Arizona

One of the places I love to visit in the Scottsdale area is the Soleri bell shop.   The work of Palo Soleri is beautiful and fascinating.    It is a lovely setting with bells hanging everywhere.   The large elaborate bells are really beautiful.   I can never resist buying a small one to hang on the West side of our house.   Those bells ring and tell us when there is a shift in the weather.   They have sounded so pretty these past few days.

The Desert Botanical Garden is beautiful. I love the colors of this cactus

 Winter is here, the holidays are ending and I am back in my studio on a daily basis.   I am always curious to see what I will produce in these winter months.  Frankly right now I don't have a clue, but I know I will be out there a lot and who knows what I will end up doing.      Stay tuned. . . . .
Happy 2012!!!

Cactus in December

Last week Alan and I were in Scottsdale Arizona.    He attended a conference and I got to spend 3 days playing in the desert.   I love that part of the country and am always fascinated by the cactus plants and the topography of the land.   Coincidentally a friend had recently commissioned me reproduce a painting that I had done 7 or 8 years ago.   She loves the cactus painting and is going to give it as a gift.   Obviously I am "into" the cactus idea.   This is the cactus painting I did for my friend.     Not terribly Christmasy, but
it was lots of fun to paint it.

Kitchen Show

The Garrett County Arts Council has an interesting show in the Backroom Gallery.   The show features kitchen gifts for the holiday season.    There are all kinds of neat kitchen pieces available such as toast tongs, salad bowls, cutting boards, rolling pins, wine holders and more.   On the walls of the Backroom Gallery are paintings with a kitchen theme.   There are paintings of fruits, vegetables, kitchen tables and chairs, etc.
This is a really nice theme show that is a great place to shop for the person on your list who likes to cook.
The show will be up through the holiday season at The Gallery Shop at 206 E Alder Street in Oakland

Recent Painting

I have not had a lot of opportunity to be in the studio these past weeks.    I had knee surgery on Oct. 24 (repair a torn meniscus in my right knee).   That laid me up a bit.   Then we got into the Thanksgiving adventure of family.   Just before the surgery I pulled out a photo that I got in Seattle in September.
It was fun to paint these tulips "loosely".