(Red, White and) Blue Wolf Painting

Yes, this blue wolf is sporting a hint of a smile, possibly even a somewhat whimsical one. I like to think of the playfully wild spirit of the wolf in every dog I have ever loved, as this wolf was intended to suggest. Why is the wolf blue and the sky red? I was in…

Arches Painting

This is a little bit of a close-up look at a quick sketch of the Arches in Utah that I painted in acrylic on a pretty large canvas a number of years ago. I was in a turquoise and peachy mood when I did it. It currently hangs high in our entryway, to be seen…

Colorful Women Painting

This pan of ladies of various shapes in a rainbow of colors speaks to the ideal harmony between women that I believe could exist, no matter their differences, because we are more alike than different. (Acrylic on Canvas) In addition: Since I have been asked regarding this ‘Colorful Women’ painting again recently, I began thinking…

Red Monolith Painting

It was a little photograph in a travel ad relative to southern Utah, I think it was, that inspired me to do this playing with color experiment a few years ago. Of course, I pumped up the color as compared to nature. I did an original, my oldest son wanted it, so I did another…

An Ode to the Average Sized Woman

Why does a normal sized, healthy and generally fit woman, young or older, try to fit into a size zero to feel like she is something of worth? Is zero the only beautiful now? How healthy can zero be? Do high fashion models who look like they barely live on lettuce and celery, simply  black…

Novel the Seventh Cover

The cover for my seventh novel was generously done for me by my daughters, Anna and Brina. The handsomely beautiful Miss Fontana Houston’s ‘portrait’ was sketched/colored by Brina, and the lovely roses on the stone wall backdrop was sketched/colored by Anna. The background behind the stone wall was a combined effort of both Brina and…

Novel the Sixth Cover

My inspiration for Prattleton stemmed from the idea of a sweet young lady who is unfairly gossiped about by a large portion of a little town. I wanted to illustrate the particularly feminine foibles of being overly interested in their neighbors’ lives, speculative about others’ business or affairs, and being suspicious of anyone who doesn’t…

A Snowman in May

Early this morning a snowy blizzard freakishly appeared and reminded me of twenty three years ago when we were living up in the ‘great white north’ of Alberta in Canada. I was uncomfortably overdue to have another baby. The weather had been balmy. April showers had already brought May flowers. I recall beautiful spring weather. I’d been catching some late afternoon rays as my kids played out in the sunshine. Suddenly (well, on the next day anyway), a wintery storm hit. It was a major blizzard, in fact. Wild. And cold. And then it was gone.
Just hours ago, there was snow everywhere outside. I just looked out again, and it’s all green again. Snow flurries of today brought back memories of snow of yesteryear (which strangely does seem like just yesterday) and so brings me to my favorite snowman that I decided to share here. My youngest three conjured him up. Well, my youngest son came up with the story and my daughters illustrated to bring the snowy fellow to life. What follows is most of my motherly review that I wrote for Amazon a while back.
Now, first I will admit to being possibly a fraction biased being that I am mother to these three wonderfully warm and talented young people, but, I shall still try to give a fully honest and fair review… at least from my own personal perspective. I found this story delightfully warm and the art beautifully wonderful, even after seeing it unfold before my eyes over the course of at least many months. It truly reflects its creators. Josh, Anna and Brina have enjoyed many congratulatory bravos and kudos from young and old through emails and personal contact relative to their first published creation. We have been told many times over that little kiddies (particularly two to ten year olds) do not wish to put the book away or up on a shelf once they have perused through it, and that it is carried around by the youngsters instead, as well as being requested as a nap and bed time story of choice. Some little folks in lands where it snows are noticing chilly snowmen everywhere during their winters, all hoping that each cold fellow will find warmth through the help of friends or family. This story of a snowman who can’t seem but to feel cold and a loving little girl and her parents who find a way to warm him up, will warm you inside as well.

Novel the Fifth Cover

When I first was introduced to Jane Austen through ‘Sense and Sensibility’, I quite liked the story, but over time, the story and the novelist became all the more dear to me. From Emma Thompson’s screenplay version made into that wonderful movie, to Jane Austen’s original story itself, ‘Sense and Sensibility’ became my top favorite…

Novel the Fourth Cover

Frontier Ruby was inspired a little by my love for ‘Anne of Green Gables’ as well as a little ‘Jane Eyre’, with some ‘goes west to the frontier’ thrown in. This story is more of the dramatic but many have told me that they found some comedic moments too. I know I had fun writing…