This portrait is of family members who never met. Interviewing my client, who requested a painting of her mother and her granddaughter, I learned that they both loved The Wizard of Oz. Had the great-grandmother lived a bit longer, no doubt they would have watched the movie together over and over.  Look for the movie elements in the painting.  

SOLD

This painting was a complete surprise to the child's mother. It was revealed at a church ladies' gathering one Saturday. As I recall, everyone was supposed to wear some sort of hat. I raided my "Secret Sister's" husband's Facebook page, trying to see what I might take as a gift, something they are interested in or that might match their home somehow. Instead, I found their daughter's picture. She wasn't wearing this hat, so I chose a hat I thought more suitable. I showed someone at church who said, "I don't think it looks like Emma at all." I almost didn't take the painting to the gathering. When the mother opened her gift, she burst into tears.  Then HER mother burst into tears. One by one, pretty much every woman in the place was bawling, including me. Mine were just tears of relief, I think, seeing that the painting was a dead-on likeness.

NFS

This horse actually lived in east Tennessee, where we don't often find great clouds of dust such as I had been used to, but I was not concerned with that issue as I painted it only as a study, not intending to sell it at that point.

SOLD

This is a portrait of the appaloosa known to his family as Rusty.  The scenery is from my imagination, to show that he is in east Tennessee. 

SOLD, giclee prints available

JW Covington was my husband's uncle. This commissioned rendering is based on a worn out photograph, showing the man's skill at stunt riding.

SOLD

These pups were our babies for 15 years. They were our first experience with Labrador retrievers. and I cherish many, many memories of them. They joined our family in Texas as "city kids," but lived the second half of their lives in east Tennessee where they had free run of the woods between our home and a lake. Their names were Jessie and Jill.

Gabby Hayes was a character actor, primarily in the 1940s and 1950s, playing the supporting role alongside the likes of Roy Rogers and John Wayne.

SOLD

This is a portrait of sorts, but not of any person in particular. I simply wanted to do a handsome cowboy, and as I pondered the details, I decided darker skin would be new territory for me--darker skin and other physical features of this particular race, whom I consider a handsome people. I went online, looking for a qualifying "model" and found this young man, although he was facing a different direction and had no beard nor hat.

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

Portrayed by James Arness and Amanda Blake, these were characters in the vintage television show "Gunsmoke."

This painting is devoted to my attraction to yellow labs. As I researched it, I discovered that a yellow lab with a pink nose is called a Dudley. So  here is my first Dudley painting.

Labrador retrievers are dear to my heart, so painting this portrait of Linkin was a great pleasure for me. and added to that, I particularly enjoyed the color scheme.

SOLD

My family watched The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara,  every year for 50 years.  It was a Saint Patrick's Day tradition. The artistic reason I chose to do the piece was the challenge of depicting a the wet shirt. 

I did this small painting as a study for a larger portrait. My client was so sweet and loved the portrait, so I surprised her with this little bonus.

NFS

Less typical than some portraits, I was to combine a wide variety of photographs of three subjects into one painting, but the photographs were not a lot of help. We did manage, at last, to accomplish what I believe were very satisfying results.

SOLD

This pet portrait was for commissioned for my clients' son as a Christmas gift. The soft grays and browns appeal to me, and thankfully, my clients were also pleased.

SOLD

Although I had done Simon's portrait (see above), this gentleman wanted an updated one and commissioned this piece. Again, I do not copy photographs. However, I do use them as resources. Of course, the most important elements in the work are artistic considerations (color scheme, composition, etc.) and likeness the physical features, but then, I consider what might be done to make the work uniquely THEM.  In this case, I met this gentleman at a dog park. Do you see it? It's merely a hint that most people wouldn't notice, but it's a nice memory for him.

SOLD