New work for a new year. . .

Enchanting  .  14 x 11  .  oil on linen panel

Yes, I know I've been gone, but  now I'm back, and here we are well into 2016 with the tiniest hint of spring in North Carolina - I'm thinking this reprieve is totally a short preview meant to tease us, and soon we will be back to normal temps before long, but you never know!  I'm holding out for the warmer weather.

I will admit to feeling a bit like a blank slate of late as it was a mad dash to the finish line over Christmas.  The painting continued well into all of January and finally by mid-February I had met all pressing deadlines.  Post-party syndrome quickly set in as I realized the studio looked as if a bomb had gone off - cluttered, unorganized AND confusing - and frankly the rest of the house didn't look much better!  Hence a re-grouping in the best of ways.  

This often happens after getting work ready for a show, or when you're taking care of a waiting list - when it all is suddenly accomplished, comes to an end so to speak, you sink into something akin to a toxic cocktail of malaise spiked with doubt topped with the urgent need to get re-acquainted with your creative impulses.  Oh, but it gets even murkier as suddenly the sickening fear of a blank canvas is enormously daunting, and you ask yourself if you can ever do it (paint) again!  Such a crazy pattern, but if you converse with artists at all, from time to time, you'll find nearly all are familiar with this behavior!  Then finally, one day, you just do it.  Best cure ever.  So I have a few new paintings.  The one featured above is the latest.

Addie Lou on board ship  .  8 x 10  .  oil on linen canvas

She was only around age eight or nine - on board ship with her family right around 1939.  She recently happily celebrated another birthday so I painted her bright, cheerful child face as frankly, she hasn't changed a whit.  I see the young girl in her all the time - the photo was black and white so I made it up as I went, her favorite color being blue!  Don't you love the gloves?  I do miss the everyday natty dressing of yore.  You guessed right as I am the worst offender of such refinement as I careen around in my paint splattered jeans most days.

Taxi's Waiting  .  12 x 36  .  oil on linen canvasAvailable at www:Etsy.com/shop/SandyDonn

Well, that was a pleasant change.  A departure for me with an interior-like scene with lots of texture and knife work.  Hope to do more in the future.

Then on to take care of my landscape fetish.  The freedom of painting large is fabulous.  I've been meaning to do this one for what seems like years - a Florida scene from days gone by.  Yes, I lived in Orlando for 30 + years!  The afternoon storms would roll out as quickly as they rolled in - the bonus of living on a peninsula.  Confession:  I've been longing for Florida of late.

Remembering Florida  .  24 x 30  .  oil on linen canvas

Available - please e-mail if interested

Love's Promise  .  14 x 18  .  oil on linen covered birch

There's a lot of smiling going on when painting the newly married.  Such a happy occasion, SUCH a gorgeous couple, and now there is a lasting memory of their beautiful wedding - a "love gift" from the heart of a mother.  Always grateful and humbled when asked to paint such loveliness.


So there you go. . .seems I had a few words in me after all.  I'm sending spring-like thoughts your way - don't forget to change your clocks next weekend, the 13th!

P.S.  Elmwood Reflections found a loving new home in Florida recently.