Down memory lane ...

    

Instead of doing more decorating and preparing for the holidays, I seem to start in one direction and find myself in a completely different direction than I'd started.

Today while looking for some room to hide a wrapped gift in the studio ... moving some "collectibles" (this means things that have been laying around and collected in a corner of the studio), I came upon a number of older paintings I had done and kept. I remember enjoying the process of painting ceramics and the reflection of the ceramics in a toaster. I cropped off the handle of the small pitcher, but both the creamer and the green ceramic with the flowers were so enjoyable to paint. I'm not crazy about the rest of the painting, but gee, the ceramics were so fun to paint.

Okay, now where was I ? Oh yea, back to a hiding spot for the Christmas gift.

Looking North

Looking North ... SOLD Watercolor 3.5" x 2.5"

140 lb. Arches coldpress

One day while standing on the dock at the local marina, looking out at the open body of water, I noticed this lovely tree. I like the way it leans ever so slightly over the water, as if to tease the water into thinking it would fall in. Some how it has roots that hang on tight.

I enjoyed painting this landscape/sea-scape so much that I think I'll look around to see what other sights here, in my own back yard, I might enjoy painting.

Since this was posted originally this little tree has tumbled over in some of our less than perfect weather.

Seagulls on the Beach

SOLD

Seagulls on the Beach 2.5" x 3.5"
watercolor on 140 lb. Arches coldpress

The rain has started and has not let up for the last 48 hours. Nonetheless  it is much needed even here in the pacific northwest where we are known for the moist weather we normally have.

We still have beautiful gold and yellow leaves on the maple trees, reminding us that we haven't had as much rain lately as we usually have this time of year.

Although I didn't want to go out and photograph birds on the beach today, I came upon a photo of seagulls I had taken earlier this summer to use as a reference for this painting.

Spring Florals in October?

SOLD

Each of these small works are 2.5" x 2.5" Watercolor painted on 140lb Arches watercolor paper

I can not believe that Halloween is almost here and October will soon be gone. It was just a few months ago Spring was here, wasn't it. I remember I was busy painting beautiful spring tulip fields. Here are a couple of small ones from that spring collection.

SOLDAt the time I took the reference photo's you could see whole fields of solid red, white, pink and mixed. They are breathtaking and you are just as in awe the next time you see these colors spread out before you in a field.

SOLD

This last one is the only painting from the Spring Floral series that I've framed.

I think I should be painting pumpkin fields now, instead of looking at these spring floral's.

Evening Sky

SOLD "Evening Sky"

Watercolor 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", Arches coldpress watercolor paper

Here, where I live, this scene is something we see frequently.

I never tire of seeing the sun's reflection on the water as the sun goes down behind a mountain.

In the far background we can see the beautiful and massive Olympic Mountains. They in themselves are beautiful any time of year. In the winter when snow covers them, they remind me of photo's I've seen of the Swiss Alps. Since it is October, maybe soon we'll see that beauty again as the temperatures drop.

My New Web-site !

Muddler Minnow Fishing Fly

5" x 7 " Watercolor on 140lb coldpress Arches watercolor paper

I'm so excited. Yesterday I launched my watercolor web-site. I sent an e-blast to friends and relative in my personal e-address book and today I'll send my e-blast announcement to those who have purchased my work before.

I spent a lot of time reading about html and writing my site without a template. Because this was a slow process I'm afraid my painting inventory has dwindled, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the pigment and paper and turning out some new work.

I've always loved fishing flies and when I was much younger I loved tying them also. Now I love to paint them. Once when I was in a sporting good store a few years ago purchasing some new flies for a subject to paint, I had arrived at home only to find I had fishing flies stuck to the sleeve of my sweater, where I'd leaned over the table to pick some up to look at. How embarrassed was I when someone noticed them and said....... "eek, you've got bugs on your arm."

Update:  this website is no longer in existence.

Calm Reflection

Calm Reflection 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" SOLD

Although this photo doesn't do it justice, it was a beautiful calm, peaceful morning, with the sun starting to shine brightly. The only thing stirring was us and a few great blue herons. When I looked at the water in front of me, I noticed a mirror reflection of the trees on the shoreline.

Calm Reflection is painted on 140lb. Arches cold press watercolor paper. Again, I left a 1" white border around the painting.

Mt Rainier

SOLD Mt Rainier 2 ½” x 4 ½” Watercolor

Mt. Rainier, located in Washington state, is majestic and always fun to try and capture its beauty in watercolor. The native name for Mt. Rainier is Tahoma. There are days when you can see beautiful colors of pink and purple on the glistening snow. Other days the mountain is barely visible because of clouds or rain.

October Sail

SOLD

Here it is October and the weather is beautiful. Warm days with cool crisp afternoons. We see a few clouds occasionally but for the most part each day is filled with a bright blue sky. Boaters are still enjoying days on the water and the sailboats are lovely in the afternoon sun.

This watercolor is 2 ½” x 4 ½” on 140 lb. Arches paper. I have painted it leaving approximately a 1” border all around the painting so that it may be framed showing some white around the painting.

A Scene from Mexico

Watercolor: 7" x 10"

In February of this year, 2006, we went on a Mexican Riviera Cruise, where the weather was beautiful and the sights were so photographic.. . I was able to recapture the memory of our trip by reproducing this scene of mother and child in the shade while their clothes dried on the line in the afternoon heat.

Linoprint

This is my first ever linoprint. My cat found one of my empty wicker baskets sitting on the floor and just couldn't resist the urge to lay down in it.  What fun this was to carve out the soft material and then roll the black ink over the surface and watch the magic appear. 

I worked on this pretty fast and after it is all said and done, I was very pleased with the results & realize with some patience you could create some very lovely work.

Wetland Series

SOLD

Near our home, about 30 miles away, is a beautiful wetland area. The last time we visited it was low tide and fog was mingling in the nearby trees. It was so peaceful and quiet.

SOLD

There is a number of areas where you can sit and view this beautiful place. There were some beautiful fall colors and a lot of birds foraging in the near by grasses.

Each of these paintings measures 5" x 3 3/4" wide and will fit into a matted 5" x 7" frame.

Bathing Beauties

This is a series of small beach scenes I recently painted using some old family photos for my reference. I used sepia watercolors only on 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper.


This first photo shows the three paintings together on my work table along with my ruler close by so you can get a general idea of the sizes of the paintings.



Although this photo isn't very clear you can tell that this person was enjoying a warm day in a canoe.





This painting shows a woman posing for the photographer in front of a private property sign.


This last painting was fun to paint because I felt these girlfriends were having a great day at the beach.

Island Mist

Island Mist, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", Watercolor on Arches, © Nancy Van Blaricom

Wikipedia says "The only difference between mist and fog is visibility. This phenomenon is called fog if the visibility is one kilometer or less. Otherwise it is known as mist."

This painting is another small ACEO, measuring the standard 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". This time I left a margin of the white 140 lb. watercolor paper on so that the person who purchases it may frame it showing some white border. SOLD

Autumn Scarecrow

Hi, welcome to my first blog post.  I hope you will follow along with me on my journey to becoming a better artist.  Here you will find some works in watercolor, some sketchbook entries as well as some oil paintings.

Recently after seeing beautiful fall colors appear here in the pacific northwest, and searching through some photos, I was inspired to paint this happy scarecrow that we made a few years ago for our front porch.

This small painting is called an ACEO, measuring 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions & Originals, Artist Trading Cards, or ATC's, are miniature works of art. It will be up for auction on e-bay later this week. SOLD