Beach Vendors

Two beach vendors that I saw many years ago in Mazatlan. I saw a chance to do two separate pictures that could stand alone or be hung together.

For Sale
These are framed with a black matt, black frame and non glare glass. Each picture is US$150 each or US$275 for the two.

Unfinished Dance

I really wanted to do another dancing picture! However this is not one of my most successful attempts!

Firstly I wanted to do this on three sheets of paper as wanted to get into the details.
The pose I chose was not easy as the female dancer was a lot smaller than the male, which I thought was charming and interesting.

This picture is as far as I could take this pastel. It represents many hours of work.
I even attempted the faces a second time which was worse than this! So this is an unfinished picture. I eventually had to give up from pure frustration. Maybe at a later time I will try again, but I felt that I had to move on and feel good about something else!

Comments would be helpful!

Mexican Rooster

I spent a huge amount of time when we arrived in Mexico on our apartment as we were renting a new place.

My neighbor and friend who is also an artist from Toronto had just finished a Rooster when we arrived, which I really enjoyed. So I thought this was a good way to get back into the pastel world.

Somehow my imagined Rooster seemed to take on a character of its own. Where we are living is a very Mexican area and we have many roosters around but they don’t seem to stay still for very long!

Wondering why there are no posts lately?

Time has certainly got away on me. I am happily back in Mexico , but because we moved into a new place I have been very busy buying items for the new apartment and haven’t done any art in a while!

The apartment contains a lot of my art, especially items I am not trying to sell.
I am very hopeful that this busy part will change in the next week as eventually I will have the apartment in order and all I have to do now is sort out the cell phones!

I already have my next painting planned and I have just been commissioned to draw a pet. So I am anxious to put chalk to paper. Stay tuned….

Kelty

Kelty was a commission.
She is nine years old, really pretty and friendly dog.
As with most Collies she has a way of looking at you when she wants something.

Thank you so much for allowing me the pleasure of working on such a pretty dog.

Sold

The Honor Beat.

My fascination with the Jingle Dance continues. I have always enjoyed the fan that the dancers carry during this dance, especially on the honor beat, the dancer raises the fan to the sky in time with the drums. Even as I was drawing this I could hear the drum beats in my mind. So in this picture I have chosen to focus on the fan and show the details of the beading.

For sale: 42cm x 50cm backed with a matt ready for framing. US $175

Dancing Feet...hear the sound

The legend of the Jingle Dress and the Jingle Dance vary slightly from tribe to tribe. They all, however, have the same basis for the story: The dress was given to the People in a vision from Great Spirit for the purpose of healing.

The most noticeable part of the dress is not the dress itself but the hundreds of cone shaped Copenhagen snuff lids that adorn the dress in various shapes and patterns. The only way to describe the way they sound when they chime together is rain on a tin roof.

The dance is performed with hand on the hip to signify pain; the dancers raise the fan on the honor beat. I wanted to take a less traditional view of this dance.

For sale 42cm x 50cm backed with a matt ready for framing. US $175 SOLD

Shawl Dancer

Contrary to popular belief, this dance is not a traditional women’s style. It originated up North as a tourist and competition dance in the early 50’s and 60’s.For year’s women had struggled to find their place in the dance arena fighting conformity among other things. This was a revolutionary breakthrough for the younger women who longed for a more stylistic approach to traditional dance. Unlike the earlier styles of the 1900’s which were more calm and gentle, the Fancy Shawl Dance was a splash of color, fringe and butterfly wings, each step so quick and light that the young woman looks as though she is literally dancing on air.

The Northern Fancy Shawl Dance is said to imitate that of a butterfly, so the most important part of this dress is the individual's color scheme. The Northern lady does not wear knee boots but ankle moccasins and leggings that cover the legs. Next a yoke is worn around the neck. This can be beaded although it is not necessary (Appliqué or paint designs are appropriate). The main article in this clothing is the shawl. It should span the lady’s arms from fingertip to fingertip.

Because of the size of my painting I chose to just concentrate on the face. Though I looked at pictures for references. The designs are my choice, though many are traditional designs, the face is from my imagination.

I think I would like to do other details from this dance.

For sale 42cm x 50cm backed with a matt, ready for framing US $175

My Turn

Trying to get some art together for the gallery in Lethbridge, so tried for me something different. Comments?

For Sale 42cm x 50cm backed with matt but unframed. US$175

Catch the Sun

I always admire my artist friends acrylic paintings and their ability to show light. So this was my focus with my Chinese Lantern Flowers. Can I show the depth of light?
I often painted these lantern in the fall in watercolor, but never seemed to get what I wanted. With pastels of course I can get very close and detailed. But the focus was to show the light, did I succeed?

For sale. 42 x 50 cm Backed with a matt but not framed. US$175 SOLD

Schatzi

Schatzi is a cute dog with an engaging personality. I love the way she looked at me, so inquisitively as I took her photograph for her painting. I hope that I grasped that look in this painting.

If you like this painting I would be happy to paint your pet. For a quote please contact me, go to my profile and you will find a link to e mail me.

Sold

Sign of fall?

This month I have been working on a commission. Also a new coffee/art gallery opened in town, 'Zim's Place' and I have committed to having a display there whilst I am away in Mexico. Fortunately, I have an artist son-in-law, who has agreed to look after this space for me while I am away. So he will rotate the pictures that I have ready for the gallery.

But I finally managed to squeeze some time to do this wonderful sunflower. I want to paint some smaller pieces for the gallery.


For Sale 42 x50cm Backed and Matt but unframed US $175

Exposed

Around where I live we have two kinds of deer. Mule deer and white tails.

There are several reliable ways to distinguish mule deer from whitetails:

1. Mule deer have bigger ears. That's how they got their name.
2. When they run, mule deer do not bound like whitetails. They jump up and land with all four legs leaving and hitting the ground at the same time. It's called "stotting." It's thought to help them see danger at a distance in brushy country.
3. Mule deer do not flag with their tails when they run, while whitetails show those big, fluffy, white tails for all to be seen like billboards, and they bound gracefully when they are spooked. Mule deer do flag, but their tails are small and they stott.
This is my painting of a mule deer. We often see them close to our home and I have taken many photographs of mule deer. My challenge was to be able to show the fleshy soft ears of a mule deer. So for this painting I used the ‘rough’ side of my Canson paper, which allowed me to play with the texture of the ears.
Though I am not know for putting details into the background of my paintings, in my last two paintings I have tried to give a sense of the environment without overpowering the subject.

For Sale 61 x 46 cm Backed and Matt but Unframed US $250.

SOLD

The Old Homestead

There are many forsaken old homesteads on the back roads of Alberta. Sometimes they can look quite ghostly. As a photographer I always wanted to try to do a photograph of an old homestead with a model dressed in old fashion clothes, but turn the model into a ghostly figure…

A few weeks ago I was driving around a little place called Milo, and by chance happened upon this ancient steam tractor, the wheels were spikes! What a find, and I took photo’s from every angle. Having recently painted the car, I was motivated to do the tractor, but a rusty tractor was bland to me so I started to look at how this rust color could be made with my palette, The blending of the colors became a absorption and I decided to do the tractor in a more abstract way! As one of my critics, a grandchild said it looks like a cartoon. I then added the imaginative ghostly house.

For sale 60cm x 48cm backed and matt but unframed US $250

Who's that?

We have many black bears in Alberta, and when hiking they are often seen.
This was a beautiful 2-year-old, cinnamon in color, and inquisitively looking at my husband, which soon becomes, who is looking at who!

For Sale Backed with Matt but Unframed 63cm x 48cm US $ 250

SOLD

Buffalo in Waterton

Couple of weekends ago we went to Waterton and went to the Buffalo Paddock and were lucky enough to find the herd and many young calves.

I tried not to get into too many details , leaving the body more abstract and concentrating on the buffalo head.

For sale Backed with Matt but Unframed appx 64x46cm US $275

Discarded...when?

Couple of years ago we went to Saskatchewen to see the Sand Hills and there in a field was this abandoned car. I had a great time photographing this car and decided that I rarely work with a still life situation and now was the time because I always enjoy to challenge myself.

For Sale Pastel 67 x48 cm backed with matt but unframed US$250

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Belted Kingfisher

This Kingfisher can be seen along the Old Man River, just below where I live.Often an evening stroll especially in the wetlands , you will often be rewarded with this beautiful bird hovering and diving into the river.

Appx size 30 x35 cm. unframed. Sold

Hutterite.... Young Woman

Hutterites are a communal people, living on scattered bruderhöfe or colonies throughout the prairies in North America. This communal lifestyle finds its roots in the biblical teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Emerging as a distinct culture and religious group in the early 16th century, this non-resistant Anabaptist sect endured great persecution and death at the hands of the state and church in medieval Europe. However, the Hand of God remained on the shoulder of these people, and their descendents survived to battle on to this very day...

We have many colonies in our area and every Thursday in our city the Hutterites come to town.

A friend asked me if I had permission of the subject... the subject was conjured up in my mind. Any likeness to any hutterite is purely coincidental!

Framed Pastel 47 x 63 cm. No matt, non glare glass and gold frame.

For Sale US$300

Spryte

This is Spryte a small old white maltese.

Commission work

Pastel 30cm x40cm Sold

Poppies

When I was doing a lot of watercolours I loved doing flowers. Poppies in a field can always make me stop and take a photograph! Here is my first pastel of poppies.

62cm x 40cm Unframed US$180

Little Fox

This is copied from a photograph that I had cut out of a magazine a long time ago that I thought cute! The challenge was could I make him look as cute?

For Sale

42cm x 50cm.

Backed and Matted ready for framing US$175

African Elephant and baby

From one of my many photographs taken in Tanzania.

65cm x51 cm for sale unframed US$200

Coleadero

So this is my final drawing in Mexico. Appropriately a Mexican topic. Having a family that is involved in rodeo in Canada I was very excited to go to my first Charro.

The charreada itself consists of a number of scoring events staged in a particular order—nine for the men and one for the women. Two or more teams, called asociaciones, compete against each other. Teams can compete to become state, regional, and national champions. The competitors are judged by both style and execution. Unlike rodeos, most charreadas do not award money to the winners as charreadas are considered an amateur sport, not professional. Under Mexican laws it would be illegal to receive a monetary reward for participating in a charreada. At times there are such prizes as saddles or horse trailers.

Colas en el Lienzo, or Coleadero (Steer Tailing) similar to bull dogging except that the rider does not dismount; the charro rides alongside the left side of the bull, wraps its tail around his right leg, and tries to bring the bull down in a roll as he rides past it. Points are given for technique, time, and roll of the bull.

I have been wanting to attempt this drawing for sometime and it is only because I am drawing on more than one piece of paper that this has become possible.

Pastel painting size 60x78 cm unframed For sale contact artist.

Incognito

Still playing with using several pieces of paper.

Yes as someone said I am playing with figures again!

90 x40cm pastel unframed, for sale.

Selena

This morning my cleaning lady Aida came in and continued a conversation we were having Friday. Now my Spanish is 'poco', and I had believed she had asked me if I would paint her daughter. Now this morning it works out that she wanted me to paint a picture FOR her daughter, for a school assignment tomorrow as Carla was doing a presentation on Selena, or at least I think that is what she said!

So Carla had sent over a 'flash stick' with a b/w picture of Selena! 'Rapido, rapido' I had a picture of Serena, two hours later and before Aida had finished cleaning!

I have since learned that Selena born April 16th 1971 in Lake Jackson Texas, murdered on March 31st 1995.

Selena was known as “The Queen of Tejano”. Tejano music is a fusion of polkas, country-western and traditional Mexican folk music that is sung in Spanish. Selena and her group “Los Dinos” created a unique sound by mixing in Colombian cumbia, pop and R&B – winning them fans all over the United States, Latin America and the world.

El Pecho

I have had this idea running around in my mind. As I am coming to the end of my time in Mexico, I no longer have any large sheets of paper and this was a problem for me. So here is my answer to that problem.

I wanted to have a pastel that was one picture and could be framed how the buyer wanted. I am showing the picture here , how I see it as four seperate sheets ,with the gaps to accentuate this fact. However, it could be framed with the sheets touching.

Pastel unframed 82x59cm. For sale, please contact artist.

What's that?

I am quickly coming to the end of my time in my Mexican studio, so I am constantly challenging myself to do different and more difficult poses.The foreshortening of this animal turned to look back, was the challenge.

The problem for me now is I only have small paper! I think I want to do a mural :)

Funny paper size use to be so intimidating!

Pastel 30x42 cm Unframed US$100

Sleeping Baby

Seen on the streets in Mexico. This is using different paper and an unusual perspective for me!

SOLD

Thanks for the Memories...JJ

Thanks for the memory

Of every touch a thrill

I've been through the mill

I've lived a lot and learned a lot

You loved me lots...and still

I miss you so much

I know it's a fallacy

That grown men never cry

Baby, that's a lie

We had our bed of roses

But forgot that roses die

And thank you so much

AJ a longtime pet. Sold

Hat Woman in Chiapas

Needed a change in subject matter and this is the result. I had taken this photo when we visited Chiapas back in 2007.

Pastel size 62 x 55 cm framed using 7cm matt, non glare glass and black frame US$275

ON SALE $200

Makinda Duma

These young cheetahs, grooming each other, after the kill.

We were extremely fortunate to see a mother cheetah and her two young kill a small animal. From the time the animal was taken down, until the last hyena ran off with the remains took one hour. This small animal had fed the cheetahs, two jackels, four eagles, many vultures , and two hyenas.

Pastel size 62x55cm Framed 7cm matt, non glare glass, black frame For sale US$275

Twiga

Another of the animals that we saw in August, this seemed to be very difficult animal for me to draw.

30x54 cm long and narrow [taking the size of the animal] unframed for sale. US$125

Chui

This leopard was another amazing encounter on my trip with our family this last summer. Leopards are difficult to find. But we found a family! This mother had three baby cubs.

I chose a lime green paper to do this pastel on, which I think helped.

Size of pastel 40 x 32cm. This piece is for sale. Framed 4cm matt, non glare glass and black frame. US$200

SOLD

Family Group

I needed a change of pace. However this is difficult when you have such a large group on such a small piece of paper! I prefer drawing either larger, or just one subject. The one thing I did enjoy doing was to try and develop each dogs character.

This piece is for sale. Unframed 62 x22 cm US$125

Simba

I was fortunate to go with some of my family to Kenya and Tanzania last August and this was the very first lion we saw, it was so exciting. She just walked down the road towards our safari van, and looked at us. She moved off to the side and as cats do, laid down and showed us her stomach.

This is for sale. Framed 40x 57 cream matt, small silver frame, non-glare glass US$275

[At the moment this picture is hanging in the International Friendship Club's Gallery in PV Mexico]

Simba

This is a close up of just the head of 'Simba'.

I would welcome comments on my art.

Bird of Paradise

Just finished this pastel today. This is for sale. Unframed 27 x40cm US$100

Monkey

This was drawn from a picture that I took in August in Tanzania .Sold

Golden Carp

This picture was done last year. It is for sale. Please contact me.

Mickey

This is my landlady's cat, I am using Mickey to promote my business of drawing pets.

If you are interested in having your pet drawn please contact me.

Jenny 2

This is another picture of my daughter's dog, Jenny. This is hanging in IFC in PV to promote my business of drawing pets.

Jenny 1

Have just given this to my daughter for her birthday