By The Old Oak Tree

Die aelteste Eiche Europas We missed the turn Garmin suggested, so we consulted the map and decided to take some small roads again. Along the way we saw the sign that pointed to the oldest oak tree in Europe, and went up the hill to see. The tree is on private property, but the farmer allows people to walk over to the tree which stands just past the end of the road. A couple of years ago the tree was struck by lightning, and people filled it with cement, trying to help. Later on they found out the cement collected moisture and was making the tree rot from inside. A wealthy widow funded the project to remove the cement and a tree doctor who saves trees all over Europe, came to help. The future looks good.

Bottleneck

aceo I was reading that Vincent van Gogh liked the Japanese painting style, and added black outlining to at least some paintings. Sometimes I paint dark purple on my boards as a background, and this time let some show as a take on the outline idea.

Screwdrivers

This is not another story about my husband needing something and he went looking for it in my studio. This was his idea. When he saw the painting of the nail polish, he said I should paint some screwdrivers. So I got them, took them to my studio, and painted (a painting of) them.

Naia's Bouquet

Collin and Kristin were telling me how hard everyone was working in the yard. Naia collected some of the trimmings and made bouquets. Fruits of their labor.

Polish It

aceo * When my kids were young, we had a fun time at Halloween with nail polish and paint. We polished our nails, then painted spider webs, ghosts, and other Halloweeny motives on them.

Srawberries

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Red Flowers

17,5 cm * My style of abstract. I had fun, loosened up, and used a board with an unfinished painting I didn't like.

Joy

3 1/2 x 3 1/4" "Die Sprache der Blumen" The Language of Flowers

Daisies in Blue

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The Door

12,5 cm As far as my home work goes, it's easier for me to get a plein air perspective from my studio. When I paint outside I get cameos, which, as far as perspective goes, may look more like a still life that can be painted inside. There are important factors that make a difference painting outside. Maybe the biggest one is the light. Figuring out where to put the light and shadow as it is constantly changing. And then there are all kinds of things floating around out there. Dog hair, of course, bugs (two landed on the painting today), and maybe even a bird feather. My brushes joined in and for some reason put down more hair than paint today. As the saying goes, there must be something in the air.

Soul Food

17 x 14 cm

As my husband and I were walking down the street, someone called to my husband from a side street, and he disappeared to talk with the man. A few minutes later, my husband returned with a bag of potatoes and onions that this man had harvested from his garden. After eating some of the potatoes, I thought the remainder would look better in the colander than in a plastic bag sitting on the counter. And it did, so of course I thought I needed to paint it. I didn't get around to it yet, when my husband announced that we would have some potatoes for lunch/dinner today. Oh oh. He would start in two hours. I thought that's enough time to paint them. No. Not quite. He came in to start the potatoes and couldn't find them. It took him half a second to think where to look for them. He came upstairs, and sure enough, found them in my studio. I told him he could take potatoes but not the colander, and finished painting while he started cooking. Now if Gordon was here, we would wait another minute while he got his camera to take a picture of the work of art we were sitting down to eat. Soul food.

Buffaloed

15 x 10 cm

Oh, give me a home...

Cheery Cherries

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Carrots

This time when we were shopping, nothing looked good enough to paint. I made a comment to that effect, but my husband wouldn't let me get off that easy. He picked up a bunch of carrots and said "here". At home I wandered around the house looking for a basket or something to put the carrots on or in, but nothing was looking right. I had a couple of things in my hands, and set them down for a second, then thought, oh that's perfect. The basket and the way the carrots laid in front of it. But it was right on top of my paint box, with everything I needed inside.

On Plaid

12,5 cm If the plaid isn't precise (which it isn't), don't blame me. My daughter won't let me paint precise plaid. She says it's not me.

Muggy

8,5 x 12,5 cm Because it's so hot today.

Summer Bouquet

22,5 x 36 cm Summer vacation! The young daughter of one of the secretaries wanted to buy the bouquet, and picked every piece specially. Her mother had remembered the colors and shapes of bouquets I like.
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Mugged

10 x 15 cm

Meeting Point

12,5 x 8,5 cm *

Persimmon

7,5 x 9 cm I was looking around in the produce section, and the persimmons looked good enough to paint. And so I did paint them.

Rosy

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Funky Flower

6,5 x 16,5 cm It just wasn't going the way I wanted, and I was about to toss it and start over because it was so funky. Then I thought, funky. I thought if I called it funky I could finish it as funky. A rose by any other name......?

Red Rose



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Cropped Pepper

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Cropped, not chopped. Except that now it's been chopped.

Pepper

12,5 cm I guess I've had a sheltered life. I had never seen a striped pansy; my husband had. I had never seen an orange pepper; my husband had. Or maybe I just didn't remember seeing them.

Towering

10 x 15 cm The other people there "got painted in", but you'd never know it.

Violet

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That's not it's description, but it's name.

Loose End

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When the basic work is finished, it's sometimes difficult to take care of the loose ends. It can be a bit tedious, especially since it we're so anxious to see the effect of the completed project. But whether there are loose ends or not makes a difference between tacky and classy.

A Sour Friend

aceo Nature's gifts don't always come in sweet packages.

Independence Blossoms

20,5 x 36 cm It starts in the heart.

Pine Cone

6,5 x 8 cm

The simple and powerful beauties of life.

Yellow Flowers

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Closeup

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I thought I'd get a closeup look to get to know it better.

Hydrangea

8 x 14 cm

Pansy

8 x 8 cm Today was plein air. Even if just to the backyard. It's kind of like kids starting out with the tent in the backyard before going camping in the wilds with the bears and mosquitos. And there are wonderful things even in our backyard, like this pansy. Neither one of us planted it, so we figure the birds did. The first thing I did was spill my turpentine. No, that was the second thing. The first thing is that I forgot my paintbox. Duh. I had my brushes, boards, and turp to spill, but no paint. And no rags to clean it up. Good thing we started in the backyard.

Black Bird

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He was in an earlier painting, but you probably wouldn't recognize him. Even though it was even named after him, it only shows his feet.

Bouquet

17,5 x 23,5 cm Unexpected pleasures of life.

Two Pairs

24 x 17,5 cm These pears just aren't pears until they have those tiny little dots.

The Three Pears

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Daisy

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Dancing Daisies

17,5 x 24 cm When I pick flowers from the garden, I like to make loose, carefree arrangements.

Sugar And Spice

aceo Sugar and spice, and everything nice. Cinnamon toast, apple pie, cherry pie. My grandmother.

Spotlight

17 x 14 cm

Sometimes I think I know the truth about something and later find out differently. I know I don't know which mushrooms outside are safe, so I just leave them alone. They are sure interesting to look at though.

In The Pink

30 x 70 cm *

Recycling

30 x 40 cm A friend gave me an old honey jar she found.

Peanuts

aceo This guy works for peanuts.

Das Rotkehlchen

aceo I heard something and looked up. This guy was sitting on a branch talking to me. He had a bit to say.

Secrets In The Sauce

11,5 x 11 cm When my husband and I are cooking together, I make the Hollandaise Sauce. It's not because I'm the expert, but because there's a lot of stirring at the stove involved. He gets everything ready in a pan and says: "Here. Stir." Or I put everything in the pan that he tells me to, then stir, while he's working his magic on something else. He comes over once in awhile to see if the yolks are just the right color to say it's done. Only because I ask him to. While we're eating, he thanks me for making the sauce. Well ... I sort of did.