What will J say?

I've been asked to paint a lot of different subjects.  Left to myself, I like calm waters, eerie trees, green fields.  However, everyone else has other visions of the perfect place and time, so I've painted golf courses, fanciful trees, bridges, paths, and oceans reflecting all types of water.

For the first time, a friend asked me to paint a relationship.  It was supposed to be a basic representation of earth and elements and attraction. As usual, it took a turn where it has become part paisley and part Dr. Seuss.  If this thing no longer represents her color scheme, I'll keep the crazy thing and start hers over.

As usual, I now both love and hate it and am a little obsessed by adding more curlicues to it. Got out of bed on Sunday morning at 4:30 AM to get back to it.

What do you think?  What will Jessica say?

Swimming hole

I'm continuing to work on people.  People are difficult!  Yes, yes, people in real life are trouble.  They make drama.  They are vain and self-absorbed.  But people as a subject also presents a difficulty.  They have minds of their own.  The girl in the red tank top was supposed to be a chubby grandma (like me) indulgently looking toward the larger group.  She ended up looking toward shore, closing off the group, but choosing to hold back from the group. The finished painting is not so yellow-green as it appears here.

To see the finished product: Order Prints, Swimming Hole 

She partially regrets being here.  She doesn't like it that her cell phone is in the truck, and her boyfriend is probably texting her right now.  He wasn't allowed to come along.  But she is enjoying the water and the noisy little kids more than she'll admit. And for this minute, she is swept by the surprising peace of the water and the shade of magnificent trees.