"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.

 

"Outside of Lone Tree Wyoming" Wyoming

      

             

                                                                "Outside of Lone Tree, Wyoming"

                                                                   Watercolor 18"x 24" $450.00

"Outside Lone Tree Wyoming" is one of my favorite places on earth. This is one of the last places in the continental United States that is not fenced. Traveling across Wyoming has been part of my life and this particular area just south and east of the Unita Mountains in southwest Wyoming is vast and wild. This is an area that has not been touched by mankind. The land moves from deep rock canyons to clusters of scrub cedars. There is a unique stillness and truth in the vast and beautiful emptiness that this land holds.

"Mexico Bench"

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

I have spent 30 years living and working in Mexico. I love the colors of Mexico. The warm colors of Mexico. This image spoke to me because of the line of bright green and yellow tiles that lined the bench. Color is an important part of the culture of Mexico. 

"Venice's Boots" Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence, KS

                                                 

                                                                              "Venice's Boots"

                                                                              Watercolor 18"x 24" $425.00 

I completed this painting just after I returned from Wyoming and was teaching at the Lawrence Art Center. These boots belong to my niece, Venice. She lives in Jelm, in rural southeastern Wyoming. Jelm is actually a town with a post office, gas station, small store, bar, cafe and eight log cabins that her parents rent out to tourists. The resort is called "Woods Landing". It is located on the Laramie River and is listed on the historic register. It is a beautiful place to live and grow up. I also lived in Jelm when I was in college at the University of Wyoming. I lived in one of the eight cabins that line the Laramie River long before Sue and Bill, my sister and brother in law purchased it. My heart always seems to be in Wyoming. The long harsh winters create a unique relationship between the land and the people who live there and I love the silence of the vast landscape. I was in Wyoming working on a mural project for Harmony School which is the school Venice attends. There are 26 students. The mural told the story of Wyoming from the time of the dinosaurs to modern times. I stayed at Woods Landing with Venice and at the end of the project, Sue, my sister in law asked me if I wanted to take Venice's boots. She had outgrown them. These are Venice's old boots that she wore while she barrel raced in Wyoming. I was deeply grateful. I carry them with me everywhere and students have painted them all across the United States where ever I teach and work. I am deeply grateful to Sue for giving them to me because I am able to carry a part of Wyoming with me where ever I go.

"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.

"Red Canna Lilly"

                                                               "Red Canna Lilly"

                                                               Watercolor 16" x 20" $175.00

 I saw this lily in a garden on the campus of the University of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg where we were living while I was getting my MFA. The lilly reminded me of a garden we visited in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. San Miguel de Allende was full of Canna Lillies of all shades and colors and suddenly I felt as if I was standing in that same garden listening to the sounds of Mexico. This image was painted from life and all the rich colors of Mexico are represented in the bold elegance of the Lilly.