End of the Summer

8 x 8 Oil on Gessobord

Children find things to do even if it's a little too cold to go into the water.  This little girl's colorful outfit and pigtails reminded me of my daughter when she was little.  I think she probably reminds a lot of us of summers long ago.  Then, school starts...... :-(

About a Boy

8 x 8 Oil on Gessobord

An exercise in movement...Nothing too specific, just limited color and a large brush.  I'm used to using relatively small brushes which tends to make my work more detailed than I would always like.  On this one, I stood back and just placed color as I saw fit.  Very little detail, but it all seemed to come together.  I've been watching a lot of painting DVD's and would recommend that others who are basically self-taught do the same.  It's not always easy or convenient to travel to take classes, and the DVD's are an excellent second best.  They have certainly helped me and continue to help me define my personal style.  I don't try to "copy" what I see, but use it to define my own sense of painting "reality."  By the way, this is Rocky.  One of my favorite people to paint :-)

Winter Fetching

6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

 

Starting Bid $30, Click Here

 

Our Sproodle, Tallulah, loves the snow, but not when it's falling.  She seems to think that it will hurt her when it's coming down and she ducks every two seconds.  We have tried to get her used to it, but to no avail.  Once it stops snowing though, she can't get enough of it.  When we get ready to throw the ball, she races out into left field, but usually loses track of it after it has landed.  I think the fact that she can't hear it fall is what throws her.  She races around digging her face into the snow until she smells it and comes up with it.  Her tail goes a mile a minute.  It is such a joy to watch her hopping around!  Now everything is mush.  Not so much fun to watch her come in covered in mud....

Children on the Move

9 x 3 1/8  Oil on Gessobord

OK..So this is a piece of Gessobord that I had my husband cut from a painting I had done a few weeks ago.  When I painted the original piece, the bottom of the painting just didn't look right to me.  The only way I felt I could keep the painting was to crop it which is easy if I'm doing pastel, but not so much on a hard board.  My husband was nice enough to drag out his table saw and cut the bottom off the painting.  Rather than throw the piece away, I just "played," and this is the result.  I might go back into this and refine it, but there is something about the lack of refinement that I like.  Even though there are ghosts around the figures, I think it gives the piece movement.  At least I think so....Just a fun little experiment.