This my husband, Pat with our granddaughter in Aspen at Christmas in 2004.

This photo was taken a few days before I turned 50 years old in 2005. I was so innocent. It would be less than a month before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt fantastic, ready to face the next decade. I would be blindsided. Here is Ava. She is my precious granddaughter, three years old here.

Watercolor Skunk Cabbages

I did a series of watercolor paintings based on skunk cabbages. It is the first wild flower that blooms here in spring. It is the true harbinger. The newly awakened black bears love them and eat them down to the nub. This is a mature flower.

This is an early skunk cabbage, before the bloom. The leaves are lush. This was the culmination of my series, a look into the depth of the plant.

This is a photo of my home for the last 17 years. We used to live on her year round, but the last two years my husband and I have been living the easy life on land in my studio during the coldest months of the winter. Her name is Island Belle.

Pears

This oil was painted in 2006 and shows how focused I have become on brilliant color. I especially feel drawn to the color red. Red gives me a happy...strong feeling. The title of the painting is "Red Pear."

This was painted as a card for my good friend, Pia. It illustrates the sweetness of watercolor. Simple shapes, lots of water and letting the paint do its own thing.
While this doesn't look like it, this is also watercolor. It was painted right before I moved to oil. I was taking watercolor paint right out of the tube and putting it on the canvas. I do love primary colors and this painting is called "Primary Pears".

These were a fun group of pears that I painted soon after I moved to oils. It is called "Stacked Pears". I concentrated on the negative space, really enjoying how the oils allowed me to be sculptural.

This was one of my first pears and one of my favorites. It is watercolor with a tape resist isn the background. The resist lets the light play on the pear.

I painted this right after my trip to Santa Fe. It is my O'Keefe pears. I was so impressed with the quality and quantity of the art I saw in New Mexico. And I see how the artists there are influenced by the colors.

I love painting pears. As you see I have painted them over and over and in every way.

Pet Portraits in Watercolor

Mallard Express...this is a painting of my dog Roxy doing what she loved most.

Lola, my sisters lovable golden retriever, on the beach in Oakura.

Hunter, the beloved dog of a painter friend. Idgie, a true Alaskan.

Chyna looking at a skunk cabbage....shows her size.
Max a gorgeous, languid cat.

Here are a couple of paintings I did for our local Heart Art show that will be displayed a few days before Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Night
Cupid Hiding

Had to share this photo I took on a couple of mornings ago from my studio. The water is Frederick Sound and the mountains are the Coast Range.

The first painting is "Devil's Thumb", an amazing peak that challenges some of the best climbers in the world that I can see out of the window of my studio. It is inspiring.


The sweet female German Shepard is "Sage". I donated his portrait as a premium for our local public radio station, KFSK Petersburg. You can get on their website and hear our small town local news and see our generally wet weather.

















This third painting is my brother in law on his farm in New Zealand "Shifting Sheep". All three of these painting were done in 2004 when I first changed from watercolor to oil.