Cake for Evan

Here is my attempt at a new medium - cake. My son just turned 5 years old and this is the spiderman cake I made for him. He seemed very impressed, even though he did not eat any. He is a very finicky eater although he seems to be branching out just a little bit lately.

On Top

I want to thank Catherine Jeffrey for giving me the Bella Sinclair award. The award is for friendship, sisterhood, caring and sharing. I am going to pass this award on to six others that have either encouraged or inspired me through their kind comments or amazing work. Being that this is award is for sisterhood I am not sure if I am breaking protocol here, but two of the artists I have chosen are men - so shhh! in case I get in trouble.

1. Edward Burton (Edward was the first follower on my blog)

2. Aaron Lifferth

3. Martha Marshall (Martha inspired me with a great article on how to get a body of work and with very kind words of encouragement)

4. Barbara Muir

5. Karen Appleton

6. Halima Washington

For Sydney

This is a commissioned piece for my 5 year old niece (well turning 5 going on 16). She has been on my blog with her Mom and she requested a painting of pink lipsticks for her birthday. I hope there is enough pink in there for her - I am sure she will let me know if there is not. LOL

Friends

Cone Flower

The first cone flower to bloom in my garden. Looks like there are lots more just getting ready, although it seems they bloomed earlier last year.

The Ringbearer

I did this painting from a photo I took of my son a few weeks ago. What I learned:

- 6 x 6 inches is tiny when it comes to painting figures

- Painting using a photo reference is way different than painting from life

- I am more comfortable painting from life

- It is good to go outside your comfort zone

Necklace For Mary

This is a painting of the necklace I gave my friend Mary who is getting married at the end of August. I bought the necklace (and matching earrings) from a fantastic artist here in Burlington. Her name is Amy Kovach. Please take the time to check out her website, her work is really great.

Lemon In My Tea Please

I'm done, at least I am ready to move on to the next painting.

Finished ?

I have been working on this piece for the last few days, not sure yet if I am quite finished with it. I was only able to work at it in short snippets. I think that is why I am still undecided with it yet - one more painting session on it I guess.

Pink Chocolate - SOLD

I will have to try and photograph this painting again. The background is more white than this shows. I took the picture outside, in the shade. If anyone has any tips to make my photos better I would love to hear them - I am a novice. ( note : I have replaced the photo with the cast removed - thanks for your help Barbara)

South African Flowers

This painting is for some friends who are getting married this weekend. The flower arrangement was a centre piece at their rehearsal dinner the other night. There is more detail in the flowers than the photo shows. This painting was a real lesson for me in squinting and simplifying. I kept getting caught up in the details in the flowers. I am pleased with how it turned out. I hope Holly and Sean like it. 

Work in Progress

This is a painting I started yesterday. My son is the ring bearer in an upcoming wedding and this is the centre piece from the rehearsal dinner. The groom is from South Africa and the dinner was a South African theme - I loved the food. The dinner took place in the bride's family's Malta bakery so the desserts were awesome and my son loved getting to look into the displays and pick a cookie. It was a great party and I thought I would make a painting that will hopefully end up in the hands of the soon to be married couple.

Yellow Lilies

Got back from my parents last night; we had a great visit. These are lilies from my garden (got them from my neighbour - thanks Kathy). I had to kick my 4 year old off the computer to post these and right now am wrestling to keep him from typing his own post. Urrgh!

Gerbera Daisy

I will not be posting for the next couple of days. My son and I are heading to visit my parents for the weekend. This is a painting from a couple of weeks ago. When you live in a household of boys it is fun to paint in pink.

Conversation - SOLD

Here is the landscape I have been working on -still on the easel. This is the view from my front step. I did this over a couple of days so that the light was the same when I worked on it. My goal is to get faster and finish in one setting rather than over a couple of days.

A Cherry - SOLD

I did this painting a couple of days ago. I was inspired by Halima Washington's cherry paintings and Carol Marine's paintings of cherries. Cannot seem to get a good photo of it. I have been working on a landscape today. It needs a little more work - I will post it tomorrow.

Which One

I struggled with this one. I will definitely try this subject matter again, it was a challenge.

Purple Iris - Unavailable, Donated

My last iris painting. I am really pleased with how this one turned out.

Blue Iris

Another iris painting. 

Yellow Iris

My first day blogging! I thought I would start by posting a few recent paintings. I just started  painting flowers this year, and I am loving it. This painting is done with a palette knife, which is challenging, but I love how it keeps me loose and not too caught up in the details.