I haven't blogged for a long time...

... because I have been focusing on this little one.

I have gotten a few paintings done during my pregnancy, including the painting below entitled, "Eve, Mother of All Living". It is currently hanging in the Springville Museum of Art 25th annual religious show.

I'm excited to go back and post some of the other things I have been working on, so please check back!

Finally! The blog giveaway winner announcement

Purple & White Tulips in a black frame

All in a Row in black or white

Tulips at Dusk in a black frame

Manti Temple in white

Red Tulips in a Vase in black, white or red

Jana Keen you won! (pick your favorite)

Lithograph prints, mounted, sealed and framed (no glass necessary)

(most of these are about 12 x 16 -including the frames)

If you didn't win and still want one, you can buy one for $25.00, plus tax and or shipping

sneak peek

Here is a little sneak peek at some of the paintings you will see at my show this Friday and Saturday, 6-8 each evening. I look forward to seeing you there!

(these are all small details from larger images)

Invitation & Blog Give Away

I am so excited about this show. I hope to see many of you there.

To celebrate my excitement, I am having a give away.

There are many ways to enter:

1. post this invitation into your blog or facebook

2. add a link to your sidebar

3. become a follower of this blog

Enter as many times you would like, just make sure to leave a comment each time you do.

The contest closes midnight August 28th.

The winner will receive a framed lithograph.

Poppies for Rachie

I think the bond between sisters is special and always evolving. I love watching my own daughters as they play and interact. I think of growing up with my sister, waiting at the bus stop, sharing clothes, being room mates, the ebbs and flows of time. Now we are both moms with our own daughters and I feel a closeness with my sister as we talk about our roles now. I love telling her my ideas and getting her advice and feedback.

I love being friends with Rachel.

When my sister got married, I painted these poppies for her. She just sent me pictures so I could see the frame her husband made. I love the way it all turned out great and I couldn't wait to share it here.

Red Poppies, 24" X24" oil on panel.

Three Trees

I wanted to paint something bright green.

St. George Utah Temple

This is what I painted this week.

A few weeks ago we drove through St George, and I have been wanting to paint this ever since.

I used a palette knife, I love this little knife, I think I'll be using it a lot more because it was so fun.

I love the St. George Temple, the white against the red rock, the architecture, the memories I have there.

The first time I went inside was with my dad right before my mission, we made a goal to go to each Temple in Utah before I left.

Years later, my husband and I got to be Temple Workers in the beautiful St. George Utah Temple.

Flowers for Margot

Margot commissioned this painting. When we were talking about it, she told me what colors she wanted, then I asked her what kind of flowers she wanted she said it didn't matter. I suggested tulips, or poppies or ranaculas, she said, maybe all of them combined into one kind of flower.

It is about color.

It is about a feeling.

I loved painting it, Margot loves having it.

Irises

I like irises. I like they way the greens last all summer long. I think it is amazing to watch them unfold and bloom.

In fact, one of my most prized possessions is an original painting of irises painted by one of my most favorite artists Douglas Fryer.

Water lilies

One of my favorite things about this time of year is that the water lilies are really starting to bloom. I think they are so beautiful. I painted this a couple summers ago out at Thanksgiving Point.

One of the things I love about flowers is that seeing them brings back memories. When I see water lilies I think of being on a road trip, just me and my dad, stopping in Nauvoo, Illinios. It is hot, and I can hear the hum of all the bugs, and I can see the two of us, down at the riverbank talking.

30 Years of Illustration

This exhibit celebrates 30 years of the Illustration program at BYU. I am grateful to have been able to go through such a great program. We had a wonderful reunion the night that it opened. I was so busy talking I didn't get my camera out that night. I went back yesterday for a better look. It is a great show, I recommend that you check it out. It fills the entire Harris Fine Art Center on BYU campus and it is up until the 14th of July.

I am also quite pleased that my painting is hung in such a nice spot.

Gerbera Daisy

I have been thinking about Gerbera Daisies lately. This is a painting I did a while ago, but I have always loved it and so I thought I would share it here. It is acrylic on illustration board.

The tulips are pretty much gone

Unless you have a tulip painting. Those last really long. If you don't have a tulip painting or print, I can help you out.

But if you do have tulips in your yard, they should pretty much be gone, and I can help you out with those too.

You should ideally "deadhead", or trim the stems of the tulips in your garden. The seedpod in the above photo is not desirable, why, because it is robbing the bulb of valuable nutrients. If you have any tulips left in this state, go ahead and give them a trim. Allow the leaves to die back and then be careful not to saturate the beds they are planted in with too much water (this can cause rotting) Some people will go ahead and pull up the bulbs and allow them to dry then replant them in the fall.

At Thanksgiving Point, they actually pull out all their tulips every year and then sell them for $3.00 a dozen! They plant over 250,000 every year, and there are still tulips available this year. You can purchase them at the greenhouse in the gardens. They are all mixed, so you won't know just what you are getting, but then it is so fun to wait and see in the spring! (if you get them all from the same bins, they will probably be a lot of the same tulips) When you get home, get them out of the plastic bags and allow them to dry, if the greens are still attached, allow them to dry until they get brittle and you can snap them off. The next step is to go buy a 3 pack of queen size panty hose, then fill them up with your bulbs and hang them up somewhere dark, cool and dry (67 degrees is perfect) a basement cellar is a great place, garages get too hot and too cold.

Then the first or second week of October, pull them out and plant them!

In the spring you will be so happy that you did it!

red watercolor tulips

This is one of my favorites. The original is hanging in one of my favorite friend's home. Luckily, it is still available as a print! I have lithographs that will be for sale at The Orem Summerfest along with many other great prints. We have many already framed and ready for your walls. There will be so many fun things going on at the festival, check out the link for more details... and don't miss Arts in the Park!

pink and white tulips

I had an exhibit of paintings I have done over the years at The Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival this year. This is one of the paintings from that exhibit. I love looking at the paintings I have done there and remembering painting each one, I love to remember just being there surrounded by tulips, and all the kind people who have stopped to admire my paintings and ask questions. People sometimes apologize for interrupting me when I am painting, but I honestly love it, it doesn't interrupt me, it enriches my painting experience.

Red tulips under Timp

There is this spot, at the bottom of Shepherd's Path, where you can see Timpanogos perfectly. They have flower beds that are always planted and if you lay down on the grass, you can see the flowers and the mountain getting closer together. I don't know if I have ever passed this spot with out laying down just to enjoy this great view. I don't lay down when I paint there, but I paint it as if I were ... and I paint there often.

enjoy your new home little painting

People often ask me if it is hard to let a painting go, and to be completely honest, it is.

But I really enjoy getting to share something so personal, and I love that others feel joy when they look at my paintings, I am grateful to have my paintings invited into homes, I think that is very personal too... and I am honored.

Here I am painting this painting last year at the Tulip Festival (pregnant :)

Los Tulipanes

I love this painting. It is 4 feet by 4 feet. I named it "Los Tulipanes" because that is spanish for, "the tulips". I have exhausted many titles that may be appropriate for paintings of red tulips. The original is hanging in The Utah State Capitol (on loan), it is part of The Springville Museum of Art's permanent collection. I'll make you a giclée in any size you want, on canvas or paper. I'll recommend that you get it full size on canvas... that's what I'm getting for myself.

Painting in The Parterre Garden

The Parterre Garden is so beautiful right now! I started this painting last night- I was hoping to finish today- but it has gotten chilly all of a sudden! Such is the life of the tulip painter!

The 2010 Tulip Festival poster

This is the 2010 Thansgiving Point Tulip Festival poster, for sale at the garden gift shop. It is 11 X 17 on card stock. I think it turned out really cute... and you can't beat the price! Come find me at the gardens and I will be happy to sign yours.

I painted this in the Secret Garden, it is called "Cherub's Secrets"

click here to see me painting it

Painting in The Children's Garden

On Tuesday, I found myself in the Children's Garden painting, it is such a wonderful place. The gardens are beautiful, there are mazes made of shrubs, a pond, a bear cave, dozens of bronze animals and they all have footprints in the concrete that lead back to an incredible sculpture of Noah's Ark. (As it gets warmer, there are fun water features in the garden for children to play in) I found the perfect place to sit, so that there are tulips in the foreground, and Noah and his Ark in the background- I am really excited about this painting!

My daughter stopped by for a minute to offer her help with my painting- then quickly went back to play in the big sandbox in the garden.

Yellow, Purple and Ruby

Another great day at the Tulip Festival. A man asked me, "Which do you love more, the thing you are looking at or the thing you are holding?" I replied, "The one in my arms, but how lovely it is to have both."

Painting at the Tulip Festival last Saturday

The above photo ran in the Salt Lake Tribune (photo by Jim Urquhart)

The Tulip Festival started last Friday. It is truly beautiful out there. Saturday was a wonderful day, the weather was great and there are so many tulips. I made it into yesterday's Daily Herald and The Salt Lake Tribune. I had a great time painting, and I am so excited to get out there and paint today.

Spring is in the air!

The daffodils are up, and the tulips are not far behind! I am so excited about the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival this year! It starts this Friday (this year they will kick things off with a live broadcast from Fox 13 with Big Budah - my segment with him will be at 8 am)

I think this will be one of the best festivals yet!

If you would like to tip toe/run through the gardens, they are having a half marathon and kids run this year!

A closer look at my painting process

I don't always use the same approach when I paint, I like to experiment, but here is a closer look at one of the variations I love to use. First, I apply paint in a bold and fairly abstract manner... (my subject: the patch of tulips in the distance, just to the left of my easel)

... next, I'll get out a piece of vine charcoal and draw on my painting, tightening it up a bit. I fix that drawing on (with fixative or hair spray) then I continue with oil paint, but still allow the process to come through (I let some of that first more abstract paint to show through as well as the charcoal drawing)

and here is the finished painting.

In a couple of weeks, scenes like this will be plenty!

The Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival begins April 16th and goes through May 1st.

I will have an exhibit there of paintings I have produced in the gardens during the festival over the past 5 years.

People always ask me when the best time would be to come, I recommend getting a membership and coming as many times as you can.

The tulips are coming up!

Yesterday we went out to Thanksgiving Point, and the tulips will definitely be in full bloom for the Tulip Festival this year. I am definitely getting excited!

(This is the finished painting of The Italian Garden from a couple posts ago.)

Orchids for Danna

My sister -in -law Danna is so supportive of me and my art and I appreciate her so much. She has many talents, one of them is cultivating orchids, so I thought it would be fitting to paint some orchids for her.

More red tulips

I painted this last week.

I really never could get tired of painting red tulips.

I do enjoy painting other things, but there is something about painting red tulips that seems to center me.

Chad Hedrick

Back in 2007, I was pregnant with my first daughter, painting at The Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival when along came Chad Hedrick! I was a volunteer during the 2002 Olympics and I was able to watch some of the speed skating. Chad said he spends a lot of time in the Netherlands skating, so he loves tulips too. It was so fun to watch him get a bronze medal last night.

These pictures are getting me excited for the tulip festival!

April Blooms

We have had a few warm days and it gets me excited because it means that the tulips will be coming.

Hogle Zoo World of the Wild Art Exhibit

We love going to Hogle Zoo. My brother and his wife gave us a pass and encouraged me to enter their annual art exhibit, and my painting made it in. The show opened last night and will be up until March 14th. I have been amazed at how fun our zoo visits have been during these colder months, definitely worth braving the elements... plus there is a great art exhibit to see!

Blooms

Whenever I travel to New York City, I always like to visit my favorite flower shop, Bloom. I love it because they have many of the flowers arranged by color, a vintage dresser covered with vases full of red flowers, a seating area surrounded by all white flowers. I love the way it feels to be there. My Mom was a florist when I was a little girl. I was a florist in college, and so for many reasons, I love this shop.

Once, I visited in a December, and I was just taking it all in and a man noticed me looking at this vase full of red tulips, I didn't notice him until he came up to me and gave me a simple tulip he had purchased for me from the arrangement that I had been admiring. He said he didn't need to know my name, just saw that he could do something kind for someone and did it, then he walked away.

I have thought often about this kind act.

When I got married, I made my bouquet look like that arrangement I was admiring. I painted this painting of the arrangement there at Bloom.

Last Friday, I got an award for this painting at a show.

red tulips - watercolor

12 x 12 watercolor on Arches (hot press)

A couple of weeks ago my husband gave me red tulips to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of our first date... and a very blind date at that!