little paintings

Lean On Me

6x6 oil on masonite

I don't know about you but I have a thing for Pugs. I just love their little wrinkle faces and round bodies. This pair are visitors of Dog Days Daycare a favorite place of Dukie's. Lean On Me is inspired from a photo of the pair just lounging around, probably after a few hours of playtime.

 Jake

6x6 oil on canvas

This is Jake another one of my daily paintings series. Jake's also another playmate of Dukes. This little German Schnauzer is just so handsome I love his salt and pepper gray colors. 

fun fact: The word schnauzer is German for "whiskered snout"which they sure have.

It's not the best photo of either painting for some reason I couldn't find the right spot to shoot these without a glare. I feel a bit rusty but these were fun quick little studies. It sure does feel good to be back into my paints. 

♥

Cooling Off

Cooling Off
6x6 oil on masonite

I miss my paints - oh and I miss my dogs too,  so I decided to get back into painting today. This is Logan a friends dog who was Cooling Off and just couldn't get enough of the water in Montana! What a beautiful part of the country out there. Everyday we went fly fishing and hiking with some friends – it was amazing. This painting was inspired from a photo I took after a hike up to beautiful Lake Agnes. "Ohh sweet Agnes" as my husband says. Montana I miss you too, we couldn't make the trip this year and our friends are saying the fishing is great ...hmmm I think I see another painting coming up :)

Work/Life Balance

Anini Beach, Kauai

ALOHA! So did you figure out where I was? Thank you for your last comments - it was fun to hear from everyone and your thoughts on where I was. Good guesses! My friend Tonya Bates guessed it right - Hawaii. Ahh yes the beautiful Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Maui. Below are some more images I took and wanted to share but before you take a peek there's a few things I learned while I was away...

Do you need balance? Get away for a few days or take a vacation. Our vacation was much needed and just...wonderful. You see like many, I've fallen into the trap of working all day up to the wee hours, often so motivated I'd skip meals just to move ahead with my projects. I am very lucky, I have a wonderful husband and I love what I do, so much so I didn't realize what I was missing... like taking a quiet moment alone and shutting down my thoughts, eating a healthy meal with reasonable bites and not wolfing it down, taking a nice relaxed long walk instead of a quick stressed walk or even going to the gym and reading up on current events... to name a few. With the day to day you're bound to get wrapped up with work and deadlines often missing quality time with yourself and/or your significant other. This vacation was a perfect time for us to reconnect and just have fun together an opportunity to leave work behind even for a moment. Who would have thought I'd eat better and get back into my workout routine while on vacation?  Ha...it has taken a vacation for me to realize what is important. Now that I'm back I'm ready to work hard but I'll sure try to keep this Work/Life Balance in check. A difficult task but one I am willing to work hard at – for sure. Are you?

Waterfall On The Road To Hana, Maui.

Taro Fields in Kauai.

Snorkelers in Honalu Bay, Maui

Playful dolphins on boat ride to the Napali Coast, Kauai.

Black Sand Beach, Maui.

My first full rainbow. View outside our balcony.

Mahalo

♥

A little ways from home

Just popping in for a quick hello while on vacation. Ahh yes vacation, we left on Saturday and will be gone for 2wks. Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July, we had some great fireworks here. So far we are lucky with great weather - I hope everyone back home, (in the northeast) is hanging in there with that heat wave - WOW. I am still confused by the 6hr time difference so I am not sure of the day or time this will post.

Anyway, here are a few photos I took... can you guess where we are?

Until soon!

♥