Happy Halloween 2014!

Front Door - ready for Trick or Treaters!

Halloween is a holiday that I really look forward to since our move to Reno. In San Diego we considered ourselves lucky if two or three children came by for candy but now we have dozens and dozens of Trick or Treaters and the costumes are always so imaginative and intricate. It's so much fun and my husband and I actually compete to answer the door when the bell rings!

Currently I am working on a new steeplechase painting but its not quite ready to post yet. . My life portrait sessions the last two weeks have been sad and dreary and ended up being wiped off. Soon I will have something new to show you! In the meantime, a Happy  and safe Halloween to all!

Reno Portrait Society and Quaking Aspens

Russ / Oil on prepared artboard, 20x16

Work in progress

Russ was quite taken with his portrait and I received an email from his wife Toni a few days after I painted this. She has taken it home to give it a trial run before deciding whether or not to purchase it for him.

In the meantime, my husband and I drove up to the Lake Tahoe area hoping to see the aspen trees in their full Fall glory. We were not disappointed:

Even though the days are still warm, our nights are quite chilly now - definitely time to bring forth warm sweaters and jackets! I just love this time of year

Pandemonium

Life has been a whirlwind these last several weeks as my daughter decided to accept a transfer of her job from San Jose, California to Amsterdam, the Netherlands! It all happened very quickly - passport, visa, plane tickets were obtained and she moved all her worldly goods to storage here in Reno. Lucky for us, she came to stay with us for a week before flying off to her new adventure. We helped her sell her car, load all her household goods into storage and pack for two years in Amsterdam. She ended up with 5 gigantic duffel bags of clothing and shoes. Monster, her 7 pound miniature Yorkie will stay at her brother's house until Kimberly is settled - then she intends to fly her to Amsterdam. She has been over there for a week now, is still in a hotel in the downtown area but today she rented an apartment with a view over a canal - it is just lovely! I am so excited for her.

Kimberly and Monster - ready for the big adventure!

 I admit to not having as much time at my easel as I normally do but, hopefully, as life settles back down, I will get back on track with painting.

Here are a few of the things I worked on over the last few weeks:

Walt Whitman / oil on masonite / 16x20

Ballerina #34 / oil on canvas / 30x15

Jockey / oil on cardboard / 14x18

Dance Recital / oil on linen / 18x24

Evil Wears a Green Cap / oil on canvas / 12x12