What is the Meaning of Life

I painted this work some years ago when I had had particularly spectacular elephant ears in my yard.  Every year since I've tried to duplicate these plant giants to no avail, until this year.   Now, finally, I have equally large and gorgeous elephant ears in my "Secret Garden".  I also have four wonderful banana trees.  So I will be doing some paintings that will express what I really mean about my utter joy and wonder  at these bountiful botanical specimens in my Secret Garden. (Almost a year later:  I just discovered this in my draft section of the blog, never published.  Update, sadly, I never got around to expressing my utter joy and wonder last summer, but my elephant ears and banana trees are already up and growing so I expect to have another chance this year)

Red Deer Caught in a Frame

It's been a while since I posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy painting.  I made this painting especially for an auction benefit raising money to help my nephew pay huge medical bills.  My husband got involved with his unique creative genius by making the frame.

Lemoille River at Hogback Road

This is an experiment that I did yesterday, the last painting day here in Vermont. I did not draw the scene first, but started at the lower right hand corner and worked my way up and to the left. My paper buckled because I didn't tape it down so there were added surprises to the finished painting. This is what I mean: this whole month has been one intense experiment with my art and I'm a little sad to see it end (you can see the tears dripping down in the water).

Doghead Pond, Vermont

Believe it or not I drew this exactly as I saw it in the afternoon. This rock is about 12 or 15 feet high and I was perched on a rock opposite. The river flows past and fills a lovely pond that must look like Walden Pond. A very playful otter lives here and he comes out in the evening as the sun is setting and swims around. Honestly, with no hyperbole, as my poet friends would say.

Splash!

This is the larger painting I've been working on when it's raining. It's not finished but I wanted to post it since this morning I packed up my oil paints in preparation for shipping supplies back to Dallas. All four critiques from visiting artists gave a thumbs up for this painting. Splash!

Woods off Plot Rd.

Just a short drive from the Studio Center on a country road. No matter where I go here, there is a beautiful scene.

By the light of the silvery moon

We found an open spot near the river here in Johnson to paint the magnificent full moon. The idea is that we paint in the dark so we can only see values, not color. The results are always a surprise and very free and gestural. The gesture was made even more vigorous by the Texas size mosquitos that were not deterred by Off!