Life is a Great Big Canvas

 Trophies is an original still life oil painting, that was painted in 2015 while I was still in art school, in an advanced still life painting class. I was able to choose my own subject matter, and wanted to do something different than the traditional fruit and pottery that often defines the still life genre. My husband and son are passionate hunters, and so I took inspiration from their pastime to create this one of a kind still life.  This painting shows the tail feathers of a turkey shot by my son (good eating although somewhat tough), and an elk antler from a kill, from either my son or husband (also good eating!). It was really fun trying to make the feathers soft, the antler bumpy, and the gun shells look like shiny metal. This painting is available for sale from my website, www.dancingelephantart.com .

 --This piece was originally published in 2015 but has been updated for the new blog format. Early 2015, I received an invitation from Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, to come tour the Baker Heritage Museum. I, along with many other artists, went, and found inspiration for art in the artifacts, exhibits, stories, and people dressed and in character, at the museum. Upon entering the museum, one of the first people I met was a woman wrapped in a red feather boa, with a feather fan in her hand. Her real name is Elaine Logsdon, but her character's name was Diamond Lil. I imagined she had been a burlesque dancer in her youth, and now perhaps ran her own saloon and theater. I am sure she could tell some very interesting stories! I knew I had to paint her, and knew her personality would shine through on the canvas. I decided with the other paintings I made for the museum, to be more creative in the composition. Instead of painting the entire object, I chose to crop it in a way that would b...

This was an assignment from my last still life class in college. I love vintage Pyrex pitchers, and have a collection of them. I also love painting the illusion of glass and metal. I am thinking about expanding from this one painting into a series of Pyrex pitchers. What do you think?

Leather Elephant, oil, 2014 I have been excitedly preparing for February's First Friday festivities. I will have new art in at Short Term Gallery and Cabin Cowboy Designs, but I will also be one of two Featured Artists in the show "Visions and Visages", at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center. The show will be a mixture of portraits, figures, and still lifes paintings. This is my first time as featured artist outside of my own gallery, The Dancing Elephant. This painting, Leather Elephant, will be one of the paintings on display at Crossroads. I found this leather elephant, and its mate, at an antique shop in Sumpter, Oregon. They were so unique and interesting, I just couldn't pass them up. I am not an elephant collector, not really, but my sister Cathy was. Cathy was older than me by nine years, and she collected elephants from the time she was little. She passed away a few years ago from Ewing's Sarcoma, a very rare cancer with no hope at this point for fu...