Winter Ice

Driving to McHenry MD this morning to go to the gym (Community Aquatic Recreation Center) to work out, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the area.   There had been a freezing rain last night which coated the trees in higher elevations with ice.  It was foggy and white and icey and beautiful .    After working out I went home, grabbed my camera and took some photos.   This is of the farm that neighbors ours where Sam and Ellen Housely live.

January in Bittinger

It has been a strange winter in Bittinger MD.   We have had less than 24 inches of snow, lots of rain and some really lovely "spring" like days.   I have been managing to get to the studio almost every day, though I have to confess I haven't done any "significant" work.    I just play around in the studio with paints and stuff and generally have fun.  A few pieces have worked and many have been cut up into cards.    I do like this one, tho.  I don't often use purple, but this time it seemed to work pretty well.

Post Holidays

The holidays are over and it is back to resuming "normal" life.   We had a good snowfall in Garrett County Maryland on Tuesday which kept kids home from school and made the WISP ski resort happy. ( We got about 12 inches at our house. )  I love snow days because I can go to the studio and work uninterrupted.
I didn't do much painting over the holidays, 
 it is my goal was to loosen up and get used to putting pigment on paper.  These pieces are so much fun to do.

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".