JOY

Thank you, Matisse, for the inspiration for this gouache and cut-paper collage! :) (I am quite interested in gouache and cut-paper collages these days!)

A PORTRAIT OF A BUILDING: First Church of Christ, Scientist, in NYC

I was delighted to be commissioned to make a portrait of First Church of Christ, Scientist, in New York City (on Central Park West). I do not normally make architectural pictures, so I found this a challenging commission (so much ruler work!), but I’m very happy the church members are pleased with the result! :)

TIM

A commissioned memorial portrait of the incredibly sweet Tim.

You are loved – new set of 8 postcards!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day (or anytime you want to send love), here is a new set of postcards (eight 4”x6” postcards, two each of 4 designs) featuring striped watercolor hearts. (They are $12/set, and you can find them on my online shop here.)

Fort Tryon through the seasons!

I’ve been very interested in gouache lately. I think it is perfect for painting foliage! I love how I can paint opaque layers for the leaves (watercolor was very frustrating in that regard—nothing ever looked dense enough)! Here are some quick scenes of beautiful Fort Tryon Park in Northern Manhattan that I painted over the past year. Hopefully a winter scene will be coming soon!

Acadia National Park!

Two of my favorite things are pine trees and water, which are pretty much everywhere you look in Acadia National Park (and also, lots of moss and lichen—two other favorite things!). This was the view after a really neat hike with my cousin and her family! (Thank you, Cathy!)

Daffodils

I love daffodils in general, but I think my favorites are this kind: pale salmon inside with cream petals. I love these colors! (I am experimenting with gouache here.)

Forsythia

One of my very favorite signs of spring: forsythia. Here is an ink and watercolor picture of forsythia I began a long time ago and finished this past year.

SENDING LOVE!

It is sort of still Valentine Week – and besides, it’s nice to send love every day! – so here are some striped hearts for anyone reading this! :)

F is for Flora!

Here is an F for one of Flopsy’s human companions, baby Flora! These flowers include common blue violets, the state flower of Illinois; syringa, the state flower of Idaho; Vanda Miss Joaquim, the national flower of Singapore (where Flora lives); and plumeria (frangipani), hibiscus, and bougainvillea.

Flopsy!

Here is an ink and watercolor portrait of Flopsy, a very sweet cat in Singapore, in her signature pose.

Sengekontacket Pond

I had never been here before, but all I want to do is paint the salt marshes at Sengekontacket Pond now!

Hydrangea

I have an old issue of Palette Talk magazine that was my grandmother’s with the cover story “Painting an Afghan: An Enjoyable Problem” (“Afghan” in this case being an Afghan hound), and I found myself thinking while painting these hydrangea, “Painting Hydrangea: An Enjoyable Problem.” Or perhaps, “Painting Hydrangea: Hard Fun.” I tried a couple different approaches on sheets of paper before I painted this in my sketchbook. (Usually I just paint in my sketchbook, but I wanted to try out some new watercolor paper – perhaps the large paper was intimidating? I’m not sure, but I was having a tough time until I started painting in my sketchbook!)

A Sliver of Lake George

I had about three hours to paint again at Lake George, and I love the combination of the water, leaves, and sky, so I thought a vertical picture would let me paint (at least a little) of all the elements that combined to make this view special.

Lake George

I had been wanting to go to Lake George ever since I happened upon a photo of it in a textbook I was proofreading years ago. I didn’t know much about it, though, or realize just how big it is (about 32 miles long!). One of my favorite things to do (yet something I seem to do rather infrequently) is to sit outside and paint in one of two of my little sketchbooks (one is small, and the other is very small), and Lake George is a perfect place for this. I especially love to paint water! Painting outside really fills me with joy – I try to capture the feeling of a place. This is how Lake George felt to me.

Sweet Gus

Here’s a watercolor and ink memorial portrait of my cousin Mary’s beloved Gus, a rescue dog who was such a sweetheart. I really wanted to capture his sweetness in this portrait.

Spring buds!

The first shoots of spring (painted near Wave Hill’s parking lot)

A for Alex!

This letter pictures for Baby Alex features woodland animals as well as his beloved Teacup, an adopted Belgian Malinois!

Paperwhites!

A little painted paper collage of my favorite flowers of January!