Thursday, November 16, 2017

Save our Native Bees, plant native to your area plants.

A Series of watercolor painting created specifically of native pollinators and native plants.
I learned that many native bees are specialists that depend on certain native plants for their survival.
After planting native to our area plants on our front lawn I became amazed at the variety of bees and butterflies that make use of the tiny wild garden. Now wherever I go in BC and Alberta I look for bees on native plants. I give special thanks to The Edmonton Native Plant Group who started me on my first tiny wild garden which is now inspiring me create paintings of these tiny beings, and some are amazingly tiny, like an 1/8th inch. 

 Metallic Sweat Bee on Gumweed 
Metal Frame 8x10" $115.00

Buzzing By
Metal Frame 7.5x5.5" $78.00

 All Abuzz Bumblebee
Metal Frame 8x10", $115.00

Gaillardia Diner
Metal Frame 7.5x7.5, $78.00 

 Giant Hyssops
Metal Frame 7.5x7.5, $78.00

Sooth Blue Aster Bumblebee
Metal Frame 7.5x7.5, $78.00

 Golden Aster Bumblebee
Metal Frame 7.5x7.5, $78.00

Apple Blossom Bumblebee
Metal Frame 7.75x7.75" $105.00

Gumweed Landing 
Wood Frame 10x10, $184.00

Milberts Tortoiseshell
Wood Frame 10x10", $184.00

Gentle Presence
Metal Frame 9.25x7.75", $115.00


Saturday, August 12, 2017

Thursday, June 15, 2017

A new series of native pollinators

I've begun a new series on native pollinators. All circular images are 5.25 inches across. I believe it is very important as a nature artist to spend numerous hours out in the field gathering reference material for  paintings.  I only work from my own reference material, so a painting already has many hours of work put in before pencil and paint ever touch the paper.

Update: All Paintings are now framed.
All paintings in circular mat & wood frame 10x10" $184.00 each.

 Native bumblebee on aster, watercolor.
It is a challenge to capture clear photos to work from as bees and flies need to keep moving to gather pollen and sip nectar. 

 Tiger Swallowtail. 

 This is my personal favourite, a female sweat bee. This minuscule metallic green bee is a female, the male has a striped abdomen. These wee bees are hard to photograph as they are 0.12 to 0.40 inches, very tiny, so you can imagine why I love this painting. 

 Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Found along the Whitemud nature preserve trail where I spent half an hour watching this moth and a swallowtail dine. These daytime moths hover while sucking nectar just like a hummingbird does.

 Hover fly.
I find delight in the variety of color and markings on these sweet little flies. Hover flies are beneficial pollinators and their larvae eat aphids.

Mountain Retreat, watercolor, 4x7.5 inches
This painting is of course not part of the series, its a style I was working off and on from over thirty years ago. Over the years I created various paintings this style but left off doing them in recent years as I saw so many other artists using the same idea. This piece was started long ago and never finished until this month.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Exhibition at Kunze Gallery, Creston BC

In conjunction with the Creston Valley Wildbird Festival the Nest Project is now hung in Creston BC at Kunze Gallery. There will be a nest building workshop on friday and an artists presentation on saturday. http://www.crestonvalleybirds.ca/events.html

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Exhibition In Edmonton



six hummingbirds off to the framers

Six new watercolor hummingbird paintings completed.
All are 4x6 framed in 8x10 metal frames.
Top four paintings are avaliable through
Ellis Bird Farm, Lacombe County, AB





Roufous Hummingbird, female
for purchase contact The Wildbird General Store.
Roufous hummingbird, male 
at The Wildbird General Store 


Sunday, January 22, 2017


 Mountain Gems, Roufous Hummingbirds
Metal Frame 11.75x 15.5",  at the Art Gallery of St Albert.

 Little Jewel, Roufous Hummingbird, male.
Wood Frame 12x10"

 Little Jewel, Roufous Hummingbird, female.
8.25x5.5 inches, watercolor
This hummer is flew off to a new home so she is no longer available.



Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Painted Drum

I painted this drum which dear family members made. It was gifted to our grandson.