Rooms for Rent

Rooms for Rent
8x6 oil on panel
This is from a photo taken many years ago when my business partner and I were at a painters gathering for several days. We took a walk  in the alleys of the small town and this popped out so much we took photos. In my head I think about what happened to the business, what people stayed there and how did it end up in rack and ruin.
The fun of this was doing it in two colors plus white which turned out to be a close match to the original colors.  Transparent red oxide, ultramarine blue .
Perhaps this will bring some interesting scenerios to mind or even conjure up a story.

Pretty in Purple

                                       Pretty in Purple oil on linen panel 12x12
Lilacs are always nostalgic for me to paint. I remember them from the farm where I was born and how proud my Mother was because she had the deep dark purple that were more unusual than the usual medium colored violets. Now , many years later on the farmstead where my husband grew up and we have made our home, the lilacs his Mother planted so many years ago still bloom each spring. They seem to bring a connection to the seasons of my life. The fragrance fills the room and when I put them on the altar in our small country church it is a reminder of the many years these have been placed there by many generations.  Perhaps others will have memories of these well known blooms.

Old Mill

Old Mill oil 6x6 on  linen panel

This old mill reminds me of the many years I was curator of our county museum and we would go to a historic mill not far from here, the water driven mill had been converted to being run by an antique steam engine, it was always hot and sticky our and since the flour was ground by huge millstones at the end of the day, the stones had to be lifted and cleaned, no small job since they weighed hundreds of pounds each.  This job was made more difficult by the fact we dressed in period costumes , petticots and skirts , bonnets and high button shoes.  Met many interesting people and of course became very sympathetic with our ancestors who did this to provide flour for themselves and the community.   I can hear the water trickling by  and on a hot day it was an especially soothing sound.

Geraniums before window box

I snapped this just as I was about to plant them in the window box, this is a painting that just fell together and is a reminder that there is always good with the bad.( the weather has been the bad)

Summer Geraniums

                                          Summer Geraniums 6 x 8 oil on linen panel
These geraniums are the bright spot in my window planters, everything in the yard and garden is standing in water from way too much rain, much is rotting and it is hard to watch beautiful perenials die because of the excess water but my window boxes are glorious and I just had to paint this. I will publish the photo I worked from in my next blog, see if you can see the composition I saw.

Pretty and Proud in White

Pretty and Proud in White 11 x 14 oil on panel
These chickens were commissioned by a man that had wonderful childhood memories of the chickens on his Grandparent's farm. He remembered the red building on the farm and I am fortunate in having the old barnwood from a hundred year old building on our farm which my husband made into a frame for it.It is wonderful to be able to fulfill a request that brings such pleasurabe memories to it's owner. This was one of those paintings that just flowed from my brush as it came to life. The pleasure was in the doing.

A Little Long in the Horns

A Little Long in the Horns  11x14 oil on canvas panel
This is a recent painting commissioned by a local farmer who keeps cattle as well. This particular animal captured his attention because of her markings and long beautifully shaped horns. I loved her pink nose and her long eyelashes. Seems there is beauty everywhere if we just look.