Bird on a Wire

I did this while looking a Van Gogh's  Vase with Irises against a Yellow Background. This was a challenge from Daily Paintworks, an on-line art community, full of wisdom and encouragement.
5" x 7" $50

Henri Horace Roland de la Porte ala Me

This was from the Paint and Draw Challenge where we were asked to copy a master's work as an exercise.

May I just say it is definitely a challenge! Maybe it's my poor eye sight or maybe I just lack the patience to paint the basket so realistically as the original. I have an added respect for those artists of old. 
9" x 12" -$200

Owl and Company

I finally finished this.  I started it before Thanksgiving and I just got so busy, I am sure you know what I mean.  But now the house is quiet and empty. Tear. So I am glad I have my art and my tunes to keep me company and occupy my mind. The great thing about working with your hands is that you can also pray for those you love as you do it.
8" x 10" -$ 100

Patrick

My parent's cat.

N/A

Tomatoes

Gosh, I haven't posted in so long! That doesn't mean I haven't painted it just means I was too embarrassed to post them. This one is for The Paint and Draw Challenge if you go to it you will see the original photograph and the submissions of other artists. We were supposed to have lost edges. It was a good exercise for me. Compare this to my bowl of fruit below and you will see more defined edges.  8" x 10" $100

Breakfast Buddies

This is a quick painting I did when a friend was over for some tea. The challenge was provided by Jen Smith of Rookie Painter.  5" x 7" $150

Tulips, One Heart

This is a 5x7 oil painting of a photo either I took or my daughter took of the Tulips at Descanso Gardens. It was taken a long time ago but just got around to painting them. 5" x 7"- $ 150

Glorious Groundcover

This was painted for the DPW challenge. We were limited to the colors we were to use, we were asked to paint from nature not a photo and we were given an hour. So this is what I came up with. Definitely better than an old painting of mine that I painted over. Still if I had more time...
5' x 7" $50

Zoe II

This is my finished version of the dog challenge for ADNW. I touched up the background and redid the top of his head. 8" x 10" $ 100

Medussa's Plant

This was just for fun.

8" x 10 " $150

Ahhh Beans !

This is in response to the Paint and Draw Together Blog Challenge hosted by Lela Stankovic who has been a wonderful virtual teacher to me . Not to say that I have mastered it by any means. I know I have a lot to learn and that is part of the fun. She challenged us by giving us a photo with nothing but a gray background and she asked us to use aerial perspective. I had no idea what this meant but she took time to explain it to me and gave me some examples. Now I at least know what it is and here is my attempt at it. N/A

Lake Powell

This is a painting from a photo I took last summer at Lake Powell, Arizona on a boat tour in the canyons. Today is 82 degrees in California and it feels like summer again even though it is a wild winter almost everywhere else. I am sending warm thoughts your way. 5"x 7" $ 150

Plentiful Pomegranates

It all started with reading the novel, Traveling with Pomegranates By Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kid Taylor. Which was a very good book by the way, about a mother and daughter's traveling journey as they find there way through life together. Anyway after reading this book I saw pomegranates everywhere. When I saw that it was this month's challenge for Paint and Draw Together I knew I had to do it! 
9" x x12" $100

An Apple Tribute

Last week I went to pick the apples off my tree in my backyard only to discover that they had already been plucked and were nowhere to be seen! I suspect a squirrel, maybe a whole clan of squirrels. Oh well, they have to eat too and they can't go to the grocery store like I can. So when I saw this challenge on the Paint and Draw Together blog I knew I wanted to participate.
8" x 10" $ 100

Flower Craze

This was done for the Monthly Sketch Project and the photo reference was taken by Jennifer Rose .

Okay so I was doing this painting and it felt very blah at first so I had a moment of temporary insanity and went slap happy with the brush. I had just got done watching 3 episodes back to back of American Idol ,since I got behind watching the Olympics and with the first version of this painting Simon was saying this,"This painting is so dull ,spice it up next time. " So I did, now I don't know if he'll like it or tell me it looks like his Grandmother's wallpaper. I kinda like it myself. 8" x 10" $100

Vincent

This is for the Monthly Sketch Project. I hope you find it mooving. The reference photo was taken by Chrissy, thanks for the inspiration. I had been reading The Yellow House by Martin Gayford, a biography of Vincent Van Gogh (an excellent book) and the reference photo reminded me of him for some odd reason. So I attempted to paint it like his portraits. I'm not sure if I am finished with it yet. But it was fun, maybe a bit too cartoonish though. N/A

California Hills

This was painted for the Following the Masters Challenge. I had such a wonderful time loosing myself in the process of trying to paint in the style of Vincent van Gogh. I was inspired by the Olive Trees in the Alpilles (pictured above my painting) but I used a reference photo of mine to loosely paint the hills by my house. Maybe I should go back and make the olive trees look more like oak trees? N/A

It's Fall!

These apples were done for a painting group I belong to called Monthly Sketch Group. The reference photo was provided by Leslie Hawes. It is a rare nice crisp Fall day here in Southern California and these apples were just what I was in the mood to paint today along with the watercolor portrait I did while I waited for the layers of this one to dry. N/A

Urban Landscape

This is my submission for Different Strokes From Different Folks. I needed to do something quick, I had been out of town but really wanted to try this. I wanted to do something abstract and quick. I was kind of going for a feeling rather than an exact representation. I had a lot of fun just spacing out on it, I took off my glasses and did a lot of squinting.
5'x &' $ 150

Summer Harvest

This is my painting for week 37-38 challenge for Different Strokes from Different Folks. I had fun doing it, although the onions almost made me cry. In the end I'm okay with them but the corn could use some more work perhaps. I love the variety of these challenges.
8" x 10" comes with frame $150