Walk in the Woods

This painting was done in the woods of North Carolina in the Lakes District (Lake Gaston and Kerr Lake) north of Raleigh. We ran a bed and breakfast there and I loved painting the woods in the area. We used to have art weekends and enjoyed having artists and students as our guests and come for our classes.

English Villages

These two paintings were inspired by our times living in England some years ago where I first fell in love with watercolor. The ewe tree near the Church in the second image is very typical of old Anglican churchyards. Some of these trees are thought to be hundreds of years old.

I often teach how to paint buildings and I recently used these village scenes in my classes on perspective drawing and painting buildings in the landscape.

Abaco Schooner

This is a lovely painting of the Abaco Schooner Kewaitin approaching Hopetown, Elbow Cay, in the Abacos. We spent a lot of time in the Bahamas and this is just one of the many paintings I completed while cruising aboard the Best of Times, a 44 ft sloop. The water approaching Hopetown is very shallow and the tide was unusually high the day I painted Abaco Schooner. I guess Kewaitin was able to get in a little closer to the lighthouse because of it.

Permanently Aground!
“Permanently Aground!” may not appear to be an appropriate title for this painting of our Florida home without a bit of explanation. After many years of running our North Carolina bed and breakfast inn, we decided to pursue a life- long dream of living aboard the Best of Times, a 44-ft sailboat and cruising the islands and the waterways. We spent our summers on the Chesapeake Bay and winters in the Bahamas.

What a life! But life has a way of driving changes as one gets a bit older. After some minor health problems and five hurricanes, we made the very difficult decision to sell the Best of Times. We currently make our home in Viera, Florida and are now “permanently aground.” We love our new house and are really enjoying living in the area.

This is a good example of the home portraits that I paint. I have painted many homes and buildings on commission, but never our own. I guess I was proud to be on "terra firma" after all.

Landscape with Hills

Landscape with Hills is a simple painting inspired by the Scottish landscape. I did it as a demonstration and a paint-along with my students in my Watercolor 101 class. I hope you enjoy it looking at it as much as I did painting it! It is only 9" x 12"--pretty small for painting landscapes but good for beginning students.

Sunset at Sugarloaf Cays

Sunset at Sugarloaf Cays was done as a demonstration in the art classes I teach at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Florida. The students really enjoyed learning how to paint sunsets. The composition was relatively simple and easy for the students to paint. It was done from a photograph taken in the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. My husband and I lived aboard our boat, Best of Times, for several years and spent a great deal of time in the Bahamas. This is just one of the many paintings that arose from our cruising life.

Le Chambre a La Meridienne

On our recent trip to France, we stayed at La Meridienne, a lovely bed and breakfast near Arles, Provence. Our wonderful hosts were Mary Jo and Philippe who entertained us in grand style. Philippe is an oil painter. I really wanted to do a painting at this charming chambres d'hotes, but was somewhat intimidated since Philippe was a painter. As you can see, I overcame my intimidation and did this little work of Chambre Cypres. The small olive tree on the right is one of several on the property. They surround the pool and all the rooms as well as the wonderful outdoor dining area shown in the photo.

French Estate

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Italy and France. After we left Tuscany and Provence, we enjoyed a short visit with our friends, Jacqueline and Michel, in their lovely home near Toulouse. This painting is a portrait of their home. The media is pen and watercolor wash. The home is in a very beautiful setting with hundreds of evergreen trees. The contrast between the white house and the dark green trees is lovely. The home suddenly emerges from the parkland setting at the end of the long driveway. The terra cotta tile roof is a nice complement to the beautiful lawn and dark green trees. I really enjoy painting portraits of beautiful homes!

Ballet Slippers

This little painting, Claire's Old Friends, was done on a recent visit to see my granddaughter. Claire is devoted to ballet and is very proud of her worn out ballet slippers. I really enjoyed painting them and hope that you like Claire's Old Friends as much as I do. I love painting shoes and am currently working on a pair of riding boots. If you have some shoes with special meaning, I would love to paint them! Just send me an email at myartalacarte@gmail.com and let me know what you have in mind.