Orchids

I have been working on this painting for several months. I have not been satisfied with its progress.. This is of a sketch I did several years ago. Our friend Fred had 2 green houses of orchids and when he died his mother wanted to publish a book of some of Fred's favorite orchids and receipes  of his favorite foods. Fred's wife helped me as I worked sketching the flowers she chose.The plant was actually  growing in this small pot. I love  the way the stems grow twisting and turning and  the roots growing out of the top of the pot. Fred's mother died before she could gather all the information she needed for the book. I did get some wonderful pencil drawing of Fred's orchids.  

Happy Thanksgiving

    Together with my muse Rusty I wish you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day. I should introduce you to Rusty. As a tiny kitty he was abandoned in a church yard. He was rescued  and lived with my daughter and her husband until he died a few years ago. Rusty was an arrogant and proud kitty and could be down right mean. Occasionally he decided he did not like strangers and would hiss and swipe a paw at them. I noticed all Rusty's antics and decided to do a series of paintings and note cards honoring him. He became my muse and I painted him celebrating special events such as Christmas, New Years, Mardi Gras, Halloween and more. It was a sad day when Rusty died and I have not been able to continue with Rusty's various adventures. Maybe someday he will return and be my inspiration again. In this painting Rusty is thankful for the blessing he received from a good family. And I am thankful too for the blessings of family, friends, art, health, my country and many, many more blessings. .

St. Michael's Tree

                                            Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas
                                                    12" X 12"
This tree is beautiful in all seasons but especially during the Fall season. I drive past this tree  several times a week and always look at it. Last fall I drove into the parking lot of St. Michael's Catholic Church to sketch it. This  year I felt determined to paint it so back into the parking lot for more sketches and to soak up a lot of inspiration.

snowy day

It was said that today we would have an ice storm. Well so far it has not happened. But it is terribly cold. So I thought of this painting I started a few years ago. I was sketching the trees on a cold gray day in our park. Just as I was about to leave this girl dressed all in black came walking through the trees. It was a very mysterious looking scene  and I quickly sketched her with her dogs and was able to include her in the painting.

You will be protected and take your rest in safety. Job 11.18

I haven't been posting recently. For some reason or other there is something always going on. I am a little off focus as my roses were blooming. They are so beautiful. Our summer damaged the buds that would  appear. The heat was too much for them. Now they are blooming and our weather is getting cold. . In the 30's today. And I have  been concentrating  on the fall colors in the trees. They are so beautiful this year. So I am torn between painting the roses or the trees. So I posted a sketch I did some time ago when we were watching t. v. in the evening. I had a very good model. He kept very still.

PANSIES

My pansies painted a few years ago. It is time to  to replace  the petunias with pansies.

from my sketchbook

I neglected to cut a few of my roses this evening. Since the weather got cooler the roses have been blooming beautifully. I have been busy with other art projects  and keep looking outdoors at the roses. I planned to paint a few. Well we are going  to have a change in our weather tonight. The temperatures will be in the 20's. Hopefully when I look  out the door tomorrow morning  my roses will still be as beautiful as they were today.But I have looked into my sketch book and am showing one page of many that I did of sketches several years ago. I love to sketch and paint from life.

Turnips

Oil on Masonite. This was painted in the 70's. I found it today among some old art work and thought, "I like this." even though it was painted so long ago.  I think I will have to paint some more turnips to go with the series of veggies I have been working on. Back to the store hoping they have turnips with greens. I am still working or more or less staring at the 3 unfinished paintings I hope to complete on 1st. Corinthians 13. It is quite a challenge.

Peppers and Onion

                                                        Acrylic on Canvas
                                                             10" X 8"
                                                                 $75.00

Cactus and Wrens

                                                      Oil on Canvas -18" X 14"
                                                             $200.00
I saw this cactus plant  blooming in the Spring in a nearby park. The flowers appear fragile and really pretty.  The wrens are a favorite of mine as they visit our little courtyard searching in and out of the fern baskets for insects. Sometimes when I am outdoors they get a little angry with me and chatter with loud noises letting me know I have no business being in their territory. I think it is fun to observe them especially when the male builds a nest in the ferns. His female partner comes and checks out the nest and then turns up her beak and rejects it. She flies away and he  goes about finding a new place and tries to please her with a new nest. Birds and animals are fascinating creatures to watch.

Just Because

This is the third painting in a series I am doing using the colors orange and turquoise. It could be a triptych  

Why oh Why??

Finally of all the 5 paintings unfinished on my easel I decided that maybe this one is finished.. Who knows? Maybe I will go back some day and change it all around. But I have been playing with 3 paintings using the colors of turquois and orange. The other painting "Jumping through Hoops" I posted several weeks ago.
I have also been painting vegetables, 2 paintings I have already  posted here. My dear husband loves the veggie paintings and has been suggesting veggies that are good color combinations to paint. While I was away one day he ventured out to the store and looked over the vegetable section. When I arrived home I was surprised to learn I have  radishes to paint. Well aren't I a lucky girl? He is very supportive of my work  and I am thankful that he is. I am enjoying painting the radishes and will post them when finished.
So far I have had a lot of painting  ideas but am still  looking for that one painting that will be different.Right  now I seem to be working on my skill. I am really not focused and it may be because I have spent about 2 years working on children's books. Maybe what I mean is I miss the MICE!!!!! They were a lot of fun and a challenge to my imagination.The 3rd book I illustrated will be coming out this November and will be available on Amazon.  

Mother and Child

As I am working on new paintings I will post an old one I did years ago. Currently I have 5 paintings on my easel and maybe I should focus on finishing one. Again this one is one in a series I did inspired by the book of Solomon in the Old Testament. Song of Solomon 2:11, 12. "Behold , The winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, the time for singing has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."

5 minus 3 equals ???

On my easel painting of  2 tomatoes left from the original 5.Could not resist painting these this afternoon. Love the smell of the vine the 5 were on before cutting 3 of them for salad. This was a quick study using a painting knife. Love the feel of the painting knife smearing the thick paint around. Great fun!

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angelou

on my easel roses

The weather is getting cooler and my roses are starting to bloom again. The 100 degree plus temperatures during the summer were  not favorable to the growth of these beautiful fragrant flowers. This is a painting of the roses that was painted outdoors. I love to paint flowers the way they grow.

The Musical Mousetronauts

The children's book I illustrated is off to the publisher and should be available in November.
This is the third book illustrating the adventures of some musical mice. In  this book the mice journey to the moon. I am very thankful to author Deneen Kirsch Gambrell for giving me this opportunity to expand my artistic talents,  painting these musical mice through many  exciting fantasy journeys. The book will be available on Amazon. When published signed copies will be available on this blog.

                                                        Renaissance Madonna

Years ago while studying Northern Renaissance art I decided to paint a modern day  Madonna, a
young girl, no doubt an artist. She is carrying her satchel with brushes, a Renaissance art book and probably many more art supplies in the bottom of her bag. Besides being a loving  mother she is pursuing her passion ART!

Santos and Bird of Paradise

This painting was completed some time ago and decided to post it as I continue to work on more current canvases. As I am not good at photography you can see I tried to take the photo outdoors and some of the grass shows. The wood carved figure or Santos came from the Philippines. I found it in a Sears store in a box among others that the ad claimed  were dug up there I dug through the box and settled on this fellow. . It  is  probably a religious figure but I thought of it as a piece of art. I liked the lines of the figure, the hat he wears and the fact he looked like a man of prayer. I like the colors in the painting and that it appears a little impressionistic.

SUNSHINE

                                                         SUNSHINE
                                                       Oil on Canvas  12" X 12"
                                                             $200.00

Sunflowers are a favorite of many people  including me. At our anniversary party we had vases of sunflowers on all the tables. We gave away sunflowers and we brought dozens of them home. For several days I painted sunflowers, ending up with 7 canvases filled with bright yellow flowers of varying compositions.

The quote below is a favorite of mine and  was credited to Helen Keller:
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. That's what sunflowers do"
If anyone is interested in obtaining this painting contact me at grummerb@gmail.com