Rocky Slideshow!

Morning Marsh

This painting was done from a photo I took this past spring at Edisto Island. I photographed the marsh as the sun was rising and the marsh grasses glowed and the water shimmered. This painting is 11 x 14 and painted with soft pastels on tinted gatorboard I prepared myself.

Painting Monteagle

I spent several days in October painting Monteagle, Tennessee and the surrounding area with a group of artists from the Atlanta area. We painted each morning in the Monteagle Assembly of Homes and then in the afternoon we drove down to the valley to paint the farms and countryside. One day we drove to Sewanee and the University of the South, painting the overlook. Before I left on Saturday morning, I drove back down to the valley to take a few more photos. I met a nice older gentleman named Mr. Jacobs who let me take photos of his barn, garden and dog, Max. He also insisted on picking a huge bag of turnip greens for me before I left. The painting above is a small watercolor on a greeting card I painted for Mr. Jacobs to thank him for his generousity. Enjoy!

Woodstock Wolverines Baseball commission

I've finally finished the commission of the baseball player. This young man graduated from high school a year ago and his mom wanted to commemorate his senior year with this commission. He was the pitcher for our local baseball team. I combined about 5 different photos to compose this painting taking the scoreboard from one photo, his glove from another and his uniform from another. I had fun painting this one and hope to do more.

ALTERED BOOK - A CHILDHOOD MEMOIR

I have been working on an Altered Book of some of my favorite childhood memories. I started with a book I purchased at a library book sale for 12 cents. I glued about 10 pages together for the base of each collage. I have been experimenting with different methods and embelishments. I hope you enjoy some of my memories from 1959-63.

ETOWAH RIVER REFLECTIONS

This was painted plein air at Boling Park on the bank of the Etowah River. It was a beautiful, cool spring morning.........before the humidity and bugs set in. We haven't had much rain in Georgia so the river was down and you could see part of the bank, roots of the trees and fallen logs. The river was very peaceful that day and the fish, turtles, river otter and birds seemed to enjoy it as well!

EDISTO SALT MARSH

EDISTO SALT MARSH 11 x 14, soft pastel on prepared gatorfoam board
The salt marshes are tinted orange and gold in the mornings. The tide was in which made a beautiful contrast with the orange grasses. This location is directly across from the Old Post Office on Edisto Island.

MARSH POINT SAND DUNES

I was a member of a group of plein air artists who visited Edisto Island this past week. The first day was too windy and cold to paint. The second day was perfect and I painted the above painting on the beach of Marsh Point. This painting brings back memories of the smell of the ocean, grasses blowing in the wind and schools of dolphins swimming along the shore. I painted this 11" x 14" painting on gatorfoam board tinted peach and coated with pumice gel. Enjoy!

Homemade Pumice Boards

We learned how to make homemade pumice boards in class on Tuesday. They can be used in place of Wallis sanded paper. In the photo you can see I have tinted several boards red, orange, yellow and purple. I am making these in preparation for my painting trip to Edisto Island April 15th.

The Parr House

Breezy Hill Stables - soft pastel on Wallis paper, 8" x 10"
This is a scene you will pass on Main Street in Woodstock. I always love driving by and seeing the horses grazing in the fields. The rosebuds caught my eye the other day so I stopped to take a photograph. This land has been sold to a developer and soon will look comletely different. I'm glad I can preserve it in this painting.

Watercolor Rendering

A watercolor rendering for a new subdivision of ranch style homes.

HUGH

"Hugh" collage 12" x 12"
This is a collage I made of my father in law using color copies of some of his high school football photographs. His sister made a scrapbook of his high school football career so I also have many newspaper clippings. Their Jackson, TN high school team went on to win the state championship. I use color copies, gel medium and lazertran.

Great Gram

This is a watercolor painting of my husband's grandmother. She lived to 101.
9' x 12" Arches watercolor paper.

Say Cheese

soft pastel on Canson
This is a painting of my oldest son when he was about two. I had a tomato garden at the time and he loved playing hide and seek between the plants. I asked him to "say cheese" and snapped his picture just as a tomato vine fell on his head. I painted this a few years ago.

OLD ROPE MILL PARK PATH

Old Rope Mill Park is located on the Little River in Cherokee County. There are trails, decks, covered pavillion with fireplace and wooden swings. This path leads along the river and winds through the woods, bog, mountain and past rapids and rocky outcroppings. I captured it as the sun was pouring over and through the trees on a winter morning. I started with Belgian Mist Wallis sanded paper and painted an underpainting with pastel and turpenoid. This painting measures 16" x 20".

FORSYTH ROOSTER

Forsyth Rooster 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 " soft pastel on wallis paper. Shop at Forsyth Fabrics in Atlanta and you'll see roosters in the parking lot. My friend, Julie, recently sent me a photo of a rooster she saw at Forsyth struting around. It's funny to see roosters walking and mingling with the customers in downtown Atlanta. This was a little warm up I did this morning. Thanks, Julie.

OAHU REFLECTIONS 2 1/2 X 3 1/2

A little study from a photograph I took outside of our room in Oahu. soft pastel on Wallis 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

BLACK SAND BEACH 2 1/2" x 3 1/2 "

This is a small study I did of Black Sand Beach on the road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii. The sand is a blackish grey with outcroppings of lava enclosing the beach. The water was crystal clear and such a contrast to the black lava.

YELLOW MAPLE

I have revised this painting by changing the background color, adding a little more gold to the leaves and redefining the sky holes. I still need to work a little on the background trees and the left side of the maple. Enjoy.

LOUVRE ATLANTA

We celebrated my daughter's birthday by visiting the Louvre Atlanta exhibit at the High Museum of Art on Saturday. The "King's Drawings" were amazing. There were several sketches which had never been exhibited before. I had to keep reminding myself that these works were 400 years old. Above is my favorite painting of the collection. Over the next three years the High Museum will be the home to many more paintings from the Louvre.

"SUNFLOWER" 12 x 18

I have wanted to paint this sunflower for a long time. I took the reference photo while on a trip to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia several years ago. I love the contrast of the bright yellow petals and the clear blue sky. We were visiting Mr. Cason's vegetable garden early one morning. It is the site for the PBS "Victory Garden" show and they always have beautiful flowers and vegetables. All of the sunflowers were illuminated by the sun. This sunflower was the tallest one in the garden. Enjoy!

Golden Maple

This Golden Maple is located in downtown Woodstock, Georgia across the street from Tea Leaves & Thyme. I passed it early one morning last fall and had to turn around to snap a photo. It looked like it was on fire that morning, the color was so brilliant it looked like it was glowing. The railroad tracks are directly in front of the tree along with a little birdhouse on a post. This painting was painted with soft pastels on Canson paper.

Niki in the Garden

Niki in the Garden
soft pastel on Canson
10 x 12
I was looking through my photographs and decided to paint a picture I took while visiting the Atlanta Botanical Garden last summer. The exhibit featured sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002), a Paris born painter and sculptor. The whimsical sculptures seemed to be playing in the fountains and hiding around every corner of the gardens. The sculptures were covered in multicolored mosaic pieces that reflected all the colors of the garden. Enjoy!

Diamond Head soft pastel on Wallis 8 x 10

This painting was done from a reference photo I took while on vacation in Hawaii a few years ago.