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