The Wonder of It All

My daughter and I were driving on some Tuscan backroads looking for an obscure historical site during our first visit to Italy. In other words, we were lost. We were in rocky, dry hill country where not much was growing except scrub ground cover. Solitary on a hilltop far from the nearest neighbors was this ruin of an old farmhouse or small villa. The storm building up in the sky behind it exaggerated the abandoned and lonely feeling of the place.

Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 5 x 7 inches. Completed 5-21-2009.

Available $75 (framed).

Monteriggioni is a classic hill village in Tuscany, Italy, near Siena. It is surrounded by beautiful agricultural land. In past centuries farmers would hurry inside the walls of the fortified “castello”, or castle, for protection when the area was threatened with attack. This old arch hangs over the “back door” through the village walls, and frames a spectacular view of the hillside and the valley below. While I was photographing the scenery, an older Italian woman stepped through the doorway for a spring “passeggiata”, or stroll.

Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 6 x 4 inches. Completed 5-8-2009.

Available $75 (framed).

I used to live in the Palouse–wheat-growing country spanning northern Idaho and eastern Washington. The Palouse was all rolling hills and curving feminine shapes. In the spring at dawn, you could hear the earth beginning to thaw and the soil opening up to breathe. To me it sounded like Mother Earth waking up after a long winter sleep. Do you see her in this picture?

Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 4 x 6 inches. Completed 5-6-2009.

Cloonan Collection.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

Just after a misting rain on a chilly spring day, these delicate plum blossoms were too beautiful to pass by. I just had to spend some time appreciating their subtle colors. The tree is mostly an ornamental, though the small plums it will bear are edible.

I returned to acrylic paints instead of pastels for this postcard-size piece because I wanted crisp edges on the center flowers. Though the painting is small, I’ve found it takes nearly as much work to get it right as for a larger painting. I just use smaller brushes.

Original painting. Acrylics on canvasboard, 5 x 7 inches. Completed 6-29-2008.

Private collection.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

More delights from the garden! These cloves are being planted this fall for next year’s harvest. Garlic is an amazing plant, both for flavor and for health effects. If you are interested, I recommend a book called Garlic: Nature’s Original Remedy by Stephen Fulder and John Blackwood. They report not only folklore about garlic as a remedy, but also include scientific studies.

Original painting. Acrylic on canvasboard, 8 x 10 inches. Completed 11-25-2007.

SOLD

Posters, prints and greetings cards with this image can be ordered online.

More wonderful fruit from my neighbor’s trees. This year we canned some of them–plain pears, minted pears, and pear butter. Delicious! Canning makes it easier to eat locally produced food all winter, something I’m trying to do.

Original painting. Acrylic on canvasboard, 8 x 10 inches. Completed 11-04-2007.

Cole-Mann Collection.

Posters, prints and greetings cards with this image can be ordered online.

This is the Peace Arch at the park on the U.S.-Canadian border near Blaine, WA, looking from the U.S. side toward Canada. The engraved words across the top say, “Children of a Common Mother.” The park is the scene of many special peace and justice events, such as the Arlington Northwest exhibit every Memorial Day remembering soldiers who have died in Iraq. It’s a time for recommitting to peace so soldiers everywhere can come home.

Original painting. Acrylic on canvasboard, 18 x 14 inches. Completed 10-12-2007

SOLD — Borgens Collection.

Jack is my tomcat and the official rodent control officer for the farm where I live. In other respects he’s a congenial, gentle soul, very smart and sometimes funny.

Original painting. Acrylic on canvasboard, 8 x 10 inches. Completed 8-31-2007.

Private Collection.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

Years ago my friend Jessica Stone (author of Doggy on Deck and several children’s books) gave me a photo of the falls at Yellowstone National Park that I always thought would make a wonderful subject for painting. Happily I finally got around to working with it. I tried to use a more impressionistic style than my usual realism.

Original painting. Acrylic on canvasboard, 12 x 9 inches. Completed 7-23-2007.

SOLD

I hope this peach looks as delectable as it tasted. Thanks to Nancy Simmerman, my friend and neighbor, for growing this wonderful piece of fruit and sharing it with me.

Original painting. Acrylic on canvasboard, 8 x 10 inches. Completed 8-30-2007.

Simmerman Collection.

Posters, prints and greetings cards with this image can be ordered online.