Taking Christmas Orders....

I still have a couple of openings available for commissioned work for Christmas.  So if you are looking for a unique and special gift, think about a gift of custom art work.  Perhaps, a car painting for that classic auto car enthusiast or perhaps a painting of a lost best friend to serve as a memory.

Contact me soon, because the calendar is filling up and Christmas is also fast approaching.  I can be reach via my email listed on this site.  Just put Christmas Commission in the subject of the email.  Thanks for stopping by!

Shawn's 1970 Camaro...

Shawn is a friend of Mr. Motorhead, my boyfriend, and I was rather excited when he asked if I would do a painting of his car.  Shawn has a 1970 Z28 Camaro that is a beauty.  It is a Sea-green color with black striping with a bit of pin striping.  It's in mint condition and I just jumped at the opportunity to paint it.  Here's the finished painting...

The challenge with this painting was narrowing down on a layout.  The front grill and the split bumper is very unique to this car.  I wanted to do it justice.  But at the same time, I wanted to do a view of the whole car.  Mr. Motorhead and Shawn were playing with a few ideas one night over dinner and the idea of a two shot of the car came into being.

I did three different lay out drawings for Shawn, but he had a hard time visualizing it.  So I took the one that he seemed to like the most and did an ink shading drawing of it.  That seemed to help him out with what it would look like.  Here's the ink shading drawing that I did...

This really was a fun project to do and it went relatively quick once the layout was figured out.

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear any comments or feedback you may have!

Old Blue & White Buick...

It has been awhile since I have posted any paintings on here.  Yes, in general Summer is a busier time of year with me cycling. But, also, I have acquired a boyfriend and haven't had the time to paint like I normally would have either.  Still that shouldn't be an excuse. 

I recently went to car show with him in Vinton, Iowa.  I should clarify and say that it was actually a car drag.  I rode with my boyfriend in his "Green Machine" and it was like a parade of sorts through the small Iowa town.  A new experience for me and no I did not get the "Miss America Wave" down during the drive.  Though, I did manage a few waves as we drove along. 

Afterwards I went through my photos and I rather got inspired to attempt to paint a car.  I've done one before but it was a background to a duo of my nephews in front of a car.  But this car really kind of drew me to it.  But I always was partial to the color blue. 

This is the first time that I have just focused on the car.  So here is a old blue and white Buick that I'm guessing is a 1955 or 1956.  I still have a lot to learn about cars and my new boyfriend is very much into them.  He's a MOPAR man, and I can rightly say that I'm not exactly sure what that means.  Let's hope I have a fairly good learning curve at my age. LOL!  But anyway, here is the attempt to do this old Buick...


"Old Blue and White Buick"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" paper.

I would love to hear you input on it, and please realize that this is really a first attempt at actually just painting a car rather than something else with a car in the background.  Thanks for visiting!

A Brother's Birthday Painting...

My little brother whose six foot frame towers above me has a birthday coming up later this week.  He's really into riding his Harley motorcycle when the weather allows and he has the free time.  I thought he might like this painting for his birthday.  It's based off of a road trip photo I took when I was at Cannon Beach.  I hope he likes it and doesn't mind that I don't know if either of these motorcycles are Harley's.  I'll admit that I don't know my motorbikes because I'm much more into the two wheeled unmotored bikes.  But here it is with a bit of a glimpse into the background of how it evolved into the finished piece...

"Cannon Beach Bike Break"; Watercolor on 12" x 23" cold press paper.

Here's the beginning drawing with masking...

Then the first bit of washing of the background and some prelim painting done...

And a bit more of painting done...

And here it is all finished again....



 

Thanks for stopping by and I would LOVE to hear any feedback you may have!

 

 

A Hot Pinkie!!

I'm dreaming and painting bikes as the snow continues to fall outside.  It's just a bit of a case of " cycling on the brain".  Here's my most recent painting that I call "A Hot Pinkie!"  Enjoy!...

"A Hot Pinkie!"; Watercolor on 14" x 17" on Paper.

I used a bit of poured watercolor on the background of this painting.  Then, I used some puddle painting for the bicycle. I will admit that this picture doesn't quite do the original enough justice.  One of these days I need to take a photography class.  I would love to hear any feedback you may have!  Thanks for stopping by.

A Bicycle & Bollywood...

I've recently kind of settled down enough to find the time and space to do a bit of painting.  I sat down the other day with a bit of Spring fever and hopes of getting out on a bicycle soon.  So needless to say I had a bit of bicycle on the brain when thinking of painting this painting.  I also had thoughts of the Little Red Riding Hood theme on the brain too.  So here is the result of having bicycling and Bollywood on the brain...




"Red Bollywood Bicycle"; Watercolor on 8.5" x 11" paper.

I would love to hear any feedback that you may have and thanks for visiting!

A Doorway & a Dog...

(***Editor's Note- I held off on putting this write up due to problems with Google blog and MS Internet Explorer not playing well together.  But I guess that problems have been resolved.)

It's been awhile since I have updated and added any paintings.  I'm sure some of you have been wondering.  Currently, I'm taking a bit of a break from traveling.  I had hoped to have more time to do some painting while I was traveling but that has not been the case.  But I have been lining up quite a few photos that I would LOVE to translate into a painting.  So here I am catching up on posting of some paintings that I have managed to fit in here and there while on my road trip. 

This doorway is based on a photo that I took while I was in Taos, New Mexico.  I love the adobe colors and there always seems to be these bunches of peppers hanging around.  I started with a flat wash and then used puddle style of watercolor.  So here is my translation of a Taos Doorway...


Photo- "Taos Doorway"; watercolor on 9" x 11"paper

Next, here is a painting that I did of a friend's dog.  I have been holding on a copy of this picture for sometime and one night in a hotel I decided it might be fun to give it a try.  I did it in a puddle style of watercoloring; mixing the colors together in small "puddles" of water right on the paper.  Here's the result and she did indeed think it looked like here cute little pooch.

Photo: "Sad Puppy Eyes"; watercolor on 8" x 10" Paper.

Another Painting Break...

I took a day of on my BIG Adventure at my Aunt Lindy's house and did a bit of painting while doing some laundry too; talk about doing some multi-tasking!  I did a couple of more scenes based on photos I took while in Washington State.  One of these is based on a photo I took at my girlfriend Jean's wedding of her guest on the beach and the other is from photos that I took at Port Townsend, WA.  Both of these are on 9" x 12" paper and are a bit of puddle painting.  Enjoy!

"Mother and Son on Beach"; watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

"Tickled Pink Shoppe"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting!  Please feel free to read more about my BIG Adventure traveling at my other blog....click here.

A Painting Break on Whigby Island...

I've been on the road on my BIG Adventure for 11 days now and I've really been keeping busy with other things.  I have not managed to find as much time as I thought for painting.  So when I woke up one morning while visiting Whigby Island and it was cloudy and cold; I decided it was a good enough excuse to take the day off from sightseeing and stay in to do a bit of watercolor painting.  Here's  what I did during my day off from sightseeing...

"Honesty Flower Stand"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" paper.

All over Whigby Island there are stands that are not tended by people they just put the flowers or sweet corn or other vegetable/fruit out with a box to leave the money in.  It just boggles my mind because coming from a large city where something like would never fly.  It is almost like it hails from another time.

"Libbey Beach"; Watercolor on 10" x 15" Paper.

This is based on a photo I took on Libbey Beach which is on the west side of Whigby Island.  It's the first watercolor I've done of a beach scene and painting the rocky beach was a bit of a challenge to figure out.  But it's always good to have room to grow and learn.

Ollie Oxen Free!

I've been in the process of preparing to move and have had my hands mostly full with packing since getting back from RAGBRAI but I did manage to get a watercolor done of a friend's dog.  This is Ollie and he is a Jack Russell Terrier.  He is a real cutie and he knows it too!  He also HATES to wear sweaters but his Mom seems to love to put him in sweaters during our snowshoeing excursions.  I feel like he's saying,"Mom, this sweater? ... Please take it off before ALL the other dogs see me!  They are going to think I'm a sissy.  PLE-ASSSSE!"  This is my first attempt at doing a dog in watercolor and I think it turned out rather well.  My friend was pleasantly pleased with it too.  Here he is... Ollie Oxen Free!....

"Ollie Oxen Free"; Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper.

Here's Ollie in a candid shot just before Halloween this last year.  Diana Ross- Eat your heart out!

Photo- Ollie putting Diana Ross to shame!

Thanks for visiting and I would LOVE to hear any feedback you may have!

On My Way Back ...

Tonight, I'm writing this as I sit in my hotel room in Cheyenne, WY.  I'm on my way back to Utah and have had a week of ups and downs.  I first left for my hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; last Thursday evening.  The plan was to do a bit of visiting with family and then do RAGBRAI. 

Well, even the best laid plans seem to change.  I did some visiting and started RAGBRAI.  I managed the first three days of RAGBRAI.  The worst three days as far as heat and humidity that RAGBRAI has ever seen in its 40 years (go figure!).  All three days were 99 or above with one day climbing up to 104 degrees with 80% humidity.  Oh and did I mention there were winds that were up to 20 mph too?  These were some tough days and I really found that the humidity was getting to me. 

But I will say that those three days of RAGBRAI were amazing!  It was a sea of bicycles as far as the eye could see along the wonderful hilly landscape of Iowa's corn and soybean fields.  There were people all along the Iowa roads that were cheering you on; some were selling water, cookies, or almost everything.  Some were not selling but giving water out for free, or offering to douse you with their hose, or even others were handing out frozen pops.  Main streets in small Iowa towns were closed down just to bicycle traffic and filled up with vendors offer to sell food or wares to the cyclists that came through the town.  It was just AMAZING!  I don't know how else to describe it.

Photo: Boys-N-Cars watercolor I did of my nephews for a Father's Day present. 
The youngest one here is the one with dark hair.

My second day was the worst.  I had received a phone call from my little brother the night before that my youngest nephew had passed away due to complications after a surgery.  He was only 13 years old.  I was rather a bit of a basket case that day and only managed to ride 47 miles of the 85 miles that I should have rode.  My head and heart just were not in it.  I found I could not keep food down and when you are riding that is NEVER a good sign to have.  I ended up getting SAG'd in that day.  I did manage the next day's ride but then had to call for help when I was brain dead trying to find the host house.  The combo of riding 84 miles with 104 degree humid heat just left me STUPID.

Wednesday night I managed to get a ride back to my mom's.  I had opted not to ride on Thursday to give my body a bit of a break but I also needed to be back for a viewing(Friday) and funeral(Saturday).  That basically meant that RAGBRAI was over for me.  But I needed to be else where.



 

Porch No. 101

This porch belongs to my good cycling buddies; Bee & Peter.  They asked me about a little over a year ago to do a painting of their house/porch.  I really thought I had managed a bit of a coup when I had them pose on their porch with their dog Astra for No. 100 of the Salt Lake City Porches Project.  I thought it was the perfect way to finish the project and also did a painting of their porch too.  I figured it was all done in one full swoop. 

Then after the January showing of the 100 SLC Porches, they approached me and asked to do a painting of their porch with no people from the front.  I will admit that I dragged my heels.  I was rather burned out on porches by that point.  So, more recently I was approached by another cycling bud to do their porch, I thought that I had better take care of Bee & Peter's porch first.  So here it is....

"Porch No. 101"; Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper.

When I asked how they wanted me to paint it; they said they wanted me to choose.  They did admit to liking my poured watercolors.  Here's one of the photos that I worked off of for their porch.

As you can see, I did a very loose form and played with colors to represent their porch.  I studied the different times of day with the directions of light play.  I also had several different times of year that the photos were taken from.  I will admit I'm partial to the Fall and liked playing with the bare branches of the tree.  Thus, I ended up with the top poured watercolor.  They seemed pleased with adding it to their painting collection. 

I'm currently having a sale on the available 100 Salt Lake City Porches of 25% off.  I'm calling it the RED HOT Summer Sale.  It makes sense when the temps are as high as they've been lately.  You can scroll through the page to look at those available by clicking here.  I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting.  Now on to the next porch for me!

Fun with Water...

I'm still working on catching up with some commissions.  I thought I would have more time with the 4th of July Holiday this last week, but it didn't seem to turn out that way.  But in the meantime, I thought I would post this fun watercolor that I finished up last week.  It features a cycling buddy's daughter and she looks like she's having fun.  I call it "Water Hose Play".  Here is it...

"Water Hose Play"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper.

I was trying to think of cooling thoughts last week with the high temperatures.  I thought this was the perfect subject to be working on.  Enjoy!  I would love to hear your feedback and thanks for visiting!

A Basketted Purple Bike...

I am currently working on a couple of commissioned porch pieces.  Yes, I'm doing a bit of catching up and while I'm doing that I thought I would share a piece that I put on my bike art page but I never did a little write up here about it.  Part of the reason was that I barely finished it before Little Red and then it sold quickly.  Here it is...

"Basketted Purple Bike"; Watercolor on 6" x 8" Paper.

It was one of those quick little paintings I did in the evening while watching TV.  A fellow bicycle club member bought the painting and asked that I frame it in a black frame with matting.  That's what I did and here it is framed and ready for their wall...

"Basketted Purple Bike" framed.

They were very pleased.  I thought that the mint green really brought out some of the green undertones and made the bike pop.  I hope to have some porch commissions to reveal here soon.

Happy Father's Day!!

Here's wishing all of you Fathers out there a Happy Father's Day!  I've been waiting before I posted this painting until it arrived at my little brother's home in Iowa.  I did it as a present for him for Father's Day.  I was trying to make it a surprise.  It features my two nephews standing in front of a car at a car show.  Here it is... 

"Boys-N-Cars"; Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper

I rather got a kick out of how both of them are standing with arms folded; kind of like--"Yeah, we are tough!"  I did this painting in the puddle style of water coloring; mixing all of the colors on the paper.  I also used a limited color pallet-- phthalo blue, phthalo green, and permanent rose with just a bit of meduim yellow to do the skin tones.  I hope you like it little bro!  Happy Father's Day!

Thanks, Silliness & a Winner!

A BIG Thanks for all who swung by my Art Booth at the Little Red Riding Hood Ride.  What a FUN event and such wonderful weather for the most part.  There was a couple of small cloud bursts where I was holding down some tarps to protect some paintings but they were short lived.  It was wonderful being out and having people swing by to view my art.  People from my bike club swung by and were rather surprised that I did anything outside of biking.  It really was a fun experience.  I also managed to sale a few things too!

I managed to get a little silly on Friday night and entered the Little Red Groovy Costume Contest.  They made us get up on stage and dance.  I just wiggled around because I wasn't too sure how a hippie was supposed to dance.  But here's a shot of me on stage in my full regale...

Oh MY!  I think it looks more like I'm doing a Rain Dance!  Maybe that's why there were the cloud burst on Saturday!  Go figure!

AND The winner of the Little Red Raffle is....

Annette T. from Spanish Fork, UT.  Congratulations!!  When she came to pick it up, she told me that she never wins anything.  Well, that's not true anymore and lets hope your luck has changed Annette.  Annette's daughter who did her first 50 mile bike ride ever at Little Red this last Saturday will be receiving the winning painting. Here's the raffled painting that went home with Annette and her daughter...

"Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper.

Thanks & More Bike Art...

Thank you to all who came to the 4th Annual Gallery Roll Art Show.  It was a very good turn out and it was nice visiting with all of you.   If you didn't happen to make the opening on Friday night, the bicycle art will still be available to see up at the Salt Lake City Bicycle Company located at 177 East 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City.  Swing by and check them out if you get the chance! 

I managed to finish a couple more bicycle pieces this weekend.  Yes, I'm adding a couple more for my Little Red Riding Hood Booth during the event on the first Friday and Saturday in June.  I'm really looking forward to it!  Here they are a couple more pieces of  bicycle art. Enjoy...

"Your Chariot Awaits"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper.

"Tulips Along for the Ride"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper.

I always LOVE to hear feedback on my artwork!  AND Thanks for stopping by!

The 4th Annual Bicycle Art Show...

You are invited to a Bike & Art Event...

On

Friday May 18th

from

6 - 9PM

(Photo- "Psychedelically Cranked"; Poured Watercolor on Paper.)

The

4th Annual

 Gallery Roll

Takes Place 
To celebrate National Bike Month, every May,

the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll brings you Gallery Roll.

We encourage everyone of all ages to ride your bikes from gallery to gallery and to enjoy the special Bike Art Exhibit hosted by

 located at 177 East 200 South in Downtown Salt Lake City.

Three of my artworks will be on exhibit and I'll be there to visit with too.

I invite you to come out and enjoy some art, bike talk,

and perhaps a little bike riding too!

Come Join in the FUN!

For more information on Gallery Roll and the 4th Annual Bike Art Show

Bikes, Bikes & More Bikes...

May is National Bike Month and with me starting to get into the full swing of cycling season; I seem to have biking on the brain.  (That might be a bit of an understatement!--Just a bit.)  I've got three pieces that will be in a bike art show on May 18th-- the Gallery Roll which takes place in a downtown Salt Lake City bike shop.  I'm also preparing for a bike art booth up at Little Red Riding Hood and I'm currently debating on which photo of my bike art to enter into a Sugar House Art Walk Bike Art Photo Contest.  Oh, my!

Between that and actually riding on my bike, I amaze myself that I still find the time to paint more bicycles.  So here's the last three, I've painted this week...

"Old Blue Bayou"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Pressed Paper.

"Petals on Pedals"; Watercolor on 10" x 10" Cold Pressed Paper.

I really tried a bit of a new direction on the last one here.  It's a teenage girl swinging her leg out, coasting along and showing off her vintage 60's outfit with her vintage striped bike with basket.  It's fun!  I can imagine this watercolor hanging up in a little girls bedroom.


"Fashionita on Wheels"; Watercolor on 11" x 10" Cold Pressed Paper.



Back to Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers...

The Groovi-ness continues, as I prepare for the Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride in June.  I'm planning on having a little booth with some of my art on sale.  The theme for Little Red this year is Groovy!  Here's my latest creation keeping in with the cycling and groovy theme...

"Back to Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Cold Pressed Paper.

On this painting, I used a combination of styles.  I did a couple of layers in watercolor pours for the background, the bike seat, the bike seat bag and seat post. I used puddle painting for the rest of the bike.  I limited the colors to yellow, permanent rose, dioxazine purple, and a watered down liquid red watercolor.  I think the ladies at Little Red will like this one!  Would love to hear your feedback and thanks for stopping by!