Paintings in January 2016

I'm taking part in a 30 paintings in 30 days challenge for January 2016. The challenge is hosted by artist Leslie Saeta. Please check back here often to see my latest paintings. I love to read any comments you'd like to share. You can post them to my blog. Thank you for viewing my art.

Day 14
Monet at the D'Orsay
The painting in this small painting is a favorite of mine. It's by Monet, and is called "The Magpie", and is in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. I was thinking about snow a lot today because of the blizzard in the northeast this weekend. Snow is pretty to paint, especially from the warmth of my home.
8x10
Acrylic on Board

Day Twelve
Costa Rican Jungle Ride
8x10
Acrylic on board
A friend went on an Amazon white water rafting trip recently. This is painted from a picture she took. The rafts give the painting some scale.

Day Ten
Dana Point Harbor
8x10
Acrylic on board
I was inspired to paint this subject by artist Bryan Mark Taylor's paintings of the harbor. I'd like to paint this en plein air next time I'm in Dana Point.

Day Eight
Rainy Crossing
6x6
Acrylic on panel
NFS

Day Six
Sheep May Safely Graze
6x6
Acrylic on hard board
NFS

Day Four
Mitch
12x16
Acrylic on board
NFS
This is my beloved husband of almost 30 years, and I haven't done him justice! But I enjoyed working on this, and will take another stab at painting him another day (no stabbing him though:).

Day One
Thistles
9x12"
Acrylic on panel
NFS

Painting 15
"No Vertigo"
11x14
Acrylic on panel
A work in progress

Day Thirteen
Sir Walter Scott Memorial in Prince's Park, Edinburgh, Scotland
8x8
Acrylic on panel
Virtual Paintout is featuring Scotland this month. VirtualPaintout.com utilizes Google Earth for choosing a subject (using the little peg person). Choosing a view to paint from can become time consuming, but it's fun to "visit" a place. My son, David, is in Edinburgh studying this semester.

Day Eleven
The Demo
6x6
Acrylic on Panel
NFS

Day Nine
JV Ranch--Kansas
6x6
Acrylic on board

Day Seven
Terrific Twos
8x10
Acrylic on board
Private Collection
I had fun painting a brother portrait to the little girl painting of a few days ago (below). I photographed the painting in my kitchen with the usual kitchen lighting, making this look too pinky/red. In real life viewing, it has a nice, sunny look.

Day Five
San Clemente Pier--Early Watch
6x6
Acrylic on board
NFS

Day Three
Fantastic Four
8x10
Acrylic on board
Private Collection

Lucy is an adorable preschooler and a member of my extended family. A goal for 2016 is to paint more portraits. I got inspired from a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London last summer. Watch out--I'm looking for more models!