"Salsa Verde" oil on hardboard 8x8" $176

Oh to have better photography skills.  I'm so please with this painting but the image here just doesn't show it off. 
Originally I stuffed these peppers in a square glass container to use as still life.  Then I began cutting them up to pickle and this is what developed.  Sometimes the most random things grab our attention.

"Just Hit Snooze" oil on canvas 20x30" $800

Not sure yet but I think this may be the first of a series of really giant fruits and vegetables. 

"Stand Your Ground" oil on hardboard 8x8" $176

Does he not look like the boss of his own world?  maybe the ENTIRE world.

"King of His Wild" oil on hardboard 8x8" $176

"Tee Box #1...and the Battle Begins" oil on canvas 20x30" $1,600

Wow! paint is amazing.  Don't you think this looks like watercolor?  Nope.  Oil.  If somone had said "paint this with oil but in a watercolor manner" I would have shrugged and walked away.  In real life it's obvious it's oil but I'm still tripping a bit over how this appears.

"Minky Sue" oil on hardboard 8x8" $176

If this doesn't melt your heart there's something wrong with you!

"Eddie" oil on hardboard 8x8" $176

Eddie is a little rescue dog and one of the most delightful pups I've been around. 

"Salsa Anyone?" oil on hardboard 6x6" $99

This is what you do with an avocado that is rock hard and will never be culinary magic.  I must admit, even though it spoiled my salad by its absence the color was tantalizing for painting.

"Storm's a Brewin" oil on hardboard 8x8" $176

"Sweep" oil on hardboard 6x6" $99

"Hypnotic" oil on hardboard 12x12" $396

"Star Power" oil on hardboard 5x7" $99

This is such a pathetic image!  I've tried 3 cameras.  Anyone think it might just be the photographer?  This little dude has so much personality and the painting was really fun to do.

"Joined at the Hip" oil on hardboard 6x6" $99

I've been doing some experimenting with portraits and figures.  It wasn't going so well.  The flowers allowed me to relax a little. 

"Secrets" oil on hardboard 12x12" $396

This model has the most unusual proportions to her face.  It makes you have to fight everything you've learned.  Sophia Loren has a face like that.  Nothing matches the "norm" but it all works.

"Spring Green" oil on hardboard 6x6" $99

Okay!  I admit it.  I'm ready for a bit of season change.  I'd can't say "I'd LIKE to get in the garden" because I prefer the studio.  However, I NEED to get in the garden.  So far we have 2 garden tours, one wedding and a party planned here this summer.  Cnn't afford to let it get too far away from us.

"Seeking the Future" oil on hardlbard 12x12" $396

I think this model is marvelous.  Such a petulant look about her.  You should probably be prepared to see more of her.  Maybe literally.  It's so hard to identify that little thing that makes the difference between an okay model and a really good one.  I think it's in the way they use their eyes.

"Isolation" oil on hardboard 12x12" $396

"A Moments Hesitation" oil on hardboard 12x12" $396

A funny thing happened on the way to the next blue poppy painting.  It was this.  My husband calls them my "pop ups".  Something crawls into my brain and I just can't help but respond.  Portrait and figure has always been my favorite thing to attack.  It doesn't always fit into the flow of things.  That said, you'll certainly be subjected to more soon.  It's funny how many similarities are to be found when you go from flowers to people to pets.  It really does seem like different approaches to portait work.

"Awaken" oil on hardboard 12x12" $396

I can't remember what this plant is.  I as on the scout for the blue poppies at the Rhododendron Species Foundation when this caught my eye.  There is so much magic in nature.

"Siblings" oil on hardboard 12x12" $396

Do you think this thing with the flowers means I'm ready for spring?  Spring seems like that double edged sword; full of beauty and HARD WORK.    Have you ever asked yourself "if I could afford a full time gardener, would I have one?"  That feels like having a fancy interior decorator furnish your house.  It's sreally THEIR house, you just pay for it and live in it.  Nice to look at but no soul.