Barnyard Cat

The long-awaited Barnyard Cat is finally here. This cat is intended to go with her friends: Barnyard Rooster, Barnyard Dog and Barnyard Donkey. Together they make up the composition for the Bremen Town Musicians.  I have created several kitties, however none of them seemed to fit the mold. Until I made this one based on my own little (actually very big) black and white fluffy cat. Below all the friends meet at last:

Scallop Boutique

6" x 6"
A boutique of scallops. My son has this book called, Whale by David Lucas. (Thanks to Alina, Gabe and Lucian for the book -- it's a favorite over here.) It is about a beached whale who needs help. He gets help from the townspeople who ask for rain, but then they live in a city of water. To repay them he drinks up all the water and summons the critters of the ocean to decorate. Little crabs and such bring scallop shells like these and line them back to back along the beach and on all the buildings and houses. I love the illustrations in that book -- they are so detailed. While painting these shells I imaged they could find a place in that town.

Magic Seahorse 2

6" x 6"
There is something special about a magic seahorse. I had painted one like this before -- see header. The first sweet little guy swam away from me and found a happy home. I was itching for another red seahorse so I painted this one. The beauty of painting is that each painting is never the same. Each is unique as a snowflake even if it was painted by the same artist and with the same subject, etc.

Laughing Duck

This little bird of whimsy was created on a wood panel with ink showing the wood grain. I had this unfinished for some time and came back to it and added the white and yellow background.

I was not really sure what to do with this one at this point, but found the green frame. It pulls out color from the duck inside works wonders. Thanks little wooden green frame!

Electric Seahorse

6" x 6"

A seahorse with electricity,
To brighten the ocean below.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Starfish 2

My son's favorite bedtime song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I painted this painting with him in mind. Why wouldn't a child see a starfish in the sky in a dream?

There is a long story (well sort of long) that goes along with this painting . . . ask me about it.

Magic Starfish

6" x 6"

Rub a magic starfish and gain three wishes.

1. Surf
2. Sand
3. Star

Or make your own . . . 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Sunfish

6" x 6"
This is the counterpart to Twinkle Twinkle Little Starfish. Sunfish is in orange and starfish is in gold. starfish are in the sea and night sky, while sunfish are in the ocean-sun and daytime sky. Imagine a puffy white cloud and bright blue sky around this flouting creature. Wishing you a day full of happiness!

Nautilus -- Remake

6" x 6"
This nautilus painting was started about a year ago and posted under the same name on 9/6/10 if you wish to reference. The acrylic part was the foundation. I liked the painting, but I thought something was missing. It looked a bit dull to me so I added the ink to bring about some more definition. Still wanting to brighten further I added touches of bright color throughout and bright strokes of blue and yellow in the background.

Birdfish Dogfish

1' x 1'
What type of fish do you see today? A birdfish and a dogfish of course. This painting has turned out to be part of a process painting -- started back when I was a child. The very beginning of this was based on a sketch I did when I was a little girl. I'll look for the drawing and post as a reference.

Daisies and Rocks in Water No. 5

This painting, just like the last one, continues the Daisies and Rocks series. This one is inside a square glass jar. These daisies are turning into lily pads.

Daisies and Rocks in Water No. 4

This is a continuation on from the "Daisies and Rocks" series. I added the word "Water" because this is an essential element that was forgotten. What if daises were the only rocks in a riverbed?

Summer in the House -- Remake

This painting is a repainting of the original painting Summer in the House if you wish to reference. The original looked a little too dark to me to represent summer. This one is a little lighter. Notice both paintings were worked on in the fall -- they represent the wish to hang onto the last days of sunshine. Bring the warm heat and light into the house in a vase and ignore the fact that leaves are blowing from trees outside and raindrops are kissing the flower petals outside.

Cardinal In Tree

This little cardinal is along the ink drawing/painting lines as the owls and boobies that I have been working on. The other feathered friends never caused me as much trouble as this guy. For awhile there I thought I should crop this painting, but instead went with putting it inside a frame and letting the sides show.

Spotted Owl Overlooks

Ink on paper with layered paper attributes.

I'm excited to welcome myself back to the pen and ink technique. After a not-so-recent accident from a quill-pen I have been reluctant to "pick up the pen" so to speak.  I'm back -- and wish to introduce this new piece -- Spotted Owl Overlooks.

This is the artwork framed:

Self-Portrait by my son and I

This is a self-portrait painting by my son and I. We each painted a self-portrait and combined them together on this page. They came together so spontaneously and ended up holding hands. I am in Yellow and he is in Blue. I'm framing this one. :) I love how my three-year old son's drawing seems to be dancing above my head.