New Painting, New Print

"A New Day", oil, 30x40, $4800. Treeline Gallery
Also now a giclee print - see my website for details

This oil painting will be the centerpiece of my new work being featured this season at Treeline Gallery.  I look forward to hanging this new collection of paintings around mid-May. 

Daffodils are Spring

Two Daffodils, oil, 6x6

Daffodils and Pansies II, oil, 6x6

The daffodils are just arriving despite the unusually cold spring weather we have here in Michigan. I did a few small daffodil paintings this weekend to help cheer me up when they were predicting snow. When it did snow yesterday, I did several more daffodil paintings, this time with pansies, which always perk me up, they look so cheerful. My Grandmother's favorite flower.

Daffodils in a Bottle, oil, 8x6, Grand Gallery

Daffodils and Pansies, oil, 8x6 Grand Gallery

I hope these paintings cheer you up!

Spirit Springs Paintout

"Spirit Springs", oil on linen panel, 9x12

I did this painting with the PAAWM paint out at the Spirit Springs Conservancy near Marcellus, MI. last week Saturday. The day was pleasant, and I was happy that the sun stayed behind the clouds until I was finished. This place was lovely. The subject seemed like a still life just waiting to be painted!

Frames make a difference

Strawberries and Cream, oil, 6x6, $300. Button-Petter Gallery

Petite Peppers, oil, 6x6, $300. Button-Petter Gallery

Yellow Rose, oil, 6x6, $300. Button-Petter Gallery

As promised, here are the new miniature still lifes in their frames.  Almost always the right frames make a big difference  in a work of art.  These frames are floater frames, allowing the whole image to be seen, not covered by the lip of the frame. These types of frames are used with mediums like oils. Since these small paintings are painted on Ampersand Gesso board, the edges are cleanly finished which make a nice presentation. It is not easy choosing the right frame for a painting!

Six Inch Squared Still Lifes

"Petite Peppers", oil, 6x6, $300. with black floater frame

"Yellow Rose", oil, 6x6, $300. framed in dark gold floater frame

I have been enjoying working from life on these drab Spring days by painting lovely little still lifes. It often takes just as much thought in setting up a still life as it does painting it. I like to place the objects in my north window for a constant cool light source, so that means I must plan my painting time during daylight hours! I am placing two of them in beautiful black Larson-Juhl floater frames as shown in the framed picture. When the others are framed and photographed, I will show what they look like in their frames as well. I think the result is stunning. You can see these three paintings at the April 17 Button-Petter Gallery opening.

"Strawberries and Cream", oil, 6x6, $300.

Along Michgan's Coast

"White Pine and Dunes", oil, 16x12, $950.

"Morning Mist - Dunes", pastel, 9x12, $525.

"Oval Beach - Autumn", pastel, 9x12, $525.

The Michigan shoreline has many moods and is beautiful in any season! These two pastels are of Oval Beach in Douglas, MI and the oil is north of Muskegon, though it could be anywhere along the coastline.
These paintings will be among the new work featured in the Button-Petter Gallery's opening exhibit on April 17. The artist reception is from 1-5pm.

April Showers

"Beach Time", pastel, 9x12, $525.

For lack of a better title, I always think of April as the month of "April showers, bring May flowers". I think of April as a month of "hope", as I am primarily a plein air painter waiting for May blossoms and a gardener waiting to play in the dirt. So while I am waiting, I seem to be having a marathon of studio painting, which is a good thing considering the upcoming seasonal Gallery openings. After all the painting, I need to photograph the work, which I did today, varnish the oils and then frame.
Featured in the post is new work for the Button-Petter Gallery show, opening April 17, with a champagne artist reception from 1-5pm.

"Morning Breeze", oil on linen, 24x36, $3200.

Upcoming posts will feature more work for this show, new still lifes, and paintings of Leelanau for Treeline Gallery.