Project Tag: sky

Alberi Estivi

I sent this one as a gift to my dear friend and New Orleans chanteuse extraordinaire, Leigh Harris, aka Little Queenie, when she was very ill with cancer.  We lost her, but her spirit lives on in everyone who ever listened to her sing.

Spirit in the Night

I started this for fun and then it reminded me that we do have protectors, even when they seem to be absent.  This is another one for my Dad, who was my greatest protector when he was alive, and I know is still out there in the universe somewhere looking out for me.  It’s now at the home of a dear friend.

Crooked Cypress

I’ve mentioned before how much I love Frank Relle’s photographs.  This one took my breath away. I was so excited to paint this, and thank you again, Mr. Relle, photographer extraordinaire, for your generosity of spirit!

Trees at Twilight in Early Spring

Sometimes I just have to do a painting for myself to exercise my creative “muscles.”  This is one I did by using a photograph I took looking up at the trees in our front yard and across the street. There’s a particularly lovely light that we get at a certain time of day when it’s slightly overcast, and I wanted to capture that.  I used Prisma to get ideas for some different effects and I wanted to experiment with a new paint color, so I mixed phthalo green with a lot of white and a little Payne’s Grey and started making vague shapes where leaves would be, using brushes and palette knives.  Once I did that, the painting guided me to where branches would be.  Here’s the work in progress.  The background looks more pink than it actually is because the painting (acrylic on canvas board) was sitting on a red chair when I took the picture.  I may have to do another similar one with a pink background.  Please feel free to comment and/or ask questions.  I love talking about art.

Trees at Twilight update

This is an update from today!

Midwest Winter Sunrise

This was inspired by a stunning photograph by Ohio artist and photographer Shannon Godby.  He was gracious enough to give me permission to use his photograph, although he does a lot of his own paintings from his own photos.  I like the drama of the sky against the stark bare trees.  It was fun to play with those trees.  This is now living at my old friend David Rockhold’s metal art studio.

Western Lake with lavender sky

I just finished this painting for my sister, who suggested I do a painting of this iconic scene in Grayton Beach, Fl.  It’s been one of my most popular scenes and she was feeling a little unhappy that everyone else has a version of this, but she doesn’t have one.   Soon she will!

Islands in the Stream

Sunny day

Title inspired by a novel by Ernest Hemingway, who was my very favorite author when I was in high school.  I like his no-fuss style of writing that still portrays a sense of romance and joie de vivre, although now I find his female characters far less complex than women usually are.  I was playing around with colors for the sky for this painting and it just made me happy.

Grayton Beach

Grayton Beach

Growing up in New Orleans, we spent many holidays, weekends and vacations at the white sand beaches of the Florida panhandle.  When my beloved niece was about three or four, my sister and her then husband bought a house in Grayton Beach, which is one of the loveliest beaches in the U.S.   Those days with Shawn, Andre and the kids were some of the best times in my life.  I miss them, and the blue green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  This painting could be almost anywhere, but Florida will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

The Joshua Tree

Where the road meets the sky

the Joshua tree signed

I painted this for my beloved, who lived in Arizona for 20 years, and still misses the desert.  It is a Joshua Tree as depicted in a photograph I found online, whose creator was not named.

Sunrise on the Marsh

bkgd_sunriseonthemarsh

This is from a photograph sent to me by one of my oldest friends, a New Orleans native who spends every minute he can in the bayous, swamps, marshes and lakes, hunting and fishing.  Because this pastime requires early awakening, he is able to get some of the most beautiful shots of very dramatic times of the day.  Here is my version of it.  It’s now living at his house.  I hope his wife likes it!