Smoke Trees are Buzzin' with Bees

The smoketree flowers are so small it's easy to walk right by and miss them. Up close they are really beautiful and loaded with bees these days. Got lots of photos today for reference. Can't wait to start another bee painting. I have one in the works now, and another large car in watercolor. Hopefully, can finish both this week. The orange mass on the lower bee photo is not part of the flower. These bees have large orange outgrowths on the backs of their rear legs. Quite unusual.

Photo of the Week...Has there been a Murder?

I've been working too hard. Needed a little fun. Jensen's market has the best desserts.

American Art Collector Artist Feature Page

I'm very happy with how American Art Collector magazine put together the Artist Focus page about my work. Look for it in the June issue on newsstands around June 1st

I Love Bees

This is my first in a series of bee paintings. Bees are just so darn cute. This was so much fun to paint. Did you know....the average worker bee makes 1-1/2 teaspoons of honey in her lifetime, and, that one-third of the food we eat exists because of bees? That makes them pretty darn important, too. This 24" x 30" oil on gallery-wrap canvas is available on my website http://www.DianeMorganPaints.com

Cream Puff for Amanda

A bride-to-be had registered for two of my paintings as wedding gifts on http://www.myregistry.com/ She wrote to tell me that one of them, the cream puff had been sold and asked if I would consider painting another. How could I refuse. It's the same cream puff as the first, but with a slightly different angle and lighting. This one is especially for Amanda. I hope some nice wedding guest will get it for her.

Photo of the Week.....Interesting Character

The world is full of interesting characters. Be proud if you're one of them. This fellow could be the poster boy for reasons not to smoke. It makes you wear ugly shirts and drive disgusting cars.

Bronzed Baby Shoes

This was on my list of 100's of images waiting to be painted. I guess Mother's Day brought these shoes to the forefront. These were my baby shoes, bronzed after I outgrew them. My Father found them and sent them to me for Christmas a couple years ago. What a sweet gift. What Baby Boomer didn't have a pair of these? Do parents still do this??? This 6" x 8" gallery-wrap oil on canvas is available on my website http://www.dianemorganpaints.com/

Bridal Registry

Got an interesting email this morning. A gal had put my "Cream Puff" painting on her bridal registry at http://www.myregistry.com. It's a website where you can list things you want from any store anywhere. Much better than being restricted to registering at one store. People can easily shop online. You can also use it for birthdays and graduations......any occasion you want. What a great idea to register for art! She wrote to say she was sorry to see "her" painting had sold. Guess I'll have to paint more cream puffs. I know that the buyer didn't buy it for the bride-to-be because the lady bought three and came back the next day to say how happy she was to have them in her kitchen.

A New York Minute

This is the latest Karin Jurick challenge...Madison Avenue, New York. I wanted to capture the noise and lights and movement (or stuck-in-traffic lack thereof) of a New York City street. And, I wanted to have fun with it trying a really quick rendition. Rather than my usual 8-10 hour more detailed rendering I wanted a more splash and dash. Everything always takes longer than I think....waahla....my three-hour "minute."

This 7" x 11" watercolor may be purchased on my website http://www.dianemorganpaints.com/

Photo of the Week...Waiting for Breakfast

Hard to imagine such a huge, powerful animal climbing up on the dock and waiting so patiently for a handout. Punte del Este, Uruguay.

At the Auto Show

This Mercedes hood ornament is the second in a series of cars at the auto show. There's a little hidden portrait of me taking the photo in the chrome. I originally painted this as a 5" x 7" oil for a fund-raiser at the Palm Springs Art Museum. I got so many comments about it I decided it had to be a full-size watercolor. I saw an interesting program on hood ornaments on PBS recently. They were originally called car mascots. The most famous ornament, the Rolls Royce "Spirit of Ecstasy" was modeled after the owner's mistress. Guess the wife didn't like that car much. This 20" x 15" watercolor on 300# Arches cold press paper may be purchased on my website http://www.dianemorganpaints.com/

ArtColony Challenge: Daffy Dolls

The ArtistColony challenge for May is "daffy dolls." It started because one of us, who shall remain nameless, misspelled daffodils. So, the theme evolved, and can mean something floral, or whatever you want to make of it. I did this crayon quick-draw in 1967. I saved it all these years because it is so different from my usual style. I almost can't believe I did it. It's so loose and well...."daffy." Not that I couldn't be considered daffy at times....just not something you might say about my art :-} Seemed to be perfect for the challenge.