Art By The River

Winter Dream

2012-01-14T11:33:00.001-05:00

This is an impressionistic piece I completed recently in my studio. The painting is more about the blues than the flower itself. In fact, I added the lotus as an afterthought, and I'm happy with the final result. You can see this painting, along with some more great art, through the month of January at Art Mundo's Winter Blues Show in the Underground Gallery at the ArtBank, downtown Fort Pierce.

24 x 24 Gallery Wrap Canvas

Acrylic

Queen Conch

2011-12-22T14:41:00.000-05:00

This is a larger and different version of a similar conch shell I painted earlier this year. I've been drawing and painting these conchs since decades ago when I would frequently visit the Bahamas. They have always intrigued me with their sinuous shape and shock of color. A background of Bahamian turquoise water is the perfect complement. I can smell the sea and feel the gritty Bimini sand in between my toes when I gaze at this painting.

Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

No Frame needed unless desired

10 x 10 inches

Backyard Bromeliad

2011-11-20T12:12:00.001-05:00

This is a small study of one of my bromeliads that decorates the area under our big live oak where nothing else will grow. I love how bromeliads 'tropicate' the yard with their exotic beauty. They are stunning in both shape and color, and most are SO easy to grow. They thrive on benign neglect here in Florida.

I painted the long leaves of the plant around the edges of the canvas, which one can't appreciate from this single dimensional view in the photo. No frame needed unless desired.

5 x 7 Inches
Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Adam's Ranch Scene

2011-10-28T14:36:00.004-04:00

Anyone who has had the opportunity to visit the Adam's Ranch in St. Lucie County, will probably recognize this bend in the road along the main path. I started this painting during one of Art Mundo's Brush With Nature plein air paint-outs at the ranch earlier in the year. I sketched in the scene with paint and got a lot of the color and values in before the lighting changed. I then finished the painting in the studio. My painting and others will be on display the month of November in Art Mundo's Underground at the ArtBank during a complimentary exhibition for all artists who participated in the paint-outs this year.

"Around the Bend"
14 x 14 Inches on Gallerywrap Canvas
Oil

Crows

2011-10-07T15:46:00.002-04:00

This is a fun painting I just finished for a theme show, The Poe Show at Art Mundo in Fort Pierce this month. Yeah, yeah, I know, they're crows, not ravens. There are no ravens in Florida, and so I'm more familiar with crows, and in fact, quite fond of them. They're intelligent and entertaining birds, although they can be devious at times. Every morning at dawn, I watch a murder of crows make their way south along the Indian River Lagoon, on their way to cause havoc somewhere with their mischievousness. I titled this, "Kicking Up A Fuss" as they surely can do.

Drop by and check out The Poe Show at the ArtBank Underground, downtown Fort Pierce through November 2nd.
111 Orange Avenue.

20 x 20 on Gallery Wrap Canvas
Acrylic

Cats In The Sun

2011-09-02T15:33:00.001-04:00

Here is a preview of a couple of my contributions to Art Mundo's 2012 Calendart. This is the 3rd annual raffle fundraiser for this nonprofit organization. 23 calendars, all with 12 original pieces of artwork from different artists, will be raffled off on November 5th. I chose the cat this year as my theme because, well, I admit it, I'm a cat person, but also because they're great subjects, always in a pose. A chance to win one of these calendars is only $10. No worries if you're just not a cat person, each artist has their own theme. Go for it and start your art collection!

Above: In A Spot Of Sunlight
Below: The Favorite Window
5 x 7 Inches
Oil

Trees: Reach For The Sky

2011-07-09T14:55:00.001-04:00

This painting recently got a makeover. Although it received an award in a local tree themed art show, I was never quite satisfied with it. I added the small branches on the front tree, and darkened the trees behind it to make it pop. And now it works for me.

24 x 24 Inches on Gallery Wrap Canvas
Oil

Mangrove At Dawn

2011-06-30T16:01:00.001-04:00

I returned to my oils for this large painting, and enjoyed the technique of rubbing out and actually painting some areas with a cloth. I used a limited palette for a different look than some of my tropical, more colorful paintings. I was inspired to paint this little red mangrove tree that I see on my early morning walks along the river road near my house.

30 x 30 Inches on Canvas
Oil
Below is a smaller Acrylic version that I did of this mangrove in the morning with a bit of a different perspective. It resides in the home of dear friends who also see this tree daily.

5 x 7 inches
Gallery Wrap Canvas
Acrylic

Eggplants, Tomatoes, And More

2011-05-24T18:02:00.000-04:00

I painted these fresh from the Fort Pierce Farmer's Market. They're earmarked for my kitchen walls that have been bare for a year since we remodeled. About time, huh?

Each are:
8 x 8 Inches on Gallery Wrap Canvas
Acrylic

Two (more) Mangoes

2011-04-16T14:28:00.001-04:00

My neighbor is lucky enough to still have some big, mature mango trees in spite of some frigid Florida winters these past two years, and not to mention those pesty hurricanes of 2004. So....he let me drool over these beauties(and take some photos for painting.) AND he gave me a bag of 'em too!

8 x 8 Inches
Acrylic

Double Peach Hibiscus

2011-01-04T16:57:00.003-05:00

This hibiscus is outside my painting studio, and it's always enticing and tempting me while I'm working on other subjects. So.....I decided to go for it. All those folds and layers of the flower petals were daunting at first, but once I got into it, the painting flowed onto the canvas. The petals wrap around the sides of the canvas.

20 x 20 Inches

Acrylic

Gallery Wrap Canvas

Plein Air Artists

2010-12-07T17:26:00.005-05:00

Every year our local Heathcote Botanical Gardens has a number of 'Artists Days' at various wonderful places to paint. Although the vistas are quite intriguing to paint, sometimes the artists also draw my attention. The top painting is me, done from a photo. The bottom one is a friend, having a hard time getting started painting, as many of us do.

5 x 7 Inches on Gallery Wrap Canvas
Acrylic

What's Down There?

2010-11-18T15:24:00.001-05:00

I'm totally out of my box with this painting, but oh how I loved doing people! This was a project for a class, Expressive Figure Painting, taught by Painter Deborah Gooch, at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. These young adult siblings are peering over the side of a sailboat. I painted from a photo taken on a trip to the Galapagos Islands with our friends, and these are their children. Painting them brought back a plethora of lovely memories.

24 x 24 Inches
Acrylic on Canvas
(The art is painted around the edges as a gallery wrap.)

Fish Crow

2010-10-07T20:45:00.003-04:00

This is a whimsical painting of a crow standing on a mullet. It was painted specifically for an art show at Art Mundo in Fort Pierce called the Crow Show, a timely event for the Halloween month of October. The idea began when a bunch of artists started talking about using crows as subjects in our art, and all of a sudden, we had a show going! We have lots of Fish Crows here along the Indian River Lagoon, giving me the idea for this painting.

Come see all the other crows at Art Mundo's Crow Show, located at the ArtBank, 111 Orange Ave., Ft.Pierce, FL during the month of October. The opening reception is Wed., Oct. 13, 5 - 8 p.m. during Art Walk.

11 x 14 inches

Oil on Canvas

Splashing Color Koi

2010-09-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

This is 6th in a series of koi paintings with a range of sizes from 3 x 3 inches to 24 x 48 inches. They're all different, but this one is similiar to one I did of the same size. See below.......

My koi paintings are a composite of various photographs. The bottom painting is sold.

Both Painings:
16 x 24 Inches
Acrylic on Canvas

Bananas And Bloom

2010-09-26T13:09:00.001-04:00

I'm always drawn to the dramatic banana bloom. I recently acquired some new photos and returned to my easel once again for another banana painting. This small size is fun, especially after working on a much larger canvas.

Acrylic on Canvas

5 x 7 Inches

Cats And Coffee

2010-09-02T18:07:00.002-04:00

Cats and Coffee Plant, that is. This wild coffee, a native Florida plant, I cut and placed in this favorite glass vase. Being indoor kitties, Sheba and Willie LOVE it when the outdoors comes inside for their sniffing pleasure. When my husband Phil saw this painting in it's early stages, he sat down in awe, and said I just couldn't sell this one. So.........a few months later, I presented his birthday painting to him. And yes, this cat is cross-eyed.

Oil on Canvas
16 x 20 inches

Altar Boxes

2010-08-03T18:30:00.001-04:00

Inside View

Outside View

What is an Altar Box? It is different things for different people, but ultimately, it is a special box created to place personal and meaningful objects in, creating a sacred spot to meditate upon. The first box, shown above, was painted with the sun, the moon, water, and wind on the inside of the door. Inside are icons of important pivotal events in my life. There are shells that I collected years ago from the beach and the sand that fell out of them, inside the box. The tree represents life, grounded by roots and exposing a glowing heart.

This second altar box, I entitled, Third Eye, the gateway to intuitive thought and inner guidance. The box is painted with vibrant blues to resemble the sea. In the foreground, I collaged pieces of painted papers to represent fragments of life, with steps leading inside to the Third Eye. Hanging by a string in the front is a life rope, and on the sides are surfboards.

This box is actually the smallest. Made from a recycled empty mint box, this is a traveling altar box. Inside on the top, I painted with acrylics, the scenes which I usually see out the window during my morning meditation. Inside the bottom, I collaged a representation of our house, the river, landscape and even our kayaks. This box I can take with me on vacations to remind me that all is well on the homefront.

Monstera deliciosa

2010-07-06T13:40:00.001-04:00

I love tropical, and what's more tropical than this plant? Though not a native, it thrives here in Fort Pierce without being invasive, and is used as the logo of our local paradise, Heathcote Botanical Gardens. Every year they invite an artist to interpret their Monstera logo, and I hope to participate in that quest soon.

This acrylic on a 11 x 14 canvas.

Banana Bloom Splendor

2010-06-24T15:08:00.002-04:00

After painting quite a few small banana blooms, I decided to do this much larger one. It's 24 x 30 Inches and painted around the sides of the canvas so framing is optional. I muted the colors a bit to make it seem like you're right in the middle of the foggy tropics early in the morning.

Stump Tail Cat

2010-05-21T16:46:00.006-04:00

I painted this from a sketch I did of one of our cats. This is Sheba, and she has a little stumped, hooked tail, along with cross eyes. A stray Siamese, we found her in California during a vacation, fell in love with her and brought her back on the plane. No kidding! And she's one of the best cats we've ever had!

5 x 7 inches on Canvas

Acrylic

Morning Meditation

2010-05-16T16:59:00.003-04:00

This is one painting of a yoga series that I've been doing. I photographed it using a special box for 3-D art loaned to me by a friend. This way, you can see the painted sides of the canvas. Pretty cool, huh?

5 x 7 inches on Gallery Wrap Canvas
Acrylic

More Koi

2010-04-28T09:18:00.008-04:00

These two paintings were painted at the same time. They're on 5 x 5 inch gallery wrapped canvases with the paintings extending over all the edges. Koi are so beautiful and fun to paint with their many colors. These are just a sampling of the variety of color patterns that they exhibit.

Roseate Spoonbill Surprise

2010-04-06T15:41:00.002-04:00

Every once in a while, when I'm kayaking back in the mangroves, I come around the bend and WOW, there it is, a big flash of pink and white, that of a Roseate Spoonbill! They're rather shy, so I always feel lucky to get a close up photo for painting. This guy was all by himself which is unusual. There are usually at least 4 or 5 together.

Oil on 16 x 20 inch Canvas

More Red Hibiscus!

2010-02-02T16:15:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm gradually painting larger canvases even though I'm not back to my regular studio yet. I started this one weeks ago, working at night when I'm usually not feeling very arty. However, maybe I should work more in the evening(instead of drinking red wine on the porch?) I really like the way this one turned out! The flowers are painted around the thick sides of the canvas, so you have to see this in person to appreciate it in full. Any guesses what MY favorite flower is?

5 x 7 inches on Canvas

Acrylic

Mini Red Hibiscus

2010-01-28T16:41:00.001-05:00

I'm still painting in my surrogate studio on a card table, so small canvases are the ticket. This one looks better in person because the painting wraps around the sides. Hibiscus flowers are so dramatic in color and form!

This painting was presented as a birthday present to a very special person.

3 x 3 Inches on Canvas

Acrylic

Miniature Koi

2010-01-16T10:32:00.001-05:00

Another teeny-tiny painting done in my makeshift studio upstairs. This was very fun to paint. It comes with it's own miniature easel for display, or it also is ready to hang. I painted the scene around the edges of the canvas.

3 x 3 inches Acrylic on Canvas

Blackbirds Singing in The Dead of Night

2010-01-13T14:14:00.000-05:00

Well, okay, maybe it's not actually the dead of night in this painting, but the Beatle song title sounded good. I've not been able to paint in my garage studio for weeks because the weather has been just too cold. So, I've been doing little paintings like this one on a makeshift table studio in the only area of my house that is truly warm, upstairs.

Acrylic, 4 x 4 inches, on gallery wrap canvas

All Alone in the River

2009-12-10T14:41:00.000-05:00

This litte mangrove sits by itself on a spit of land that's not much more than a sandbar. It's directly across the Indian River Lagoon from where I live. I paddled across just to sketch and photograph it for this painting. It's been something I wanted to get on canvas for a long time, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

16 x 20 inches on Canvas
Acrylic

Swirling Koi

2009-11-23T15:44:00.000-05:00

This is the 3rd Koi painting I've done. I can see why artists get infatuated with these beautiful fish! They're just plain fun to paint and seem to turn out visually appealing no matter what style or medium they're painted in.

16 x 24 Inches. Painting is wrapped around the sides of a regular canvas. It may be framed or hung by itself. I like the latter, but everyone is different.

ArtBank Studio Update

2009-11-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

I thought it might be time for some updated photos of my downtown studio. The top photo is a close up of some small canvases that I've been doing. They're gallery wrapped and ready to hang without framing. The middle photo shows what I'm working on now: a lone mangrove tree on a spit of land across the river from our house. Lastly is yours truly posing at my husband Phil's request.

Lotus and Koi

2009-10-28T14:05:00.001-04:00

This was my Summer project, and first painting that I started at my downtown studio in the ArtBank in Fort Pierce. The idea came to me during a yoga class when our teacher used the lotus plant in a metaphoric story. She later explained how important the entire lotus plant is in certain cultures, especially the root. I wanted to depict the whole plant in a different way, a side view of the pond. After weeks of pondering my plan and collecting photos, including a hard to find photo of the lotus root that my yoga teacher found, I finally started the painting early last Summer, working on it off and on, finishing up in September.

24 x 48 inches Acrylic on Wrapped Canvas. Ready to hang!

This painting was on display at Backus Gallery and Museum during the months of October and November 2009 for the Best of the Best Juried Art Show.

Florida Fall

2009-10-28T13:46:00.000-04:00

What I raked up looked kinda like an arty arrangement.

Purple and Green

2009-10-14T14:54:00.000-04:00

You might have noticed that I like to paint bromeliads. We have a collection of them under the backyard oak and potted on the porch. These are some of my friend Allie's collection.

5 x 7 Inch Acrylic

Three Oranges

2009-10-06T17:41:00.000-04:00

Oranges are so fun to paint with their many colors of oranges, yellows, and reds. Even more fun to eat. I've always had citrus trees in my yard, but after the 2004 hurricanes, they don't do well here near the river where the salty waters flooded into the soil of our yard. Luckily, my friends have plenty of fruit to share every winter.

5 x 7 Inches Acrylic

Spoonbill

2009-10-04T20:09:00.000-04:00

We have these Roseate Spoonbills in the Summer. They migrate farther south in the winter. Always a spectacular site, whether wading in the river or flying overhead. I have a lot of photos of them from my kayaking excursions in the Indian River Lagoon.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

March to the River

2009-09-30T07:57:00.000-04:00

I painted this one rather surreal looking without any trees or plants that normally surround the river. I wanted just my friends, the Ibis as subjects.

This is one of the Art Mundo CalendArt selections.

5 x 7 Acrylic

25 Calendar Paintings

2009-09-23T20:10:00.003-04:00

These are sitting on my art table, ready for a fundraiser for Art Mundo!
Each of my original paintings will be featured for one month along with 11 other original artworks from other local artists in 25 calendars to be raffled off. What a deal if you win a calendar with 12 original, framable pieces of art!

Tickets are $10 for one $25 for three.
Contact me for info or to purchase tickets: jlounibos@mac.com

Queen Conch on the Beach

2009-09-22T15:10:00.002-04:00

I've got lots of these colorful conchs from my trips to Bimini, Bahamas. The color inside the shell is deep and rich at first but eventually fades with time, like all of us. I painted this a bit impressionistic from the actual shell. No, I wasn't on the beach when I painted it.

5 x 7 Acrylic

Flying Egret

2009-09-21T16:24:00.002-04:00

These Great Egrets are so graceful in flight. I couldn't resist painting the beautiful wing span of this one caught in flight on a digital camera.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Peach Hibiscus

2009-09-20T19:42:00.006-04:00

Okay, I know I'm on a hibiscus fixation these days, but what can I say? This peach color is a beautiful hybrid worth it's weight in gold in your Florida garden.

The Hibiscus on Florida Ave

2009-09-18T16:00:00.004-04:00

This is done from a favorite painting photo of mine, a hibiscus I had at my first home. I never get tired of painting it.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Milk and Wine Crinum

2009-09-15T16:54:00.003-04:00

This crinum lily grows in front of our porch, where we settle ourselves in our rockers everyday at sundown to eat our supper and savor the view. Every so often, this plant sends out a huge spike full of these fragrant flowers, so heavy that sometimes the whole stalk drops to the ground. The sweet aroma wafts onto the porch. I've painted this crinum once before.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Three Pelicans

2009-09-14T12:33:00.003-04:00

I caught these cute guys in a photo while painting at the Fort Pierce Marina a while back. The pelicans wait around the docks for the fishing boats to come in and share some scraps with them.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Bananas, Too

2009-09-13T15:21:00.003-04:00

I'm going bananas again!....... Maybe it's from doing so many 5 x 7 inch paintings in this horizontal format.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Crotons!

2009-09-12T16:04:00.003-04:00

I painted this for a friend a while back from the same photo but in watercolor. I think the blended colors on the leaves of these hardy, tropical plants are amazing! These plants root easily from cuttings in water, or they just look really gorgeous cut and in a big glass vase in your house.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

The Pink Hibiscus

2009-09-11T07:30:00.005-04:00

There is a special pink hibiscus that was around St.Lucie Village when I was growing up. A few of them are still left in some of the older homesteads. They're a lot hardier than the ones you buy at nurseries now. Around here, the plants have to be able to withstand the unrelenting winter winds and all the salty air that assaults them during the winter. I was able to graft one and now have one in my backyard. This painting was done from a picked flower.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Before the Storm, Great Egret

2009-09-09T15:39:00.003-04:00

Did I mention yet that I love Acrylic paint?!
We see a lot of these egrets around our house by the river. They are just as happy wading in the grass for insects as they are on the water's edge for crabs. Very resourceful, these guys.

5 x 7 inches

Mango

2009-09-05T18:39:00.003-04:00

I got a little wild and crazy with color on this one, but that's a good thing. It was fun to paint, that's for sure.

5 x 7 inches Acrylic

Yellow Frangipani

2009-09-03T18:14:00.004-04:00

This was painted with some added imagination from a very poor quality photo of a friend's tree. They are a beautiful site in full bloom, and it only gets better as the years go by.

Acrylic 5 x 7 inches on gessoed watercolor paper

Orange Blossoms

2009-09-01T15:36:00.003-04:00

More fun..........acrylic! Am I getting a bit tight again? It's hard not to be with these tiny flowers on this small painting!

5 x 7 inches

Ready To Pick

2009-08-31T11:54:00.005-04:00

Whoopie! I'm having a great time with Acrylic paints. I will admit that sometimes I miss the prolonged blending abilities and luminosities of oil. However, I'm looser with a water based paint, and that's definitely the direction I want to be going.

5 x 7 inches.

The Last Month

2009-08-01T16:29:00.005-04:00

The month of August is my final display at the Artist's Guild Gallery in Vero Beach. It's been fun belonging to a group of such creativity and talent, but it's time to move on. My heart has always been closer to home, in Fort Pierce, so now is the time to make that transition. I'll miss my artist friends at the Guild, but I'm sure our paths will cross frequently in the art world and beyond.
This month's paintings are a Florida Outdoors theme. Most were done plein air. I love my job!

Just For Fun

2009-07-17T15:10:00.003-04:00

On this TGIF, instead of working on my ongoing project( a large scale painting) I opted to have a little fun in my garage, the studio by the river. I used cheap paint and an old photo of a banana plant that used to grow here right on the edge of the Indian River. The hurricanes of 2004 did it in, along with all the mangroves in front of our house.

I painted this with acrylics on the cover of a watercolor notebook that I plan to take with me on our stay home in Florida Vacation to St. Pete and then the Keys.

Bringing the Outdoors In

2009-07-16T18:33:00.005-04:00

Willie is SO happy when I provide a bit of the outdoors for him to sample.

And......ditto that for the queen of Sheba.
The Coffee Plant and Thyrallis were enjoyed by all. I have to be wary of poisonous plants when I do this, of course. Though my cats are indoors only, I provide them with all kinds of delicious and interesting diversions. Trust me, they're not lacking a thing.

Her Life

2009-07-10T08:02:00.008-04:00

This started as a, I don't know where this is going painting. Old canvas, acrylic paint and some techniques I learned at a workshop on faux painting techniques on furniture. I had an AHA moment........Hey why not paint like that on a canvas? SO.....starting out with a dry brush layering of paint as the base, I slowly built up the background, still having NO idea what I would do next. Over a period of months, each idea would just happen, including the taping off of the center, the marbling effect, and the copy of a self-portrait watercolor I did a few years ago. My yoga influence sprouted the limbs of life and the grounding roots. It became a very personal painting that I envisioned keeping for myself, but it was not to be. She will reside in the home of my good friend, Anita, and that is an extreme honor.

20 x 24 Acrylic on Canvas

Yogi Thoughts on Love and Life

2009-07-06T16:35:00.003-04:00

This is a journal that the yogi's of One Yoga Planet and beyond, presented to guru, Margarida and hubbie, Ger with our thoughts on love and life. We figured that pretty much encompassed everything. The yogi's contributed writings that included poems, quotes from a variety of souces, and parental advice. I designed this cover, and several other artists contributed their awesome art to pages inside that I wish I had scanned in to share on this blog. A lotta, lotta good energy went into this book! The title of the painting on the cover is "New Beginnings". The tree depicts the eight limbs of yoga.

St. Lucie Village View I

2009-06-20T14:05:00.004-04:00

I painted this a while back when I had a group of plein air painters at my house in St.Lucie Village. Recently I did some finishing touches to it in my home studio. I'd like to do a whole series of St. Lucie Village, which has a lot of charming old homes and river views. 8 x 10 inches on stretched canvas.

2009-06-15T19:57:00.002-04:00

Here I am in my studio space at the ArtBank. I'm stuffing my glasses in my pocket in this photo. In my hand is my paper mache bird, a studio pet.
These are my studio mates, Sherry Horton on the left, and Allie Comer in the middle. We're posing for Ginny Piech Street, who was acting historian for Art Mundo last Wednesday at the Fort Pierce Downtown Art Walk.

The ArtBank Studio

2009-06-12T16:16:00.007-04:00

I have a new studio work space in downtown Ft.Pierce in the ArtBank. Art Mundo is renting out space to artists. Lots of energy beginning to happen there! Check out the Art Mundo blog in 'My Favorite's' lists at the left. Visit the ArtBank during the Ft. Pierce Art Walk, 2nd Wednesday every month or any Thursday afternoon and see the artists at work and play.

Florida Ranch

2009-05-23T09:19:00.002-04:00

This was completed at Heathcote Botanical Garden's Artist's Day at Adam's Ranch, west of Fort Pierce. I painted at this same spot 2 years ago and found that it lured me in to paint it once more. I love painting at the Adam's Ranch. My husband Phil accompanied me, and we saw a nice variety of wildlife before I hunkered down to paint: Deer, feral hogs, wild turkey(NOT the kind you drink,) kites, alligators, and numerous hawks, to name a few.

11 x 14 Oil on Canvas

Through The Saw Palmettos

2009-05-14T14:28:00.005-04:00

This was started Plein Air at the Oxbow Center in Fort Pierce. I had some skinny pine trees in it but, in the end, I thought it took away from the what I wanted to highlight in the painting. SO......off they came. As you can see, it's a wraparound canvas - VERY tricky to paint with outside! It's 6 x 8 inches not including the sides.

Shell Ginger II

2009-04-24T15:59:00.003-04:00

Okay, I've done this subject before, I know.......but they are SO beautiful this time of year. I painted this plein air with a friend last week when I had a group of artists here at my house to paint.
This one is 8 x 10 inches on canvas, and for a change, NOT gallery wrap.

Double White Hibiscus

2009-04-16T18:03:00.006-04:00

Wow.....you can tell I was feeling in a Spring kind of mood, even Easter-ish!
This painting is a gallery wrap canvas 24 x 24 inches. So.....the petals and the leaf wrap around the sides.

The second photo is a close-up.

Pelican Cut

2009-03-26T21:16:00.002-04:00

Another of my favorite subjects, Indian River mangroves from a picture I took while kayaking across the river from St.Lucie Village.

This painting is 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas.

Sea Oaks

2009-03-22T15:58:00.004-04:00

This is a painting done at Round Island Park. It was cold and a bit windy so these sheltered oaks on the river side of the park were really inviting me to paint them. Since it was done plein air, the brushstrokes are not detailed. Painting outdoors encourages the artist(as in ME) to be creative and loose.
It's 8 x 10 inches oil on canvas.

Third Eye

2009-02-23T12:03:00.003-05:00

What the heck is this?? It's a Fobot, of course. That is, a robot made from found objects.

At Last

2009-02-19T17:33:00.006-05:00

A very quick oil painting done of feet,

well, my feet actually.

It's another SMALL one....... 5 x 7 inches.

Cat In The Red Chair

2009-02-12T12:15:00.004-05:00

I did this just for fun. It's only 5 x 7 inches. It SO much more difficult to paint on these small canvases than a large one. Your brushstrokes need to be somewhat more utilitarian than painterly sometimes, to make it work.

This is done in acrylic, a medium that I haven't come to terms with yet, though I REALLY would like to. It's less toxic, however not as luminous as oil..........In my humble opinion anyway.

LOVE

2009-02-10T11:59:00.008-05:00

It's that time of the year again............................. when the love bug bites.

This card to my dear hubby was compiled from 3 different papers that I painted/imprinted or otherwise decorated using various techniques.

Happy Valentine's Day

Willie

2009-02-01T12:23:00.002-05:00

I did this card for a friend in pen and ink and washed it with some new acrylic paints I wanted to try out. Willie is the most picturesque cat ever.

I'm always grabbing my sketchbook or camera to preserve an ART-y pose.

Bird of Paradise

2009-01-13T17:13:00.005-05:00

I painted this.......

White Bird of Paradise today alla prima at McKee Botanical Garden's. After a couple of hours of beautiful weather while painting, it started getting windy as a front moved through.

Now, it's going to be COLD in Florida for the next week. So............that's a bummer.

Oil on stretched canvas, 5 x 7 inches.

Jungle Trail

2009-01-13T17:00:00.004-05:00

Okay, I'm back at the easel. This was done alla prima at McKee Botanical Garden. I loved that the sun was beaming down through the trees creating those really cool shadows on the path.

It's oil, 8 x 10 on stretched canvas.

Door Art

2008-12-30T07:41:00.009-05:00

This interesting exterior door on our old house was covered with flaking gray house paint and pretty damaged from the 2004 twin hurricanes.

I didn't know what to do with it and put off the repair project for years.

I got the idea to paint it this way, accentuating the carved flowers, from my artist neighbor and friend, Pat, who has a similar door.

He did extra cool stuff to his, like cutting out a window and putting molding around the edges.

After many hours of sanding, priming and playing with paint, I like how the door ultimately turned out. Now................no more

hurricanes.................

ok. Sooner or later, I'll get back to painting canvases.

Is It Art??

2008-12-24T13:39:00.014-05:00

Well, if decorating for Christmas is ART....... then yes. I used native Saw Palmetto branches, dried and trimmed on the mantle.

In Florida, you gotta have TANGERINES at Christmas time. Wish I had a tree......

Ginny's fish swim around permanently under my fruit. They were supposed to be for Christmas gifts but they like it at my house.....I think.

Okay....so this isn't a Christmas decoration, but Sheba was supervising my work in each room.
This is where my art studio used to be.....now it's a dining room where maybe there will be a holiday dinner. But that's only if it's too windy for the porch.

Speaking of the porch.....my Christmas Cactus outdid itself this year!

We decorated a Florida Native Holly tree this year. Of course there was a limit to the number of ornaments on a small tree like this........I had a hard time picking which ones, but they include ones made by the kids and some my grandmother had on her first married Chrismas.

All Y'all Have a Merry Christmas......

Peace and Love in the New Year.

Garden Art

2008-11-02T08:37:00.003-05:00

This was an Art Chix project fashioned from the Ga-Ga Girl's workshop the month before. As I was sealing these, I noticed that the swirls and circles looked rather like radar images of hurricanes, and other images could be icons of flooding water and torrents of rain. So, I have designated these two pieces as offerings to the hurricane gods, who were very good to us this year. These reside in my garden, and will soon be joined by the two that I painted last month on temporary display at Heathcote Botanical Gardens.

Agave

2008-10-25T17:27:00.004-04:00

I'm starting to really like these gallery wrap canvases. However, they're rather hard to photograph well. SO nice not to worry about framing! This one is 4 x 6 on the front, not including all the sides. It was small enough to hold in one hand while I was twisting it around to paint all the edges.

Lucie On The Red Chair

2008-10-11T08:15:00.007-04:00

I'm doing a series of small pieces again, perfect size for gifts. This is on a gallery wrap canvas. The picture is painted on the deep sides of the canvas as well as the front, and no framing is necessary. The front is 4 x 6 inches, but the total painted area is 7 x 9 inches. It makes a really cool, colorful accent piece on the wall with a 3-D effect, or can be set on a table or shelf. I love painting Lucie.

Think Pink

2008-09-30T20:47:00.006-04:00

This is an oil painting done on a gallery wrap canvas. Total painted area is 9 x 11 inches.

October Artist's Guild Gallery

2008-09-27T17:26:00.003-04:00

This is my display at the Artist's Guild Gallery in Vero Beach for the month of October.

Do You Bamboo?

2008-09-24T20:34:00.003-04:00

This is taken at a Ga-Ga Girls workshop this past Saturday. We painted recycled PVC pipe with acrylics, proving, as the Ga-Ga's said, that you can make art out of anything. These painted pipes are being placed within the real bamboo at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce for the month. Pretty cool, huh?

Studio Interloper

2008-09-21T15:44:00.004-04:00

I left my workspace just for a minute today while doing some framing, and when I returned, someone had arrived and taken over. I used to have a bookmark that said 'Cats like to help!' How true is that!? They're always in the middle of what I'm trying to do, 'helping', especially this one, Sheba.

Sam's Coconuts

2008-09-17T16:01:00.006-04:00

This is a watercolor on 8 x 8 inch Arches paper. I painted it plein air on the porch of our neighbor's cottage. I was using a travel set of watercolors, that is not near as nice as my full palette, so it was a bit frustrating to get the colors just right. Still, I like how they turned out for a quick study. I almost titled it, 'Sam's Nuts'.

Crazy Bird

2008-09-11T10:34:00.005-04:00

I almost named this 'Ugh, Too Many Pepper Berries Again,' but it was too long. In Florida, birds gorge on the berries from the invasive Brazilian Pepper tree, and appear drunk afterwards. My Crazy Bird, with his legs extended and tongue hanging out, reminded me of the Blue Jays after a berry binge in my neighborhood.

I made this with assist and guidance from two artists extraordinaire, Ginny and Anita of the Ga-Ga Girls. These photos are for them since they didn't get to see my finished pieces. Thanks girls, once again for fueling my inner creative girl.

Fish Box

2008-09-11T10:00:00.008-04:00

This a painted, papier mache box that I started a few months ago at a workshop given by the Ga-Ga Girls in Fort Pierce. Fun is an understatement. I wasn't sure how I was going to paint it, and it just evolved.

The lower photo is a view of the box end. The knob is also made out of newspaper wadded into a ball.

Frida Ruler

2008-09-10T15:28:00.008-04:00

I bought this ruler in the Oaxaca Cultural Museum Store while on vacation in Mexico.

Reach For The Sand, A Yoga Pose

2008-09-09T10:35:00.012-04:00

A radically different subject for me. I've always loved drawing the human body, but so far, I haven't often included the subject in my paintings. This is oil on stretched canvas, 11 x 14 inches.

Faux Paint Table

2008-09-07T16:08:00.006-04:00

I bought this rustic handmade table from a thrift store, and initially, I used it for cracking glass on for mosaics. After taking a workshop with the Ga-Ga Girls on faux painting techniques, no furniture is safe in my house anymore. I even have my eye on the dining room table. I could've been more funky creative on this one, but I was having too much fun trying out the marbling effect. It looks great in my blue room, but as with everything, it's for sale.

Collage Mask

2008-09-07T08:46:00.005-04:00

I decoupaged various interesting papers onto this plastic mask for a unique costume mask. I'm also working on one that I'm using papier mache to build up form. That'll be coming soon.

The Last Oranges Revisited

2008-09-06T11:56:00.005-04:00

I painted this one earlier in the year, and recently decided I wanted to tweak it a little. I added some oranges to the other trees and put some small mangroves along the river. I'm pleased with the results, even though this had been one of my favorite paintings without the changes. I grew up in St.Lucie County when you really could find orange groves next to the Indian River. This scene is from the vantage point of being inside the orange tree looking out over the river.

An Egret's View

2008-08-05T15:45:00.011-04:00

This is a bigger canvas than I usually work on, 20 x 24 inches. The focus of this painting are the prop roots of the Red Mangrove from a wading bird's vantage point, or a kayaker's for that matter. These mangroves line the edges of our Indian River Lagoon and provide a safe haven for many a young river critter including many types of fish, crabs, and snails. Since I'm a river rat from way back and have always loved the mangroves, they're in a lot of my art. This is the first time the roots themselves have been the subject of the painting.

Meet Some Art Chix

2008-07-18T13:23:00.012-04:00

Yesterday I had some help painting some of the many canvas bags I ordered. I hosted a gathering of those creative ladies I have talked about before on this blog, the Art Chix. They congregate monthly at the home of a member and work on an art project. Then afterwards, feast on an always delectable potluck lunch. Along with the Chix who attended this meeting, this photo also includes some 'friends of Chix', who were invited as guests. It was very cool to watch the Art Chix at work and to see the variety of creativity produced. And we had a LOT of fun too.

Lizard on Leaf Grocery Bag

2008-07-18T13:07:00.009-04:00

Here is another personalized shopping tote. I bought 2 cases of them, so be warned there may be a few more postings of these. They're painted with acrylic paint, and the bags aren't the easiest canvases to apply paint on. I might try washing the next bag before painting to soften the surface. This is the first one I've done that wasn't a special gift for someone, so it's for sale.

Dancing Beetle

2008-07-09T15:33:00.003-04:00

This piece I did as an example to demonstrate the use of painted papers for collage to the group of Art Chix that are meeting at my house next week. We will either be painting papers with different colors and building up texture or alternatively, I am providing a canvas grocery tote to be decorated. I can't wait to see what this talented group of women create.

Three Girlfriends Again

2008-07-09T15:17:00.005-04:00

This is the same collage from an earlier post, but I added to it. I liked it even more so I decided to post the revised version.

Green Anole Mosaic

2008-07-08T08:20:00.008-04:00

This mosaic was done from a photo of a green lizard. We have lots around our house, and they provide endless entertainment for our cats, often taunting them outside the window.

Island Yoga Girl

2008-07-04T12:38:00.006-04:00

This summer I've been doing a lot of fun little projects rather than serious painting. I figured since times are slow right now, I mind as well have fun. I bought some canvas grocery bags to decorate, and this one I did for a friend celebrating her 42nd birthday(a young thing!) She's a fellow yogi who also teaches yoga, here and in the islands. She reports that the islanders sometimes practice yoga with their beers next to the mats. That's one way to relax into the poses.

The Potted Bromeliads

2008-06-14T20:00:00.008-04:00

This is from a photo taken at a friend's house. I've had it a long time, and recently pulled the picture out as a reference to paint. Then stuff(as in life) happened, and the painting remained unfinished for a few weeks. I finally got back to the easel to work on it again, and I thought I was finished. However, then I started thinking how great a green anole(lizard) would look on the pot on the left. You may see a revised version of this painting..... or maybe not. I actually like it as is, too. It's 11 x 14 inches oil on canvas.

Three Girlfriends

2008-05-24T17:54:00.007-04:00

Now, here's a bit of change from my usual. This is a collage done with acrylic on watercolor paper, painted in a variety of techniques for effect. The painted paper is then cut up and placed together, creating the design. Though I might have an idea when I start a collage, I never know what it will evolve into. That's the pure fun of it. The entire process takes quite a lot of time and effort. This collage is 9 x 9 inches and is placed on a black matboard, creating a striking effect. The final size is 11 x 14 inches.

Frisbee on the Mountain

2008-05-17T16:38:00.003-04:00

Moving on to new subjects to paint, I selected this favorite photo of my sister playing frisbee with her dogs on top of their mountain in No.Carolina. The dogs, and there are a few more than I included on this canvas, beg daily to be taken up to this point, called 'The Knob' to play their favorite game. Susan and Junebug might not appreciate this rendering of their butts, but I like how the painting turned out overall. Looking at it, I can imagine being there in the cool mountain air on a summer afternoon, just like that day 2 years ago. Bogey, my favorite of their dogs, is ready to catch the prize. The painting is 8 x 10 inches, oil on stretched canvas.