artwork

upcoming debut at the Utah Art Market

I received notice a few weeks ago that I have been accepted to participate in this year’s Holiday Utah Art Market December 3-6 at the Town and Country Plaza in Millcreek, Utah. Participating in this market is an honor, and I hope to put my best foot forward. Taking lessons I learned from the Beehive…

expanding my portfolio

I’ve been expanding my portfolio with these pieces meant for tabletop display, which are available in two sizes: 5×7 and 6×8 inches. I initially experimented with using amber glass instead of clear in these pieces, but eventually gravitated back to clear glass. I just love it! If you want a bit of decor on a…

reaching

The central concept behind “Reaching” is to illustrate a long-term process of reaching for something higher — for help from a higher being, and for a higher version of yourself. Finding a way to express that concept beautifully in stained glass feels like a substantial achievement. The time spent in the design stage alone for…

the business card art show at the JKR Gallery

In September I will be participating in the annual Business Card Art show at the JKR Gallery in Provo, Utah. For this show, each accepted artist can display up to 10 artworks that are the size of a business card: 2 x 3.5 inches. I enjoyed designing and assembling my 10 pieces, and am excited…

in returning and rest

The title for this piece comes from a scripture that stood out to me recently: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength,” Isaiah 30:15. From the beginning this piece has had a feeling of safety and of being at home for me, so the scriptural…

working on something fun

A long-lasting arm injury has really slowed down my art production in the past year. As frustrating as it has been, I have a hunch that slowing down so much might have some payoffs. My ideas for the painting I’m working on definitely developed as I inched from one step to the next at a…

anchored

I’ve been dwelling a lot lately on the idea of being anchored, along with what it means to “belong to yourself” like Brene Brown talks about in her book, Braving the Wilderness. When this image first came into my mind, the woman was holding something in her hands. As it developed, though, I realized all…

exploring Adobe Illustrator

I wanted to get to know this software a little bit so I signed up for a free trial and spent some time exploring.

shining a little light

This piece was inspired by a colorful little desk lamp that I have. For three months last fall I was staying in a friend’s spare bedroom while I waited to get into a place of my own. It was wonderful to have a place to stay, but the feeling that it wasn’t really my home…

copy of Woman in Black

This is my copy of Gabriele Munter’s painting, Woman in Black. Something that drew me to this piece was how there seemed to be a softness in the eyes, even though they’re kind of just blobs of black paint. I wanted to learn how Munter could capture something as refined as a soft look in…

small potted plant

This piece was inspired by a small potted plant I keep in my art room. I love the pronounced lean to the left. Many of the livelier elements here weren’t part of my original plan, but developed as I painted. I love it when paintings grow that way. Oil on panel, 5×7 inches.

no room to work

My latest piece was inspired by my own desk at home, which didn’t take long to evolve from a work surface to a storage surface. There’s never enough room.

ceiling fan

I love the colorful funkiness of this piece. Oil on panel, 5×7 inches.

flowers in a blue vase

It was a relief to get back to painting after a brief break for garden work and puppy raising. This piece was inspired by a floral arrangement I put together last fall. (I love the flower section at the craft store.) The colors of the flowers here closely resemble the colors in my original arrangement,…

neutrals color study

For this color study I used only ivory black, raw umber, and white. I love how the colors and tones work together. I also think I’m getting better at creating intentional design within these assignments. So far I’ve liked almost every color study better than the one I did before, which is a trajectory I’m…

studying Slobodkin’s illustrations

I love this illustration from the book The Hundred Dresses (page 14). The original artist, Louis Slobodkin, actually studied as a sculptor before finding his way into illustration. I had to warm up with a colored pencil sketch and then a still-not-very-precise study before I was ready to try copying the whole illustration. My final…

cicero the cat

Meet Cicero, my cat. The day I started this I was full of disappointment about a different piece, so I decided to start pouring all that energy into something new. It started with a sketch in pastel pencils and grew into a cozy-feeling oil painting. This is my second no-gesso painting. Oil on hardboard, 11×14…

davinci face copy

This is my work so far on an assignment to hand draw a copy of a DaVinci drawing. It is painstaking work. And for the next step I’m supposed to make second copy, this time without looking at the reference while I draw! I can look at the reference before I draw, and I can…

portrait in red and green

This is my interpretation of a portrait done by Gabriele Munter, one of my favorite painters. To imitate her style of painting on un-gessoed cardboard, I painted this on the un-gessoed back-side of hardboard. The texture is a little intense so next time I’ll try sanding the surface before painting. But other than that, I…

bluish mountainscape

Trying out a new style for a mountainscape, inspired by my Un Bel Di Verdremo piece. I like the kind of smoky feel here. Oil on canvas, 5×7 in.

roses in a cup

I like the juxtaposition of the roses on the right with the abstract line art on the left. Oil and acrylic on hardboard, 7×10 in.

another try

I decided to take another shot at turning this funny-shaped tree into a painting. Acrylic on hardboard, 2.75×3.75 inches.

drawing: royal raindrops crabapple tree

Year two in my yard for this tree. Last year this tree grew five branches straight up, at least a couple feet above the rest of the tree. Then, this year, those same long branches started putting out new growth from their tall ends, which made them all flop to the sides from the weight.…

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

about my art

I am a learning artist. My favorite thing about creating art is that it teaches me how to listen to myself.

I work mostly with acrylics and oils, but also sometimes with watercolors or pastels. So far my works are divided between abstract pieces and images of female faces and figures.

subscribe to my blog

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

abstract art acrylics adobe illustrator apricot art art school art show atlanta autumn canvas charcoal chives copy crabapple drawing fall figurative art floral flowers garden geometric glass art graphite hardboard herbs illustration ink iron chlorosis landscape mountains oil paints oil pastels painting pan pastels paper paperbark maple pastel pencil perennial plum raspberry slobodkin stained glass still life trees watercolor