Plein Air watercolor of a pot of geraniums along a wall in a garden.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

One more plein air watercolor painting of our friend’s garden. These geraniums were perched jauntily on the garden wall and caught the bright sunlight perfectly. I especially liked the way they blooms were highlighted against the dark red maple in the background.

Pastel portrait of a young father teaching his daughter to fish.

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches  SOLD

I just finished this pastel portrait for a client who wanted a special present for her husband on Father’s Day. They were very happy with the results. I am doing more and more pastel commissions and watercolor commissions and absolutely loving the process. There’s nothing like creating a piece of art that makes someone happy!

I’d like to offer a special incentive for my regular blog viewers. If you send a commission client my way, I will happily let you chose one of my small artworks for your very own!

Contact me on my website and we can talk!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of Lake Michigan coast

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 6.5 inches   SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

9 am, just north of Charlevoix and south of Petoskey. There is a sweet roadside park that I visit every year and every time I bring back a completely different landscape. Its one of those unique places where you can paint one scene, pivot 30 degrees, paint and equally beautiful view, pivot, paint, pivot, paint, etc.

Pastel paintings are especially good for this type of plein air work because they are relatively easy to set up and almost mess-free. (except the multi-colored dust all over your hands…and sometimes on your face!)

I have found a wonderful source for creating Giclee prints of my pastel paintings and am now offering a few of my favorite pieces for sale as reproductions. They have been purchased by quite a few health care organizations and other corporate entities to hang as art in their buildings. They are less expensive than purchasing original art and make wonderful gifts.

Wikipedia describes giclees as: Giclée (pronounced “zhee-clay”)  is an invented name for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The word “giclée” is derived from the French language word “le gicleur” meaning “nozzle”, or more specifically “gicler” meaning “to squirt, spurt, or spray”. It was coined in 1991 by, a printmaker working in the field, to represent any inkjet-based digital print used as fine art. The name was originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is often used in galleries and print shops to denote such prints.

My Giclees are available in many subjects, sizes and formats and are ready to frame. Please take a look at my Giclee Gallery to see all of the prints that are now available.

Watercolor painting of an outdoor cafe in Naples

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 7 inches

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This watercolor painting will also be available thru the Circle of Art fundraiser for Food Gatherers on May 17. I painted it sitting on a step on one of the main streets in Naples, Florida. Plein aire paintings can be quite a challenge when you do them in public. Everyone who comes by has to sneak a look. Sometimes they ask to take a peak, other times they just belt out their opinion loud enough for everyone to hear.  It used to really fluster me but I have become used to the process. Most people are very kind and encouraging and I can always use that!

And Food Gatherers could use you. Click on the Circle of Art website in the next couple of weeks and see if there is a piece of art you can’t live without!

Watercolor painting of tables and palm trees around a pool in Spain.

Watercolor painting 6.5 inches x 8.5 inches

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I painted this watercolor painting plein aire when we were in Spain a couple of years ago. We stayed at a fantastic hotel near Malaga and spent a bit of time lounging around the pool. Not wanting to be too slothful, I painted as I sipped cocktails! What a treat!

I’ve donated this piece to a charity art auction run by Saline Picture Frame Company to raise funds for Food Gatherers. In the last couple of years they have raised over $58,000 to help feed the needy in Washtenaw County, Michigan. To quote Saline Picture Frame’s website:

2009 marks the fifth Circle of  Art benefit for Food Gatherers.  The Circle of  Art is a party, a project and a group effort by artists and art lovers to help fight hunger where we live.  Simply stated, a bunch of artist donate small works of art, Saline Picture Frame Co. mats them all and hosts a party, lots of people come to the party and bid on the art and then Food Gatherers uses the money raised to feed hungry people.

I donate to this great cause every year. If you have a chance, please visit their website or go to the auction and support them!

Pastel portrait of a golden retriever

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork or a commission

One more pet portrait to add to the group! Our dear friends have 2 golden retrievers and a blood hound. They are the sweetest animals around and their owners adore them. Every time our friends come to visit they bring our dog a little treat. To thank them, I did a pastel painting of one of their pups basking in the sun. Can’t you just tell what a lover he is by his big, happy smile?

Pastel painting of a brown lab

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork or a commission

My friend’s beautiful brown lab died a while ago. She was a really special dog and missed by the whole family– especially her husband. She asked me to create a pastel portrait of Yoshi  as a special gift for him. It was a challenge to catch just the right personality since I had never met the pup, but my friend says this commission is right on. I was so happy to do it for them!

Pastel portrait of a beautiful young woman

Please contact me if you are interested in portraits of people or animals!

This is the pastel portrait of my oldest niece, Jessica. I really like to do portrait work from life, but these days, it seems that no one is willing to sit for hours while I layer the color on paper. Not even my own family!  I took multiple photos of each of the girls at Christmas break and used various shots to come up with their final portraits. I know them both well and I loved capturing the little sparkles in their eyes…

Pastel portrait of a young woman

Please contact me if you are interested in portraits of people or animals!

A while ago, I painted two pastel portraits of my nieces for my sisters birthday. I finally had a chance to give them to her last week so I thought I would post them. Portraits are fun to do but really  have to be “right on”. My sister loved them and her daughters were happy with them, too. They want giclee prints for their own homes!

I will post Jess’ portrait next…

Watercolor painting of a large vase sculpture in Toledo Botanical Gardens

Watercolor painting 5 inches x 12 inches    SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.

I love to visit Toledo Botanical Gardens and paint watercolor sketches of the plants and sculptures on the grounds. This scene had an extra bonus in that my favorite plant, hydrangeas, surrounded an antique sculpture. I usually try to keep these small sketches to 20 minutes or so in hopes of keeping them fresh and vibrant.

Pastel painting of white maltese dog

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 10 inches      SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork or a commission.

My sister, Beth, was jealous of the pastel painting I did of my Australian Shepard, Roxy. She wanted a portrait of her  Maltese, Tucker. So I took a series of photographs to find just the right pose for the little guy. Hes a furry little thing with lots of personality and it was difficult to get him to sit still long enough to photograph him. I ended up combining a bunch of different references to get to this piece….And she likes it, she likes it!