Breakfast Club, 20x16 Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD

Happy day, just sold this seascape. I am almost out of large seascapes. I'd better get busy! 

Antigua Women, 20x16 Oil on Canvas

SOLD

I haven't posted in a while. I don't know if it's Christmas or what, but I seem to have lost my groove. I am not used to this. I painted a successful painting that sold right away, then I did two scrapers. What the heck?

Maybe it's bad Karma from criticizing George Zimmerman's art...nah, it couldn't be that. He sold that thing for over $100,000. I think I will coin a new term for bad art that is done by notorious celebrities: "Zimmermanist." If I paint something so bad I want to shoot someone, I am Zimmering. This week I have Zimmered twice. 

Speaking of bad art, there is a Museum of Bad Art at http://www.museumofbadart.org/ and it is a hoot. Nothing can cost over $5, and if you found it in the trash, even better. Descriptions by guest "interpretators" are hilarious.

The above painting is one I did after visiting Antigua. I loved the ladies on the beach carrying their shops around with them. When I get my groove back I will post something new.

Early Birds, 8x6 Oil on Canvas

$89

I love early morning at the beach; it's very active yet peaceful. Birds are fishing, people are fishing, there are joggers, walkers, even Tai Chi. It's the best time of day.

At risk of being repetitive, don't forget the big Pieces of 8 Sale on Dec 7 from 9-4. It's at 3532 Samuel Place, Melbourne. Click here for a map and details.

Rites of Spring, 18 x 24 Oil Painting

Sold

I went to the beach on a fine Spring day, and after a hard Florida winter (ha ha), everyone had the same idea. The water was this incredible turquoise color and the whole atmosphere was just exhilarating. I am so lucky to live here.

Thar She Blows; Moby Dick as Art

Cindy Michaud and I took on the ultimate challenge this year: the Mystery Build Competition. The whole idea is to make a recreation of a work of art from the objects in a small box. The Mystery Build organizers mailed the box to us, and we had to make our piece from nothing but the items inside, including the box itself if we wanted, and paint. That's it. So the box contained a small variety of wood blocks and veneers, clay, a piece of rope, a square of canvas, a loose canvas, Elmer's glue and a few other things.

To see how we did it (there's a video) and (we hope) vote for our entry, click here: Mystery Build.

Stormy Day, 7x5 Oil on Canvas

The ocean is so exciting. What's in it, what's on it, what shines through it--all exciting. I never liked reading girlie books when I was young, but I loved seafaring adventures. I had a couple of seafaring adventures of my own as an adult, and I can only say that it sounds better in books. Especially if you are reading about it in a warm, dry, stable, level place.

PURCHASE

Near the Shore, 6x6 Oil Painting

The light, color, and movement of the ocean is different every day, and I never tire of walking on the beach and studying it. I used to live in the Azores, where people would sit by a wall and just stare out at the sea. I thought they were dreaming of escaping their small island and going somewhere else, but maybe they were just doing what I do--watching the ocean.

PURCHASE

Seamist, 48x24 Oil on Canvas

SOLD

This is our very own Satellite Beach, on one of those days when sea mists are rising. This was a commission, 48 inches wide by 24 high. Our beach never looks the same way twice; it changes color, shape, and after a particularly rough surf, sizeable rocks appear that were never there before. I love it all, except when hurricanes take a great deal of the beach away with them. 

Sealight Diptych, 20x10 Oil on Canvas

 After painting these separately, I realized they should hang together as a diptych. It just took a few adjustments to match them up, since I had painted each part of the wave from the same picture. It is painted on deep-sided gallery wrapped canvas and painted on all sides, so hung together or separately, it still works. No frame needed.

SOLD

Morning Sunrise, 10x10 Oil on Canvas

I never know what I'll see when I step on the crossover to the beach. There's always that moment of anticipation as I take the steps, and I am seldom disappointed. Weather phenomena combined with sunrise was a real delight.

PURCHASE

And God Set A Bow in the Sky (Photo)

Sometimes I look out and see interesting weather effects and I can hear the waves crashing, so I rush across to the beach with my camera. I am frequently rewarded with sights like this. I am wondering: if I painted this, including the rainbow, would it be believable?

Can you tell I haven't had time to paint? I have had time for family gatherings in celebration of the holidays, so I'm not complaining. Just having some withdrawals. You artists know what I mean.

Morning Sea, 4x5 Oil on Canvas

I went small on this one. I love the colors of the sky and ocean in the morning. Sometimes they don't even look real.

PURCHASE

The Pieces of 8 had a wonderful luncheon this week and exchanged our very creative gifts. Here's the happy group:

Sea Change, 10x10 Oil on Canvas

A rough sea is a joyous thing for me as a subject for painting. I love the colors, the shapes, the movement. This is a 10x10 original oil on gallery wrapped canvas and painted on all sides.

My posting of originals has been erratic of late because of vacation and then illness. We have now had a loss of a beloved family member, and I am giving myself permission to take some time off from painting and be with my loved ones who are grieving. 

SOLD

Wee Sea, 4x5 Seascape, Oil on Canvas Board

This is one of the tiniest things I have painted. Since I sometimes have a tendency toward too much noodling, this is a good exercise for me. Within four by five inches I have to follow the saying, "don't state, indicate."

PURCHASE

I am proud to report that I won an Honorable Mention in the National League of American Pen Women competition for my collage, "Night of the Iguana." This was a national competition, and Judge Patt Odom wrote about my piece:

"This reminds me of Romaire Bearden.  The Iguana is delightful, but; I respond to the surrounding negative space more.  This is where the mystery lies... It creates a musical sound not unlike Kandinsky's work.  When negative space overpowers the positive space; something special happens.  This is what I find in this piece.  I want to read and relate those elements to the "Night of the Iguana" -exciting piece!" Night of the Iguana

Ocean Shadow, 18x24 Oil on Canvas

It amazes me that the colors of the ocean are different every day. Sometimes this same view is quite turquoise, but that would be on a calm and sunny day. Other times the sunrises are so vibrant that it's no use to paint them as they really look--they just don't look real.

All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the the streams flow, there they flow again. 

PURCHASE

Ecclesiastes 1:7

Ocean View, 5x7 Oil on Canvas

Every now and then it's time to paint a seascape. This one is small, but I am working on a large one for an exhibit in November. I just love the motion of the ocean.

PURCHASE

Splash, 5x7, Oil on Linen on Panel

It was an overcast day at Sebastian Inlet, which in the heat of summer makes it very pleasant. The waves--away from the rocks--were perfect for frolicking. As I am posting this, we are watching Hurricane Irene and making preparations for possible evacuation. I hope we will soon be saying, "Good Night, Irene" as she passes far offshore. Anything could happen, we just wait and watch.

PURCHASE

Stormy Weather, 6x6

"I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky;"--but not in weather like this.

That is part of one of my favorite poems, Sea Fever by John Masefield, and here is the rest of the line: "...and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by." My English Lit teacher, Miss Loveless, introduced me to so much wonderful poetry, but she thought I didn't like poetry because she caught me writing parodies of the poems we read. I couldn't help myself; what can you expect a teenager to do when exposed to "She Was a Phantom of Delight?" It just begs to be parodied, doesn't it? 


My rowdy class found Robert Burns' "Ode To a Louse, On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church" hilarious on its own merits. It began:

"Ha! whare ye gaun, ye crowlan ferlie!"

Old Robert had a sense of humor. And apparently, very good eyesight. He could spot a crawlin' ferlie from a pew away.

PURCHASE

Beach Sortie, 10x8

I love the ocean. I don't mind the sand, the sun, or the salt. I enjoy the pelicans flying by looking for breakfast, too. It's amazing how beautiful they are in flight and how homely they are sitting on a post.

SOLD

Rocky Shore, 5x7

I'm so lucky to live near the beach. Of course, it's hurricane season and we are expecting eight-foot waves this week from hurricanes offshore, and we worry from August until December about being slammed again. I'll look on the bright side and get some good wave pictures to paint this week.

SOLD