Open Wide - 12 x 12 inches - Oil on canvas - SOLD

Apparently, inspiration comes at strange times and in strange places. I was having a tooth prepped for a crown, and looked up at my dentist, Dr. Martin, peering into my mouth and thought, "this would make a cool painting". After he finished, I asked him to pose so that I could get a few reference photos. He graciously put back on his mask, glasses, gloves etc. and peered into my camera. Like many of my paintings, I used pieces of several photos to design the composition. I liked his hand position in one photo and the angle of his head in another. I added the light in the background by referring to some photos I found on the internet.


On another note, I was flattered to receive 1st place in the Westford Regional Art Event 2009 in the Professional/Experienced - Oil/Acrylic category. My painting, "Morning" was picked from almost 50 works from some artists that I really respect and admire. I'm truly humbled to have received this honor. Below is a photo of my winning entry along with a photo of the show - check out the magnificent paper sculpture of a magnolia tree in the center of the room. The buildling was filled with almost 500 pieces of art!

Weight Limit 3 Tons - 12 x 12 inches - Oil on canvas

I occasionally pass under this rusty, narrow railroad bridge. There are actually a lot of electrical and telephone wires that run across this roadway that I was initially going to include in the composition. In the end, I settled on a closer, more cropped view. On this winter day, the scene was rather dull and drab. So, using some artistic license, I added interest with shades of pink, blue and other variations of gray.

Powder - 12 x 12 inches - Oil on canvas

When I finally ate "my subject", it was a huge disappointment as it certainly looked and smelled a whole lot better than it tasted. In any case, I finished the painting and showed it to my 14 year old art critic who immediately told me that the napkin was way too clean. He was right. The painting improved immensely when I added the assortment of crumbs to the foreground.

Clementines, Peanuts & Garlic - 12 x 12 inches - Oil on canvas

This trio of pottery bowls (made by my sister Julie), sits on my kitchen counter. I didn't do much to change the composition from how I found it. I did, however, spend a long time figuring out the cropping and the viewing angle. In this case, I "zoomed in" to show a piece of each bowl. I wanted a mostly top-down view with part of the bowl sides showing so I could add a few reflections. To make the tan-colored peanuts more interesting, I accentuated the shadow color with hint of purple.

Timberland II - Oil on canvas - 12 x 12 inches

I have a friend to thank for inspiring me to do this painting. We recently celebrated her 50th birthday and she commented on a painting I did many years ago of my first pair of Timberland boots. She talked about how much she liked that painting.

Prior to this conversation, I had been thinking about painting these boots but couldn't get too excited about a dull, primarily brown subject. I knew I had to add splashes of color to make the boots more interesting. The photo probably doesn't show it very well but there are a variety of yellows, reds, blues and greens in these brown boots. I'm very happy with the end result...thanks, Taylor, for giving me the push I needed!