On a Dark and Stormy Night

8 x 10 oil on stretched canvas
NFS

For those of you not familiar with a Dark and Stormy, I suggest you go treat yourself to this tasty little beverage. A Dark and Stormy is a typical sailor beverage (again - served with a lime to ward off scurvy). As landlocked sailors, we often enjoy this drink with family at the holidays, or any other time we get together. I loved the challenge of painting multiple glass items with various colored liquids.

Almost at the Beach

9 x 12 oil on stretch canvas
NFS

Another Sand Dune painting. The colors in this painting are softer than the other sand dune paintings, and it has the feeling of a late day visit to the beach.

Monte Verde View

6 x 8 oil on panel

During the summer of 2006, my sister Mikayla and I spent a month in Guatemala taking language courses and traveling. This painting is from an early morning boat ride into the mangroves in Monteverde on the Pacific Coast. Despite he prolific bugs, this was a wonderful morning.

Ken's Cabin

6 x 8 oil on wood panel

Finally, a painting that is a bit more seasonal. This little cabin (Ken's cabin) is part of the Tenth Mountain Division Hut Association in Colorado. During the time we lived in Breckenridge, we visited several of these ski-in huts with friends. This hut is just above the town of Breckenridge and is a gentle upward ski with some great views!

Sand Dune #2

6 x 8 oil on wood panel
SOLD

Another sand dune painting to remind me of a day at the beach despite the new snow on the ground outside. While I am looking forward to the warm weather, the fresh coat of white snow that fell yesterday is a welcome change. Unlike so many folks along the east coast, we are well below our average snowfall for the year.

Boat at Dock

11 x 14 oil on stretched canvas

This painting is very loosely based on a picture from the same sailing trip mentioned in the Toba Inlet painting post (found here). I used a picture of our little boat at a dock in a quiet harbor but completely changed the colors. On this day, we had no engine and had to sail the boat onto the dock against a really strong headwind with very little space. Eventually, we actually used our kayak to run a long line out to the bow and literally haul the boat the last few yards! We put on quite a show for the rest of the boats on the dock!

Birch Trees #2

6 x 8 oil on wood panel
NFS

I miss all the colors of autumn and decided to indulge myself with another birch tree painting. This painting is also fresh and relaxing after a rather stressful few days involving my son chipping off most of his top two teeth. Oh how I wish I could sit in this quiet little grove of trees.

Rowboat on Mooring

6 x 8 oil on wood panel
SOLD

This boat was painted using my 'artistic memory.' I can't actually remember ever seeing this particular boat, but I'm sure I've seen something similar many times.

Toba Inlet

6 x 8 oil on wood panel

During the summer of 2005, my husband Dave, and two friends Jeff and Clive and I sailed North into British Columbia from Seattle on a 22 foot borrowed sailboat. Despite 16 straight days of rain, a broken engine, one emergency room visit, and a bit of adventure, we had a wonderful month. The furthest point we reached was a fjord called Toba Inlet (for those who know our crazy dog Toba, this is indeed where she got her name) We secured the boat between an old railroad bridge and 2 stern anchors, and then three of us hiked up into the mountains for 4 days. This painting shows one of the few glimpses of blue sky we saw during our trip.

Blue Drinks with Friends

6 x 12 oil on stretched canvas

As promised here is my next installment of my blue drink paintings. In the actual painting, the yellow is much brighter and the drinks are a bit greener. I think I need to work on my photography skills! My friend Lori recently informed me that as long as there is an orange. you can consider it a healthy drink.

Blue Drink

6 x 12 oil on stretched canvas
$40

This painting was inspired by one of my great sailing friends, Alison (Al, Alex, etc). I wanted to try painting a glass and decided that the best thing to fill a glass with is a blue drink. This is one of those paintings that just makes me smile to look at since it brings back good memories of good times. I was so excited I decided to paint a second one - stay tuned for the next blue drink painting.

First Home

9 x 12 oil on stretched canvas
NFS

This is a painting of the first house my husband and I bought in Durham, North Carolina. It's also the home where our kids were born and will always hold a special place in our hearts. We still own this little house, but are looking forward to buying something a little bigger in the future. This painting was a gift for my husband.

Eggplants

6 x 6 oil on stretched linen
NFS

Unlike artichokes (which are my favorite food), I am not fond of eggplant, in fact I am mildly allergic to them, but they are beautiful. I was looking for something purple to go with the lemons and artichoke as the final piece to my kitchen painting project. The three paintings are going to go over a window above my kitchen sink to add a little color to our somewhat drab kitchen