"Jeans and Mary Jane's"

    

                                                                                             

               "Jeans and Mary Janes", Houston, TX

Oil 18"X 24" 

Permanent Collection Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY

"Jeans and Maryjane's" is a work that was completed in Houston, TX. Houston is an interesting place full of images of the Modern West. This piece came to me as I contemplated the odd mix of Houston's western culture with a contemporary heartbeat. The old oak chair was one of several chairs I found in a garage while I lived with my husband in Wyoming. I had thrown my jeans across the chair and took off my Mary Jane's just under it. The light was an afternoon light that was just manifesting across the room and I loved the play of the light on the walls and in the deep creases in the jeans. It was very demonstrative of Houston's western culture seen in the wonderful mix of burnt sienna walls and the old oak chair with a pair of well worn jeans tossed across it. The Mary Jane's are also a bit nostalgic.

 

"Morning Strawberries"

                                                             Morning Strawberries

                                                        Watercolor 18"x 24"  $425.00
                                                
                                                                         

"Morning Strawberry's" is a painting I worked on while I was teaching a Still Life class in Watercolor at Baker University with the Community Art Students. The sun was coming through the clouds warming the strawberries. The beautiful reds in the strawberries contrasted beautifully with the colors of the window sill, sky and bowl. I loved the brightness of the yellow bowl against the deep red in the strawberries. This painting is a simple expression of an early morning bowl of ripe strawberries.

"Amy's Laundry"

                                                                               

                                                               "Amy's Laundry"
                                                        Watercolor 16"x 20"  $425

Amy was my neighbor in Blacksburg, Virginia. She was against using a dryer because of the energy it wasted and she loved the way the fresh air permeated the clothes. She had this wonderful clothes line in her backyard and one day she was drying all the jeans and they were so full of personality. All sorts of adventures were revealed in those jeans. Hiking trips to the Appalachian Trail, bike rides through town, hours spent in university classes, long nights out and walks through town. I loved the colors and the way the light hit the basket and the shadows the jeans cast on the walls.