Baby it's hot outside

Ahhh May in the desert. It's been in the 100's already. This ends our forays into the wild. Not the heat so much as the snakes. I have a healthy respect. OK, it's really a fear.

Last Sunday Ted and I discovered Spring Mountain Park. The old Howard Hughes, Vera Krupp (think big diamond) estate made into a state park. Lake Harriet, the subject of the picture below was the irrigation source for the ranch.

Sunday Afternoon with the kids

While Ted explored, I painted. Have no idea what the name is of the outcropping but it was beautiful. I hauled Brunhilda (my easel) up there and found a bench. Yippee. I was fortified by peanut butter m and m's and water. Was just a landscape study until the momma duck brought her babies out. There must have been 7 or 8 of them. I sat there long enough she wasn't afraid and brought them quite close. They had to be in the picture. Notice dad protecting the flank. There was one straggler (all families have one) that had to be rounded up repeatedly.

"Pick me"  5 by 26 inches oil on board

 I finished my mom's commission. She wanted chickens. My friend Joe has chickens. Exotics (I picture tassels and a pole) to be exact. I tried something new and made prints and cards from this painting. They came out beautiful.  Del, the print guru, at Desert Art Supply walked me through the process.
The prints are 5 by 26 inches with an 1 1/2 inch border. Printed on Rives archival paper. The colors are brilliant.  I have 4 copies and am selling them at $40.00 a piece plus shipping.

"He's the Man"
The cards are details of the original. Broken into 3 different pictures. They measure 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches, blank on the inside, with envelopes. They are $2.00 per card or $5.00 for three. 

 They're on glossy  stock and quite nice. A great way to get your chicken fix.

I'm including two of my cactus pictures. The Engleman's we inherited put on quite a show. Had to take advantage of them.

Cactus oil on board 9 by 12 

I didn't get to see any beaver tail flowers this year. It's been pretty weird weather here. I had never seen the yellow blossoms cover a cactus before and it was quite beautiful. I even liked the dying blossoms. There was so much variation in the colors.

"What makes the desert beautiful"  oil on board 9 by 12  $200.00

I really love this "What makes the desert beautiful". It was a struggle to paint. Thanks to the encouragement and comments of my Tuesday group and some guidance from Gabby it turned out to be one of my favorites. Maybe I'll have to make a set of cactus cards?

I really liked how the colors turned out on this.

Thanks to all the comments, suggestions, pictures and support. As usual you can reach me through this blog or email me at annanorrisfineart@gmail.com.  I'm on Pinterest. Mostly paintings but some other stuff. 

By the way,  do any of you know a good web site designer?