Throw Pillows for Your Room

click here to order throw pillows

click here to order throw pillows

The above two paintings have been sold, to the satisfaction of both my collectors and myself. They remain two of my favorite paintings, full of energy and light.  Now they are available as throw pillows!  Isn't it awesome?  

Designs are printed on both sizes; three square sizes are available (16", 18", and 20"); the material is soft yet hard wearing 100% spun polyester poplin fabric; and concealed zipper is along one edge for aesthetic wonderment and convenience.

I am very excited about the whole idea of making my art more accessible to my fans and followers.  Greeting cards and calendars are also in the works!  

"Dolphin Dance" (watercolor on paper; 4.5" x 6.5") sold

sold

A couple of bottlenose dolphins play in the ocean, jumping and splashing.  What a fun pair!  By the way, I didn't use any masking fluid to preserve white spots in the splashing water.  That's me, a daredevil!

"Baby Zebra" (watercolor on paper; 6.5" x 4.5") sold

sold

I have been having lots of fun lately, working on small watercolor paintings, about the size of greeting cards.  The format forces me to come up with the images that are simple, yet powerful.  How about this baby zebra glowing in the setting sun?  His black and white stripes have turned into rainbow colors!

"Lone Duck" (watercolor on paper; 6.5" x 4.5") sold

"Duck Pond"
sold

"Lone Duck" sold

 

 

"Duck Pond" (watercolor on paper; 6.5" x 4.5") sold

sold

These days I feel like painting watercolors.  The desire came upon me suddenly and I can't shake it off.  So I turned the kitchen table into my temporary studio to my husband's inconvenience!  I have already taken over the dining room; the living room is on the way to becoming my studio space as well.  I guess that's the price a guy has to pay for living with a creative person.  He he.

How do you like my small watercolor painting above?  Who says that a painting has to be large to have an impact?  A pair of ducks glide on a dark, lush surface of a pond.  I've said what I had to say in small format.  Sometimes less is more!

"Red Zinnea II" (watercolor on Yupo; 8" x 10 1/2") sold

sold

I just started laying down paints on the line drawing for "Red Zinnea"; how do you like my mini, full-palette palette?

"Red Zinnea" in progress; it's almost time to paint the "air" and that is when all hell breaks loose!

Recently I sold "Red Zinnea" (see below) on Etsy.  On the day she received the painting in the mail, the buyer contacted me requesting if I could paint a little larger version for her mother who also loves zinneas.  How could I resist such a sweet request!  So the deal was made and she duly placed a commission order on Etsy.  Do you know what she did while she had a credit card out?  She bought another Yupo painting!  She told me that she couldn't help herself!

"Red Zinnea" (watercolor on Yupo, 6" x 8"; sold)

"Poppy Dreams" (watercolor on Yupo, 6" x 8"; sold)

"Ba Ba Sheep" (watercolor; 5" x 7")

click here to buy

Creativity begets creativity.  The other day, I was painting a couple of greeting cards for my Facebook fans.  One thing led to another.  By the time I was finished, I had two charming, small watercolors that I could list on Etsy!  I am particularly proud of this sheep painting with the "Ba Ba Ba" lettering.  So adorable!  Perhaps I should start a line of greeting cards!

"Blue Eyes" (oil on linen; 7" x 7") sold

sold

This gorgeous white cat with extraordinary blue eyes makes me understand why the Ancient Egyptians were nuts about cats.  The cat belongs on a pharaoh's lap!

"Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 18") sold

sold

Then

It is with a great pleasure that I am sharing the new, better "Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden". Can you believe how much improved I am as a painter?  It is the same, yet totally different painting.  In understanding of color temperatures, the color-mixing ability, and confident brush strokes, it might as well be done by a different artist.

By the way, the painting shows the rose garden at the eastern end of the Smithsonian Castle on The Mall in Washington, DC.  If you visit the garden at the right time of the year, you will be enveloped in the thick perfume of roses in full bloom.  I am planning on visiting it next week!

"Regis" (oil on linen; 7" x 5") sold

sold

"Regis" is for Lauren, who commissioned me to paint it for her sister Bonnie's birthday.  After Regis passed away recently, the heartbroken Bonnie sent out a long, touching eulogy to her family. It tells all the good, bad, and houndy things about him.  Lauren apologized for the length (!) and, as she warned me, I did indeed learn much about his affectionate and stubborn nature.  Thank you, Lauren.  

Regis was advertised by the animal shelter as an Airedale, but the only thing about him remotely close to that breed was his whiskers.  He was named after the co-host of the TV show, "Regis and Kelly", which Bonnie watched every morning with her husband.  Regis joined them after his adoption, sharing her cereal.

Regis loved taking walks around the neighborhood and meeting and playing with all sorts of humans and doggy friends.  I got to meet the neighbors and their dogs through her eulogy. What a wonderful way to remember one's deceased pet and his human and doggy friends who had been kind to him!  

I will share just one of the many anecdotes Bonnie tells in her eulogy.  Not long after the adoption, she lost him one evening in a thunder storm.  Regis was petrified of thunder and would run around the house looking for a safe place to hide.  When she let him out to relieve himself, he took off at breakneck speed.  Bonnie and her husband looked for him all night.  In the end, they gave up and prayed that he would find his way home, which he did!  The soaking wet, filthy mass returned to them, begging them to take him back in.  They did after hosing him down with a garden hose.  They hated doing it, but that was his punishment for running away and returning a filthy mass.  Regis never ran away again.

I hope my painting gives some comfort to Bonnie and her family.

"Passionate Lilies" (oil on stretched canvas; 8" x 8" x 3")

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"Passionate Lilies" viewed from the left side

"Passionate Lilies" viewed from the right side

"Passionate Lilies" viewed from the top side

Have you ever seen more passionate lilies than mine before?  Very tropical!  Doesn't the painting remind you of Paul Gauguin's Tahiti paintings!  These days I am having so much fun with deep stretched canvases.  This small painting continues to the 3-inch-wide edges, so its impact literally goes beyond its 8" x 8" size.

The painting pulsates with heat and passion.  The jewel-like colors made a friend of mine call the painting a jewelry box.  What I am particularly proud about the painting is that I had the photo reference for the front part only.  So I had to make up the sides!

Weekly Original Watercolor Greeting Card Giveaway!

I am giving away this lovely card this week!

A new month and a new adventure!  I am going to give away an original watercolor greeting card every week!  A lucky Facebook fan will receive the above card with my hand-written message this week.

How to win my frameable card?  First like my Facebook page.  Then, share my posts generously during the week.  Invite your friends to like my page too.  I will announce the winner next Sunday morning on my Facebook page.  Good luck and thank you for playing!

"Sail into the Sunset" (oil on stretched canvas; 24" x 24" x 2 1/4") sold

Collage of "Sail into the Sunset" (12" x 12" on the left; 24" x 24" on the right, sold)

I may be onto something big with my new pointillist style.  A collector saw the painting on the left on my Etsy shop and contacted me to ask if I could paint a larger version.  Of course, I could.  She asked for more reds and dark blues.  No problem.  The deal was made within a few hours and I sold the largest and highest-priced painting ever on my Etsy shop that day!

I showed the pictures of the almost finished painting to Janet yesterday.  She loved it!  The painting is going to be a surprise present for her husband who loves Hawaii.  Everybody is happy.  Ah, I love my job.

"Sail into the Sunset" viewed from the left

"Sail into the Sunset" viewed from the right