Road trip....

These paintings are on display and for sale now at Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge.

I have been daydreaming and painting images of road trips.

Painting is close to a prayer for me....and these prayers are about to come true.

I'm going on a road trip...from Alaska, through Canada and exploring the western US,   

my dog Bailey and I.  I saw Utah last fall, and I need to go back and paint it.  I'm not sure how long the trip will be.  In the morning, I imagine Bailey and I on the road until fall....at night when I'm tired, I wonder if it's a good idea at all.  But morning comes and I have butterflies and excitement again for an adventure I've been dreaming about for years now.

But first, my husband (gifted mechanic) is going to replace the clutch in our VW van....maybe fuel lines, new transmission oil, oil change, new air filter..... by the first week of May.

I'll keep you posted.  If this happens, I'd love to share the trip along the way.

Thank you for looking reading!

1971 Triumph

"Triumph"

Oil on canvas  48" x 60"

This is a special motorcycle.  It's a painting of my dad's bike while I was growing up. 

It's a 1972 Triumph ...trophy.

It was the bike I rode on the back of when I was growing up.

Good times.   

I'm thinking about getting myself a new Triumph these days.

They're just as beautiful but have all the modern amenities!

Thank you for looking! 

1971 Triumph Motorcycle

On my easel in the garage.... my 1971 Triumph TR6.  I'm painting a motorcycle of mine.  I grew up riding on the back of this motorcycle, going on rides with my dad.  Great memories of holding onto my dad...helmet...vintage goggles and summer rides. 

I still have a lot to do, but I'm making progress... this painting is 48"x 60" ...the biggest I've ever painted. I've always wanted to be able to roll a motorcycle in the house and have it in a corner like a beautiful sculpture through the winter.... this might be another way to enjoy a motorcycle in the living room.   

Thanks for looking and reading! 

New paintings....

These are some new paintings drying on my wall.

Lately, every time I see one of my paintings, I see a children's story.

I don't try to paint this way...I mean... I do.  What I mean is, even when I know a color should be subdued a bit....so that another subject can take center stage in the painting,  

I can't do it.  It's like saying....this part isn't as special as this other part.  

I know the idea behind painting this way.  I know that amazing artists accomplish gorgeous pieces of art by using this technique.  I just can't seem to do it, even when I set out to try.

Maybe this is just how I paint.  

I'm cool with that, but some of these paintings feel like a page in a children's story.  

Maybe that's the most logical next step.  

I'm waiting for an idea to come to me...and I'm going to start that project.

Anyways, thank you for looking and reading!

I hope spring is filling you up with excitement and energy!

Have a good one!

Here are a few more of my story book paintings...

The light at the end of the tunnel.

12" x 12"  oil on wood panel

I did it!  I got through February.   

It's the hardest part of living in Alaska for me...the month of February.  

Keep my head down and stay busy, try not to notice how cold or dark it is.  

Mentally, I start day dreaming about adventures away.

While I run on a treadmill at the gym, I crank the music and imagine....

body surfing in the ocean somewhere, trail running through the green woods,  

walking barefoot in grass, warm breeze brushing past the bare skin on my arms and legs.

I'm ready to walk out the door in a t-shirt again. 

Now it's March, and when I head home from my studio...it's still daylight!

When the sun is out...I can feel it! Sunshine is warm again!!

Here's something I painted a couple weeks ago, in the mist of my toughest month.

I guess I should be grateful for February... 

it's the month that I dream up adventures to go on for the rest of the year.  

Get myself out into the big, wonderful world.

What was planned this February? 

So far...I'll be plein air painting in Utah, visiting my sister in Colorado

 and hanging out in New York City.  

Thank you February 2017...

it was challenging as always, but interesting.

Thank you for looking!

and reading

First painting of 2017

Tangerines and an Apple

12" x 12" oil on canvas

It's wonderful to be smearing oil paint again.

It's winter wonderland here in Anchorage, Alaska...so all seems to be white, blue and different shades of grey.  This is a great way to infuse my brain with color.....saturate my view with warm, vibrant colors. 

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope 2017 blesses you with love, good health and happiness!

Charming

"Charming"

12"x 12", oil on canvas

I love a good skull painting now and then!

This guy's still working it....some men don't know when to stop ;)

Enjoy your day out there!!

Thank you for looking!

More paintings at Modern Dweller's

"Floral Still Life"  12"x 12", oil on canvas

"Dandelion"  12"X 12", oil on canvas

"Into the Wind"  12"x 12", oil on canvas

A few more paintings hanging at 

Modern Dweller's until the end of this month  :)

Show at Modern Dweller's Chocolate Lounge

"Branches with Blossoms"

16" x 40", oil on canvas

I just hung a show at a wonderful Chocolatier in Anchorage, Alaska.

16 Paintings in all....they will be on display and for sale during the month of April.

Go down and take a look and sip on some wonderful liquid chocolate ....or bite into a delicious truffle, you won't be disappointed :)

Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge

530 East Benson Blvd, Anchorage, Alaska 99503

phone # 907-677-9985

Flowers...

This is a detail of a larger floral painting I just finished.

I'm painting flowers for an upcoming show!

It feels great focusing my eyes and mind on color, warmth and nature waking up from 

a long winter of sleep. 

Spring is right around the corner....but in my studio, its already here!! :)

Thank you for looking....and reading!  :)

Flowers

"Fresh Flowers"

oil 16"x20"

I used to love painting from my imagination.  Now, after a few years of painting from life and what I see in front of me, I wonder if I can go back.  There is an amazing artist named Jill Carver.....she said  "artists should be poets and not journalists".  I love that simple statement, it says so much....and it speaks to me and what I'm hoping to accomplish in my own art.

I want my paintings to be poetry....

If I only paint what I see, am on on the right track?  That's my question to myself lately.

Thank you for looking....and reading.

Neon sign paintings

"Tavern"  

16" x 20" oil

"Club 25"  

48" x 24"  oil

"Bar and Lounge"

40" x 30"  oil

Seward Highway

11" x 14"  oil

I feel like I might have captured the light in this one, 

but still... it's probably hard to make out what it is.

But the winding highway road and the sunlit rock wall 

caught my eye.  I'd love to go back and try this one a few more times.

 I'm getting a lot of plein air painting time in this week!

Rolling Jack

"Rolling Jack"

5" x 7"  

oil on board

This little painting was painted and sold a long time ago,

but I still like this little character.  He's so happy....and he's metal, you know how I love metal stuff.

Just painted from my imagination.......playing around.

I'm going to keep showing you older stuff, until I paint something I like!

I'm caught between how I've been thinking/painting and trying something a little different.

It's kinda like rearranging the furniture in the living room.

 I'm trying things out and seeing if it fits right now. 

Apple in warm light

Not much to say today.....

just showing you a painting 

I did last year.

Peter......

I've got Peter looking pretty serious....but he's really a sweetheart.

I wish I could do his face justice.  He has a face that reminds me of old world drawings.

I think of Michelangelo and DaVinci whenever he models for us.

Got your back

Saturday drawing session at UAA.  

Figure drawing is such a challenge for me. 

I love when others do it well, so I keep practicing.     

I've said it before, but UAA has a wonderful figure drawing session on Saturdays.

Great models, great lighting...great opportunity!

Open to the community as well as UAA students. 

more drawings....

Just some quick one minute studies. 

 I love the quick poses, they always have so

 much more expression to me.

So even though there is not a lot of detail, I feel like 

I can capture more mood with less rendering.

Tavern

"Tavern"

16" x 20"  oil

I think it would be fun to drive across America, looking for old signs, abandoned

gas stations, roadside attractions, diners.....and paint along the way.  

I love old signs...neon the most!  Every town has a few great Motel signs.

Along the California coast......Highway 1, there's so much along that road to paint,  it would be a fun start.  The colors....that 50's aqua color is everywhere.  Old motels, sun-bleached signs and flowers crawling up everything!  The history in small towns is fun too...buildings...cars...the occasional vintage city bus... too cool.  I always enjoy looking at city paintings done by artists that live in San Francisco.  

Trolley cars, hills and ocean....I'm on vacation just day dreaming about it.

The sign in this painting is in Langley, Washington....I think......or was it Coupeville, Washington....hmmmm.  A trip to the area for a painting workshop about 3 years ago, that's when I feel like my paintings really started to take a new direction.  That first workshop, what a big step outside my comfort zone that was.  Painting with other people around...painting faster than I normally paint......painting people.......all very uncomfortable.  But... I'm so glad I had faith in myself and the courage to try something new.  I'm so happy with the progress I've made over the past 3 years.....my daydream from the past has become my life now.  It's powerful to allow yourself to dream....to mentally visualize the future you wish for.  I believe what we think about and daydream about will come true some day.

Think of things you love.....imagine yourself in your perfect world...then start

 walking in that direction, it will happen. 

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step"

 Martin Luther King Jr

Sheltered

"Sheltered"

8" x 24"  oil 

A parked train down at the ship yard, downtown Anchorage.

The abandoned buildings, parked trains, big old trucks... they are so cool down there!

This will be a great place for plein air painting this spring.  

This train and it's huge black tanks, was gorgeous. 

I'm learning the art of not explaining so much and letting the viewer finish the details.

I have a real habit of trying to say and show everything....

In art and in life.... less is more.  

Thank you for looking!