It feels good to be creating again. This is a sketch I did of Aleah. Sometimes I am able to catch something in my sketchbook that becomes difficult for me to duplicate. I feel like this sketch captures something about the 9 year old version of her. I love the messy hair and freckles.

The painting is one of three plates I am doing for the "300 Plates" fundraiser at Art Access in May. Some of you may have noticed my current love affair with the color orange. Yes, it can be difficult to sell paintings of my girls. But if I am going to paint a little girl why should I try so hard not to paint my own who I intimately know every curve of their little faces, the colors of their skin, the flip of their hair.

The show friday night was a blast. Thanks to all who attended. If you couldn't make it here is a glimpse although as many people have said recently that photos just don't capture what you experience in person. I want to thank Coda for all of their support and excitement about my show. Tami, thank you for the best cookies! Thanks to my stepdad Kevin for coming up for my show, and most of all to my two little ladies for their support and patience with me as an artist and a mom. Aleah commented to me yesterday how empty our house feels without all of my paintings in it. I agreed, so I am going to get off the computer and paint again for the first time in a few weeks.

Travis Tanner of Tanner Frames is the best! I just want to let him know how grateful I am that he caught my vision when I was picking frames for my show. Most of the frames are actually three moldings put together. I just got done with all of the frames this morning (right before I loaded them into my car to take to Coda) and they look beautiful. They are all made from Roma moldings and I want to thank the rep Travis works with for making it possible to frame my entire show in Roma. Travis, thank you for helping me out with my last minute emergencies and producing such quality work.

My show is now less than one week away. Often times people will ask me if it is hard for me to let go of my paintings and for the most part I always answer "no". This time however, I can't say that. This painting "Birds of a Feather" is one of my favorites. There is a special energy about this group of work for my spring show. I am feeling a little bit sad to see it go. The other day I had taken the majority of my paintings to be photographed and my studio felt empty, and a little lonely. I have felt so many things in the last months while I have been painting this work. It has come from a place deep within me and I do feel a personal connection to each piece. I want to thank Karen, Michelle, Susan, and Maridin for buying some of this work. Somehow it makes it a little easier to let go of these pieces knowing that they will be close by. I want to thank all of the people who have bought my work as well as those who continually encouraged me to keep painting.

This painting has been in my studio for a while now. It has been one of the toughest for me to figure out. Some of you may have seen it when the building was gray, then yellow, then orange. Finally I just made peace with the fact that this painting was all about pink. So when I finally made the house pink AT LAST I liked the painting. I love standing under a blossoming pink tree in the spring. I wanted to create a painting where you feel the protection and canopy of the trees blossoms. This tree is not only protecting the girl but has wrapped itself around her house.

This is the detail from a painting you will be seeing soon. Many people have asked me about my inspiration and who has influenced my work. So I decided to dedicate this painting to answering that question. It was so much fun because I got to learn from these artists as I made an attempt to replicate small snippets of their work. Here is a little insight into how these artists have touched my life. The woman in this painting is standing in front of a doorway that I photographed while in Nice, France. I have hundreds of photos of doorways, windows, and other architectural details. I love it when I have the chance to incorporate it into my work.

Sargent: I remember the first time I saw his work at The Met. The section containing Sargent's work was temporarily closed and I somehow ended up in it by a back way...a little on purpose, but not completely. It was however good to be alone because I just wanted to cry. He painted on a huge scale. I could not help but be affected. As you look at my previous work on my site you may see his influence in my work especially on a painting I did of Aleah in a ballerina skirt and a close up of my niece Madi with a huge bow in her hair. Love Sargent!

Michaelangelo: He was born almost exactly 500 years before me on March 6, 1475... which I thought was so cool because I have always felt a connection to him. He had SO much soul. He was my favorite to learn about in art history. Did you know that he often slept in his dusty sculpting clothes in case he woke up in the middle of the night and had to create? He was often dissheveled when seen in public very unlike his contemporary Raphael. Michaelangelo lived until he was 89. Pretty amazing considering Raphael died at 37. Michaelangelo had one of the most incredible souls of any artist. If you have ever stood in the presence of David you know what I mean.

Degas: At age 12 I knew who he was and was struck by his work. When I was on an art history tour at age 21 I skipped out on the whole group when I found out there was a show of his work in London. Seeing that much of his work at one time made quite an impression on me. His colors are amazing!

William Morris: More than anything I love his sketches for the fabrics and wallpaper he designed. You can see his influence in the watercolor of mine with the Zebra butterly and tulips.

Lizbeth Zwerger: I think she has recieved every award that an illustrator can recieve. I LOVE her work. She is from Austria and has illustrated a lot of classics like Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Gift of the Magi. Her drawings are beautiful, and she has such a unique way of using color. When I was only watercoloring she was by far my greatest influence.

Barb Campbell: The "bottle" as she called it that sits on top of the stack of books is a direct representation of one I bought from her a few years ago at the Utah Arts Festival. I own 8 of her pieces. If you have wondered where the long necks and the stripes within them come from it is from this bottle. The first woman that I painted in this style is on my website under previous work of a woman holding a little brown and black dog. I love this painting because of the rawness in which it was created. I painted something that was so fresh and exciting to me, it was so different from anything I had painted previously. The night I painted her... I was painting for me. You can find Barb Campbell's work at Terzian Gallery in Park City.

This is one of my girls favorite paintings for my show. This was inspired by Aleah who gathers up all of her favorite stuffed animals every night at bedtime. The current tally is 8. She has slept with the same little stuffed bunny for over 7 years. As a parent it is just the cutest thing to see this side of her. Only remnants remain of the "little girl" in her. This painting is my way of recording this part of her. This little girl has brown eyes and blonde hair just like Aleah.