Kati & Whit

If this isn't the perfect advertisment for their orthodontist, I don't know what would be! He sure does good work, with these beautiful smiles. This is a watercolor portrait I just finished, and had such fun doing. I am taking comissions now, so if you would like a portrait painted, you can email me at OakleyArt@aol.com. This one is smaller - 9" x 12", but it does the trick!

My Grandson, Cowboy Liam

I am now working on art for my Illustration portfolio, as well as working on Fine Art paintings for the gallery. I knew this photo would make a great illustration! This photo was from a day last summer when all my kids ended up in Petoskey at Ben's, my youngest son's, fiance's house. Kaitlyn is a riding instructor, but my grandson Liam (5) had fallen in love with her at first sight, even before he knew she taught horseback riding. So, he was completely in his element on this day, when he got to ride horses and be with Uncle Ben and Aunt Kaitlyn too.

Painting in the Cherokee National Forrest

So.., this is what I have been doing lately! Watercolor Painting for hours and hours!! It has been great to be producing art, and I hope to do even more in the next few weeks. I just love the colors of the fall leaves and the green water against the rocks. The day was overcast, in fact it was raining when we set out for the mountains for our photo shoot. But before long, the rain stopped, and the cloud cover lent a quiteness to the rugged landscape beyond the sound of the rushing water. We had to do a little bit of climbing to get the most dramatic photgraphs I was looking for. I like to get down as close to water level as I can get. These mountains are spectacular, and the possibilities for paintings are endless. A totally new subjects lies around every curve of the river. How I love to paint the water! Many people like the still waters of the third painting in this series, but in this piece, the force of the water and the strength of these broken rocks were the dynamic composition I was searching for. This one is my favorite of the bunch.

Baby Falls

THis is actually only half of the Baby Falls, but I thought it made for a good composition. It was hard not to get lost in the many rockfaces, so I deveoloped a progressive system of painting in sections after I got the drawing carefully done.

Painting in Tennessee

I have been busy lately, spending many many hours painting at last. I was so blessed to go into the mountains with my friend Jerry, who knows the mountains well. He took me to some of the most picturesque places, and we had a great time photographing these great places. And so to be able to paint them now is a real joy. I am getting re-acquainted with my watercolors for sure! These paintings of the river are all 22" x 30" or a full sheet of watercolor paper. Nice and big, but they each took a long time to do. I am looking into getting prints done of them.