"Carter and Daddy" (oil on stretched linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

"Carter and Daddy" is for Jessica.  Carter (yes it is a boy!) was two at his birthday party with the circus theme. I love the affectionate gaze of the father toward his son.

"Reilly" (oil on linen; 8" x 8") sold

sold

Reilly is an 8-year-old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. He loves going on long walks to the park with his Dad, surprisingly adores his veterinarian and is obsessed with chasing balls and carrying around the largest stick he can find. While he is a very energetic 8 year old, he also enjoys spending Sunday's watching football on the couch with the family.

"Mont St-Michel Dreams" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 24")

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The Mont St-Michel is one of Europe’s most unforgettable sights. The staggering location has long inspired awe and the imagination. Scamper, at low tide, across the treacherous mudflats in the Bay of Mont St-Michel in northwestern France. Head for a dramatic abbey reaching to heaven from a rock surrounded by a vast and muddy solitude.

The story of how the mount turned into a great place of Christian pilgrimage is colorful. Aubert, bishop of the nearby hilltop town of Avranches early in the 8th century, claimed that the Archangel Michael himself pressured him into having a church built atop the island just out to sea.

The dukes of Normandy, followed by French kings, supported the development of a major Benedictine abbey on the Mont St-Michel. Magnificent monastic buildings were added through medieval times. The abbey became a renowned centre of learning. Vast numbers of pilgrims visited, despite warring cross-Channel royals.

The sight of the distant silhouette of the Gothic island-abbey Mont St-Michel send tired sightseers spirits soaring today just as it did the spirits of weary pilgrims in centuries past.

"Apple or Pear" (oil on stretched canvas; 8" x 10")

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A red apple and a green pear on a pear-shaped green porcelain plate. Do you prefer the apple or the pear?

"Kelp Forest Wonders" (oil on stretched canvas; 22" x 28")

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The kelp forest is a forest, but not a forest of trees. It is a "forest" of seaweed called giant kelp. Giant kelp grows in cool coastal waters where sunlight can reach a rocky sea floor. From several images, I imagined the wonders of kelp forest, filled with life, including a sea lion, which almost looks like a mermaid. The bubbly sunlight filters down to the rock bed; giant kelp sways with the flow of ocean water; and colorful fish swim in groups. I want to swim with them.

"Detail from Velazquez's 'Juan de Pareja'" (oil on linen; 12" x 9")

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In 1648, as court painter to Philip IV of Spain, Diego Velázquez was sent to Rome to purchase works of art. Velázquez brought with him Juan de Pareja, a slave, who served as an assistant in the artist's workshop. During his stay in Rome, Velázquez executed an oil portrait of Juan de Pareja.

Velázquez painted the portrait of Juan de Pareja, who was of Moorish descent, in his workshop, as an exercise in preparation for his official portrait of Pope Innocent X. The Pope, a ruddy-faced man who would be depicted in the bright pink and crimson robes of his office, presented a tricky study in both color and composition. Additionally, since he would be executing a portrait from life, Velázquez would be forced to work quickly while still capturing the essence of the pope's character.

The "Juan de Pareja" reflects Velázquez's exploration of the difficulties he would encounter in the Pope's portrait. To compensate for a restricted palette of colors, Velázquez adopted a loose, almost impressionistic style of brushwork to bring an intense vitality to his subject. Juan de Pareja (circa 1610 – 1670) became an artist in his own right, and in 1654 he was freed by Velázquez.

The Portrait of Juan de Pareja was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum in 1971. At the time, the purchase price of over $5.5 million set a new record for paintings at auction. (The above information is from Wikipedia.) The hefty price tag tends to blind the viewer's eyes from truly seeing the portrait. During the three-week-long study of its detail of head and shoulders, I was mesmerized by Velazquez's brushstrokes and his penetration of the subject's intelligence.

"Lucky" (oil on stretched canvas; 14" x 11") sold

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"Lucky" is for Ali.  Lucky was a 'sheprador'--Lab and some sort of Shepherd.  He was Ali's mom's best friend.  They got him at a shelter when he was 5 and kept his name.  He had been returned there twice, and was a really sensitive guy.  He was amazingly well behaved, and loved his kitty friends he lived with--chased them, slept with them every day.  Ali's mom called him "McDreamy" because she thought he was the most handsome dog on the planet.  He loved snow and would roll and roll the second he got outside when Chicago got enough.  He died when he was 13.