Amy

9x12

oil on linen canvas

Amy.  Spunky.  Fun.  Competitive.  Rapped with her father.  Loved squishy hugs from her mother.  Joyful.  Brave.  Beautiful.

Ran into the arms of God Who Made Her with a nudge from brain cancer.  

Her mother and I grew up together.  I started painting 3 months after Amy died and ever since I have hoped that someday I might be able to paint her portrait.  

Anniversary Commission

Oil on canvas

12x12

50 years!!  This adorable couple recently celebrated 50 years of joy in their relationship.  This was painted from a small snapshot taken while they were dating and has so much charm!  The bow, the flip of hair, the coke bottle, the Munsingwear polo.  And the smiles on their faces!  This was a delight to paint.  Sweet gift from their daughter.  

Bleak Midwinter

9x12

Oil on canvas board

Merry Christmas 2016!!

In the bleak midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Malakoff

Oil on linen canvas

11x14

My mother-in-law grew up in this home in Malakoff, Texas.  It was built in the 1880's and added onto in 1920 when she was 2 years old by Uncle Ireanus.  I painted it as a commission for my husband's cousin who still lives there so he could give it to his daughter.   The pecan tree in the front still produces loads of tiny, sweet East Texas pecans.  

Lumberjack

30x40

oil on canvas

Lumberjack.  A big ole longhorn bull.  One of my few larger paintings - painted for my husband to hang over his desk.  Palette knife and brush.  

Coneflower

6x6

Encaustic Wax on Cradled Board

More fun at The Encaustic Center in Richardson.  I've always loved coneflowers, but never been very good at growing them!  

Nothing Hidden

oil on linen canvas

11x14

Reworked this painting and am much happier with it.  God paints the skies with such freedom and joy.  Putting them on canvas is more of a challenge!!

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak;

night after night they make him known.

They speak without a sound or word;

their voice is never heard.

Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,

and their words to all the world

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.

It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.

The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end.

Nothing can hide from its heat."

Psalms 19:1-6

Bursts Forth

oil on canvas panel

9x12

This bright scene was developed from one of the beautiful sunsets we saw in New England this past summer.   God at play - all day long - just because.

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak;

night after night they make him known.

They speak without a sound or word;

their voice is never heard.

Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,

and their words to all the world

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.

It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.

The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end.

Nothing can hide from its heat."

Silent Speech

Oil on linen canvas

9x12

This sky is a bit quieter than the others recently painted.   I wasn't happy with this painting earlier, so I worked on it some more.  Still a quiet, early morning painting, but I like it much more.  

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak;

night after night they make him known.

They speak without a sound or word;

their voice is never heard.

Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,

and their words to all the world

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.

It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.

The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end.

Nothing can hide from its heat."

Portrait in Bluebonnets

12x16

Oil on Canvas

Just finished this commissioned cutie for an anniversary gift.  

Tree on LBJ Ranch

Oil on canvas

18x24

This stately live oak is a commissioned portrait of a tree seen at the LBJ Ranch in Texas.  

Blue Winter

oil on canvas panel

9x12

I read an article about painting with analogous (next to each other on the color wheel) colors and remembering this picture I took in the Tetons I thought I would try it.  It requires even more attention to working with values and warm and cool colors within the same range.  Makes for a very chilly painting!

Adeline!

16x20

oil on canvas

Granddaughter number 3 who loves to dance and twirl!!

Portrait drawing class

I took an online portrait drawing class to learn some of the standards of portrait drawing.  These are a couple of my assignments.  Self portrait and a man from whom I bought a painting on the streets of Paris.  

Tiny Apple

6x6

oil on canvas

Since I've been working with hot wax, I thought I'd try one with cold wax!  

This tiny apple was seen in Vancouver, Canada.  

Looking Up

6x6 

Encaustic wax with oils on cradled board

Back into the Encaustic Center for this small piece!

Encaustic Portrait Workshop

12x16

oil and wax medium on board

Just spent the last 3 days in an Encaustics Portrait workshop at The Encaustic Center with artists Lori Murphy and Bonny Leibowitz.  It was so much fun not only working with portraits but with a new medium that includes using a torch and an iron!  Very addictive!  These are the results of three very intense days of work.  

Roadside Oak

Roadside Oak

18x24

Oil on canvas

All those oak tress you see along the road in the Texas Hill Country!  I just love them, their shapes and colors and age.  They are often alone in a field - the stories they could tell of Texas history. Anyway, this one was a lot of fun to play with the layers of colors and use a palette knife for texture (and because I always feel playful with a palette knife).  

Barn

11x14

oil on canvas

I loved how the sun was exploding off of this barn along with the shadows from the trees surrounding it.  

Village

9x12

Oil on canvas

I've always wanted to try a painting using blocks of color.  This was an interesting study.  Not so sure how well I pulled it off, but I enjoyed using the brighter colors and working on a more pared down composition.  

Moonlit Garden

 8x10

Oil on canvas board

Sometimes when I finish working on a painting for the day I will have some extra paint.  If there is enough left I will freeze it for use later, but if not, I just scrape it onto a canvas.  After layers and layers of leftovers this painting developed!  

High Meadow

High Meadow

11x14

oil on canvas

I have always loved this meadow in Yellowstone National Park.  It seems so peaceful and quiet (and wet!).  I enjoyed working on that aspect as well as continuing to develop my skills in painting distance.  

Montana landscape

9x12

oil on canvas

Another scene from beautiful Montana in the fall.  Nature has so much character!

Continuing to play with distance and looser strokes and bigger brushes.  

Montana Stand

Montana Stand

11x14

oil on canvas

Having fun working on some landscapes from places I have visited and have happy memories with friends.  This one was on a fishing/hunting trip in Montana.  While others were shooting pheasant, I was shooting this!  Been playing with distances, the last one I painted was far distance and this one sits in front of hills of trees.  Fun with values.

Teton Marsh

Teton Marsh

6x12

oil on canvas

I had this small and different canvas that I wanted to try out with a landscape with lots of depth.  Took this shot during a visit to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.  Lots of marsh looking toward Lake Jackson and the mountain range on a typically grayish day.  

Lost Maple

Lost Maple

oil on canvas

9x12

Fall color from the beautiful Lost Maples State Park in Texas.  Sometimes I like to loosen up by just using a palate knife with lots of colors.  

Dotty!

Dotty!

oil on canvas

9x12

My brother (Scooter Smith, the artist) gave me some new paints for Christmas.  So, of course, I had to paint something with them.  Dotty is their sweet dog who enjoys pleasing the crowd in the neighborhood 4th of July parades.  

Offering

Offering

Oil on canvas

16x20

A portrait of humble prayer - this woman at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem buries her face in her prayer book as she rocks and prays.