Back East and Elsewhere

8 x 12 graphite

SOLD

Rhynehart's Cabin

This was an abandoned structure near my Tennessee home. It was on Rhynehart's Road, but I do not remember whether it was Upper Rhynehart's Road or Lower. It was way back in the boondocks, though. Sometime around 2010, someone took it on as a project, along with the cantilevered barn nearby. If I were to guess the year it was built originally, I might say sometime around the turn of the last century, 1900 to 1920.

Visitors to my studio purchased the drawing not long after it was completed.

8 x 12 graphite

NFS

Elizabeth

Yes, that is Rhynehart's cabin in the background. I wanted to do a mule and found a small picture in a magazine. I also wanted the piece to represent the woods surrounding my home. Having finished the drawing of the cabin, I could draw it from memory to serve that purpose. The piece was named by my husband, who forbade me to sell it.

7 x 11 ink pointillism

$77

Angus

Life in the woods of east Tennessee was a dream come true for me, and I particularly yearned for a house with a big front porch. Before air conditioning, the front porch was the most important "room" in the house. Country singer Tracy Lawrence explained it beautifully in his song "If the World Had a Front Porch."

8 x 12 watercolor

SOLD

Art Fisher's Newport Garage

There are two renditions of this building, one in graphite and this watercolor. The graphite one is still available. The structure is still in use in Newport, Tennessee, as far as I know. In addition to the interesting architecture, there is a shocking story to accompany this image. I had already done the pencil drawing of the structure, which is a story in itself, but wanted a photograph of how it looked originally. The owner of the building sent me to the library, and the elderly librarian told of Mr. Fisher's demise. His story varied a bit from the newspaper article, but Mr. Fisher was quite a character. https://www.newportplaintalk.com/community/community_columns/article_fb96a41d-19da-5380-aa4a-c6f9ae2e4a97.html

9 x 11 graphite

$99

Home Front

This drawing is dear to me as an early effort once I retired. I had no resource images other than the ones in my head, based on childhood memories and items in my grandmother's trunk. The title serves to explain--if explanation is necessary--my vision. I know that during World War 2, women's groups knitted socks for soldiers. I recall my brothers' cub scout uniforms. I have my grandmother's two stars which had been placed in her window during the war. Many a time, I have lugged a heavy metal chair like that across a lawn. Creating this scene with all the little details was very rewarding.

9 x 14 graphite

SOLD

Mary's Back Porch

Across the road and up the hill from me was a little house owned by an elderly couple who used it as a vacation cabin. Mary loved her cats, for sure. I believe she did enjoy playing cards with her husband, but I imagined her back porch as a place her friends might visit to play canasta and drink lemonade. The basket of impatiens was a memory from my mother's patio.

8 x 11 graphite

NFS

Tempted

Children are a fun subject for me. This piece has very strong ties to my heart. I drew this for my mother one March. We called it The Birthday Trip. We said we would travel all the way to San Diego and meet our children and their families at my parents' house for a reunion. And we would surprise them with gifts for everyone. Several had birthdays that month, and the rest would get gifts regardless. But ALL of the gifts were made by my husband and myself. For my mother, I drew this picture, and my husband built an oak frame for it. Of course, when she died, it came back to me, but it never could be sold because when I pulled it out of my sketchbook, I tore a corner off. I mended it the best I could, and my mom couldn't even tell. I DID photograph it and digitally repair the scar, though, and my church had greeting cards printed with this image as gifts for a ladies' day event. I felt honored.

8 x 12 graphite

$96

Warsh Day

This graphite drawing was inspired by a commissioned piece depicting a family home in eastern Kentucky. I believe it was near Paintsville, Kentucky.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Cottage Hill

This is, in fact, the front of Mary's house,--the Mary whose cat is relaxing in the rattan chair--depicted with artist's license. That is, the actual structure, which has been completed remodeled since, was far less dramatic and charming. There was no waterfall, no little bench, no gate, no stairway to the house. There were just friendly neighbors enjoying their home-away-from-home.

16 x 20 oil on wood panel

SOLD

'35

This painting was never intended as a serious piece. It was simply a response to an art club challenge to paint a scene with a fire. (The camera was set on flash and blanched out the colors of the fire.) A visitor to my studio saw it and claimed it for herself. I was thinking of the folks in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, coupled with stories my family told of "hobos" knocking on their back door, asking for food or work.

30 x 24 graphite on tan paper

SOLD

Kentucky Dawn

This drawing is special to me for one particular reason. I wanted it to show a little girl--my imaginary me, I suppose,--waiting for a foal to be born and given to me, which indeed almost happened until my parents refused. And there you see "me" with my book, Flicka, and my bag of necessities and the foal on the ground by morning light. But non of that is why it's special to me.

On a much more left-brained note, when it was finished, I thought, there was no man tending to the mare. The drawing seemed poor composition in that area. So, assuming I was about to wreck the whole thing, I picked up an eraser and rubbed a man INTO the story instead of OUT. That took courage, my friends, but it certainly was fun!

9 x 12 colored pencil on paper

SOLD

Merely Foolish

Another piece named by my husband, whose opinion I always valued. He enjoyed animals, particularly young ones, and how they love to play.

10 x 13 colored pencil on paper

$166

Appalachian Ingenuity

Living near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, naturally we visited many times. There, we visited several old homesteads and read about how the first settlers in that area managed to survive, secluded from the rest of the nation by rugged country thick with forests. I learned that they had to "make do" with what God gave them, and one thing He did NOT provide was metal. On a rare trip back to civilization, they might purchase nails, or they might actually melt down old tools and fence and make their own necessary objects. Either way, hinges were not available to them, so they simply fashioned wooden ones as folks had done for centuries before. I found that fascinating.

8 x 10 oil on canvas board

SOLD

Rusty

This little painting was just a study for Twilight Appaloosa, but my client wanted the study, as well.

8 x 10 oil on canvas board

NFS

Cindy's River

Painted for a friend, this is a view of a river in Idaho.

14 x 24 graphite

$336

1938 Hudson Terraplane

From the imagination was born this image, wreckage of lives long gone, cast aside in a field far from view.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

commissioned

Limited ediction giclee prints on canvas available

--$48

Twilight Appaloosa

My clients wanted their horse to be pictured in a purely Tennessee background, thus the waterall and rushing river. The horse's name is Rusty.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Virginia Mill

I borrowed a photograph from a friend to use as a resource, thinking it would make a nice, unique subject. The following fall, I discovered a VERY similar photograph on the cover of a popular magazine. It turns out that the mill is a highly photographed tourist attraction. I did not copy my neighbor's photo, but the structure is unique enough that it appears I did, which irked me a bit, so I donated it to the Rose Center in Morristown, Tennessee and forgot about it. Recently, friends in Tennessee reminded me that I donated it to the Rose Center, where you might find it for sale in their gift shop.

16 x 20 oil on wood panel

$384

Morning Shadows

Trails disappearing around a bend are intriguing. This trail--without the doe--was inspired by a trail in Utah but "edited a bit" to reflect Tennessee woodlands.

30 x 40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$1470

Mr. Bodacious

A complimentary color scheme befits the audacious presentation of a macaw, methinks.

24 x 28 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Lower Falls

Many will recognize the name of the falls as a major attraction in Yellowstone National Park. A newlywed couple at my church received this painting as a reminder of a trip they took together with family before the wedding.

20 x 24 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$510

Toucan Paradise

Once upon a time, for perhaps 25 years, I was a member of the San Diego Zoo. We traveled there nearly every year and supported the work there. When we visited the area, I went to the zoo several times during a two-week stay. Everyone has favorite sections. Zebras and giraffes and elephants are among mine. But eventually, I happened through an aviary and came face to face with a toucan. He was the most stunning creature I believe I have ever seen before or since. This painting probably doesn't even do him justice. I may have to do another one. It will be my pleasure, I assure you.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Haceta Head Lighthouse

This was tricky. I wanted the lighthouse with a seascape in the background. The lighthouse is on the coast of Oregon, in case you didn't know, meaning the viewer would be facing west. That means a sunset would be great, but the lighthouse would be in shadow, and besides that, I have never been there. My only resources were online. The lighthouse doesn't have much of an eastern access. There are prettier lighthouses, but this was for a wedding gift, a place the couple had visited. I believe they were quite pleased with the painting, and that pleased me as well.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

SOLD

Big Baby

What is cuter than a baby anything? There were several driving bits of inspiration behind this painting. Elephants have long been a favorite. Plus, I unabashedly say that I considered what colors people were using in their homes, what things people in this area seem to enjoy, and decided to kowtow to that for this small piece. Let art critics concern themselves with the wisdom in that. I simply wanted to enjoy the work, and enjoy it I did. Additionally, I wanted to do work toward being a bit more painterly in style.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

First Elephant

The title here simply states that I hadn't painted an elephant before. Now, I have, and as I worked, I explored the more painterly style.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Goldfinches

Goldfinches are one of the more colorful birds in the Texas panhandle and my late husband's favorite, given that he was colorblind and couldn't appreciate some of the other colorful songbirds. Sycamore trees are among my favorite trees. Though plentiful in Tennessee, I had to do some sleuthing to find one in the Texas panhandle--planted in someone's yard, of course, as they certainly are not native to this rugged area.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Colorless

A sermon painted during the sorrow and discontent and rioting and struggles and fear in the United States--perhaps elsewhere as well--in 2020. Here are four miners, working hard to provide for their families and survive the day by looking to the safety of one another. What color are they? One can barely discern; one scarcely gives two hoots and a halleluiah about that. THAT is as it should be. We should apply our minds to the work at hand, shoulder to shoulder figuratively if not literally, to serve God and country and give Satan less grip on the matter.

16 x 20 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

NFS

Point Loma Lighthouse 1

So many fond memories of visiting the Point Loma lighthouse in San Diego over the course of 50 years or more. It was a family favorite. The surroundings of the structure have changed immensely in that half century, and I am not a person readily accepting change. I have painted this lighthouse 3 times, each with a different vision of the grounds around the lighthouse and how it looked at some point in history. Fences and walkways come and go. The importance to me is the structure itself. If you read the history of this little facility, you'll learn that the poor thing was an epic failure due to dense fog and low altitude. But she is a beauty, nonetheless.

24 x 30 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

NFS

Point Loma Lighthouse 2

Again, the important issue in the painting is the structure itself, but it was very important to me to include those trees, which I believe are called Monterey Cypress. Had I the powers of diety, I should have included the wonderful scent of the area.

30 x 40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

NFS

Point Loma Lighthouse 3

This, the largest structural portrait of the three, I believe to be the best, although it seems to give one less information regarding the building itself. I'm proud of the colors in the clouds that work so well with the roof color, and likewise the dome's color with the surrounding foliage.

30 x 40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$1470

Aqui Esta el Agua

This is a Bible lesson. I shan't mention where in the Bible, so as not to spoil your mental processes. We see two men riding along in a horse drawn vehicle. Hopfully, it's obvious that one is holding a Bible. (Of course, in Biblical times, there was no "book" called a Bible.) The two appear to be discussing the book. The two are dissimilar in ethnos. And then, there is the title. Note that I have not mentioned which is teacher and which is pupil. That's up to you. Footnote: In my mind, the men are in New Mexico in the 1800s. I've simply imagined that the story actually took place then and there.

30 x 40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

NFS

Bagby's British Whites

The memories of this painting, my first wedding gift painting! I didn't know the couple. The groom simply greeted me at church on a Wednesday night and struck up a conversation, so I pretended to know who he was and asked how things were going for him. He mentioned the upcoming wedding; I asked what "she"--I didn't know her either-- likes; he said, "She likes white cows. She wants to raise British Whites." The rest is history.

30 x 40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$1,470

Such Faith

Another Bible story, depicted in a different time and place. Consider the clues in the painting and see if you can figure it out.

20 x 24 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$606

Visitors from the North

Family members asked for this in memory of the days they lived in Seattle and saw these birds firsthand.

24 x 30 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Me and Jake

There is a long, long story behind this painting. Suffice it to say this man was my first love, whom I intended to marry. Alas, it was not to be. Fifty-three years later, we met again. Our love has rekindled in a different form. His soul is very, very dear to me.

Often, if too much information from a photograph is applied to a painting, the artwork is stiff. I can readily spot that type of work. It was a concern to me as I did this with a photograph resource, but the figure and the fish are pretty much the only areas that I stole from the photograph. The background, the boat, the dog, and the water are all "mine." I included that dog, because I knew how much this man loved his dog and how he was trying to accept the dog's age and condition.

The subjects's comment, upon receiving this surprise portrait, was that he thought it was his dad, which disappointed me. He was quick to add that people always said that he was a carbon copy of his dad, so positive note for me.

20 x 24 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Oklahoma Cabin

For the past several years, a wedding at our church has meant that a bride-to-be would receive a painting from me for her new home. The painting must be something personal for the couple, something I know they will appreciate, if nothing more than "the right colors" for their new home. This scene depicts the bride's family cabin.

24 x 30 oil on traditional canvas

$864

Purr-fect

A good many Chigger Lick Studio paintings feature cats. Do not ask this artist why. I have never owned a cat. I thought, because of a relative's evil feline, that I did not like cats. Yet, here they are. They ARE fascinating beings. My favorite part is the grace of their vertebrae.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Le Penseur, le Cochon, et le Sac en Papier

There is, I suppose, a time when we just need to step away from the weight of the world and imagine. Pretend. Take a break from reality. Realism is my thing. Fantasy definitely is NOT. Thus, this was a stretch for me. Actually, it wasn't all that unpleasant!

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

NFS

Le Penseur, le Cochon, et le Guitare du Roi

If you are puzzled about the titles of my pig paintings, the two shown here in French, here is my logic: People do not show a particularly high regard from our porcine neighbors who, after all, deserve better. I sought dignity for these creatures and the poor artist--moi--who thought this up. It seems that artsy folks do offer more dignity to paintings by French artists; hence the French titles.

If you need further explanation, certainly you recognize the statue and the piglet. The Guitar of the King? None other than Elvis Presley. I googled it. Well, why not? This is proof that I can fantasize as well as the next person, is it not?

The painting is no longer available, as it was gifted to my best friend who helped me through the death of my dear husband, whose wristwatch and hand are in the painting.

`6 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Amazin' Dot Com

If you repeat the title of this work a couple times, you might recognize a familiar phrase. This is a nod to what many consider a miserable era when people were encouraged to isolate from one another due to a dreaded virus, and the stores who remained open had many empty shelves. Americans resorted to ordering as much as they could from Amazon. I pondered whether there was anything one could not purchase from that company. How 'bout a baseball? Or...a pig?

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