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Birds of Michigan: Greeting the Morning
Read more: Birds of Michigan: Greeting the MorningI love finches, because they add color and liveliness to the landscape. This painting catches a finch clinging to a twig as the morning light shines on him. I painted the grays with a mix of ultramarine blue, transparent oxide red, black and titanium white; I used these colors and added cadmium yellow for the…
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Birds of Michigan Series: Winter Partners
Read more: Birds of Michigan Series: Winter PartnersI love to paint birds, and winter scenes, so this painting combines these two. One is a sparrow, the other a chickadee. What I love about the sparrow is the fact that his posture reminds me of a “grumpy old man” sitting there on the bush. These guys came to the feeders last winter, and…
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Learning to Use a Palette Knife: Mountain Waterfall
Read more: Learning to Use a Palette Knife: Mountain WaterfallI am finally learning to use a palette knife for the first time. I like it, but realize it will take time to master using one. I particularly like the effects on rocks. So, I chose a rocky scene (one a friend shot in Colorado) for this landscape. Water is my favorite thing to paint,…
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How to Paint a Bird: Learning to make a video
Read more: How to Paint a Bird: Learning to make a videoA friend of mine has a videorecorder, and so the other day, I decided to try and make my first video. Here’s what I have to say about it: the adage “you learn from your mistakes” is certainly true! I DID learn a lot about what NOT to do, and so the next time I…
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Michigan Bird Series: Female Cardinal
Read more: Michigan Bird Series: Female CardinalLast spring my roomate took a picture of a female cardinal in the snow (yes, there was snow until April here; I thought I had moved to the land where winter never ends by the end of my first Michigan winter!) As I mentioned before, I love cardinals, so I decided to paint here. I…
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How Art is Like Baking Cookies
Read more: How Art is Like Baking CookiesI have a friend who bakes fantastic cookies for her friends. Below is a picture of her peanut butter and M & M cookies: As I was helping her bake the other day, I got to thinking: baking great cookies is a lot like creating a painting. -You start with raw ingredients that by themselves,…
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His Love (painting)
Read more: His Love (painting)A couple of months ago I painted a painting that reflects my heart and my faith. Here it is: I call it “His Love” (oil, 18 X24 on canvas board). It reflects to me the essence of God’s tender, nurturing love. I recently sent it along with two other paintings to be juried at a…
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Spring Road in Michigan
Read more: Spring Road in MichiganThe other day, I noticed that there is a LOT of purple and green in the Michigan landscape. So, I set out to create a painting that reflects this: The real painting isn’t quite this purple in real life (this is a not-so-good photograph with glare; I need to learn how to take better pictures…