Pleasures of Winter

How fun is this?
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, musicians extraordinaire, have just come out with a brand new CD, Pleasures of Winter , music for Winter and the Holiday Season featuring Jay & Molly's live performances from their annual Public Radio program with a variety of great musicians making guest appearances in the house band including: Harry Aceto, David Bromberg, Peter Davis, Peter Ecklund, Laurel Massé, Brian Melick, Michael Merenda, Ruth Ungar Merenda, Steve Rust, Butch Thompson, Tony Trischka and Sam Zucchini.

I was so delighted when they decided to use a painting of mine for the cover, I think ( hope! ) the spirit of the painting matches the spirit of the music really well.
Thank you Jay & Molly.

Please go visit their site to hear sound clips from this, and all their wonderful music.

Lemonade in Winter aka Pet Portraits

It is amazing, there must be 5 inches of snow outside......people in bright red Santa hats are going by on cross country skis accompanied by bounding, cavorting dogs!
It looks like Vermont out there more than a more often balmier island in the Pacific North West , but these are interesting times.....expect the unexpected!

Dogs! Yes Dogs seem to be playing a much larger role in my life than I once thought possible. I thought I was a "cat person" until my heart was stolen by a wolf dog we found wandering through a State Park in Vermont, who adopted us and whom we came to call Daisy. Daisy has gone on to where good and faithful dogs go when they leave us, and Baci, the fluffy Corgi now owns another hunk of my heart.

Now, into my life has come the opportunity to paint some wonderful dogs. I am having a terrific time doing this and thank the people these dogs live with for sharing these four legged Wonders with me.
I would love to keep painting more Pet Portraits, so if you'd like one, let me know! Oh, and I welcome cats and birds, iguanas, horses, cows and pigs, any animal you love!
Thank you!

Here are the first two finished "portraits" :


Reeses and Hershey


Pele

Snowmen and Animals in Sweaters & Jackets!

I LOVE painting snow, snowmen,snowmen who always have multicolored Lifesavers for their smiles! woodland animals in sweaters and wooly hats...gingerbread men and Christmas cookies....candy canes and peppermints falling from the sky, Santas and children making snow angels, babies in wooly sweaters on toy laden reindeer, stockings filled with toys, and happily wrapped presents...... cut paper snowflakes and all the Joyful, Sparkly, and Heart Warming images of this season......

Baci, the Fluffy Floppy Eared Corgi!

Here is Baci!!! my most lovable, darling, stout hearted, sweet, shy yet gregarious at home 18 month old fluffy ( long haired) Corgi whose ears have refused to go up, unless listening to something VERY interesting!
Here, he is nervously trying to decide if the camera is something to be trusted, or not.

Sunshine

The weather is clear and COLD, more like Vermont but the beautiful sunshine is a blessing after what seems like an eternity of grey skies and low slate clouds.
There are pots of primroses and crocus in front of the store and plump, red buds and the sun is sticking around longer....ahh Spring, I await you with a joyful heart!
These pictures are bits of spreads from the a l m o s t nearing completion "Saturn For My Birthday" picture book that is taking longer than it should but I am pretty happy with the way it's coming along.
Back to work now....

Saints, Angels, Ascended Beings, FINISHED!

The Irish Goddess Aine, Merlin and St Teresa above, a mere drop in the bucket of my new Celestial Friends.
Wow........finally after a final slog of working for 32 hours straight.......I am finished with my 100 Saints, Angels, Ascended Masters and Avatars.....I had no idea at the onset that my life would be so overly consumed with these beings..... the final batch was pushed out of the nest to the Publisher today and so tomorrow I am happily back to the realm of picture books where one illustration has to do with the following one.
This has definitely been an adventure into the nether regions of the Art Warrior, that driven and passionate secluded land that holds little room for other people and other diversions, that place of tunnel vision where what is paramount is the brush and the tube of paint directly in front of ones' myopic gaze, the illustration in front of ones' face and then the next and the next......one bribes oneself to work a few hours longer with movies, "I'll work for one more movie" then sleep at 3 am or so. Then coffee and a walk for Baci the Corgi and me by the water and then back to the studio......3 months w/o a day off and now they are finished!
Oh and Yes! The duck couple has returned to the wet marshy pond across the road....an early teasing hint of the Springtime to come. I tear up bread before Sig. Bacio and I go out for a walk and we take it out with us and I toss the bread across the still shivery cold dark water and Mr & Mrs Duck come paddling up and happily eat it up. I wonder if it's this same couple that come back year after year or are these the happy offspring? I must find someone who is fluent in Duck and find out. I understand that soon it will be "Make Way For Ducklings" and there will be baby ducks to feed as well. Sig Bacio is well behaved and doesn't bark at all, is simply very curious about these swimmy, feathered creatures.
Tomorrow morning I will tidy up the studio and perhaps buy some daffodils.......then back to work.