Nestle In

6x6 Watercolor

A sweet little watercolor that I just finished up,  looking at it gives me
a comfortable feeling that makes me want to curl up by the fireplace in a cozy chair with a good book and a warm drink to Nestle In for the winter.

Merry Christmas to you all and a very Happy New Year.
Kathryn

Embracing Winter

48x24 Oil on linen Canvas

The painting is a large one and deserves a large wall to hang it on!
It turned out very nice and takes me straight to the location up in the canyon.
The Lamoille Canyon is one of my favorite places to hangout and this spot is one of the first places you come to if you go into the picnic area just as you start into the canyon, you are treated with this view as you go across the bridge.
I'm considering doing a Spring version of this painting on the same large 48x24 format....seasonal paintings, I so enjoyed this one I think I'm going to have to follow through with my idea.

Thank you for stopping by!  Enjoy the day.
Kathryn

The Snake River

20x24 Oil on Linen panel

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Snake River runs through the Northwest and while we were on vacation this fall I never tired of watching it's meandering magic. When I started this painting I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and I wasn't going to stop until I got there.  Does this painting just pull you in and make you  want to walk along the banks to find out where it goes?  If it does then I've achieved what I wanted.
Enjoy your holiday and give thanks for your blessings.
Kathryn

November Holiday Tables

12x16 Oil on Linen

I continue my studies with still life paintings. Setting up the still life is an art in itself! I bought these little pumpkin gourds and wanted to get as many brush miles on them as I can before I tire of them,  so here they are in a second painting. I took out an old painting of Miniature Pumpkin gourds  done in 2008 to see if my skills have improved and I am happy to say....YEAH!  double YEAH!  steadily improving!    at least I'm making some progress however slow it may seem.

6 1/2 x 18 oil on hardwood

Well, you judge....tell me what you think!   your opinions and comments are ALWAYS WELCOME!  I love hearing what your thinking and can take a punch with the best of them, LOL!  Seriously your honest critiques help me grow and are appreciated.


Thanks for Visiting!

Musical Sounds of the Stream

20x30 oil on linen canvas

This painting was done using a small study I did this summer while camping in Lamoille Canyon here in Nevada. I stood on the rocks in the stream one evening and thought about how the sounds of the stream were music to my ears, the kind of music that takes you away from all of the things going on in life and you just relax into the moment.

Hope you enjoy this painting, it was a pleasure for me to paint despite the challenges of going from the small study to the larger version.

Fall Harvest I and Fall Harvest II

10x12 Oil on linen   Fall Harvest I

 

11x14 Oil on linen  Fall Harvest II 

 I set up this fun still life in my studio trying for a not so perfect set up, going for a loose feeling hopefully. My good artist friend Yvonne,  http://ryvonnecolclasurefineart.com/
joined me on the first day and I painted Fall Harvest I from one side of the room. The second day I changed the backdrop cloth for a bit lighter color and a little adjustment to the still life setup and painted with a couple of other artist friends, Susie,    http://artbysus.blogspot.com/ , and Amy who doesn't have a website that I know of.  It was fun to have the company and paint something different, again pushing myself to try new things and not get into a rut.

Hope your enjoying the fall season!

Maynard Dixon Painting attempt

The View

9x12 Oil

a photo of an article on Maynard Dixon

painting on the side of my studio with the view.

 I found an old article about Maynard Dixon and my first thought was to try to paint the Ruby Mountains with his style to see what happens. The scene of course is different but has all the same elements for color that I wanted to get.....I need a whole lot more practice, but dang is was fun to try it! 

Tomorrow is a New Day!  


Thanks for visiting.

One Little Aspen

Plein Air - 10x12 Oil on Linen

I have spent the last couple of days out taking advantage of the great weather while we have it. Today I was feeling a bit adventurous and went down a trail that I've often stopped and viewed from the road but it looks a little treacherous to get down next to the water. My dog and I decided to give it a go, and it was well worth the little slide from the roads edge, after that it was a gorgeous treat for both of us for a few hours.  I am pleased with today's painting.

Sure hope the weather holds out for a while longer, I'm enjoying getting out and training my pup and my eyes to trust what I see, plus I'm not ready to paint snow just yet!

Thanks for stopping by!

Plein Air Painting in the Tetons and Yellowstone

Grand Tetons in the early morning with a partly cloudy sky and cool breezes

Mt. Moran in the late afternoon

Me trying very hard to get the right colors mixed!

At the end of Lamar Valley in Yellowstone.

Just back from a wonderful trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone! We went up for the last weekend of the Fall Arts Festival in Jackson, so much fun and energy flowing there for the arts!  Camping and painting the gorgeous scenes all around us and of course lots of excitement with the wildlife too. Big Bull Moose staying in our campground so every morning was filled with taking photo's of them.  We take this trip often but this is my first time to get to paint En Plein Air in the Tetons and I must say it was intimidating looking up at the scene and knowing I had to get those shapes correct because they are the most photographed and painted mountains around. When I started my first painting of the Tetons it was early morning and cold...brrr, I was determined to give it a go anyway, I started my sketch, got it down, started painting, made a mess....wiped it off and started all over, the second try went better but I didn't have time to get the sky in because I was just shivering too much by then and ready for a HOT cup of coffee. In the late afternoon I was able to paint again, the gorgeous scene at Mt. Moran, this painting is my favorite of all of them that I did on the trip.  After four days in the Tetons we moved up to Yellowstone and spent another four blissful days there.

A very inspiring trip with 2,850 photo's taken, thank God for digital cameras!  Look for lots of art work to come featuring some of our greatest National Parks.

Have a great day!

Quiet Reflections

18x 48 x1 1/2 oil on hardboard -
No frame required for this painting the sides are painted black for a clean modern look.

A painting with both palette knife and brush work to get a nice effect of the smooth water and the textured grasses. This painting gives me a calm feeling and is one I can look at for a very long time and meditate on all the colors that are reflecting in the water. The golds from the trees in the distance reflecting catch my eyes in the pond and keep me in the water. 

I hope you can have a calm moment and reflect on all the good in your life.

In the Studio

18x48 current project in the studio

20x30

Two large paintings that I'm currently working on in the studio, the 20x30 is a large version of the small study I did standing in the river while camping a few weeks ago and is almost complete and sitting on the drying wall while I contemplate the final touches to make it sparkle with life. The top painting is one I've thought about for a very long time, I did a small 6x8 study of it a couple of years ago while my son was fishing, the granddaughters were picking wildflower seeds with grandpa and their mom who is a photographer was busy taking her own photo's, we ate KFC out of the back end of the truck and had a wonderful day....Yes, I think about all of this while I'm putting the paint on the larger painting and I have high hopes for it to turn out as wonderful as our day was!

Check back next week to see what happens!

Gold in the Canyon

 

20x24 Oil on linen

Where I live here in Northeastern Nevada it is gold country. Gold is in abundance deep down in the ground and gold mining is the main source of income for a lot of families in this territory. The Ruby mountains were named after trappers found red garnets in the 1800's and named the Rubies after their ruby color.....I enjoy watching them turn red in the sunsets most evenings and thought that was why they were named the Ruby Mountains for a very long time. Well, despite the history lesson, I found Gold in the Canyon.


Hope you have a lovely day!

Fresh fruit & flowers - Palette Knife

11x14 Palette knife Oil on linen panel

Details show the wonderfully thick paint

Amy and Susie in the ZONE!

 

Another shot of serious painters at work

The girls came to my studio garage to paint with me yesterday! We had such a good time painting a staged still life in oils in my space, with plenty of room for everyone to spread their wings and make a mess if that's what they wanted to do. I don't have people come to my studio often...it is my domain if you know what I'm saying... a place to let loose and make my own messes and believe me I make plenty of them!

Yesterday's objective for me was to paint a still life using only palette knives! A challenge that I wasn't sure how to approach but as the hours ticked by it just seemed to paint itself...some days it happens that way, but most of the time it doesn't. I'm very pleased with this painting at the days end.

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a beautiful day!

Camping and Plein Air Painting Weekend

8x6 Oil Aspen tree trunk study

Painting under the awning at camp

8x10 Oil Thomas Canyon Hike study - we didn't make it over ridge when my partners gave up on me.

My tired painting/hiking pals

After a long hike back to camp, a popsicle treat. Bailey pup was exhausted, not to mention my husband was too.

Painting my heart out!

8x10 Oil Thomas Canyon water study and my favorite of all the studies from the weekend

6x8 oil  old beaver pond area with a beautiful stand of aspens. I've tried painting this area so many times and believe me I'll be back there soon to try again. So many GREENS!

We had a wonderful weekend camping, hiking and of course painting this past weekend. Our puppy (Bailey) did beautiful with the change in lifestyle and having to be attached to the leash most of the time. She passed the test camping trip and we are looking forward to a week long camping trip to Wyoming in September.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day :-)

Summer Aspens

16x12 palette knife Oil

This painting is very loose with lots of paint. I had a plan for this painting but as usual when I pick up the palette knife the paintings seem to go in a whole different direction. I am happy with this painting even though it wasn't quite what I had planned on. I will probably paint this one again with the brushes to see what will happen.

Hope you enjoy the painting. Thank you for stopping by!

Blue Pottery

11x14 oil on Raymar Panel

On a rare occasion I will have my Thursday painting friend come out to my place to paint. We are so comfortable painting in her little kitchen where everything has it's place that we don't change it up much....might mess with our Mojo! if you know what I mean. However a few weeks ago she came here and we painted some of the wonderful pieces of pottery that I own, each piece is cherished mainly for the great memories they hold in how I manage to collect them, usually while we're on a vacation.

I can see some things I would do differently now with this painting as far as the composition is concerned so I may set this up again and see what happens.

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Rush of Yellow Lupine

8x10 oil on linen

I went out last week one day on a photo shoot and the wildflowers in this spot were spectacular. Spring was slow to arrive this year...actually I think it skipped us completely and now we are in our summer season. We are the lucky ones without the extreme heat, enjoying the 80 degree temperatures, LOVE this kind of summer.

Thank you for stopping by!  Yes, training the puppy has slowed me down a bit but I am sure enjoying her and the kitten. A whole lot of laughter at our place. :-)

Winter Symphony

Palette Knife on gessoed hardwood panel 13x18x1 1/2

Spring/Summer is slow to come to us this year. Strange weather indeed, so instead of waiting for the fall/winter to post this painting I decided to go ahead and post it now. A very lovely painting with lots of paint but there are some areas with very little if any paint that gives it the sparkle of sunshine glinting off the snow.

Meet my new assistants!

Bailey the pup

Jake the kitty

Bailey 6 weeks old

Jake 5 weeks old

When the work day is done the fun begins! 

Have a nice day! Thank you for stopping by.

Setting Sun

12x16 Oil on linen panel

 An appropriate post today, my prayers go out to those who have been ravished by the storms, the sun will shine again.

This is the scene from my back windows, a previous post was from the front porch. I don't mind so much doing the dinner dishes while I watch the sunsets unfold.

Hope you have a great day, thank you for stopping by.

Pretty White Orchid

16x8 oil on Linen Panel

I bought this pretty white orchid to paint a few months ago, it's gorgeous blooms have amazed me with how long they have lasted. I have procrastinated so long that it really is almost done now and I'm afraid with my indoor gardening skills it may never bloom again, poor thing. I think the painting turned out nice though and now I've saved the last blooms forever!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Arroyo Vista View

8x12 oil on Linen panel

One of the views from my front porch, nice isn't it? Last year at this time I painted this scene and it was a disaster and is in the "burn me" box. After I finished this painting I dug out last years just for fun to see my progress. I had a wonderful laugh and gave myself a pat on the back, got one from my husband and daughter-n-law too!  Now I'm going out to Burn that Box! LOL

Here are a couple of paintings from the last 2 classes, I know some of you are interested in seeing what is pushing me outside of MY Box. Stacks of chairs and rusty wheels...stuff I would not choose to paint on my own but has helped in my growth.

 Have a great day! Thanks for Visiting!

Early Morning Shadows

10x12 Oil on Linen

On this spot of the road if you look the opposite way is a gorgeous breathtaking view of the glaciers in the Ruby Mountains, however, the little aspen grove behind me with the sun peaking through is what really grabbed me and begged me to be painted.

Here's to simple pleasures in unexpected places, especially here in the high deserts of Nevada!

Thanks for visiting!

Spring Forsythia

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16x20 Oil on linen

I am pleased with this painting,  but I am toying with the idea of cropping it down.  I'm still debating if I have too much empty foreground, so the size could change. I had a lot of challenges in this painting, one is when it was time to start painting the forsythia branches that I would be able to put them in without making them look too heavy for the painting, the goal was to make it light and airy with a natural feel and the second challenge, making sure my glass vessels don't fall over!

I feel I need a whole lot of practice with this sort of painting but oh, I do enjoy the challenge!

The cool, wet, windy weather is hanging on this spring, but I am feeling the desperate need to get out of doors to paint....hang on to your hat because I don't think I can wait much longer   :)

Thank you for visiting!