just adding a few shadows and strokes to complete the painting.

8″x10″ oil on panel

I am here at Big Bend National Park, it is spectacular!

10″x8″ oil on panel

Silver linings don’t come without rain clouds.

Here is my sketch. I painted on a panel primed with fluorescent pink acrylic. You can see the underpainting peeking through all the grey of this painting.

6″x6″ oil on panel

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” -Mother Teresa

Today is Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. I am eliminating social media from my life this lent to make room for more silence. I can’t promise I will be able to touch souls, but I will make room for the possibility.

20″x16″ mixed media: acrylic, homework, tardy slip…

Walking to School series No•9

This little orange kitten padded through the grass to greet us, and little Lydia stated frankly “mom, this is worth the tardy.”

24″x36″ mixed media on canvas

Walking to School series No•8

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.”

-Alfred Tennyson

24″x36″ mixed media: latex, acrylic, chalk marker, old homework…

Walking to School Series No•7

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

-Albert Einstein

There is still time to sign up for my oil painting workshop. Learn more