Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a great new year!
5" x 7", gouache on paper

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Santorini - east side of the island

23 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

meandering through the Ancient Agora

19 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

view of the Acropolis from Filopappou Hill

16 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Monday, December 27, 2010

Athens - view of Lykavittos Hill from the Anafiotika quarter

13 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
Greece seemed to be ruled by cats, but the Anafiotika quarter was Cat Central.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

a curated posting - photographs of Ghent

These are some photographs of Ghent, Belgium taken by my husband, using his beloved old-school Nikon.  They're from our 2009 escapade to the Low Countries. I came across them while I was scavenging for reference photographs for my painting.





time to open presents yet?

For those who celebrate this time of the year, Happy Holidays!  I still have some last-minute present-shopping to do.  But, hey, I still have time...

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Athens - looking for the Acropolis, going the wrong way

This footpath did not lead to the entrance of the Acropolis; we turned around and went the other way.
11 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Santorini - blue door near Red Beach

While the husband and I were visiting Red Beach, from a parking area we saw a conspicuous door amidst the rocks on the shore.
10 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Monday, December 20, 2010

Kerameikos (two versions)

7 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
5 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Virtual Paintout submission

I just sent this off to Bill Guffey for his Virtual Paintout blog.  The Google Street View reference is here.
17 December 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Friday, December 17, 2010

let sleeping cats lie

11 November 2010
7" x 10", gouache on paper
As you can see, I thought I'd add a picture of me on this blogsite.  It was taken by my husband during one of our recent travel adventures (my husband is always trying to catch me unawares with his steath picture-taking.  He was able to succeed - this time.  My "you're-taking-my picture" Spidey sense wasn't working for me.).

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Ancient Agora - view of the Temple of Hephaestus

9 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Athens - Ancient Agora

8 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Susan Cooper's Wales

After painting the Cornwall view a couple of months ago, I surfed around the Internet in search of other locales that figure in Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising Sequence. I came across a lovely account of a visit made to Susan Cooper's Wales by David Given. As a real trip to Wales is unlikely (at least for now), I poked around Google Maps to see what I could find, based on the places he visited. Alas, many of the sites aren't accessible via Google Maps, but this one, of Craig yr Adeyrn, was; I also was able to see Tal y Llyn. Here are some painted versions. It's definitely not the same as actually visiting, but it did give me a dose of warm and fuzzy nostalgia.

14 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
 
17 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

15 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper
I guess it's not surprising, but it was nice to discover in my Internet search that the books are still being read and enjoyed by lots of people.  I'm not the only one who read them a bazillion times during my formative years, and memorized the poems associated with the series ("When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back..." and "On the day of the dead, when the year too dies...").  I even found a recent interview of Susan Cooper on Paul Magrs' blog.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Athens - view of the Acropolis from Kerameikos (two versions)

4 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
3 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Friday, December 10, 2010

here's looking at you

11 November 2010
7" x 10", gouache on paper

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Filopappos Hill - a path not taken

3 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Ancient Agora - trees, paths, and stones

1 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

view from Filopappos Hill (two versions)

30 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
29 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Monday, December 6, 2010

Filopappos Hill - converging paths

28 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Athens - heading up Filopappos Hill


27 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper


Friday, December 3, 2010

cat nap

31 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Athens - grounds of Hadrian's Library (two versions)

8 December 2010 update - Yikes!  In the original post, I erroneously identified the location as the Ancient Agora; it's really Hadrian's Library.
26 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
29 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Athens - view of Mount Lycabettus (two versions)

We came across this view as we were heading up to the Acropolis.
22 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
1 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Monday, November 29, 2010

Santorini - view from Oia (two versions)

This painting is of a view from the northernmost part of the Oia, looking back at the way we had come.
18 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
This second, smaller version is actually the progenitor of the first.
16 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper
gifted


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Santorini - along the caldera


16 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper


Thursday, November 25, 2010

cat and canned cranberry sauce

This strange, jellied substance known as cranberry sauce has been one of our family's Thanksgiving Day mainstays.  Our cat friend is dubious about its palatability.
10" x 6 1/2", gouache on paper
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day (at least in the USA).

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

cat and one of the last autumn leaves

8 November 2010
10" x 7", acrylic on paper



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Santorini - view of Oia and the caldera

15 October 2010
10" x 14", acrylic on paper

Monday, November 22, 2010

Santorini - diverging paths (two versions)

This was one of the many spectacular views along our walk from Fira to Oia.
20 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper
This second one is a lot smaller than the first (a fourth the size, to be precise), more of a study and less thought-out as a composition, before I took the plunge and painted the larger one.
15 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper


Saturday, November 20, 2010

Santorini - Oia in the distance

15 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper

Friday, November 19, 2010

dozing

Not a bad idea for a chilly, rainy Friday.
16 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Santorini - on the walk to Oia from Fira

We still had quite a bit of a walk ahead of us.
14 October 2010
10" x 14", acrylic on paper