Cheers!

Having great fun with this new subject; 

People Celebrating! 

"Cheers" 

8 x 8 oil 

The best thing about painting like this is,

my studio feels like a party!  

Happy New Year everyone!

Be safe and happy. 

And dance a little.  

New Year's Eve

I used to love getting dressed up
 and dancing all night on New Years Eve.
Nothing like a Swing Orchestra to get you on your feet!

  

Big Band Sound 

12 x 12 

Now I'm happy to stay home, have an early dinner,
and a fire in the fireplace.

Whatever you are planning,
I hope you have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. 

Magical Match Up

Years ago our Garden Club went on a tour of 

Collamore Field Garden 

led by the owner, Stephen Tooker. 

Garden Tour 

5 x 7 oil 

Yesterday I got an email from the owner's wife,

asking me if I still had this painting 

(she had seen on my website) 

because she thought it "captured Stephen exactly"! 

I did and she is giving it to him for Christmas. 

I love it when that happens! 

A "magical match up"!  

Dancing Queens

It's party season! 

"Dancing Queens"

24 x 24 oil 

Happy Holidays 

to all my friends, followers, and fellow artists! 

Get on those dancing shoes and have some fun!   

Dance Floor Frenzy!

The holidays can certainly cut into studio time, 

so today I purposefully carved out a few hours. 

I thought about doing this all weekend 

so it was a relief to finally try it out!  

"Dance Floor Frenzy"

12 x 12 

I felt like I was at a party the whole time!  

Nothing like a good dancing frenzy! 

Bride's Circle

To push myself further, 

I chose a busy and complicated subject,
gave myself one hour to cover the canvas, and
outlined the shapes in black acrylic.

Then thought about color. 

Bride's Circle

12 x 12 

The absence of value, or light and shadow,

 is so foreign to me! 

However, I find this way of interpreting a scene 

very freeing.  

Note: 

Here's some of the images I've been exploring! 

Mid 20th C oil 

signed "Ruilla" available at 

http://www.eliteauction.com

Wedding Dance in the Open Air 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder 

1566 

Who doesn't love a wedding?

Unexpected

Bear with me as I keep experimenting!
I did this Pattern Painting in order to make myself
focus more on design and composition.

This exercise helps me simplify by
breaking everything down into shapes.

I also find that doing blind contour sketches 

helps loosen things up..... 

In January the Copley Society is hosting a
Juried exhibition entitled
"Unexpected".
They are looking for
"works of art that push your artistic boundaries and
express your individual voice to the fullest".

 I'm trying to shake things up,
dig down and do something different.
Never easy, but certainly exhilarating! 

New Subject Matter

First Dance

12 x 12 

I'm experimenting with some new subject matter: 

Weddings! 

I became somewhat of a  

wedding-photographer-blog junkie 

while planning our kids' weddings this year.

Great visuals of people having fun! 

I've been doing some sketches from 

black and white images! 

 Note: 

I found that when painting from my own images, 

I couldn't let go of intimate details and 

focus on the design and shapes. 

This was a great start that got overworked

and uptight very quickly. 

It was a wiper.

Not knowing the "players" makes it more about 

design and composition. 

And much more fun. 

Animal Planet

 This month the North River Arts Society 

is hosting a holiday show called

"Animal Planet"
Dec. 8- Jan 2.

What a fun subject! 

There will be something for everyone
 to be sure! 

My entries: 

"Because I'm Happy" 

6 x 8 

"Sleep Tight" 

8 x 10 

"Welcome Mat"

8 x 10 

In order to encourage holiday sales, 

buyers will be able to take purchased art with them.

I've got some back-ups just in case! 

Lab Love

I'm channelling Cello these days 

because she is going in for the second ACL surgery this week. 

Yeah, I know. Unbelievable. 

Apparently once a large breed dog tears an ACL on the back knee, 

there is a 75% chance of it happening to the other leg. 

It's "genetics".

"Lab Love" 

12 x 12 

Fortunately, the knee she had repaired in October is fully repaired.

And she only has two back legs. 

So we'll be done!