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Red Hibiscus

January 2nd, 2017

Red Hibiscus

Red hibiscus flowers are a common sight here in Maui. In fact, there are a lot of hibiscus bushes right out side my front door. The painting you see here is an oil on canvas. I painted it on a deep gallery wrap canvas and painted the sides as well.


“Hibiscus is symbolic of femininity, sexuality and warmth, and new creation. It reminds us of the joy, happiness, and overall the blessing of
welcoming a new life into this world.” ~ Author Unknown 


Hibiscus flowers represent delicate beauty, unity and peace. In the Victorian era, flowers were often used by people to send messages, and each flower had its own special meaning. The hibiscus would be given to send the message that the giver thought the recipient was beautiful and delicate.

The hibiscus is considered a very feminine flower and is worn by young women. If the flower is worn behind the left ear, the woman is married or in a relationship. If the flower is worn on the right, she is single or openly available for a relationship.

A yellow species called the Hawaiian hibiscus became the Hawaiian official state flower in 1988, despite it not being native to Hawaii. This is Hawaii’s second official state flower. The first was the red hibiscus which was native to Hawaii.

Here are some more fun symbols about Hibiscus flowers.
• White stands for purity, beauty and the female.
• Yellow is associated with happiness, sunshine and good luck.
• Pink is not only the favorite color of many little girls. It also stands for friendship and all kinds of love, not just romantic love.
• Purple is associated with mystery, knowledge and the higher classes.
• Red is a symbol of love and passion.
• The red hibiscus is the flower of the Hindu goddess Kali, and appears frequently in depictions of her in the art of Bengal, India, often with the goddess and the flower merging in form.

Morning Dew

December 26th, 2016

Morning Dew

Magnolias are beautiful large and fragrant flowers and are thought to be the first flowing plant that evolved on Earth. Fossils of magnolias have been found dating back 20 million years. Now that is a very old flower. Some experts think magnolias will survive long after humans become extinct.

During the Victorian times, the magnolia flower symbolized nobility, dignity, poise and pride. They also represent durability, strength of character, self-respect and self-esteem.

Magnolia flowers come in a variety of colors and each color has a different symbolic meaning. The white magnolia means purity and perfection. The pink flower means youth, innocence and joy. The green flower means health, luck and also joy. The purple flower also means luck and health.

I fell in love with a couple huge magnolia trees in my neighborhood in Chico California. I took many photographs of the flowers for future paintings like this one.

My acrylic painting, Morning Dew, is a white magnolia cast in purple shadow. The dew drops were a last minute add, the flower was begging me to add them.

Madonna and child

November 28th, 2016

Madonna and child

"Madonna and Child" is a different style painting then I normally do. The style is based off of Southwest artist Ted DeGrazia (1909-1982), who is known for his paintings of children, horses, “round-eyed angels and the desert Indian. When his works gained in value and he found out his unsold paintings would be taxed, he decided to burn them. He and 20 other people went up to the Superstition mountains, cleared an area and built a fire ring. He started burning his paintings around noon and continued until dark. Some people thought it was a publicity stunt. Others thought it was a chance to create his own legend.

Quote from Ettore ( Ted ) DeGrazia, "I want to be notorious rather than famous. Fame has too much responsibility. People forget you are human."

"Madonna and Child" is a Southwest version of Mary and baby Jesus. I was commissioned to do the painting for a client. However, the client fail on hard times and had to abandon the project. I finished the piece and tucked it away thinking she may want it when things got better. But since then I moved to Maui and have lost touch with her. So I decided to post it here and offer it for sale. I'm sure it will be a hit at Christmas time.

If you have any ideas for a Christmas or Santa painting let me know. I enjoy doing them and I'd be happy to work with you to create your vision.

Water Protector

November 27th, 2016

Water Protector

I stand with Standing Rock. Their fight is all of our fight. Water is life! I never thought of myself as an "activist" before until now. If I had the means I would join the Sioux nation and stand up against the pipeline.

What does all this mean? If you have been following the fight at Standing Rock near the Sioux Reservation, then you know about the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline is suppose to cross under the Missouri River. The Sioux Tribe is trying to stop it. They have called all the Native Nations together to help protect their homeland and keep the water safe for future generations. The world is watching. People from all over have been watching the horrible way the water protectors are being treated.

My painting, Water Protector, is a statement of support. I'm unable to join them in person and feel distressed about that. One morning on my way in to the studio I had a vision of an Eagle pulling a black snake from the water. The Sioux tribe call the pipeline "the black snake". The vision was very powerful in my mind and I knew I had to paint it.

The image of the eagle pulling the black snake is simple yet powerful. It shows the struggle between our Native Nation and our big oil companies.

I'm pledging the money from the sale of this painting and any prints or products to the Standing Rock protesters.

Thank you for viewing my work and my blog.

Beachen Santa - painting of the Week

November 15th, 2016

Beachen Santa - painting of the Week

Santa is ready for a little rest on a nice tropical beach. He is all set with his beach umbrella and cooler full of coconut water. I think Santa can use a bit of a break after his busy yearly schedule of making toys and his fast past night of delivering them.

Beachen Santa is the first in my tropical series. This painting is an 11x14 acrylic painting on canvas board. Creating the idea of this series came from my love of the Hawaiian Islands. Designing Santa's beach attire was a lot of fun. The black socks added a touch of hummer to the painting.

The Holidays are coming fast! Order your Christmas cards soon. If you have a Santa lover in your family you can get them a gift of a framed print for their holiday decorating or a throw pillow for their couch.

Please note; the original painting belongs to a collector in Florida.

Santa Is Checking His List

November 7th, 2016

Santa Is Checking His List

Weekly Featured Painting



From now until Christmas my weekly featured painting gallery will have all my Christmas paintings in it. These paintings I designed and created for Christmas cards. Each year I add one or two new ones. This year's Santa painting is "Surfing Santa". I'll feature him later this month. All my Santa and Christmas paintings are available as a single card, a box of 10 or a box of 25. Unfortunately the box sets can't be mixed. Some of the original paintings are still available for sale, most have sold.

This week's featured Santa painting is "Santa is Checking His List" and he is wondering who has been naughty or nice. Are you on his list? This painting holds some very special memories for me. On Santa's list you will see the names of my children, grandchildren ( minus two new grand babies ), nieces and nephews, my sisters and many of my students from 2012 and earlier. The year I painted it I had a Christmas Show in my studio in Chico California for all my students who wanted to participate. Each student painted a Christmas themed painting that hung in the studio for 6 weeks. One of my student's little brother ( who was about five years old ) was studying the names on the list in my painting. He had a frown on his face. I asked him if he saw his name on the list, he shook his head. I asked him if he saw his sister's name, he nodded. I lowered my voice as if to let him on in a secret and said "That's because it's the naughty list". His eyes and face lit up with a big smile. His father, who was standing next to him smiled at me and whispered "Good one" and winked. Boy, that was a close one!

Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas, is my favorite icon to paint. He is known world wide by the young and old. I went searching for some true facts regarding this beloved caricature. The story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At that time the area was Greek but is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. In the 16th Century in Europe, the stories and traditions about St. Nicholas had become very unpopular. But someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in the UK, particularly in England, he became 'Father Christmas', a character from old children's stories (in Scotland he's more commonly known as Santa). In France, he was then known as 'Pore Noel'; in Germany, the 'Christ Kind'. In the early USA his name was 'Kris Kringle'. Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle became 'Sinterklaas' or as we now say 'Santa Claus'!

Thank you for taking the time to view my work.

Father Christmas

November 1st, 2016

Father Christmas


Weekly Featured Painting - Father Christmas

From now until Christmas my weekly featured painting gallery will have all my Christmas paintings in it. These paintings I designed and created for Christmas cards. Each year I add one or two new ones. This year's Santa painting is "Surfing Santa". I'll feature him later this month. All my Santa and Christmas paintings are available as a single card, a box of 10 or a box of 25. Unfortunately the box sets can't be mixed. Some of the original paintings are still available for sale, most have sold.

This week's featured Santa painting is "Father Christmas". This is an 11x14 acrylic painting. For this Santa I decided to give him an old fashion look. Gone with the red velvet Santa suit and hat. In with the hooded cloak. Father Christmas has the look of a wizard. Maybe he'll bring a bit of magic to your Christmas this year.

Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas, is my favorite icon to paint. He is known world wide by the young and old. I went searching for some true facts regarding this beloved caricature. The story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At that time the area was Greek but is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. In the 16th Century in Europe, the stories and traditions about St. Nicholas had become very unpopular. But someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in the UK, particularly in England, he became 'Father Christmas', a character from old children's stories (in Scotland he's more commonly known as Santa). In France, he was then known as 'Pore Noel'; in Germany, the 'Christ Kind'. In the early USA his name was 'Kris Kringle'. Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle became 'Sinterklaas' or as we now say 'Santa Claus'!

Thank you for taking the time to view my work.

Saint Nicholas

October 17th, 2016

Saint Nicholas

From now until Christmas my weekly featured painting gallery will have all my Christmas paintings in it. These paintings I designed and created for Christmas cards. Each year I add one or two new ones. This year's Santa painting is "Surfing Santa". I'll feature him later this month. All my Santa and Christmas paintings are available as a single card, a box of 10 or a box of 25. Unfortunately the box sets can't be mixed. Some of the original paintings are still available for sale, most have sold.

This week's featured Santa painting is "Saint Nicholas". This is a small 8x10 acrylic painting on canvas. Own the original or buy a print. Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas, is my favorite icon to paint. He is known world wide by the young and old.

I went searching for some true facts regarding this beloved caricature. The story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At that time the area was Greek but is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. In the 16th Century in Europe, the stories and traditions about St. Nicholas had become very unpopular. But someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in the UK, particularly in England, he became 'Father Christmas', a character from old children's stories (in Scotland he's more commonly known as Santa). In France, he was then known as 'Pore Noel'; in Germany, the 'Christ Kind'. In the early USA his name was 'Kris Kringle'. Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle became 'Sinterklaas' or as we now say 'Santa Claus'!

Thank you for taking the time to view my work.

Special Offer

October 8th, 2016

Special Offer

Now through October 31st 2016, I'm offering free shipping when you order a signed copy of my book "The Art of Painting in Acrylic' published by Walter Foster, authored by six talented acrylic artists; Alicia Vannoy Call, Michael Hallinan, Varvara Harmon, Darice Machel McGuire, Toni Watts and Linda Yuigensen. This book is ideal for beginning and intermediate artists seeking to develop or polish their acrylic painting skills. The Art of Painting in Acrylic features a range of techniques and valuable instruction for working with this classic medium.

This offer is for U.S. residents only.

Colors Of Autumn

October 3rd, 2016

Colors Of Autumn

Weekly Featured Painting - Oct 3, 2016

Fall is here and so is this week's featured painting. The colors of Autumn are warm, rich and beautiful. I don't often paint abstracts but when I do I really enjoy them. The inspiration for this one came from a photo of trees reflecting onto a still lake. The Fall colors were so rich and vivid and the pattern they made on the water stirred my creative mind.

I created this painting for the 2010 "Patchwork Puzzle Show", a fundraiser for the Chico Community Labyrinth project. All artists were given plywood broads in three different sizes to create a piece of art work. I covered my boards with a linen fabric then added a layer of gesso before painting them. All three of my pieces sold.

The original acrylic painting is in a private collection in Chico California. However, you can buy this as a beautiful canvas print or as a matted and framed print ready to hang on your wall.

Thank you for taking the time to view my work.

 

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