Coffee & Cake - oil on canvas  - 16 x 20

revisting my favorite subject - still life with food! 

We have the best hydrangeas.  Great inspiration!  this is called the Sneaker Painting - the sneaker is a clayart work by Hannah Mathiot

Sneaker Painting - oil on canvas - 11 x 14 

Penny for your Thoughts

This big painting has several of my favorite things - actually it's the corner in my breakfast room.  The whimsical wall figure is a flat sculpture by Catherine Thorton.  The iguana/lizard is also by Catherine.  The top painting of a New Jersey diner is done by a young NYS artist.  The the "blue donut" is by me.  It's been sold as a gift to a young USAF friend of my sone who graduated from ICE school.  I love my art collection.  Oh yes, Krylon spray paint is my favorite decorating fix-it - thanks purple and blue - they make everything look fun and fresh

And why is the title "Penny for your Thoughts" - the crazy looking guy is tltled "the Tooth Fairy" and has a penny in his left palm.  A penny !!! Get real, even when my kids were small, they got at least a quarter - and probably in 2012 - it's a Ben Franklin. 

Room I, the Waterway Inn

The Waterway Inn, in Cedar Point, Hwy 24 - right on Bogue Sound and the Intracoastal - is a local landmark.  When we first came to this area, it was the only game in town - hotel/motel wise.  Now we have a few chain/breakfast included type places.

But The Waterway has a loyal following of boaters, fishermen and tourists.  The rooms are tiny - think double bed with about 6 extra feet of room space.  My childhood bedroom was bigger than this!  The charm lies in the history and location.  The number for each room is mounted on a sailboat cutout - and each room has a table, chairs and colorful plant on the porch. 

This painting is on display at the Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro.  Stop in and say hey to Ray!

Conch Fritters

I love to go to Key West.  We are so lucky, my sister in law and her husband have a place in the Keys, and it's an easy down down Hwy 1 to Key West.  Who wouldn't want a conch fritter at this colorful stand near Mallyory Square.  And of course, there are chickens everyway. 

This painting currently is on exhibit at Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro.

Currently at Carolina Artist Studio

Three of my paintings currently on display in at the Carolina Studio Artist Gallery in Morehead.  They will be on display thru the month of May. 

Island House

Don't hold me to it - but I believe this desolate house is located in the abandoned island community of Portsmouth NC.  I took the photo a long time ago, and know I'm somewhere in the Outer Banks near Cape Lookout.  This painting is at the Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro. 

Here's the story of Portsmouth (thanks to Wikipedia). 

Portsmouth was a fishing and shipping village located on the north end of the Core Banks on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The site lies on Portsmouth Island in Carteret County, across Ocracoke Inlet from the village of Ocracoke. The town was established in 1753, and abandoned in 1971. Its remains are now part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Chinese Collection

One day, I gathered all my Asian flea market finds - teapot, handleless cup, figurine, and wonderful bronze covered urn - threw in a few green apples and voila - still life. 

Currently on View at Carolina Artist Studio Gallery in Morehead.  Stop by and check out all the art by very talented, very lovely local artists!

Columbia Heights, Brooklyn

This is the scene - a beautiful white townhouse - on Columbia Heights, Brooklyn Heights, just a block off the Promenade - that caught my eye and camera last summer.  I had to paint it and save it forever.  I sent an image of the oil sketch to the person who views this from her living room window, she said "I have to have this."  So it was sold before it was finished.  P.S.  The townhouse recently sold for over $10 million!  Once again, proves that I have champagne taste. 

Red Roses and Green Apples

  24 x 18

This had been banished to the storage closet - I had reworked it a couple of times with the intention of making it more abstract.  When I dug it out this afternoon, it looked pretty good.  So this counts as my first post for 2012.  Happy New Year!

Raspberries and Chocolate

11 x 14

This looks irresistable - and I'm hungry!

conch shell 6 x 8

A classic subject if you live at the seashore

Roses and Apples 20 x 16

I've reworked and reworked this painting - first it was too dark, then too monochromatic, and now - maybe it's too wacky - I think a frame would bind it toghether.

Red Sunglasses with Purple Background 6 x 8

Another pair of shades, these are my favorites for walking on the beach. Don't slide down my nose when I sweat or the sunscreen gets slippery!

For Sale (Yellow Truck) 11 x 14

A local body shop had this sad vehicle parked outside for months. It looked so unloved! I needed to paint it. I dubbed in a different background - an abandoned gas station in Pollocksville NC that I had painted previously. After a while the cab/bus disappeared. I hope it was headed to an ardant restorer. It deserves to live another day.

Sunglasses with Orange Background 6 x 8

Back to the sunglasses theme. These are my favorites, but you have to be in the right emtional statement to wear them. They say - look at me - I love animal prints - I love black and white - and I'm not afraid of looking a little bit over the top for a woman of my age. (A woman of my age should stick to a classic frame in tortise shell or black!)

Pink and Purple Shoes 11 x 14

Well, I saw these incredibly unwearable but highly decorative shoes in a shop window in downtown D.C., I believe it was NW 17th St. I love the perky satin bows at the ankle which compliment the shiny button closure. Pink and purple are a classic color combo. These shoes say "do ya wanna party?"

Sunglasses with Green Background 6 x 8

Still striving to get back into the painting routine and rekindling my creative fires. Came across an ad for sunglasses and thought mmmmm. Grabed a handful out of our sunglasses drawer by the back door. Here's the first one.

Petit Fours II 6 x 8

Another view of the same cookbook photo. Looks good enough to eat!

Petit Fours I 6 x 8

When I was a little girl, my mom had the most wonderous cookbook that she never used. It was the International Woman's Cookbook - published in the 40s.

The inside cover had the best photo of petit fours. No afternoon tea party would be complete without them. Envision the ladies with their pearls, little hats and white gloves.

A few years ago, I came upon a copy of the cookbook at a garage sale. A fantasy in sugar, butter and flour!

It's been a long time......

It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity or incentive to post. These past months have been densely filled with all kinds of drama - happy and sad, minor health issues, family stuff - everything that makes life what it is.

So, it's August 1st, I'm turning over several new leaves - last week I finally had a chance to sit in my painting space.

Cat Fish Cookie Jar 24 x 24

We bought this cookie jar in the Keys years ago, it almost never contains cookies, but it's a great addition to a still life.

$275 plus $25 ship/handling

Milo Surveys the Manhattan Skyline 14 x 11

This painting is sold, however I have others you may enjoy.

Seafood Shack 16 x 20

$225 plus s/h $15

I love the way this turned out - took a photo of this shrimp burger place in Southport NC a few years ago, the exterior was decorated with all sorts of fishing stuff. Alas, when we visited Southport last fall, the restaurant had been "modernized" - and all traces of funkyness had been removed. Some people don't know when to leave well enough alone!

Ice Cream Soda 8 x 6

$50 plus s/h $12

Yummy, an ice cream soda.