Snowy Branches

"Snowy Branches in Sunlight #1"   8" x 8"   $200 Framed

We're counting down to Christmas here. Hard to believe it's only one week away! I'm painting a few snowy scenes while winter feels festive. They're predicting snow in Seattle tonight, so we'll see what happens next!

I had some rare photos of my garden from a couple years ago when we had snow and sunshine. I've zoomed in and painted just  tiny sections of the branches.

I love the contrast of the blue and white! It proved to be quite a challenge for me to keep the color simple. I kept trying to add more color even where it was clearly not needed. It's also quite interesting to try to get that perfect sky-blue. There doesn't seem to be any particular single blue watercolor paint that really captures the right color. My blues here are a combination of cobalt and manganese. It's been so dark and dreary here, that just looking at the sky blue color seems to improve my mood.

Thank you to each one of you for all your kindness and support during this past year! Your wonderful encouragement is what keeps me painting!
Merry Christmas to you and all the ones you love!

"Snowy Branches in Sunlight #2"   8" x 8"   $200 Framed

Umbrella Forest

"Umbrella Forest"   18" x 21"   $650 Framed

A few years ago, our family visited the gardens at Tatton Park in England. (To see another painting I did from our visit to Tatton Park click here.) The plant shown in this painting is a Gunnera. These leaves really do get that big! This one is particularly happy, growing on the edge of pond.

It was a very rainy day. The Gunnera leaves made wonderful umbrellas! Hiding among the huge leaves, we were all the size of fairies in the garden! My children were especially delighted!

Yes, I know. This is an odd painting. I keep wondering why I can't just paint some nice roses or something. This is just another one of my favorite sort of images where the plants and trees create special places and you are completely immersed in the garden.

This painting was a real challenge with the leaves reflecting light from their surfaces and still showing light through underneath. There also is a certain tension between the figures and the leaves. The painting is about the leaves, and the figures are just there to give you scale, but the human brain wants so much to give the figures all of it's attention. (I guess we're wired that way.) I hope I've resolved the balance in the end and I hope you enjoy being immersed in the umbrella forest as much as we did!