About

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.

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My Soul

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!

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My Cintiq

After seven years, my old Cintiq finally gave up the ghost, so I got a new one. In the photo is a Cintiq 22, but I had to return it because the screen resolution was way less than what I need.
I sent it back and got the Pro version instead, with the 4K screen - will fix the photos soon.

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My Paints

I painted watercolors for many years, but only recently have begun using oils again.
It's so different from everything else I do!
I am learning to become less detail-obsessed and more spontaneous.

I will post some photos here at some point when I get them put together.

Progressions

Click on the owl and check out a gallery of some progressions of my artwork, most done digitally, in Photoshop, on the Cintiq drawing table.

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This is a Journal I cobbled together from the few posts I made over the past few (lost) years. I'm posting about whatever I happen to be up to; my garden, my chickens, my bees, growing and using medicinal herbs, occasional poetry and artwork, and sometimes about making a huge mess in the house. (I don't just love painting pictures, I also like painting walls, refinishing furniture, and redecorating, sometimes repeatedly.)
This will be a different kind of journal, and will probably be comprised of new artwork that's very different from the art I have been making so far. I am not sure yet exactly how it will manifest. I've changed so profoundly in the last few years that I am at a loss to express it just yet. My life has been a very strange journey, and getting stranger, and appears to be speeding up. Timelines are shifting. I don't know where it's leading.

Follow me on Twitter

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Video

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. I have got to do some more videos! (I know, I keep promising this.)

My Cats

Cats I have known and very much loved.
They are a special animal for me and I've lived with them my whole life. It's funny I have hardly ever painted them.

  • Charlie
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    My Charlie, on a summer evening. He lived from 1997-2014. I miss him so much.

  • Pepper
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    My old friend Pepper, coming to say hi to me. She passed away in 2008 at the age of 18.

  • Ginger
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    Ginger likes to communicate telepathically. She was born in 2008.

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    Very young Ginger, curled up with big brother Charlie.

  • Penny
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    Baby Penny, in my lap while I sit at the computer.

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    Penny sniffs the catnip. She had a terrible genetic arthritis condition and only lived for nine years, my heart was broken.

  • Bimbo
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    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

    Hang Gliding

    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.

  • Dog Mtn
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    Me launching my Comet glider from the south side of Dog Mountain, Riffe Lake, near Morton, WA circa 1991

  • Tiger Mtn
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    Me launching my Profil glider from Tiger Mountain, Issaquah, WA circa 1993.

  • Chelan
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    July 1993 - Everyone getting set up on top of Chelan Butte, WA for an annual hang gliding XC (cross country) flight competition.

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    They got my name wrong, and I wasn't even in the competition, but I made it into the local Chelan newspaper!

  • Flagstaff
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    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!

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    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.

    My Garden

    My garden is near and dear to my heart.
    I grew vegetables for many years, now I grow medicinal herbs and other plants, from which I make tinctures and teas for myself and friends.
    Last summer I suddenly decided that I needed beauty and color out there too, and I added a huge number of tulips, peonies, and climbing roses too.

    The tulips have started to bloom now!

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