Summer Halo

8x6 oil on panel
$450 framed

Available at dk Gallery

Today I am framing and packing my small works for the December show at dk Gallery. I am excited to get to attend the opening reception this time on Friday Dec. 6. If you are in the Atlanta area, I'd love to meet you at the gallery.

Today would be a good day to be wading in Barton Springs like this little girl. I bet its packed with people and dogs playing. Its near record highs today in Austin. Though earlier this week, it was near freezing overnight. I can move my plants back outside now I think.

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Upcoming Events: 

• November 20: Chocolate and Chiaroscuro Event, Joel's Coffee House, Austin
• November 29: Major's Fundraising Art Sale begins 
• December 6: Small Gems show dk Gallery, Marietta, GA

 

Wave Runner

6x6 oil on panel
$450 framed

Available at dk Gallery
  Wow my days are just flying by. I haven't had a chance to pick up a brush this week though I made some yummy and creative caramel apples this morning. Once the Halloween festivities are over, and Harvest Festival at school this weekend, I am sure things will settle down nicely. Remember those carefree days at beach not too long ago?

Seafoam

10x8 oil on panel 
Ask dk Gallery about this painting

I'm working on some small paintings for the upcoming "Small Gems" show at dk Gallery which opens December 6th. I plan to attend that opening and am really looking forward to that visit. I'm taking my daughter because I could not go to Atlanta without her or risk her eternal disfavor! She desperately wants to visit the Georgia Aquarium - she has hopes of meeting Jeff Corwin and working there one day. 

Tis the season for small. A lot of galleries and artists turn to these tiny treasures thinking that people like to buy for holiday gift giving. What a lovely gift original fine art makes. I am painting quite a few in the hopes of offering some here, entering the 6x6" Squared show again at Randy Higbee Gallery, and putting together a little event at Joel's Coffee House where V....Vaughan and I work together so often. We owe Brad, the chocolatier extraordinaire, some payback for allowing us to use his space to paint large and small, and do some occasional teaching.

Here it is framed and ready to go!

A Nice Surprise

8x8 oil on panel

Unfinished sketches 

Today I got the chance to meet Mike Rooney in Austin. We've known one another online only. We both have work at Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro NC  - in fact it was Mike who introduced me to them! (http://mikerooneystudios.blogspot.com/) He is here teaching a workshop and they invited me to come meet up with them at Barton Springs pool. (Thanks Anne and Diane!)

Mike creates wonderful landscapes in the Cape Cod school tradition. It was quite interesting to listen in and learn a little something new. 

While they painted a landscape/water view, I did several studies of swimmers. I think I will work on a series of these. I'll finish these and share them here soon. 

Plein air artists have lots of stories about meeting interesting onlookers while painting and today may be my most interesting to date. A young man came up and asked if he could use my cell phone to call his mother whom he hadn't talked to in several weeks. After sizing him up and asking point blank if he'd run off with it, I let him make his calls (long distance). Who could deny someone trying to reach their mom? He finally reached his dad and, as he sat next to me, I heard enough to know that he just got out of rehab and seems to be alone in the city. Since leaving the pool I've had two of his family call my number - worried about him. 

My prayers go out to them all for good things to come. Makes me wanna hug my daughter close when I see her this afternoon. 

There but for the grace of God....

Wading In

8x8 oil on panel
$375 
Email me

Did some paint sketches today to play and loosen up a little. I'm working on paintings for a show (more on that later) and feel a little pressure to be perfect - and sometimes that means tight and serious. Sometimes its so good to squint, paint fast, mass in, suggest and leave things unrefined. I highly recommend it in fact.

Saturday is the last day this month that we will offer lessons on sketching at Joel's Coffee House in NW Austin. Do come and join me and V....Vaughan for some practice with painted or pencil sketches. 9 a.m. start, $20 and we can provide supplies and chocolate, coffee and tea!

Blue Belle

8x8 oil on panel
$375 
Email me

I was frustrated with this one for awhile. I loved the figure, her shape, the polka dots, and the blue tube she was holding - but it was all so much blue. After some fussing, I scraped off the background and then scraped my palette. The palette knife then had a variety of the subject's colors on it so I scraped it over my painting and really began to like the effect. Its something different. Enjoy!

Shades of Summer

8x8 oil on panel
$375 + s/h
Email me

Ah summer - I had to get to the beach at least in my mind! We will try to hit the Texas coast sometime this summer. But I will miss the Florida gulf beaches a lot. The water there is so beautiful.

Skimming Along

10x10 oil on panel
$500 + s/h
contact me

A slightly larger beach scene that I created for a commission. These were all done with reference photos I had. Frequently, I will pull parts of photos together to build a composition. The boys were from different scenes and the boat another. If you work from photos you need to be able to reference them, not copy them. So even the most unpromising looking image can spark an idea or offer me something. I will frequently do pencil sketches first to lay out an idea and then look for reference material. I have thousands of digital  photos and I have them sorted by subject in folders. Its all backed up on Mozy.com. My husband couldn't believe it when he saw that I have something like 27GB of photos.

Beach Play

8x8 oil on panel
$225 + s/h

Another painted sketch for a large commission. One which didn't ever get painted unfortunately. Maybe someone out there in blogland would like to see one of these on a large scale? I'd love to paint a huge beach scene like this!

These were based on photos I took on Emerald Isle in NC. Its a lovely island community near Swansboro and Tidewater Gallery. It was very residential too which was quite special I thought. I hope to visit again.

Sunset Stroll

8x8 oil on panel
$225 + s/h

Last year I did some painted sketches for a possible commission. The idea was to capture a family, with young boys specifically, on the beach. I have several of these available still so thought I'd share them here.

Guadalupe Morning

I'm participating in a plein air painting event in Kerrville, Texas this weekend. We've had access to some beautiful spots on the river and on private ranches. I painted the one below at the river this morning and then two more out along bushwhack creek. Yep.

I'm recruiting my strength for a quick draw event at 5 pm tonight. Will be a fun challenge as its downtown and during a public block party (a monthly wine share!)

 

Sparkling River

12x16 oil on panel  
$850 framed
Available at the Kerrville Arts & Culture Center

Spring Fling

6x6 oil on panel
sold

A couple of kids swimming in the luxuriously cold waters of Barton Springs Pool in Austin. I love the green water - its so clear and reflective. And such a relief on hot days!

Taking the Plunge

10x12 oil on panel

Available at Tidewater Gallery

Ah.. Barton Springs Pool... a truly special place for all Austinites. Year round, this spring fed pool is 68 degrees. Even on the hottest days, all I can do is get my feet in and splash some water on the rest of me. Its a great spot for people watching though and soaking up Austin's relaxed, friendly atmosphere. This is no small swimmin' hole either - its more than 18 feet deep at one end and I don't know how long. This couple is taking the plunge in more than one way!

Here is a great video someone put together of people plunging in - Enjoy!

Dolphin Watch

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

I am looking forward to being at the coast of NC next weekend. I'm a little bummed that my family isn't traveling with me. When one works for "the man", the schedule isn't open enough. But then again, the paycheck is a whole lot better than when one is working for "the self". :-)

"Vignettes"

An exhibition of small works by Robin Cheers

Tidewater Gallery

107 N. Front Street

Swansboro, NC

910-325-0660

Opening reception Friday, June 15, 5-8 pm

Windy Beach on She Magazine Cover

I've had the honor of having one of my paintings printed on the cover of She Magazine - a faith-based publication located in South Carolina. Its a nice bit of publicity but even more of an honor because the May issue is all about motherhood. Its lovely to have my painting  reflect all those hard-working, infinitely loving, guiding, and nurturing moms out there. Happy Mother's Day early!

The painting Windy Day is available at Edward Montgomery Fine Art gallery in Carmel. Its 12x9 oil on panel.

Estuary

9x12 oil on panel - nfs

Saturday morning we got to go out to Crane House which is a private wildlife sanctuary and bed & breakfast. It was beautiful and our host, Al, was very gracious and clearly loved this special place. We saw an alligator smiling on the bank, we saw pretty pink-footed whistling ducks and lots of deer. No whooping cranes though at this time of year. During winter, they are found in the estuaries I painted above. The mosquitoes could have carried us away if not for the wind. 

This is not my cup of tea - painting vistas. I learned a long time ago when I was painting the landscape regularly that I just could not do long vistas. My friend Terri asked if I was near-sighted or far. I'm near-sighted - and without contacts/glasses - I can barely see my hand in front of my face. She, on the other hand, is far-sighted and can't see well close up. So when we painted up close subjects in the dockyards, I was happiest. It made me wonder if vision is really a factor even with corrective lenses? I obviously like to paint things close up, intimate and personal. I like to have things cropped in the foreground, or door frames, or something framing a scene even. Its an interesting idea. Terri enjoyed this long distance view and much of her work is of western desert scenes from a high perspective. I liked my sky above. That is about it. Oh, and because of the wind and insects, we timed ourselves and painted just 30 mins. or so. I hope to go back when the cranes are there. What a sight that must be!

Texas Rose

11x14 oil on panel - nfs

This past weekend I went to the Texas Coast - Rockport/Fulton area - with Plein Air Austin. We had 10 artists attend the retreat and enjoyed the challenge of painting some really tough subject matter in some equally tough conditions. The wind was up, to say the least. The oystermen on these boats didn't like it any better than we did. This boat was begging to be painted with the afternoon light hitting the one side. My friend Terri painted along with me - here she is at work on her beautiful watercolor.

It was really cool to be alongside the working docks and watching the boats come in with shrimp and oysters. They would offload them directly to a waiting refrigerated semi for overnight delivery I bet. "Texas Rose" was the name of the red boat, but with the wind, there was no way I could paint a straight enough line to try to get that on the bow.

Giddy

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
PURCHASE

Gorgeous day in Austin today! Had a leisurely lunch at an outdoor dining area in the Domain, strolled an outdoor art festival, listened to some live music and enjoyed family time. Not a day at the beach, but a close second. :-)

Leading Edge

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
sold

Back from Loretta Goodwin Gallery's Tiny Treasures show which was held over from the holidays. I will have several more of these small beach scenes to share in the coming days.

Boarder 3

5x5 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
PURCHASE

I'm not the best at clever names! But this is what it is. Enjoy!