Snow Bird

Original Watercolor on Paper
9"x11"

This wind and rainy weather is perfect for painting....indoors, that is!

I always feel in the mood to paint when the weather is like this, because that was my childhood "rainy day" activity.

This painting is from my new mini lesson on DVD. Learn to use red, yellow and blue to paint a "Snow Bird". There is live footage, as well as lots of photo references on the video for you to practice what you learn in the lesson.

Click here for more 20 minute lessons on DVD.

Winter Textures

Original Watercolor on Paper
5"x7"

Here's a fun exercise in using counterchange, positive and negative space, values, and texture. Have I left anything out?

Okay, what are you waiting for? Get out your painting stuff and have some fun!

Dream Clouds--Sold

15"x22"
Original Watercolor on Paper

This is from a photo I took in May on our way through the North Cascades Pass. The pass is closed through the winter. Usually, we are within one or two weeks of the spring opening of the pass. It's still very quiet, then, and seems to be dreaming of the winter solitude. Like the dreamlike scenes in a silent movie, the weather changes moment by moment.

First Snow 1

$99.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
71/2"x11"

These two paintings come from memories of cross country skiing. Not too many people are out yet when the first meager snow falls. In the lower elevations, the last of the fall color vibrates in contrast to the cool, bright whiteness. This one is about the melted down quality of the snow a few hours after it first fell.

I enjoyed playing with various wet on wet, lifting and scraping techniques to show the contrast of dry, brittle leaves and soft new snow.

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First Snow 2

$99.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
71/2"x11"

I think it pays to work in a series. Not only is this a good compositional exercise, but when you have more than one possibility, you tend to loosen up and become more creative. I wanted to indicate the beginning of the day with this one.

Can you tell which one was painted first?

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Aceto on Ebay

#99.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
6"x10"

Balsamic vinegar or lemon? Add one of them to your olive oil and you have salad dressing. It was fun to play with "light versus dark" and saturated color versus paler color in the lemon.

Click here to bid

I have been spending quite a lot of my time working on getting my Ebay store up and running. So, I am re-posting this one to keep it on this page. I have 4 items on auction in my new Ebay store and hope this link works. Happy shopping!

Snowy Fireworks

$49.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
5"x7"

Back lit by the crisp winter light, a powdery explosion of pure energy bursts from the shadows!

It's like snowy fireworks!

Blue Snow, Yellow Suit

$49.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
5"x7"

Yaaaayaahhhhh! Only thing more fun than painting it is doing it!

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Red Caps

$99.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
10"x8"


It was a very blustery day today. The seagulls soared effortlessly in the air, there were whitecaps on the water and other elements wore red caps.

Snow Melt

$99.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
8"x10"

A few trees still wear the last shreds of their autumn leaves, the brief snowfall is melting off and the birds are very quiet today.

Snow at Stevens Pass

$208.00
Original Watercolor on Paper
11"x14"

We don't have that much snow here in the NW. So, when it happens, we hardly know what to do with it.

I paralyzed myself yesterday with choices:
First, we woke up to a beautiful "powdered sugar" landscape. I thought I might paint that from the studio windows after running a few errands. Temporarily paralyzed.

On the way home, though, the light on the mountains with their fresh coat of snow was too much to resist. I didn't have my camera with me, so I rushed home to get it, then back down the street for that view........and the light was gone! Paralyzed.

I came out of my grumbling prowl later in the day when big, fat fluffy flakes started to fall and stick! Okay, now, I just have to wait until it thickens up. Paralyzed. No good, it got dark. Paralyzed, again.

Alright, that's it! I shook myself out of snow-induced paralysis, got out my old videos of family trips over Stevens Pass, pushed the "pause" button at a paintable scene and here it is! Daylight, lots of snow and the passion to paint. No problem.

Just one thing: I thought I would solve a blogging problem with images before I published this one. Paralyzed.

So that's why you're seeing yesterday's painting today.