After many months of stress, moving, and dealing with medical issues, I finally started painting again. This is a gray owl in acrylic paint on canvas, 14" X 14". I'm not sure if it's done or if I will tinker with it more.  I did enjoy painting the owl though.

We downsized from a big house to a small cottage in July.  I no longer have my art studio, just a small bedroom which is both an office and painting space. It was difficult to move, but necessary. My husband has not been well and is now in a memory care center. He fell many times, damaged his eyes and has had multiple surgeries. He is finally able to see a little bit and use a walker. He was in a wheelchair for many months. Unfortunately the original facility we were in was not adequate for him and I moved him last week to a small group home where he is getting better care. 

The emotional stress and my own aging physical issues (mostly Parkinsons tremors) made it difficult to paint. I am hoping to go out again with the plein air group this week and try some small outdoor (or indoor as it may be too cold) paintings at the greenhouse. It is fun to paint with a group of artists and uplifting to my spirit.

Wishing all a better 2025. Happy new year.

Solo Para Ti

 

Acrylic painting (Solo para ti) on stretched canvas, 14" X 14". Prints available at my website.  This painting looks really good on a coffee cup. Bright colors to go with your morning coffee.

I haven't been painting much due to my hand tremors, but abstract art does not require details. I bought many new tubes of acrylic paint to take an online class. While I was frustrated with painting like the instructor, I loved the colors and background information.  This canvas was gesso'ed and textured with flexible modeling paste. I had never tried that combination in the past.  It was fun too.

I was listening to an old CD by Ottmar Liebert and enjoying painting bright colors on the canvas to the lively music. I will continue with the online class and hope I learn more new techniques, but I don't expect my paintings to look anything like the professional artist.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Painting experiments

 

                            Koi fish at the botanical garden, Acrylic on canvas panel 11 X 14.

I had fun painting on a black background with acrylic paint. I've always enjoyed painting fish. I have some of my earlier paintings in watercolor of Koi hanging in my house. I think these have a good sense of movement. I liked the way the bright colors appeared on the black background. I enjoyed watching them at the pond at the botanical garden.  It reminded me of our trip to Israel in 2012 when we visited the kibbutz where they were being raised for sale.  Beautiful fish.

Sitting by the Snake River. 9 X 12, mixed media on paper. This was done in my sketch book with gouache, pen and ink. I also used a brayer (a type of roller). I was just having fun without making too much of a mess.  The woman sitting on the rock was another artist painting in watercolor a couple of years ago at the Swan Falls Park along the Snake River in Murphy, Idaho.  I have done very little painting with gouache, but I had a few tubes to play with.  I actually prefer painting with oils, but they take a long time to dry and I don't always have the patience for that so I decided to do some paintings that would dry quickly.