Venice Parking, Oil on Canvas

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I am reaching way back to the past for this one. This was one of the best trips of my life, with my sister to Venice. I was surprised at how beautifully upholstered the gondolas were.

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Robots and Paintings

On First Friday, August 2nd, Kathy Garvey and I will be exhibiting our art at Highland Art Studio, 1425 Highland Avenue in Melbourne. I'll have my oil paintings on display.

Storm's Coming

Kathy has been making ingenious little robots out of clay and luggage tags.  Foreign object removal on the runway at the airport constantly turns up the metal tags off luggage, and only Kathy would see them as potential robots. They are so darn cute!

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Snowy Farm, Christmas Greetings, Oil on Canvas Landscape

I haven't painted too many snow scenes, so found this one in the archives. This is the Pennsylvania farm where our daughter and her family live. We look forward to the day that they live closer to us, which would be especially nice at this time of year. If we had our way, all our children would move here right now!

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Salt Spray, Seascape Original Oil Painting, 8x10

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This was painted on a bright sunny day when the air was clean. Unfortunately, right now we are afflicted with Red Tide, and every time I go outside it makes me cough. Dead fish litter the beach and some intrepid volunteers have been out picking them up. It's a very unhealthy situation. We used to have lots of tar on the beach from oil spills. I prefer that. At least I could breathe without coughing.

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Lotus Buds, 6x8 Oil on Canvas Panel Floral Painting

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I was far from home while doing this painting, and I managed to leave my white paint home! I dealt with it by subtracting color with my turps. This produced a very dark painting, as my canvas was not white, but a toned neutral color. When I got home I mixed more color with white and finished my lotus buds. I like the way they stand out now. These lilies were at Palma Sola Botanical Garden in Bradenton, Florida.

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Cardinal, 7x5 Original Oil on Panel, Bird Painting

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I don't have a thing to say about this painting, except that I squeezed this in while busy with a lot of other exciting things. I finished a huge illustration job, then published my children's book, Dibble the Dragon. Now I am working on illustrations for someone else's children's book. I'm also spending time traveling, gardening and studying Italian. Life is good. La Dolce Vita!

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Happiness II, Original Oil Painting, 5x7 Oil on Canvas Panel, Girl on Beach

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 This is my input to the monthly challenge on the Pieces of 8 Blog. We are copying the Fifth Avenue Gallery's idea to paint a favorite part of a previous painting. The painting I chose a portion of is below.

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Hot Air Balloons, 8x10 Original Oil Painting, Skyscape on Canvas

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I decided I wanted to just paint clouds. When I was done it looked like it needed something more, so I added hot air balloons to punch it up. I'm happy with the result, but I think the balloonists had better head home, because the weather doesn't look so good.

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Natchez Trace, 6x6 Original Oil Painting Landscape

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The Natchez Trace is a beautiful highway that once was a trail tracing back through 10,000 years of American history. We discovered Meriweather Lewis's grave on the Trace, at the site of the inn where he died. There is little traffic and no big trucks on this road that stretches from Nashville to Natchez. It is an American gem.

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Florida Sunset, 10x8 Original Oil Landscape Painting

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Is this too dramatic? I was so excited when I saw those rays and that bright red color that my husband pulled over so I could take a picture. Florida sunsets are amazing. Florida now has more people than New York. Our secret is out. 

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Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

 - Voltaire      

Florida Vista, 8x6 Oil Painting on Canvas Panel

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This is what much of Florida looks like, and it's one part that has not changed. You have to get away from the beach to see scenes like this, and I only hope that most of the pastures and grassy wetlands of Florida won't become housing developments. It's a sort of Growth is Good-Growth is Bad situation. Growth brings jobs, but do you really want to see a scene like this with condos sitting in it? In the end, it's all about balance. 

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P.S. My book, Crackers and Oranges, is now available on Kindle.