Landscape Painting of Meadow and Stream at Sunrise, Unframed Image 5" x 7"

"Landscape Variation No. 2"

Available Framed or Unframed

Unframed no Matt $45.00 Unframed with Matt $50.00 Framed with Matt $75.00

Here's the second variation on the landscape theme I've been playing with. This is also available with three options - framed with matt, unframed with a matt, unframed with no matt.

For those of you who have wanted to purchase a pastel but have been concerned about the piece being ruined or smeared before you could frame it, this is a good opportunity to purchase a pastel without worry. The small frame fully protects the piece under glass and it's framed size of 8" x 10" is great for hanging in small out of the way places which won't accommodate a larger piece.

Pastel Landscape of Trees and Stream, Image 5" x 7"

"Variation No. 1"

Available Framed or Unframed

Unframed with Matt $50.00 Framed with Matt $75.00 Unframed no matt $45.00

I've just returned from a trip to South Korea. This trip was part of a military revisit tour offered by Korea to all veterans who fought in the Korean War. Korea generously paid all expenses (except airfare). It was wonderful to experience the profound gratitude of these energetic and productive people for the sacrifices made by our soldiers on their behalf. I could go on and on here, but that's not the point of this post.

Just prior to leaving I had started a project where I have been working on doing variations of one landscape in pastel. The point of this exercise is to push boundaries and see what I can come up with. Because my time is the studio is limited to four days, I have been seeing what I can do to reduce the time spent on the small pieces I post here. These pieces are pastel and because they are small studies I thought I would give prospective buyers some options.

You may purchase the pieces unframed with a double matt, Framed with a Matt and Unframed with no matt. The prices are listed on the drop down menu above. I hope to be doing about 50 pieces as part of this color study. If you are interested in purchasing more than one with a price break, just email me and I'll be happy to quote you a price.

While this piece is shown in a dark cherry frame, a limited number are also available in oak frames. Email me if you'd like a photo of the piece in an oak frame before purchasing.

Market Scene of Fish Dealer, Oil on Canvas, 8.25" x 9.5" Inches

"Always fresh!"
Sold

A collector recently asked me to paint a piece to go with another she had purchased from me. It's been awhile since I painted scenes from my Mediterranean trip last year so I really enjoyed doing this little piece. Hope she likes it.

Sunset painting, Pastel, 20" x 26"

"August's Last Blush"





I've been experimenting with pastels and watercolor recently. Clouds and sunsets have always intrigued me. I love the luminosity of watercolor and the intensity of pastels. I managed in this painting to bring both into play. I have no way of telling how this image will appear on your monitors, but the colors have subtle changes in hue and intensity. The opacity of the pastels played against the transparency of the watercolor makes for a good contrast and mimics the way in which clouds hover at different altitudes and sometimes work to mask the sun completely.

This painting when purchased is available double matted and comes with a protective sheet and it's own case to protect the image. Price is $575. Shipping is free. Email me if you are interested.

Pet Portrait of a Dachshund, 9" x 12", Oil on Canvas

"Sassy"






Meet Sassy. One of my students recently lost her beloved pet to old age and asked me to paint a portrait of her. My heart aches for this lovely lady and her husband who grieve for this sweet dog who's heart was warm and who was always gentle with strangers and family alike. If pets go to heaven - and I believe they do, then God saved a special place for this good dog where the fields always smell of sweet grass and breezes carry scents of warm sunshine and fragrant flowers and there is always a loving hand to give a belly rub.

Painting of Pink Peonies in Small Bouquet, 8" x 10"

"Practice Peonies"

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Price: $49 USD plus $12 USD s/h
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Summer's nearly over. Health issues have kept me from being in the studio this summer but as the fall approaches and things are resolving, I hope to be publishing more often. As I'm returning to atelier this fall for two days a week and I'll be teaching all day Wednesday, that leaves me four days for studio, home and social life. I promise to do my best but I'm sorry to say I'll not be able to claim daily painting status any longer as the new demands on my time will make that very difficult. I'll continue to be a part of DailyPainters.com, however, for awhile.
I've been away from paint for so long, I thought I should at least give some flowers a try and work out the rust in my painting hand.

Pastel Painting of Duck a Bush Salt Flats, 22 1/2" x 10"

Mattina Tranquilla"
SOLD

On a recent return trip from Olympia, WA, my husband stopped the car at the Duck a Bush river so that I could take pictures of the salt flats. This area always intrigues me but unfortunately I never seem to be able to get there when the light is right. This time we were there in late morning. Not the best light but I made do. I improvised a bit on the color but I think this pretty much captures the moment. I may do an oil on this next.

Oil Painting of Magnolia Spray, 11" x 14", Oil on Panel

"Magnolia Spray"






I've recently been introduced to Facebook. Ok...I'm a little behind there. But then, not everyone blogs either. Anyway, as a result, I hooked up with a friend from my teen camp days and she commissioned a small painting. My friend didn't want a vase in this floral, however; she requested instead only a spray. So here it is. Hope she likes it. To see how this painting was done, see a step by step demonstration with pictures and explanation at www.musensbysusan.blogspot.com.

Painting Study of a Brass Pitcher, 9" x 12"

The past few weeks have been filled with parties, visiting guests, summer shows, studio tours and teaching. I've hardly had time to work at actually painting anything. But here's a study of a brass pitcher I whipped out during class. I'm just finishing up a landscape and hope to get that up on the site soon. Sorry for the absence. I live with guilt these days over not getting enough done. Yipes...I still have a commission to start. Sorry Arlene!

Nude Figure Study, 9" x 12" Oil on Panel

"Contrapasto"

I've been pretty busy getting ready for a three day studio tour. The Sequim Arts Third Annual Open Studio Tour takes place this year during the Lavender Festival on July 17th, 18th, and 19th. As most of you know, I have a new studio and so this was a good opportunity to show it off a bit. I have a bunch of studies that I did for school just before the summer break and I'll be showing some of them this week as a way of filling space. I can't actually get back to the easel until after the tour. Thanks for staying tuned.

Lilancs and Pears Oil Painting, 8" x 10" Oil on Canvas

SOLD

Time has been pretty tight lately as I gear up for the upcoming Sequim Arts Studio Tour. I'm number 11 on this year's tour. In addition, because I'm a contributing author/editor for www.sequim-news.com which is a local online newspaper, I've been writing a series of articles on all the particpating artists - an endeavor that is very time consuming. Check them out on the "arts" page or today's article about Rudy Bauer that's on the front page! Anyway, I'm a busy girl. I stole some time to get into the studio today and here's what I came up with.
I had no difficulty in photographing this canvas. Last week I reprimed a host of them with Ganblin's Oil Primer. This great stuff fills in the interstices on the canvas and gives a nice smooth finish. That's the kind of finish I prefer and it's much easier to photograph. Hope you like it.

Yellow Roses on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 8" x 10"

"LaNice's Gift"

SOLD
My Studio warming party was held this past Sunday. We had around 40 people or so - we had invited around 75. That's OK - the ones who showed were true blue and we had a ball. I turned the studio into a little night club with cozy tables and put a red gel in the theatre spot light on the ceiling. We lacked the darkness of a nightclub in that it doesn't get dark here until about 10:00 PM now, but it didn't seem to bother anyone and, in fact, we partied from about 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM and then went down with the sun.

These roses were a lovely gift of summer from a long time friend and collector. So I named the flowers after her. Here's to you LaNice. Thanks for coming to my party. It's friends like you that warm my heart and bring inspriration on days when nothing else seems to be stirring.

Here's a pic of my friend Coffee (far right) and some of his friends burning up the dance floor, er, studio.

Watercolor of Yellow Roses, 11" x 14" image, matted to 16" x 20"

"Playing with Roses"
SOLD


Just got to playing the other day. Not really wanting to put out my full palette of oils, I reached for a jar of water and splashed some watercolor around. Then I thought, "Hmm, this could use some pastel". So I dug those out too. All in all just a dipsy doodle day. Here's what came of an hour of splash.
This painting come matted in a 16" x 20" matt and ready to frame.

"Rayon de Soleil"

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Price: $385 USD plus $15 USD s/h
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I've just finished this one. Can you tell I'm suffering from a little identity crises? I've been doing a lot of close realism in class but three years of painting in a loose impressionist manner has made a deep and lasting influence on my style. I suppose I'm searching for something between the two. These roses are a bit tighter than my usual. Hope you like them. There's so much more texture on the vase than shows here.

Nude Figure Study, 9" x 12" Oil on Panel

We've been working on temperature studies in class this month. This piece, although, rough, was done on Tuesday. While not completely accurate, I'm pleased (and so was the master) with the overall temperature accuracy. Unfortunately, I got stuck at the end of the semi-circle around her and therefore had to cope with a side view. Not too interesting and static as far as poses go. I hope to make these small studies more pleasing to the eye as well as accurate as time goes by. While I've done many figure studies on this blog, only a few have been from life. The rest have come from photos which I bring up on my laptop because the lighting is more accurate that way. This is much more difficult as I'm racing against time and the hues are more elusive. Some day I hope to be able to afford models for long poses over a few days.

Sunset over Seiku, Oil on Panel, 11" x 14"

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Price: $125 USD
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Must be the week for sunsets. I did this oil sketch from a photo I had in a box of references. No time for chat tonight. Enjoy!

Sunset on the Hamma Hamma Salt Marshes, 5" x 7", Oil on Panel

"Solitude"
SOLD






I've been forced to take a five hour drive home from my Tuesday Atelier class in Seattle due to the temporary closing of the Hood Canal Bridge. This usually brings me to the Hamma Hamma River and the adjacent salt marshes about sunset (we have long days here in Washington now). I haven't had my camera with me but I've pulled off the road and tried to take some mental notes that I could translate into a small study. Here's my first one. The water looks a bit greener here than in the actual painting. I guess I need some work with photoshop.

Tea Pot Painting, Oil on Linen, 14" x 18"

"Crystaline Tea Pot"

Hooray! I'm finally working out some of the kinks in photographing my work with my digital camera. This never used to be an issue but lately it seems I've had a horrible time getting a good shot with it. So today I spent an hour or two figiting with the manual mode and the (OMG) user's guide. It's a good thing I have a Master's Degree. I needed it. Anyway, the research helped and I have a much better image to show for my time.

Most of you will recognize this Tea Pot as it's been the subject of many paintings. I first painted it in pastel about 10 years ago. I've shown that painting here before and you can see it below as a comparison. I've never been able to capture it quite a well as I did in that pastel, but I think I've come close here. I've been working on this piece as an entry for the Oil Painters of America Western Regional Juried Show. I've taken it as far as I think I can. Now I'll just hold my breath. It's my first attempt so I don't have high expectations, but I can dream can't I? Here's the old pastel. What do you think? Did I do a good job with the oil? The light is, of course, different. In the original pastel I used warmer artificial light and in the recent oil above, I used natural north light. Additionally, the cool green against the warm red cloth and background do make the pot appear a bit brighter and more colorful although I've done my best to play that down a bit. Groan...I'm perseverating.

Lilacs in the Light, Oil on Canvas Panel, 5" x 7"

SOLD


On one of my morning walks I spotted Lilacs growing beside the Hwy. I believe this empty lot was once a front yard although the remnants of the home are no longer visible, there are lots of flowers that were once part of someone's garden.

I ran out of hardboard which is my preferred painting support and so this is on canvas panel. The pesky facets of the canvas make for difficult photographing. This is actually a lot clearer than it appears. Remember the camera is an extreme close up. Additionally, because I have to shoot in low light, the photo gets a bit of over exposure that is difficult to correct for on photoshop. All in all, however, it's not too bad a photo job. Enjoy.

Asian Jar with Pears, Oil on Panel, 11" x 14"

I locked myself in the studio today. After having been tied up with classes and teaching for days, it was nice to have the studio to myself for awhile. I started this piece the other day but had to stop in the middle because of other committments. Like marriage. While I'm happy with the jug in the back, there are still things that I'm not satisfied with. I believe I'm still at a juncture in my painting and not entirely certain of where to go to next. It's sort of like being at the edge of a cliff. Taking the next step is like a leap of faith. My classes are going well enough, but the pace is slow and it will be awhile before what I'm learning translates itself to my work. I think, I'll try for a stronger sense of realism in the next substantial piece. In the meantime, you may see a small one or two. I have a couple of weeks before I go back to class. I'll be staggering for a few weeks until the end of the June session because of the Hood Canal Bridge Closing here on the peninsula. It takes an extra two hours to drive to and from Seattle so I'll be taking it easy on myself by skipping a couple of classes. School is out then from the end of June through mid September. I'll be glad for the break. Heavens! It took me five hours to come back from school on Tuesday.