I have a few paintings showcased on this page...there are more under the calendar tab. Every year my calendar sells out (there are a limited number ordered). As you check out my images you'll see a little of everything here. I once read an artist should have a recognizable style and subject. I like too many things and refuse to paint in a box. People recognize my work primarily by my use of color. I love it! I hope you enjoy browing through these. There are MANY more not posted here...the first ones here have my thoughts on the painting and several are simply for your viewing pleasure.
Lately I've had a few commissions to do a painting of someone's home. If you scroll all the way to the end you will see the photos above each painting. Prices range from $385 up depending on the size and complexity of the home.
Each year I make myself a Resolution to paint one painting a week. The result is quite an inventory of images and there are too many to post online.
During the week at my Ghost Ranch Art Workshop/Retreat I have one large piece I begin as my first demo and add to it each day. This is one of those paintings. We were fortunate to receive a generous amount of paints from M Graham Watercolors as a sponsor of the event. Everyone was encouraged to paint at least one painting using them. This is mine..."Beneath the Elephant Ears." True, elephant ears don't grow in the desert. I took the photo while on a Master Gardener field trip to Grapevine, TX. I do love color! And, I guess others do too...this painting has been in several national (and the International Louisiana Watercolor Exhibtion in New Orleans) shows and earned a fair share of awards! Now I sell it as a canvas print.
On a trip to St Lucia I snapped a photo of this young bride in the lobby of our resort. Next to her was her husband totally absorbed with his computer. She could not have been more bored and disgusted. This is a full sheet watercolor. I wanted to call it "Are We Having Fun Yet?" but my husband suggested something shorter, so "Afternoon in Paradise" it is.
Each year I take a group of artists to Ghost Ranch north of Abiquiu, NM. The lessons always change, but one was to create a painting that incorporates our feelings about this special place. We add text to the image. In this case I chose the old mare that was turned out to pasture at Ghost Ranch. I used a wax resist inside the image to write "All Creatures Great and Small, the Lord God Loves Them All." The following year when I took my group to The Ranch, the old mare was absent. I was glad I painted her when I did.
"Celebration Sunflowers" is my most popular giclee print image. I have won 4 awards with this watercolor. I have made 150 prints, so it is a small edition of archival prints and each is the exact size of the original (half sheet of watercolor--15 x 22). The orginal will remain in my personal possession. The prints are currently in private collections throughout Texas. Price: $195 for a numbered print on paper. This is the painting that earned me the "Art of the Year Award" with the Society of Watercolor Artists!
I painted 3 works from the same photograph. This is my second rendering from the photo at Oak Creek, done in a vertical format. Using metallic copper acrylic combined with watercolor it still conveys the nurturing properties of the tree roots. This is "Cradled in Time, Oak Creek, Sedona II." All three of the images have appeared in juried art exhibits. This particular one is painted on Nujabi, handmade paper from India and has irregular edges. I understand the 2014 fires near Sedona may have turned my favorite little place to ashes...
This is third in a series of 3 that explore the same photographic image. I chose a different layout for each of the three (horizontal, vertical, square). This is done entirely in watercolor. and is "Cradled in Time, Oak Creek, Sedona III." Size is approximately 22 x 22. Sometimes its fun to use different formats.
Ghost Ranch is all about Georgia O'Keeffe. The more I spend time at Ghost Ranch, the closer I feel to this empowered woman who struck out to the West to follow her artistic passion. One of the cabins at the ranch has a window sill with a ceramic pot holding dried plants. I painted this on yupo and call it "Georgia's Window." It reminds me of how simply she lived and how she found such beauty in the natural elements of this area. This piece won a Merit Award in the Tom Peyton Memorial Exhitibition in Louisiana, juried by Judi Betts in 2012.
"Ghost Ranch Skull" is taken from a site on the Ranch. On one of the cabins at Ghost Ranch has a simple bleached cow skull hanging on a stucco wall. Both have seen seasons of weather. This is actually a watercolor painted on a stretched canvas and incorporates carveable paste for a truly 3-D painting. It is framed in a simple wood frame. (The watermark is a little strong on this...the rectangle does not appear on the real piece!!!!)
"Airplane Plant" is one of the demos I did for students in my beginning watercolor class. This was an exercise using frisket to mask out the leaves, paint the
background, then rub off the frisket to address the leaves. The warm tones of the background contrast with the coolness of the shadows in the foreground. This is on a quarter-sheet of watercolor
paper. Originally I had a lizard painted under the draped leaves, but on later consideration, he had to go! The steps for this painting appeared in the Society of Watercolor Artists 2013 August
newsletter. Go to www.swawatercolor.com to see them.
"Golden Skies of Leadville, Co" is the result of a jeep trip above Leadville, CO where the mines were located. We stopped to just sit in the grass and enjoy the scenery. From our location, there was no evidence of mining or the town--just the beauty of the moment. (This is where Johnny Brown made his fortune--he was the husband of the famous Unsinkable Mollie Brown)
"Home of the Ancients" is a painting that combines my impressions of the early Native American cliff dwellings. I have visited Mesa Verde in CO as well as Montezuma's Castle just outside Sedona, AZ. The black areas represent the soot still visible from the fires and cooking done in the community. It is a full sheet watercolor and has been in a few juried art exhibitions and even won an award or two!
"Rainbow Rhodies" is a quarter-sheet watercolor paper. I love to use color in ways it does not appear in nature. This is from a photo of a rhododendron I saw at Butchart Gardens in British Columbia. The painting has been in juried art exhibitions and is available for sale as a canvas print. (My husband won't let me sell the original!)
"Pueblos Under a Crescent Moon" is inspired by the Native American pueblos near Taos. This is a collage with watercolor: torn paper and then stamped with metallic copper paint using a woodcut carved from India designed for fiber. This is a small piece, only 12" x 12". It won Honorable Mention with noted collage artist, Maureen Brouillette Sampson as juror.
One of my favorite places is Portugal...and Tomar is charming. "Riverside, Tomar, Portugal" depicts the old arbor columns topped with mosaic tiles just alongside the waterway. Wysteria vines entwine and cover the arbor completely. This is done in watercolor and was chosen as the "Time 2011 by Darla Bostick" calendar cover. The photograph I took of this scene is located in the Photography section of my website in the Europe folder.
"Santa Fe Mission" is actually the old Presbyterian Church just off the Santa Fe Plaza. I liked the way the branches shadowed the front facade. It is painted using
watercolors and nail polish...how's that for mixed media? I flipped the colors so I used the warm terra cotta tones in the sky and the coolness of the sky on the building.
"Sedona Sunset" is a mixed media piece of a prickly pear cactus in bloom. I like to use vibrant colors at full intensity. This is 16" x 20" painted on claybord using finger nail polish and watercolor. Because it is not painted on paper and has the color fixed, it does not require glass on top of the image and allows the texture to blast through.
I love to travel. This is from a trip to Ireland and is titled "Signs All About Us, Newgrange, Ireland." The site is one of ancient significance as this scene is just at the edge of a mound with a passage that allows the sunlight through on the Winter Solstice. I used a Celtic symbol repeated in the sky and again on the left side of the fields. This is painted entirely with watercolor on a half sheet.
"Sticks and Stones" is a 34" x 34" canvas that I sell as a canvas print the same size as the original. Painted in acrylic, the background is a champagne metallic
color. The design was originally taken from a bottle of bath oil I had with pebbles and roots inside. It was used as the cover for the 2012 Time Calendar. The same oil bottle inspired a larger, 36 x
48 canvas that appears on the 2013 Time Calendar Cover. Of course, the original will remain in my personal collection. The print edition includes only 50 prints--it is my smallest edition of prints
offered.
"Sweet Dreams" is one of my all-time favorite paintings. I came upon a little street dog curled into the curbside and oblivious to the foot traffic of passers-by in Santa Maria, Colombia. I have giclee prints on canvas available (from a limited edition of 300) but will never sell the original. In fact, all of my giclee prints are like that---I keep the original, with the exception of one painting with an insistant buyer! This was painted on a half-sheet watercolor paper and began as a demo for the Gainesville, TX Art League. It is one of 3 images that appeared in the hard-back book by Kennedy Publishing, "Best of Worldwide Watercolor Artists, Vol 1!" Most recently it was juried into the 20th Annual Arts in Harmony International Exhibition in Elk River, MN.
My "Spirit of Ghost Ranch" is a personal prayer. The text is woven into the stony structures rising above the dried plants. This is an exercise I sometimes have my Ghost Ranch Workshop attendees try at the end of the week-long retreat/workshop. This is a spiritual place. It beckons to the soul. Maybe you should join us sometime at my yearly Ghost Ranch Retreat/Workshop and find out for yourself why it is so special.
This is the first of my "Unconditional Love" paintings. It is done in acrylic on a 2' x 3' canvas. I love the use of color and am not afraid to use it in a speical way. As I painted this, I knew the eyes were the key. They perfectly reflect the personality of this dog. I have canvas prints available for sale.
Some people paint flowers, I paint agave. These plants fascinate me with the palmate growth of the leaves and the snake-like texture of lines. I am often asked if I used frisket on this, and I did not...just painted negatively around the curly stems. This painting is a result of the Sedona workshop I taught, but I finished it at my Ghost Ranch workshop the same year. Sometimes it takes awhile to think it through!
"Tlaquepaque Chapel, Sedona" was begun plein aire and painted on site in the large shopping center of Tlaquepaque in Sedona, AZ. I purposefully threw perspective lines out of kilter to create interest. This particular painting has been in shows and exhibits. It is a combination of navy blue acrylic lines with the rest in watercolor. I painted it as a demo for my Sedona, AZ workshop group.
For more of my images...take a look at the Calendar Tab!
Below are a few commision pieces---the photo is shown above each painting.