"Snow on the Pond"

6"x8" oil on panel
"My Hometown" series
We don't have snow like this in Flagstaff now. This painting is from a photo I took last winter. This pond was called "City Pond" when I was growing up. Now known as the Francis Short pond it is a short walk from my house, and one of my favorite places to paint. I also just completed a larger version that you can see on my website.

"Turret Window"

"My Hometown" Series
8"x6" oil on panel

Another painting in my hometown series. This old house is on the corner of Butler and Lonetree Rd. at the site of the old sawmill in Flagstaff,AZ. The sawmill is long gone and unless you're an old-timer like me, probably most people have no memory of it. Fortunately this house remains as a reminder of Flagstaff's logging history.

"Little Colorado Gorge"

"Little Colorado Gorge"
12"x9" oil on panel
Available

Last weekend, my friend Jan and I drove north to the Little Colorado Gorge to paint for the afternoon. It was a beautiful warm afternoon for painting, but we lost the sun disappear early behind the mountain to the south and it got cold really fast. I just started a larger painting from this smaller one.

"Morning on Aspen Ave."

8"x6" oil on panel
"My Hometown" Series
$50

I have just started on a new series of small scenes of my hometown, Flagstaff, Arizona. On December 5, I will be a guest artist at one of the featured homes on the Friend's of Flagstaff's Future" Christmas Sustainable Home Tour. I thought this might be a fitting small item to purchase for Christmas gifts. I'm hoping to have about 15 completed by the event.

"Shadows on the Catalinas"

8"x10" oil on panel

Earlier this week, I did this painting at Sabino Canyon. The shadows on the Catalinas are so distinct and the light so intense, I'm immediately entranced with the light/dark color patterns. But the light changes so fast, I race to get the mountain shadows down then to the foreground.

Day 2- Taos Painting

"Don Fernando Morada"
8"x10" oil on panel
Available

I'm a little slow in getting my Taos paintings posted. Our annual Open Studios show was this past weekend, so it's been kind of crazy doing that. But now things are getting back to normal, so I hope to be posting more regularly

Painting in Taos-Day 1

"Evening at the Morada"
8"x10" oil on panel
Available $250

Last week I drove to Taos for a 2 day painting lesson with Taos artist Michelle Chrisman. Michelle is a contemporary colorist and paints expressive northern New Mexico landscapes with wonderful energy using a palette knife. I am wanting to be more expressive and energentic in my own painting so I learned much from her. Michelle has some wonderful workshops scheduled throughout the year--I hope to catch her at Ghost Ranch next year.

"Orpheum Theater"

8"x6" oil on panel

I've really been slacking on posting to my blog--I apologize to whomever is watching. On Sunday morning I went out early for a quiet walk about town before everyone started stirring. I took a bunch of photos for a possible series on Flagstaff's urban scenes. This is the historic Orpheum theater. When I was a girl, it was the only movie theater in town. Now it is a great venue for music groups. We're very lucky is still here and has not been torn down to make way for something new.
This is the first test case. I'm not really happy with the colors, maybe I will work on it again tomorrow.

"Saquaro Sunset"

12"x9" oil on panel
Available

I've been working on this painting all week--among other things too. Although I'm neglecting my blog, I am painting daily. I actually seem to have three or four paintings going at once. All my work this week has been in the studio. Mainly I'm just trying to finish up old stuff I've started and never finished. As I'm learning more about color, paintings I once tagged as rejects are getting a new life. It's fun reviving work I didn't like. However, I've been hungry to get out of the studio, and do some fresh work outdoors. So this afternoon I'm off to the mountain top.

Back to Work

"Sun on Canyon Steps"
16"x 12" oil on panel
Available

Did you all wonder where I'd gone? After I got back from Idaho, it took awhile for me to get caught up on everything, then,we had guests for a few days. For the last two weeks I've been busy working on larger paintings, getting ready for a gallery presentation. For my next few posts, I'll give you a look at these new works being featured on my website, then I'll be back to doing some daily paintings.

Postcards from Idaho #9

"Trees on Lake Pend O'reille"
8"x10" oil on panel
Available

Another painting from Jan's beach on Lake Pend O'reille. What a great place to paint, very peaceful, plenty of shade to stand in and spectacular views all around. Wish I could paint here more, but we're starting to pack up now. I have a couple of paintings that will have to be finished at home. But for now, it's almost adios to Idaho and all our good friends.

Postcards from Idaho #8

"Jan's Beach"

6"x8" oil on panel

This painting was done on Lake Pend O'reille on property owned by our friend Jan. The Lake is so large is hard to do a painting that can express it's size and beauty, so I decided to focus on a little piece of it. The light yellow streak through the middle is actually the grassy sides of the train trestle crossing on the lake.

Postcards from Idaho #7

"Farm Across the Field #2"
12"x16" oil on panel
Available

Here's another painting of Alvin's Farm in a larger format. The hay fields here are so beautiful with the undulating patterns of line and color. I love the paintings of Gary Ernest Smith from Oregon, and these fields inspire the kind of composition he uses.

Postcards from Idaho #6

"Alvin's Barn"
10"x8" oil on panel

I know...another barn..another red barn, the kind of barn picture that any elementary school child would paint from his concept of "barn". But, this is a special barn. It's Alvin's barn across the road from our cabin property. Alvin died two years ago, he was about 95 years old. Alvin was a legendary farmer in this part of the world and a good friend and mentor to my partner Steve. This farm will be sold soon and with new owner's will come changes. All of my farm paintings from Idaho are of Alvin's farm-a visual memory of Alvin and his place in the world

Postcards from Idaho #5

"High Mountain Trail"
8"x6" oil on panel

The mountains around Lake Pend O'reille just go on and on as far and the eye can see. At the high elevations beautiful meadows, tall trees, and and huckleberry bushes thrive. It's berry picking time now, so we'll soon be headed out with our buckets in search of this local treasure.

Postcards from Idaho #4

"Apple Tree in the Lane"
8"x6" oil on panel
$100
Available

This apple tree is from a volunteer seed, planting itself amidst a forest of tall cedars, pines and fir. For years it really struggled to reach the sunlight, but managed to stretch itself up sufficiently to get what it needed, and was still able to produce a load of apples for the deer in our woods. Now we have cleared out some of the trees around it and it has more light, and has been pruned into a more shapely tree, but I don't know that it thrives the better for it. Still it makes a beautiful site reaching it's arms high in the light.

Postcards from Idaho #3

"Abandoned Camper Shell"
6"x8" oil on panel
$100
Available

Steve left this camper shell on the property almost 30 years ago when he moved to the Virgin Islands. The vines and other greenery took it over, and moss is growing all over it. We've never been able to figure out how to get it out of here. It usually seems like an eyesore, but this morning the lift shining on it and in the grass we mowed down a few days ago, it looked like an ancient structure worthy of painting. So here you go. Happy Fourth of July.

Postcards from Idaho #2

"Light in the Clearing"
8"x6" oil on panel


The color on this photo is terrible, I apologize, there's actually a lot of yellow-green that is not coming through. Anyway, this painting was done from the cabin back door. Until two years ago, this was the "scary woods". We did a lot of clearing in this area, and now, seeing this light on the other side of the woods is a real joy.

Postcards from Idaho #1

"Farm across the Field"

6"x8" oil on panel

This is my first posting from Idaho. We took a couple of days to set up, and now I'm back to painting. My internet reception is a little iffy so I hope that I can keep up with my blog. There is so much to inspire me here, so it won't be hard to keep up the painting.

"Oak Creek Abstract"

"Oak Creek Abstract"
6"x8" oil on canvas
$50 Available

One last painting from home, and then we're off to our Idaho cabin. This paintng was done at Slide Rock in Oak Creek Canyon.
Look for "Postcards from Idaho" during the coming weeks. I'll take a break from posting on eBay until we return. But please contact me if anything is of interest to you.

"Morning at Buffalo Park #2"

"Morning at Buffalo Park #2"
6"x8" oil on panel

My second painting from painting at Buffalo Park a few days ago.

"Morning at Buffalo Park"

"Morning at Buffalo Park"
6x8in oil on panel

A couple of my painting friends and I painted at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff this week. It was a gray day, and no wind, so very comfortable for painting. My daily painting for the next few weeks will be focused on creating quick, expressive landscape studies.

"My Neighbor's Backyard"

"My Neighbor's Backyard"
6"x8" oil on panel

Earlier this week I did this painting from my bedroom window. The shaft of light catching the top of the poppies caught my eye and I rushed to set up my easel. I was able to finish the painting pretty quick before the light shifted. I'm afraid my photo makes the shed look too chalky. Is it still plein air if the painting is done inside, but the subject is outside?

"Garlic on Periwinkle"

"Garlic on Periwinkle"
10x8inch oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #20

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100% of sales proceeds of Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank.

My last painting in the Fruit and Vegetable Series! These little paintings have been the consistent, repetitive practice that have helped me to establish myself as a daily painter after two months of painting almost every day. The habit is in place, and tomorrow I'll be ready to move on to landscape painting. If our wind would just stop, I'm ready to move my painting outdoors for the next few months.

"Crimini Mushroom"

"Crimini Mushroom"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #19

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100% of sales proceeds from Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of the Northern Arizona Foodbank

Only one more fruit & vegetable painting to go! I have the remaining paintings all lined up on a shelf in my house. These paintings really look best grouped with others in the series--as you can see in this photo. I think they would also look cool arranged four in a rectangle.

"Zucchini Onstage"

"Zucchini Onstage"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #18

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100% of sales proceeds for Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

Only two more to go and I'll have twenty of my fruit and vegetable series completed. Yea!! This series has been very helpful to me in introducing some new color combos, and also becoming more adept with the palette knife. It's also very helpful in establishing a daily painting routine, to have a simple, consistent subject identified each day in order to be able to begin each day without much planning. A good lesson in establishing a new daily habit--start simple, be consistent, make it so you don't have to think about it too much.

"Schnebly Hill"

"Schnebly Hill"

9"x12" oil on panel


This is one of my plein air class paintings-- Sedona Red Rocks once again. I finished it up in my studio. I feel I'm getting into a color rut. My current intention in my landscape paintings is to: 1) simplify shapes;2) expand color choices and 3)intensify colors--not getting what I'm shooting for. Persistence, Persistence, Persistence.

"Strawberry Kiss"

"Strawberry Kiss"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #17

click here to bid

100% of sales proceeds from Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed the People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Food Bank

"Indian Gardens #2"

"Indian Gardens #2"
6"x8" oil on panel

I posted the first version of this painting a couple of weeks ago. On the left was my plein air study as completed on site. The version to above is after my adjustments in the studio. My teacher's critique was to warm up the tree trunks. I'm not sure that the finished painting is an improvement. The camera exposure is brighter on the new painting so it's difficult to compare

"Bulbous Beet"

"Bulbous Beet"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #16

click here to bid

100% of fruit & vegetable series will be donated to Feed My people Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

I posted this painting yesterday, but somehow it isn't showing up today, so I'm doing it again today. I've been painting a lot this weekend so I'll do a double posting.

"Chapel at Tlaquepaque"

"Chapel at Tlaquepaque"

12"x9" oil on panel

This painting was started in my plein air class when we painted at Tlaquepaque shopping area in Sedona. Since my plein air class is finished now, I am free to finish up the paintings I started outdoors in my studio. I'd like to get to the place that I could do a finished painting in one sitting, but for now it seems like I have to make my plein air paintings a two day event. The first problem is that I can't seem to work fast enough yet, to catch the light before it changes, and second it feels like I can't get a good reading on the color until I get it indoors.

"Cabin in the Canyon " again

"Cabin in the Canyon " 8x6in oil on panel

click here to bid

I finished my plein air class yesterday, and as part of our final day critique, I learned some important principles I would like to focus on to improve my plein air paintings. The primary challenges for me are:1)utilizing warm and cool colors and 2)to not get stuck in using the same colors repeatedly. With this in mind, I decided to rework this little painting that I did a couple of weeks ago. My intention was to cool down the shadows, warm up the lights, ratchet up the color a bit, and recede the background and enhance the foreground to create more depth .

"Golden Delicious"

"Golden Delicious"

10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #15

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100% of sales proceeds of Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

This was a new color combo for me-and a bit of challenge to work with, but I like the way the colors work together.

"Golden Onion"

"Golden Onion"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #14

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100% of sales proceeds from Fruit & Vegetable Series will be donated to Feed Your People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

This painting is getting a little "out there" --maybe experimental is a better description. Anyway I thought I'd be daring and put it out there for my viewers and see if I get any feedback.

"Desert Monastery"

"Desert Monastery"
8"x6" oil on panel

click here to bid

I'm in Tucson for a few days. This morning I got up early to paint before it got too hot. it was nice to do some plein air work outside of class. Somehow I always feel stressed in a class setting, and never seem to do anything I like much, even though I'm learning a lot. It was so peaceful painting on the church grounds with no one around. Just me--this idyllic little church, in it's lush desert setting, the cool desert morning--easy to get into the zone in this kind of environment.

"Painter at Schnebly Hill"

"Painter at Schnebly Hill"
8"x6"oil on panel
sold

This painting is kind of a compilation from a plein air study and a photo. A couple of weeks ago when the wind was so bad at our plein air class in Sedona, I used the time to get a bunch of photo references.

"Mexican Avocado"

"Mexican Avocado"
10x8in. oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #13

100% of sales proceeds of Fruit & Vegetable Series will be donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

click here to bid

This avocado has been sitting around for a few days. The skin is very dark and getting pretty wrinkled--almost past it's eating time. I decided to go expressive on this painting. I couldn't decide if this avocado is really dark purple or really dark blue green--so I guess it must be a combo of the two. Hope somebody likes it, "cause it's going in the guacamole tonight.

"Gates to the Creek"

"Gates to the Creek"
16x20" oil on canvas
available

Yesterday I painted with friends at Polly's house in Sedona. I decided to carry-on with the theme of last week and do another painting of her house. I haven't done a painting this large in more than a month. I worked with the palette knife--it was really nice to have more room to work. After I get a critique and do a little finish work, I'll post this on my website.

"Chiquita Banana"

"Chiquita Banana"

10x8in oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #12

click here to bid

100% of sales proceeds of Fruit & Vegetable Series will be donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Norther Arizona Foodbank

This banana painting has a bit more modern feel than many others in the series. I believe that it is because of the color combination. In the fruit and vegetable series, I have normally been using the complement of the object as the background. In this painting, I used purple, the complement of yellow, in the shadows instead, and used a more grayed green in the background. My son says it has a Warhol feel.

"Indian Gardens"

"Indian Gardens"
8"x10" oil on panel

Today we painted at Indian Gardens in Oak Creek Canyon for my plein air class. What a perfect day and beautiful place to paint. No wind, no rain, not too hot, no bugs--an ideal plein air painting day. I'm getting a little faster, and simplifying my subject more. This is not a finished painting, but what I was able to complete in a 90 minute timeframe. At least this one is suitable to post. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. I did another as well--but I'm not ready to show it.

"Alley at Sundown"

"Alley at Sundown"
9"x12" oil on panel

The weeds were beginning to take over my yard, so I took the weekend off from painting to catch up on my gardening work. After a break, I'm always ready to get back to painting. Today I went back to an old painting--a plein air study from last year that I stuck away in the closet. I'm seeing a tendency I have to always go too dark when I'm outdoors. So I spent some time lightening this one up and bringing some better color to it. However, I'm going to have to work on my photo correction, this is really not showing the yellows in the roof.

"Shaded Window"

"Shaded Window"
9"x12" oil on wrapped canvas

sold

Yesterday I painted in Sedona at my friend Polly's home. Polly is a pastel artist, and her husband is a very talented building artist. Their home is always a source of wonderful things to paint--beautiful architecture and gardens.

I have been struggling in my plein air class with not simplifying enough and not painting quickly enough. So, that was my challenge for the day. I believe I simplified the subject enough, but I certainly didn't manage to paint very quickly. This was the only painting I did in an afternoon of painting--and I still worked on it some when I got home. But, I am pretty happy with how it came out. I'm thinking I could do a whole series, only on Polly's beautiful home.

"Ruby Red Grapefruit"

"Ruby Red Grapefruit"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #11

available

100% of sales proceeds of fruit & vegetable series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank.

After all the trouble I had with the chili pepper, this painting came together pretty quickly. The first 30 days of painting my small daily paintings has been great for me in establishing a regular painting practice. In addition to the regular painting, I have also learned a huge amount about the technical aspects of blogging and website design. In the process, I've encountered so many wonderful artists and helpful artists sites online.

I see that in the coming month,however, I will have to find some balance between painting and computer time. I really enjoy doing my little paintings, but also need to be working on my larger paintings daily as well. Now that most of the technical computer aspects are worked out, my challenge this month is to two-fold. First, to tap into the momentum of my new painting routine and do even more painting, and second to slowly build my online connections without putting in too much computer time.

Day 30-"Hot Chili Pepper"

"Hot Chili Pepper"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #10
sold

100% of sales proceeds of Fruit & Vegetable Series will be donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, Operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

Well, I finally finished this chili pepper. Must say I'm glad to let it go. Today marks one month on my blog and my daily painting practice. I've heard it said that it takes 30 days of consistent behavior to make a change a habit. Don't know if that's true for me--but painting everyday is beginning to feel like a normal part of my day. The painting has become the central part of my day and everything else is planned around it--just like a normal job would be. And that's what I've been wanting to happen. I believe that the commitment to blog posting is what has enabled me to stay with it for the month. I know that I am really only making a commitment to myself, but I also feel a commitment to readers out there--real and imaginary. So, thank you for being there whoever you are. The journey goes on--Buen Camino, Kathy

Day 29-"Cabin in the Canyon"

"Cabin in the Canyon"
8"x6" oil on panel

Today was plein air painting class in Sedona, so in preparation for the class I did a little sketch from one of my previous plein air painting days. We can't do any additional work on paintings we do during class, because we need to compare how our ability to work on site is progressing throughout the class. I'm working too slow for good plein air studies. Today we were working in a much smaller format so I hoped this would provide a bit of warm up for class. Seeing the photo of the painting tells me I still have some work to do.

Day 27 & 28-"White House at Sundown"

"White House at Sundown"
9"x12" oil on panel

click here to bid

I took Mother's Day off from painting. However, I did put in some volunteer time at the Artist's Coalition Gallery where I have a couple of paintings. I used the down time to work on some design ideas--so I guess that still counts for painting time.

Today I tried to finish up my vegetable painting but still don't have it where I want it. I was getting pretty frustrated with it, so decided to add some touches to this painting that I did last year. It's a little house in my neighborhood and was started as a "plein air" painting, but finished in my studio. I'm having a difficult time getting my camera to produce the actual color very well. But I think you can get the idea. I have almost finished another little landscape of a cabin in Oak Creek. Hopefully I'll have it ready to show soon, as well. I'm finding a really like having a few projects to jump around too, so I don't get too bogged down it something that isn't working they way I want.

Regarding the "Monument Valley Sketch" I posted last week, I thought I would do more on it before posting it to eBay, but I received several nice comments about it, so decided I'd leave it like it is and list it on eBay now--I'm really learning that I'm not a very good judge of what others will like.