VACATION TIME

It's time for a little vacation...yea! My hubby and I are going to Asheville, North Carolina to visit some good friends of ours and stay at their bed and breakfast called 'CROOKED OAK MOUNTAIN INN" Really looking forward to seeing Patti and Bear and their beautiful mountain inn. After three nights with our friends; we will drive a couple of hours to Banner Elk, North Carolina, to stay in a time-share for a week and explore that part of the Smokey Mountains. Since neither of us have ever been to North Carolina, and we are excited about seeing a different part of our United States. We plan to visit several small towns to include Boone, Blowing Rock, an attraction called Grandfather Mountain, and many of the spectacular waterfalls in North Carolina. Who knows what else we will do; we are both good explorers! Returning May 10th, so I'll be writing about my trip when I return. Oh.....if you haven't seen the above hamster photo....isn't it the cutest thing ever!!

LONESOME LIGHTHOUSE

Title: Lonesome Lighthouse
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Size: 11”x 14”
Available at: $175.00 unframed + $5.00 s/h in U.S. How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

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My husband's father was an amazing man who loved boating on the ocean. I will always have such wonderful memories of how he could "drive" a huge yacht better than most people drive their cars! What a sailor he was. We were fortunate to have many opportunities to spend some of the most unforgettable times aboard his "ship" boating from Baltimore to the tip of Florida, and all the way up the Gulf side of Florida to the panhandle Once even took a trip over to the Bahamas, which was a great time that I will always remember. So, I know that I took this photo on one of those excursions; and I think that the lighthouse was in southern Florida, but can't be sure. If anybody knows where this lighthouse is; I would sure like to know! It could have been somewhere in the Bahamas, but I kind of think Florida. When I see lighthouses almost out in the middle of "nowhere" it always makes me think that they look so lonely and all by themselves. And hence the title of the painting. My goal with this painting was to capture that thick, calm, almost slightly misty feeling in the air early in the morning, and the beautiful pale turquoise water.

GARDEN PATH

Title: Garden Path
Medium: Oil on gessoed boardSize: 5"x7"
Available at: $75.00 unframed + $5.00 s/h in U.S. How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

Very impressionistic floral that I painted today from a photo I took at the Denver Botanic Gardens last summer. The red flowers in the foreground were actually zinnias that were huge and such a bright red! I'm still working at staying loose with my brushwork so the flowers are simply suggested and the viewer can imagine any type of flower.....I love that. Thank you for looking today.

SUNSET

Title: Sunset
Medium: Oil on gessoed masonite
Size: 5"x5"
Available at: $65.00 unframed + $5.00 s/h in U.S.
How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

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I don't know why, but often after painting on renderings all day; I have this urge to paint a sunset or a sunrise.....maybe it's just the simplicity. Someone once said that when you loose simplicity, you loose drama. It's true. I'll have to figure out who said that and let you know. Thank you for looking today.

SUMMER MOON

Title: Summer Moon
Medium: Watercolor on gessoed masonite
Size: 5"x5"
Available at: $65.00 unframed + $5.00 s/h in U.S.
How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

I have been experimenting with watercolor on gessoed hard board. The colors in this little painting don't really show as well as they do in the original. It's a funky little piece of fun art! Thanks for looking.

Title: Architectural Rendering
Medium: Watercolor
Size: 10”x13”
Available at: Commissioned Home Portrait
How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

Sometime it amazes me at the number of architectural renderings I am doing. Even though I have had this "job" for many, many years; I still enjoy the work and working with my clients. I am, however, seriously starting to realize that I spend a huge amount of my painting time working on renderings. One of my goals for this year is to find my "artistic voice" and mainly focus on my own style of personal painting, try to get into a couple of galleries, and start entering a few art shows. My artsy fartsy (lol!) friends tell me that I need to give up the rendering and just focus on my personal painting. It is a hard thing to let go of something like this business that I have worked so hard for....but things change and maybe it's time. When I started doing rendering full-time; we were really needing the income to put our second daughter through college. Well, now she is graduating with a degree in biology from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and will attend a medical program at Rose Medical Center in Denver, this next year. So, one more year to go, although this next year will not be too expensive for us. Are my rendering days coming to an end???? Thanks for looking today.

ARCHITECTURAL RENDERING

Title: Architectural Rendering
Medium: Watercolor on Arches 140# paper
Size: 10”x13”
Available at: Commissioned Home Portrait
How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

ARWEN

A little more......I think I might have to finish this after vacation; I have lots to do to catch up on my work and getting ready to go. Thanks for looking.