"Gang of Goldens""

12x24 oil on stretched canvas
so here we go - lots and lots of goldens -(two feet across!!!!) i wanted to see it through the camera's lens to decide if i need to do any tweaking......and i want to be sure i have all their little leggers and ears discernable - some are in front, some behind...but i love the look of them!

they each seem to have a distinct personality...who's the leader, do you think? we plan to get a new puppy this summer to keep nells company - she was the female runt and we plan on getting the female runt of this new litter. hard to say who's playing that role in this bunch!

"Goodie Basket"

12x9 oil on stretched canvas

so here's the small golden i was talking about yesterday...he's sitting in a basket - hence the name...i could probably paint goldens every day - they are such lovely and loving animals. i'm not sure when i'll get to post the large one i'm doing - this is shaping up to be a busy week and that's shaping up to be a complicated painting! but i can't wait!!!!

"My Friend Kermit"

20x16 oil on stretched canvas

who says kermit's out of style?..i painted him in honor of my grands....i wanted to post this yesterday but finally got it done today - i'm working on some paintings of golden retrievers...in honor of our nellie and our grand-dog beatrice and all the goldens we meet on our daily walks...one is a small piece that i will post tomorrow and the other is a very complicated horizontal piece with seven goldens in a row!! - it's so much fun but it's turning out to be quite an undertaking! go butler!!!!

surgery's over...

my daughter boogie came through her surgery just fine and is now on the mend...we spent the better part of the day up there and then i spent a little time in my studio when we got back...i'm working on a painting of kermit the frog...not quite ready to post but maybe tomorrow...meanwhile we're still rooting for the big ten and butler in the tourney - can't start the official golf season til the basketball season is over... another week or so...i also found out the name of the bridge and will add that to yesterday's post...

a famous bridge...(ponte Vecchio)

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's a famous bridge...i don't know where and i don't know what for sure! - i am so bad - not having traveled extensively like so many people, i am pretty clueless and have to depend on my picture takers to fill me in. this is another of my friend diane's photographs and i just free- handed it quickly - not even sure if i got the dimensions right but it was fun to do as an exercise. it's raining today and i have 4-year-old ollie for the afternoon, who insisted on painting with me. he created 2 glorious masterpieces while i fumbled along on this one...but then one of his was all in purple...yesterday was spent in indy, playing a tennis match with my friend linda -= we lost the first but hung in and won the second. then i had to do some work on my wall at the downtown midland gallery - home too late to paint. tomorrow my daughter's having surgery and we're heading up there for the day so i may not paint tomorrow either. that's the joy of this painting business - it's always waiting for me when i have the time!!
p.s. - i found out the name of this bridge is ponte vecchio..the most famous bridge in all of florence, italy

quaint stairway

8x6 oil on canvas panel
my friend diane stopped by yesterday with some gorgeous pictures - i'm pretty sure this is italy but i'll have to find out where for sure...i love these winding stairs - you get the feeling that something good is bound to be right around the corner...

finally done!

no painting to post today - but i had a very good day nevertheless! finally finished the yard work - prep for may when we can plant here in indiana...i didn't have my grands with me today but i had a few of the "frenchies" lend a hand. we have the most delightful french family who moved in next door to us several years ago. (tillie affectionately dubbed them "the Frenchies")...they are such delightful children and are always eager to help so we toiled away - they attacked the gumballs - more are constantly dropping from our beloved sweet gum...another sweet thing happened...i got a call from an old friend - who told me she had met someone who lived on our strret in indy nearly 40 years ago!! so i gave this woman a call and we chatted on and on about the old days and our kids who used to play together as pups. it's so much fun to have serendipitous things like that happen! - what a small world! - so here i am..at the end of the day...very tired and not wanting to spend one more minute on my feet - i'm heading to the tub and then to put my feet up and read this wonderful book i'm in to.. i promise to get back to my studio tomorrow...it's calling me loudly...i can tell it's lonely for me...

update....

so we went to fort wayne last night and i got to sing in the most magnificent theater!!! - this place is called sweetwater sound and it's world-renowned! - lots of very big people go there to mix their music! - my brother gave a little benefit erformance for a fundraiser for st. francis unniversity and a bunch of us got up on stage at the end and sang our hearts out to his music...so much fun and a throw-back for me to my theatrical days of yore...home today and have had two of my grands for the whole afternoon - no yard work - a bit of rummykub and all of a sudden it's 6:30!!! - how does that happen?? - hope to get back to the studio tomorrow but we'll see...meanwhile - i donated the "yum" painting of a few days ago to our local symphony group! by the way......HAPPY SPRING!!!!!"

"White River - Millrace Park"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's the painting from last night - it's a glorious day today - lots of sunshine and LIGHT!!!!...i can see some things that i'd fix if this were a keeper but this was only an exercise...i needed to get my painting muscles warmed up again after so much yard work....my hubby says i'm not allowed to belly ache about how much every bone and muscle in my hands, back and body are sore...he says i'm too old to be out there anyway. the thing is...with all the warm weather we've had, the grass and weeds are already growing - and often in the wrong places and to tell the truth..i really love spending time out there! - got almost the whole front done and next is the back. i need to get those babies back to tackle the gumballs that never stop dropping from the tree in front. (i'd like to kill whomever planted that tree back in the late 60s before we bought this house)...anyway - i won't get out there today - we're heading up to fort wayne because my brother's putting on a benefit concert and i'm going to sing harmony with him on a couple of the songs he's written...(God help me!!!)

"dark" river...an experiment

ok - this was an experiment - i was hoping the values would carry this but maybe not...you see.. after working in the yard all day i was exhausted! a good exhausted, but still exhausted - but i had a bit of dinner and then headed up to my studio refreshed - it's been a while and i needed to go there! - this is a little view of our local river and by the time i was finished it was after 8 o'clock! - but with daylight savings and all i thought the photo might work...obviously not. you can just make out a bit of value change and maybe i need to adjust those...at any rate - here's my daily painting for march 18th and i'll have to post it tomorrow...after the sun comes up, of course!!!!

grands and yardwork....

didn't get to the studio today - i had two of my grands with me all day - they went with me to tennis - we played rummykub...(i came in third)...then went to the "sidepark" playground for an hour or so and then we came home and did a bunch of yardwork...they are so industrious when cash is involved! -so here it is at the end of the day and my studio is languishing...such is spring....lyb

Sunshine Blog Award

THANK YOU Stephanie Berry for giving me the sunshine blog award!! it's an honor and i'll do my best to pass it along to others. some of these artists may have gotten this award before but i wanted to share their work with my viewers who may not be familiar with them. according to someone's blog "the sunshine blog award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world." pass it on!

1. post the flower logo on your blog

2. pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers

3. link your nominees

4. let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog

5. be sure to link to the person you received the award from

Carol Marine
Dale Sherman Blodget
Lawrence Chrapliwy
Michael Naples
Aaron Lifferth
Belinda Del Pesco
Zachary Proctor
Aaron Schuerr
David Slonim
Ann Elizabeth Schlegel
Cathleen Rehfeld
Fred Bell

rainy day....

well - no painting today - i spent the morning framing and working on the house a bit and the afternoon at the loveliest baby shower!!! these hostesses absolutely did themselves proud!! - we played some darling games and had delicious food and it was so nice to catch up with all these friends. i wanted to head to my studio when i got home but got sidetracked! - tomorrow for sure.

"Sunrise in the Rain"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
ok - so the rain is outside...not in the painting!! -once again - i got impatient and wanted to post this today - i need to get back to regular posting to get my juices flowing again - today was a day of taxes and framing (with just a little bit of painting near the end) so i was using both the left and the right sides of my brain - good for staying centered i think - in this piece i used the biggest brush i have to stay loose and threw in a bit of pallett knife as well. i entered a few pieces in some on-line competitions and am thinking about the hoosier salon and indiana heritage arts here locally in indiana. i'm thinking about a landscape piece for the heritage arts show and i've been doing so much figurative stuff lately that i need to flex my landscape muscles a bit to prepare. wish me luck!....p.s. - i may or may not rephotpgraph this when the water droplets have dried...depends on when it quits raining!

"Yum!!" NFS

6x6 oil on canvas panel
i had to get back to the studio...just for a quickie...i needed to exercise my painting muscles and loosen up - i worked so intently on my sultry lady that i was getting a bit tight so this was a good exercise for me. now i can relax and watch the hoosiers and hope they can remember how it felt to beat northwestern on saturday and come out victorious!!!! - taxes are still not done and the yard is still calling - can i do it all? maybe...maybe not....maybe....

computer woes...tax time....yard work...

i haven't been able to do much painting in the last few days...we've been struggling with our internet - our email in particular - in fact i just got off the phone - again - after a good hour - very frustrating!!!! and of course it's tax season and i have to get my part of our taxes in order - and all of a sudden my yard is beckoning - so many excuses, so little time....

"Sultry"...(Lady in a Hat) renamed "Missed Opportunity" SOLD

22x28 oil on stretched canvas (SOLD)

so here's my lady....my husband, who's agonized with me over this for the past several days, has named her "sultry". i love this painting!! - this is a very large painting and i love it!.... it's so different from anything i've ever done that i'm completely exhilarated and psyched about painting again!!!....ok - so i see something i need to fix - when you work this large things are all so magnified - and she's looking at an angle instead of straight on so that makes a difference as well -over the past several days - i would think i was done and then i would photograph her and see something that wasn't right -i'm almost there!!! but i have one little thing to attend to - and then.... i may or may not post again with the additions - but i wanted to at least get her out there!!!

hoosiers win!!!!!!

still nothing to post - i'm working on my lady again - but no time to paint today -the hooosiers finally won a game!!! - nice ending on a positive note - and we were actually rooting for purdue and glad to see them pull it out in happy valley. i plan to spend the whole day in my studio tomorrow - and i WILL finish that lastest painting. meanwhile i was able to retrieve a commissioned oil painting i did years ago of the phi psi house in bloomington. we're going to get some prints made and hopefully earn some money for their rebuilding project. those kinds of things really make me smile! -

my latest painting...

i'm not going to post this painting until i'm happy with it. i've been working on a large (for me) work of a woman in a hat - after photographing it, i see what i need to do - but it's too late today and i may not have time to get to it tomorrow...hope so because i'm having such fun with this particular piece. patience...(my hubby told me yesterday that i'm very impatient...)...

"Surf Splashin 2"

24x12 oil on stretched canvas
so here's my other little guy - they're brothers, actually and having so much fun in the water!! after letting them simmer for a few days, i'll decide if they're done - these will be going up to the carmel midland gallery probably next week.

"Surf Splashin' 1"

24x12 oil on stretched canvas
ok - so i haven't posted in a while....doesn't mean i haven't been painting...i've been working on this beach diptich (two paintings that relate to each other) and i'm still not sure they're done - once again i need to see them through the eye of the camera and let them sort of simmer for a while...i'll post the other one tomorrow. (i already see some things i need to touch up - i may or may not repost after i do).....meanwhile - my hubbys' feeling so much better and back to work. thanks for all your prayers.