Sun on the Beach, 7x5 Oil Painting on Canvas Panel, Seascape

$99, Purchase on Etsy

This painting was easy to name. This beach is behind a local restaurant called Sun on the Beach. Erosion is a problem here, so those sea oats you see are protected because they help anchor the dunes. We also are a Sea Turtle Preservation area, where sea turtles come out of the ocean at night and lay their eggs and bury them. When they hatch, the little hatchlings hurry to the sea. It's a hazardous beginning; if they don't escape the notice of birds they are goners.  

Mama Turtles continue to reproduce until they are 80. If they had to rear all those children, they would soon curtail this behavior!

Carmen

Tomatoes and Garlic, 5x7 Oil on Canvas Original Still Life Painting

$79, Click to Purchase

Here are two staples of life, tomatoes and garlic. I had an Italian grandmother but she didn't like to cook. She was more of a career woman, darn my bad luck.

I have a new web page that is very user-friendly. Below is a screen shot of my home page. I highly recommend my designer, FileFish Web Design --very affordable and easy to work with.

Carmen

The Grape Picker, 20x16, Oil Painting on Canvas of Portuguese Woman in the Azores

I did this painting years ago when I lived in the Azores Islands, which are Portuguese Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The people were very hard-working, and this woman was typical of our industrious Portuguese acquaintances. Life was not easy for them, but they were lovely, hospitable people. Our maid was like part of our family and it was heartbreaking when we left, although we never lost touch.

Carmen

Zen Lizard, Pen and Ink Drawing, 8x10 Matted Zentangle-Inspired, Black and White

$39, Click to Purchase

Why didn't I think of this before? Reptiles are great for zentangling, and I really enjoyed doing this one. Can you see what he's looking at? That ladybug is doomed. She'd better fly away home, and be quick about it.

Carmen

Zen Pineapple, Pen and Ink Drawing, Zentangle-Inspired 8x10 Matted

SOLD

Our friend Dave has a green thumb. He grows very healthy pineapples, and when I saw this one with the jaunty top of gorgeous leaves I started drawing patterns in my mind. One of these days maybe I'll do a big drawing like this, and the more complicated the better. It's my moment of Zen.

Carmen

Zennacle, 8x10 Pen and Ink Drawing, Black and White Fantasy Art

$35, Click to Purchase

I am  becoming obsessed with tree designs. When I paint in oils I have to see the finished painting in my mind before I start. When I do zentangle drawings I just let the pen take me where it may. I may decide to draw a tree or a bird, but after the initial outline the whole creation is about patterns and values. It just gradually grows until I am satisfied with the result. I highly recommend it as a meditative exercise with sometimes surprising results.

Carmen

Cruising for Breakfast, 10x8 Oil Painting on Canvas

$125, Click to Purchase

The time to catch pelicans cruising over the waves is early morning or dusk. That's feeding time for marine creatures, which is the cue for humans to stay out of the water. Sharks do make mistakes now and then. They don't really find people very tasty.

I love the way pelicans look flying over the water so gracefully. Then when they are just sitting around they are the most unattractive, awkward creatures--drab fellows with very big mouths. They remind me of some Congressmen I know.

Carmen

Yellow Plumerias, 10 x 10 Original Oil Painting on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas

$250, Click to Purchase

Sometimes I wonder if my subjects are too varied, or if my media are too diverse. I display on this blog and other websites my array of oil paintings, collages, and zentangles; my subject matter is landscape, seascape, still life, floral, wildlife, figurative, abstract and fantasy. A quote from the late Robert Genn gave me heart. He said:

"If an artist underestimates capability or goes too long with outworn motifs, interest fades and motivation fails. Complexity, nuance, even novelty, need to be consciously added to the mix."

Sameness on a blog is boring, so I will keep trying to grow and change it up now and then. I suppose my floral painting above is not the best illustration for this discussion, since it is a realistic flower painting, but I don't think it's too ho-hum, do you?

Carmen