Join Us

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Always nice when a friendly group of apples welcomes a newcomer. : )

Scissors Paper Grapes Apple

 

Click Here to Purchase - $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

What beats what in this contest? And do we add the cup, or is it just the referee?

Student Teacher

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

Here's another little still life that I painted a while back. I had been to the store looking for bottles with colorful labels to add to my scenes. But I think the apples stole the show. Or is it the pitcher?

Should We Hide the Sake?

 

Click Here to Purchase for $200 - 6x8in. - oil

Here's another one that's been sitting around my studio. I'm still not able to paint still life, but I have started to paint from photos (less difficult for my healing neck). As it is after any long break, my skills are rusty. I know it will take a little while to get into the groove and start doing work I'm proud to show you. Until then I'm enjoying the process.

Neck update: I'm feeling better every day! I started PT today and it's going really well so far. More and more I'm able to do the things I couldn't do for almost an entire year! It's like starting over with my life. : )

Gathering

 

Click Here to Purchase for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another little painting I did a few months ago when I was still able. I'm looking forward to doing some new stuff and have a ton of ideas. I keep a million little post-it notepads around the house for jotting down ideas, and lately I've also been using the Google Notes app on my phone. I love it.

Conspiring

 

Click Here to Purchase for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Thank you all SO MUCH for the outpouring of love and support after telling my story a couple of days ago. An artist's life is mostly solitary, and I can sometimes forget I'm not alone.

You make me feel loved. 💗 And it is very much appreciated.

Hello There

 

Click Here to Purchase for $200 - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I mentioned a while ago that I was suffering from a health issue, and I am happy to report that it is finally being resolved! I would like to share my saga, if only that it might help someone else.

Some of you might remember I had a cervical herniated disc years ago, and a fusion surgery in 2022. Afterwards I improved slowly, but about a year ago started to have problems again. They were similar in that my neck hurt constantly and I got terrible headaches, but otherwise the symptoms were (apparently) odd.

I began seeing doctors here in Missoula. Right away they found that I had another herniated disc in my neck, one below the previous one (I think it's a genetic issue). But the message I got was: it just doesn't look bad enough for surgery, despite the fact that I got terrible headaches when I sat, and so I didn't ... sit. They said my symptoms weren't "textbook." I got a steroid shot, which helped tremendously, but only for a week. I tried everything else commonly recommended: PT, massage, etc. Nothing helped, and I continued to get worse.

Over 10 months I saw 4 surgeons, 4 other doctors, and was rejected by the Mayo Clinic twice. They listened to me tell them that my hands and feet hurt constantly, the headaches were unbearable, my digestion and temperature regulation were wacky, my eyes hurt all the time, and if I sat or did anything remotely strenuous my mouth and arms went numb and everything else got worse. And the answer was: the disc isn't causing your problems. Some added that I must be "oversensitive," or "have emotional issues" because I'm a woman. Yes, at this point I wanted to kick these men in the ....

They ran a million tests. Which all cost a fortune, of course. Insurance only paid for some of it. And they didn't find anything that could explain my pain.

My husband and I were completely baffled. It seemed like their goal was to get me out of the office as quickly as possible. But these were appointments that took weeks or months to get, so time was passing painfully, and after each dismissal we found ourselves back to square one.

All through this my husband was searching online, trying to find answers. Before each appointment he compiled lists of symptoms (in case we forgot any), and a timeline. We thought that if we just saw one more doctor, they would be a little smarter and figure out my problem.

Finally, towards the end, my husband found a place near Seattle that had a sitting MRI. All the other MRI's I'd had were laying down, and all my symptoms got better when I laid down, so we reasoned a sitting MRI might show something different. No doctor we saw knew anything about this, btw.

When I got the new MRI, the radiologist's report said that the herniated disc was flattening my spinal cord. This is called myelopathy. When we looked it up we found that it could cause ALL the symptoms I was having! The spinal cord brings messages from the brain to the rest of the body, and when this is disrupted it can cause problems with the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the things in your body that you can't directly control: heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, etc., which were all things I was having trouble with. For the last 2 months in fact, I was almost completely bed-ridden. If I stood for more than 10 minutes my heart would race and I would feel like I was going to pass out.

The physical medicine doctor I was seeing at the time sent off urgent messages to the surgeons I had already seen, and one by one they dismissed the new MRI! It still didn't look bad enough, they said.

So the phys-med doc referred us to one more neurosurgeon, a Dr. Larson in Coeur d'Alene, ID (3 hours from Missoula). We were dismayed to see that he didn't take insurance, but at that point were desperate. We met with him and he quickly said - surgery is an absolute no-brainer. He got me in two weeks later for surgery. Once inside he found that the disc was worse than it looked in every MRI - part of it had broken off and was lodged against my spinal cord. When I woke up, except for the pain from the surgery itself, I was completely better!!

In hindsight we believe that the first 4 surgeons must have been restricted by the hospitals/clinics they worked for, and the insurance companies. We believe they had a checklist, and my case was unusual enough not to check all the boxes quite right, even though the suffering was very real. It doesn’t seem that they are allowed to think outside of those boxes. They consistently recited statistics, rather than treating me as an individual. The doctor who finally helped me says the reason he doesn't take insurance is because it allows him to “focus on what’s best for each patient.”

The worst part of the last 11 months was the emotional toll. I lost hope over and over. But I was lucky. My husband was by my side through it all, often waiting on me hand and foot. He was even NICE about it, the whole time. Even when I wasn't. Haha. My little dog, Meep, was glued to my side night and day - best nursemaid ever. My son regaled me with stories from the outside, which provided much needed distraction. My family and friends kept checking on me, despite so many months of listening to me complain and despair.

I am now 3 weeks post surgery. Every day I feel a little better. At 6 weeks I can start doing physical therapy, and can address the muscles in my back and neck that have been busy guarding my “injury” for so long that they will need to be retaught how to operate. I have been visiting my studio a little more each day, doing as much as I can. Painting requires more turning of my head than I can do at the moment, so I’ll do that when I am able. Meanwhile I will share some paintings from back when I could still do them. Thank you for reading!

Bumps and Dots

 

Click Here to Purchase for $200 - 5x7in. - oil on panel

Here's one I painted months ago and somehow completely forgot to post. I made this bumpy vase years ago out of clay, along with a few other similar ones, and occasionally they make their way into my setups.

New Blue

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

My husband recently built me a new still life stage that I've been thinking about for years. (click photo to enlarge) The frame is welded steel. The stages or shelves are topped with wood and can be moved up and down as needed. The top one is for eye level views, as you can see in the second photo. The bottom shelf is for birds eye compositions, specifically larger ones that I have been hankering to paint. Eventually I will have a third, mid-size shelf for everything in between. The top bars are for clamping lights to, and draping fabric over when I need to control ambient light. The vertical piece (wood) is covered in cork so I can pin up fabric or paper.

This is the first painting I've done using my new stage. I'm also featuring a new blue vase that I picked up recently at my favorite, local, junk shop. : )

Particular Pears

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 8x6in. - oil on panel

I don't often paint in a vertical format. For some reason it's harder for me to compose this way. But these pears insisted on it.

Hide the Last Apple

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

When I have a bunch of fruit, I have a hard time not painting them in a glass bowl. I've done it lots of times. Here's one of my very first ones, from 2007.

Standing By

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

In case you don't know, Daily Paintworks (the website my husband and I created and run) has a monthly contest with cash prizes! There are only 29 entries so far this month, so there's a real chance to win. Please consider entering soon (it can be any 2-D fine art - no theme - and you don't have to be a member). The top 15 picks get a free month and a featured spot on the front page. : )

Alone Together

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I was enamored with the little bits of pure blue in the bowl and its shadow where it meets white. Colored glass is so fun to paint. I keep looking for new bowls, but they are hard to find.

Peaceful Pears

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Pears can vary in personality. These have been pretty chill so far. They couldn't stand for very long, so I told them they could do a lying down pose. They fell asleep but they didn't snore.

Standing Together

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

We have a fabulous little junk shop in downtown Missoula with bottles galore displayed in the front window. We walk by it pretty regularly, so I get to see any new additions. I just acquired this tall, skinny one from there for my collection. You'll definitely see it again.

Don't Be Blue, Bells

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I've probably said this before, but whenever I am painting a shadow going into a shadow, a softer edge usually works better than a hard edge. For example, the little bowl at the bottom-left, with the bell pepper in it - where the shadow side of the bowl meets the shadow that the bowl is casting, the edge almost disappears. Same with the shadow that the top bell is casting on the plate, where it meets the shadow it's casting on the paper to the right of the plate. Did you notice before I pointed it out? But you read it as an edge, right? Our brain fills in the details even if they are fuzzy in the paint.

Take a Load Off

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x8in. - oil on panel

Here is another one with these two teenage bell peppers. I call them that because they are a little small, and stubborn (ie. difficult to compose). And they didn't have super solid bases, so they kept falling over. I have a teenager, so I know all about this.

Seeking Love

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I went to the store and found these adorable, little, orange bell peppers. I thought they would be a cinch to paint, but they put up a fight. It took me an hour and a lot of frustration just to come up with this one. Maybe they are teenage bell peppers. That would explain a lot.

Ode to Green

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Often it's the simplest compositions that are my favorite. And always the most difficult to compose! Strange to say, but true.

Pig Want Egg

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I'm enjoying playing around with little, leaning, bits of paper in my still lifes. They make especially nice shadows, and throw lovely reflections back on things.