Avocado 2

Still having fun with the same avocado. Well, not really the same avocado. Cause they turn all brown and squishy.
Cheers all!
Karen
Colored pencil and ink on illustration board, 8x10", still life, available

Avocado 1

Catchy title, huh?
Yeah....

I believe the entire month of July went by without time to create art, to the point where I was dreaming of sketching.
We had a delayed memorial for my mother in law's passing on a day in July that rained three inches, complete with lightning and thunder. Some people experience that almost everyday in summer, but in Southern California it is almost a sure bet it won't rain.....until next February.

So I just found time to sketch this avocado.
He/she/it was very patient with me - taking its time to slowly turn brown.

Cheers!
Karen

Charcoal and graphite on Strathmore paper, 8x10", still life. Available

Fiona

Well, I worked damn hard on this painting of this sweet, sweet girl.
This is Fiona. My sister in law Lori's granddaughter. She is an adorable little girl and I feel privileged to have "captured" her likeness on canvas. Lori had no idea I was doing this and I got to present it to her, framed and ready to hang.
I enjoyed painting her. 16x20", oil on canvas
Cheers all,

Love the people around you, family or not. They won't always be there.
God's peace,
Karen

Olive oil and a pear

I was told to take the pear and paint its portrait so thank you, Reem http://rgfelnerart.blogspot.com, for the lovely pear. It made a nice compliment to the olive oil and I enjoyed painting this.

Oil on canvas, 8x10", still life
SOLD

Also, I don't know how I missed this but watercolor artist Steve Hanks has passed away. I and so many others have admired his amazing skin tones and skill. His work was sensuous, at times I found some of his paintings a tad lascivious but always, always beautifully done. I grieve that we won't have any more of his stunning art. Pinterest is a good place to see a great deal of his work.


And perhaps some of you can help me: My blog loads so slow on the sidebar. The main page loads rather quickly, but for me at least, it just lags when loading the sidebar. I've reduced the number of posts and also the number of sidebar people I watch but I really enjoy seeing the newest that others post so I don't want to reduce it more than what it is currently. I'm wondering if there might be something I'm missing. Any clues?

Karen

You can't fight the undertow

I painted the fish first and it just screamed out for some kind of drama. So I added the duck. I think I like the duck best, but the fish was fun to paint.
Oil on canvas, 16x20", animal, seascape, available  
Cheers all,
Karen

(the first WIP - I think it's kinda fun to see the steps) 

Under Lock and Key

Hellooo,
Had fun painting this and submitted it to a contest. Now it's a wait and see.
Cheers all!
Karen

Oil on canvas, 8x10", Still life   May become available at some point

I'd tell all my friends, but they'd never believe me

I started this years ago. And got rather irritated with my daughter when she posted it on her Facebook  page before I'd finished it. (Well, it's her image that I used.) So stupidly, I put it away. But now I've pulled it out and finished it and I'm rather happy with it. I hated - hated - hated the spaceship! It fought me at every turn but it's OK now. 

The title is from a Radiohead song that I just love - and is so...fitting.

https://youtu.be/QYAvrvglBnI

And in my perfect world, I'd follow that up with Bowie's Starman - but that's just me.

Oil on canvas, 18x14", fantasy, figure, portrait

Available

Cheers all,

Karen

My Hills

Hello,
Painted our hills here. Everything is so, so, so dry and dusty already.
Cheers all.
15x13", landscape, oil on canvas available

Click to Buy

Pepperdine Skyline

My husband took a lovely photo on his cell phone while waiting for the stop light in Malibu near Pepperdine. I enjoyed painting this. Oil on Canvas, 20x13", landscape, available

On a sad note, my 94 year "sound of mind and body" old mother in law passed away. It was all so sudden and tough. She served overseas from the States in WWII as an RN. I love this picture of her. It's my favorite. Hard to imagine she's gone. She was such a fixture in my life.

Love the people who love you. It's easy to be mad at someone you know will forgive you. 

God's peace.

Karen

The weight of feathers

You know when you've done a set-up and you have it sitting on your desk in a not so good place but you think it will be safe because it's your desk and your husband gets the brainiac idea to use your computer instead of his and he jostles your still life set up as you're hustling into the room saying, "Don't touch my set-up!" but it's too late.....

Don't you just hate that?

Colored pencil, charcoal, Wolff's carbon, graphite and whatever else I could throw at it - on illustration board, 7x8", still life

This was much smaller and didn't take as long as the last.

Cheers all.

Karen