Breakfast Club, 16x20 Seascape on Canvas

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I had the urge to paint something bigger than my usual daily paintings, so I spent several days on this. I love the ocean. I love swimming in it, looking at it, floating on it, and painting it. I'm awed by its power and fascinated by its beauty. I like to look at it and imagine what's on the other side. When I was a kid living in Central Florida, we would come to the beach, and I could smell it before I saw it. 

I have lived in Bermuda and the Azores Islands, surrounded by water. In Bermuda it was turquoise with pink sand beaches; in the Azores it was deep teal or blue or stormy gray, with a black lava beach. I'd like to be back in those places, knowing what I know now about painting them.

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Horse Country, 24x18 Landscape

We were driving down a back road in Ocala, Florida, saw this scene, and pulled over immediately. I've been painting this one for my show in Middleburg, Virginia April 22nd. I hope I have done it justice.

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White Hydrangeas, 6x8 Oil on Canvas Panel, Floral Painting

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I had painted this in a different color scheme, and it never appealed to me. Every time I looked at it, something went ick in my head. This was the previous version:

I didn't like the rusty color. I'm just not a rusty person. Creaky, maybe, but not rusty. I decided to give the painting a makeover. I barely touched the flowers themselves, but look how different they appear by changing the colors around them. 

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Ballerina, 8x10 Figurative Oil Painting on Canvas Panel

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This is a change of pace for me. I love the grace of ballerinas, and I try not to think of how their feet must hurt when they are en pointe. They sacrifice so much for their art and yet make it look like they are floating effortlessly. 

Years ago I copied a Degas painting of ballerinas as an educational exercise (below). Our painting group spent a great deal of time copying the Masters, and it was time well spent. Our grand finale was a collaboration on Klimt's "The Kiss,", which we auctioned off for charity.

Being part of a group of like-minded women artists was the best thing I ever did, and I highly recommend it to any artist, experienced or not. There is always something to be learned from others.

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Three Portraits, 16x20 Graphite Drawing

This was a long-ago commission, graphite on paper. I haven't done a portrait in this style for quite a while.

I have been devoting too much time to marketing art and not enough time to doing art lately. I don't like that. I start thinking of my painting time as a guilty pleasure, and that is warped thinking. That's my job, and if it happens to be a pleasurable job, well, good for me. I've also been neglecting my health by not exercising enough. I told my husband I was going to suffer from flabosity if I didn't change, and he said there is also danger of gelatiny (pronounced jel-at'-nee). Such a wiseguy.

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Brass Bowl, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Panel, Still Life

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The only thing that would make this painting harder would be to add a lemon. You can see the influence of Qiang Huang in this one. If you like a challenge, try painting pewter, glass, brass and fruit in one painting, like this one.

The other day I painted one that was a "scraper." I don't often scrape a painting away, but the one yesterday deserved it. A large part of a still life painting is the actual setup, and I should have known the pot was too bright yellow and the spotlight too far away. The irises were beautiful, but they got scraped too. Darn yellow pot. Not every painting has a happy ending.

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Snow Hill, 8x10 Oil on Panel, Landscape with Figures, Snowscape

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I am a Florida Cracker. Yes, that's what we're called, and for the explanation, see my book Crackers and Oranges on Amazon.com (that's what you call shameless self-promotion). 

Anyhow, being a Florida Cracker, I am not used to snow. I didn't even see it in person until I was 15 years old. During a visit to Pennsylvania I watched these boys work tirelessly to get up the hill in deep snow to have a great ride down and start all over again. When I was a kid I felt left out because our reading books always had children playing in snow, and Christmas was white; however, my parents got to miss the kind of shoveling that northerners had to endure recently. I am very thankful to live in my warm habitat in Florida.

Pretty in Pink, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Still Life with Roses

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This is my favorite still life. I really like the reflections of the bottle on the vase and the vivid pink of the roses.

The original of this painting will be available at my April show in Middleburg, Virginia.