I paint with watercolors, with oil, and digitally using a Cintiq drawing table with Photoshop. I love it all, and have no favorite method.
I am in love with beauty, color, animals, and humor. Sometimes I want to convey something deep and meaningful with my artwork, and sometimes I just want to be funny.
Most of the time I just want to paint an animal of some kind.
I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. This is me in front of my easel in 1968 - I had just turned seven. Check out my snappy Pleather dress and medallion. And the hula hoop on the floor.
Even then I was painting animals.
I painted watercolors for many years, but recently have begun using oils again. I am studying to become less detail-obsessed and more spontaneous. In 2013 I learned to use Photoshop and a Cintiq drawing table, which has been lots of fun too.
Later I will post some photos of my oil painting setup.
My garden is near and dear to my heart.
I grew vegetables and medicinal herbs for many years, but have been adding lots of peonies, dahlias, and climbing roses too. In the future I plan to set up a spot out there to paint them.
Cats I have known and very much loved.
They are a special animal for me and I've lived with them my whole life. They are such unique individuals, each with their own energy.
My Charlie, on a summer evening. He lived from 1997-2014. I miss him so much.
My old friend Pepper, coming to say hi to me. She passed away in 2008 at the age of 18.
Ginger likes to communicate telepathically. She was born in 2008.
Very young Ginger, curled up with big brother Charlie.
Baby Penny, in my lap while I sit at the computer.
Penny sniffs the catnip. She had a terrible genetic arthritis condition and only lived for nine years, my heart was broken.
I named my childhood cat Bimbo. I didn't know what the word meant, I just liked the sound of it.
This is me holding Bimbo in 1972. He was my constant companion for nineteen years.
I miss you forever, Bimbo
1967 - 1986
I flew hang gliders for fun between 1988-1998. It was a big part of my life, and my daughter's life while she was growing up. Flying taught me so much, especially about fear and self-reliance.
Me launching my Comet glider from the south side of Dog Mountain, Riffe Lake, near Morton, WA circa 1991
Me launching my Profil glider from Tiger Mountain, Issaquah, WA circa 1993.
July 1993 - Everyone getting set up on top of Chelan Butte, WA for an annual hang gliding XC (cross country) flight competition.
They got my name wrong, and I wasn't even in the competition, but I made it into the local Chelan newspaper.
1988, Merriam Crater LZ (landing zone), near Flagstaff, Arizona. During a break from the heat my daughter Jen, age 3, happily "flying" - she's an Army helicopter pilot now.
Me learning to fly in 1988. This was my first launch at Mingus Mountain, near Jerome, Arizona. I landed in the cactus!
Note the glider already in the air above me.
This is a video from 2017, a screen capture of the hen I was creating for my 2018 Chicken Art calendar. It's a bit long, and I changed my mind about the color of the hen, but it's a good representation of how I would build the layers to create a chicken on my Cintiq.
