Hurricane Gift, 10x8 Original Oil Painting, Florida Beach

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I call this "Hurricane Gift" because even a terrible storm can yield something beautiful. This driftwood was on North Captiva Island, Florida, and was the result of a hurricane years ago. Now the island is recovering from Hurricane Ian and debris is everywhere after that hard hit. Their lush growth will return, just as it always does.

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Camp Holly, 11x14 Original Florida Oil Painting

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I took this photo from an airboat as we were returning from an excursion on the St. Johns River. It is an attraction for people hoping to see alligators, but this is not the season. We saw only one. Camp Holly is a popular spot, and has been since 1923! Can you imagine how wild it was around here back then? 

Painting this was like putting a puzzle together, and by the time I was done I felt I had been back there for a long stay.

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Portrait of Hap, 1980s Graphite Drawing

 

One thing I am most thankful for at Thanksgiving is my husband Hap, the best husband a woman could have. This drawing was done in the 80s, while listening to What's Love Got to Do With It, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Billy Jean. 

Those were the days. (sigh)

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Portrait of Leigh

What with being out of town and then dealing with results of the hurricane, I haven't had time to finish my recent painting, so I am pulling this from the archives. It's a graphite portrait I did years ago, and one of my favorites. 

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Mother Teresa and Other Tender Things, Graphite Drawing

 

I drew this years ago when I was taught this technique by the late Louise Cherwak. In the center is my son at age three, all happy because a butterfly landed on his chest. Unfortunately, this drawing was stolen from an exhibit at Brevard Community College. Thank goodness I had already made a print, or it would have been even more devastating. 

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Birdie, 8x10 Original Oil Wildlife Painting

$155

I am told this is a Chickadee. I thought he was irresistibly cute, and he is the first thing I have painted since my bout with Covid. I started another painting a couple weeks ago, but wasn't feeling that well yet. Before I got very far into it I realized it was a "scraper," a painting so disappointing that I scraped it off the canvas. I am very happy with this one.

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The Other Florida, 12x12 Original Landscape Oil Painting

 

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I had plenty of time to study the landscape as we  recently traversed Florida on Hwy 70. This is the Florida of my childhood; pastures like this and orange groves. Sadly, there aren't very many orange groves these days.

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Halie at the Pool

This is a memory of my granddaughter years ago. Now she is in her twenties, and I miss the hours playing with her and her sister in our pool. 

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Red Tanager, 8x10 Original Oil Painting

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Not much to tell, was just in the mood to paint a little bird.

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Mother and Child, 11x14 Oil Painting

This mother and child were getting ready for a wedding. The photo inspired me to paint it, and when it is dry I will send it to Lisa, whose family is pictured. I haven't had an inspiration in a while, so this got me moving.

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Sunflowers for Ukraine, 10x8 Original Oil Painting

 $155

I am so horrified that Russia is waging war on Ukraine, and one of their tactics is torturing and killing civilians. Tyrants and bullies are terrorizing innocent people. I was inspired to paint this symbol of their country and their spirit, and I pray for them to win this war.

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Halie and Passionflower, Original Oil on Canvas 12x12

I painted this from a photo I have had for over twenty years. This is my granddaughter with one of the multitude of passionflowers we used to have in our yard, until we found they all ended up in the pool. I miss the days when my grandchildren were babies, and I miss our arbor being covered with passionflower vines, thick with sweet-smelling flowers.

 

Myakka State Park, Florida Landscape 14x11

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Our family visited beautiful Myakka State Park and went on this hiking trail. We also did a boat tour across the big lake, and it is infested with alligators. An environmentalist might say it is a refuge for alligators, but my word for it is infested. We learned on the tour that Florida's alligator population got down to 500, then they became protected and now there are five million. I used to wonder why we could safely jump in any lake we came upon in Florida and now we can't. They were afraid of humans then and no one was idiotic enough to feed them. 

My uncle was a gator trapper for the state until he was over 70 years old. His job was to remove threatening gators, and they can't be shot like in the TV shows you may have seen. He brought them back alive. He said they have a tiny brain, but are wily creatures. He came by one day with his boat on a trailer and it had a big chomp out of it. The gator fought back.

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Polkadot Cottage Dancing

                                       

Yesterday our painting group, Pieces of Eight, had a fun challenge. We picked a noun, an adjective, and a verb from three columns of random words. I had "Polkadot Cottage Dancing." It was a relaxing and enjoyable day of painting and drawing silly things.

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Dreaming of Dali, 10x8 Original Oil Painting

My niece Kate is the owner of Paradise Found, a wonderful succulent nursery in Sarasota. She gave me these beautiful eggs from her free-range chickens, and I had to paint them. We had been to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, and Kate loved his paintings with tiny figures and buildings in the background. That moved me to create this Dali-inspired painting. You have to look closely to see Kate and her chickens.

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Ballard Park, Original Oil on Canvas

$155

I had not painted outside in two years, so this was quite a challenge. It was one of those paintings I had to improve upon in the studio. It was exhilarating to be outside in beautiful weather, painting with my friends.

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Bright and Hot, Original 10x8 oil on Canvas

$175

 This day the beach was just bright and hot, and I couldn't think of anything else to call it. The composition is essentially stripes with figures, and you can just feel how hot it is out there.

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Black Grapes, Original Oil Painting Still Life, 10x8

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I had to get with it and paint the grapes again before they shriveled into raisins. This is another small painting, oil on canvas panel, 10x8 inches.

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20-Minute Postcard Oil Paintings

This 20-minute rooster is on an actual canvas postcard, ready to address on the back, stamp and drop in the mail.

This is another postcard done in 20 minutes. This is a nasturtium planted by my daughter when she was here.

As soon as they dry, they are ready to mail.

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Black Grapes, Still Life 8x10 Original Oil Painting

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Sometimes I just have the best time painting. I had a canvas that was painted green from a painting I considered a "scraper" (which is a nice word for a disappointing painting). I did a 20-minute still life and got a little of the background filled in when the timer went off. I liked this well enough to finish it. Here is the stage I reached in twenty minutes:

What an ugly green color. It needed obliterating. 

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Florida Surf Scene, 8x10 Oil Painting on Canvas

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 As mentioned in my previous post, Mary Gilkerson's Art+Work+Living.com web page periodically has a five-day challenge to do a painting in 20 minutes. This is such a good exercise, especially for daily painters. I stuck to the time limit to produce this ocean scene. The horizontal dark lines were exactly as depicted.

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Exercise in Art, 20 Minute Painting, Wildlife Refuge

Inspired by Mary Gilkerson's 20-minute challenge, I did this 8x10 oil on canvas in 20 minutes. This is a great exercise in "loosening up," though it is very nerve-wracking. What is supposed to loosen me up tenses me up.

I went back and refined the painting, with the following result. 

Next time I will do 20 minutes, then leave it as is. You don't know how hard that is, unless you're an artist.

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Summer Storm, Pasture Landscape Small Original Oil Painting 10x8

$155

 

If you cross Highway 60 in Central Florida you will often see a scene like this, with dark storm clouds approaching and sun on the pasture in the foreground. I love this kind of light. This scene reminds me of my childhood in "Old Florida". 

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Italian Girl With Flowers, 11x14 Oil on Canvas, after Sorolla

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I've had no time for painting this week, so I am posting a throwback to 2008, when our painting group, Pieces of Eight, decided to copy Impressionist masters as a learning exercise. I love Sorolla, so I copied one of my favorites, with the above result. Below is the original by Sorolla.

I also copied John Singer Sargent, the master portrait artist. The best thing I've ever done is team up with seven women with the same passion for painting that I have. It has been such an enriching experience in so many ways, and I have learned so much.

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Misty Horizon, 11x14 Florida Seascape

 

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This was early morning looking toward Cape Canaveral, which is hidden in mist. The receding tide left a dark contrast to the blue of the water. It's something different every day when you walk by the ocean.

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