I haven't been here for a while because although I've been at my easel I didn't have access to a camera due to the fact that my husband was in England visiting his mother and he took the camera with him. However, he is now back and I have been able to photograph my recent work.

There is going to be a Cupcake Fest in Chelmsford in February and the local art society members have been asked if they would like to paint pictures of cupcakes to be displayed in conjunction with the event. I thought this would be a fun thing to do - which is was - so this is my contribution. Unfortunately, I had already framed the picture when I photographed it, resulting in a shiny spot right in the middle, it's a bit difficult to see, but you get the idea.

This is totally different from the previous picture. Instead of impressionist I wanted to go very realistic and I started on the grapes but very quickly realized that the crystal bowl they were sitting in was completely beyond my ability to paint..... so I had to find another bowl, but the only one I could find that seemed the least bit suitable was this one, which was a long distance view on a table with other things. However, I used it and then had to find a suitable surface to put the bowl and the grapes on!!! So I used this table and cloth from another picture, but had to guess at where the shadow would go! So, to sum up, this is from three different photographs, but I was reasonably happy with the end result.

I recently bought DVD by an artist that I admire and after watching it several times I decided to try his technique which is more impressionistic than I normally do. This is the result....... it looks similar to the painting that he demonstrated but I actually got the reference image from the Wet Canvas web site and made a few adjustments to make it more pleasing to my eye. I was happy with the result and plan to frame it and give it as a gift this Christmas.

Well, neither of my two pictures that I did for the library show got selected for the floral arrangements but...................I sold one!!!!!! I just heard today that someone bought the picture of the birdhouse which I called "No one Home" I'm absolutely thrilled, this is so totally unexpected, it's the first time I have sold anything. It has really encouraged me to keep entering into shows.

This is something really different for me. I was sitting watching TV and I picked up a pencil and decided to draw these Christmas ornaments. It prompted me to go out a buy a set of sketching pencils in various hardness levels, so I might be trying more of this type of thing. We'll see!!

I've been working on this during the past week. My husband was keen for me to do it even though it's not my usual choice of subjects, and I did enjoy the process although it wasn't without it's challenges. I took the photo on a day trip to Maine in September. I think I'm going to frame this one and put it in our bathroom.

These are two pictures I've been working on lately to be hung in a show at our local library. Some of the pictures in the show will be chosen to be part of a floral arrangement design so that was the reason for these two subjects. I thought they would fit in with flowers, we'll see whether the floral arrangers think so! However, even if they don't get selected, I enjoyed the process of painting them - it was a change to do something different from landscapes and trees.

I have just finished this picture which is from a photograph I took of a maple tree at the bottom of our yard. It was fun to do and such a change from painting green trees all the time. I call this one Autumn Glory.

I had a disappointment recently when I entered two pictures into a juried art show in Concord, but sadly neither of them was considered worthy of a place in the show. I was crushed - but when I saw the other paintings that hadn't been selected I didn't feel so bad - there were some beautiful pieces of work that were not deemed suitable either.

On Tuesday this week I got together with a friend I met on line at Wet Canvas.com and we had planned to paint together at a local Wildlife Refuge. However, when we got there it was so cold that we decided instead to go to her home which was nearby, and paint in her studio. She has a great set-up and an enviable collection of pastels, I thought I had a lot, but now I feel deprived!! She gave me some photos to choose from and this is the one I selected. It was quite a change for me and not without it's difficulties, but I was quite pleased with the end result.

Now that our visitors have departed I got back to my studio today and worked on this picture from a photograph I took while we were in Maine for Columbus Day weekend. I'm not sure exactly where it is but I really enjoyed painting this. For so long everything has been green, green and more green! I have been longing for the Fall colors to start appearing and this is the first one I have done.

I was supposed to start a Portrait in Pastel class but sadly there weren't enough people signed up and the class had to be cancelled. I was really disappointed. Although portraits are not my strong suit I was looking forward to learning more and had even bought special pastel sticks for the class. I had planned on doing a portrait of my little granddaughter Sarah, but it was not to be. I'm hoping that the class will be offered again sometime.