"Foxgloves" (watercolor; 6" x 4")

click here to buy

"Foxgloves" is another "sketch" that turned out well.  I started out by drawing the florets with aquarelle pencils, then applied watercolor paints.  If there are any errant lines, I just brush over them with clear water, which blurs and softens them.  I am in love with the method which allows me to draw and paint small watercolors loosely without pressure to produce.

"Peter" (oil on stretched canvas; 9" x 12") nfs

nfs

During the campus visit to the University of Minnesota, the alma mater of both of us, last summer, I caught my dear husband at a pensive moment.  I don't know what he is thinking.  He looks melancholy.  Perhaps he is a little sad at the prospect of his baby growing and leaving her nest.  The University of Minnesota is our daughter's first choice; I am happy to report that she is already accepted. 

"Snowdrops" (watercolor and aquarelle pencil; 7" x 5")

click here to buy

Pure white snowdrops blooming in a forlorn winter garden mean only one thing--spring is just around the corner.  No, they are not yet flowering in my garden, but one can still dream about them!

"Smell the Roses" (oil on stretched canvas; 8" x 10") nfs

nfs

 The New Year's resolutions: paint often, paint better and smell the roses!

"Scarlet Heaven" (oil on stretched canvas; 24" x 18")

click here to buy

I started "Scarlet Heaven" before my medical crises in late October and have been working on it on and off.  Happily, it is finally finished!  Can you believe I saw this incredible field of scarlet poppies, stretching for miles, in an island off southeast Sweden?  It was one of the happiest days of my life.  I hope there will be in 2016 many happy days like the day on which I walked with my daughter in the poppy fields in the Swedish sun.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Paired for Life" (watercolor; 5" x 7")

click here to buy

Lately I have been doing a lot of sketches, partly because I've had a low energy level for a while.  I still don't feel well, but I continue making sketches, usually in the evenings, for fun and as compositional studies for future paintings.  I use different paper and material, depending on what the subject calls for.  "Paired for Life" was done in watercolor, started out with a quick line drawing of an aquarelle pencil, which "melts away" in the wash.  The sketch turned out well enough to list on Etsy--loose and fresh!

"Lavender Harmony" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

sold

On a hot summer day, stand in the middle of shimmering purple lavender fields. You will feel heady in a perfumed air.  Speaking of summer, the entire East Coast is experiencing an unseasonably warm weather--in the 60's and 70's.  With the mild temperature and humidity, it feels like Kauai!  A white Christmas is out of the question; there is instead a flash flood warning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!