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Christmas Wish has found it's forever home in the Sierra Mountains of California. The family of four kids will enjoy seeing this Santa painting during the Holiday season for many years to come.

This year I created 5 new Christmas paintings that aren't Santa's. Three new snowmen and two Mele Kalikimaka ( Hawaiian for Merry Christmas ). My Seasonal Gallery is getting fuller, take a look. Just click on the "For More Information" button and it will take you directly to that gallery.

Look it's Santa! He is on the island of Maui, painting a local scene plein air style. The scene is Kahakuloa Head with Kaukini Gallery on the cliff over looking Kahakuloa Valley. Santa looks pretty cool in his Aloha shirt, red shorts and hat, waring his cool shades. I can't think of a better place for Santa to be, when he isn't delivering presents, the on the Island of Maui. Relaxing and enjoying the beautiful island is a perfect way to shake off the winter time blues.

November is here! Wow, that happened fast. I was just getting use to it being October. So what I'm I doing for the first featured painting of November? "Sunset Santa" of course. I'll be featureing one of my Santa paintings for the next 7 weeks. It's my way of counting down to Christmas.

"Sunset Santa" is an acrylic painting on 11x14 canvas board. This was the second in my series of "Tropical Santa". This one was so fun to create. The colors re so fun to work with for this winter scene. Adding the little honu ( sea turtle ) was just the right touch to complete the painting.

This painting is the most popular of my Santa series. I sell cards of this image at Village Gallery all year. People love buying it no matter what time of year it is.

September is the month of my birth and this year I was given a very special gift as you can see from the photo. What is special about a set of oil paints? it's the story behind them that makes them special. You see my mom bought this set for herself over 30 years ago. She planned to use them when she became a little old retired lady. Well that day has come and she can no longer see to paint. With old age came Macular Degeneration. A very sad disease for a very talented artist and art teacher. So she had my dad pack up this beautiful cherry wood box, full of 45 tubes of Rembrandt oil paints and mediums and shipped it off to me here on Maui. The package arrived two weeks before my Birthday, they sent it early just to throw me off. When I picked up the package from the post office I knew it wasn't my supply of miniature easels and canvas frames, it was way to heavy for that. I was very curious and could wait to get the package to my studio to open it. Once I did I knew right away what was in the wooden box. I remembered when my mom got this set and how excited she was to be able to use it one day. I could hardly believe my eyes to see none of the paints had been touched. Everything in the box was brand new. The two palettes still had the plastic wrapping on them. All the mediums had never been open. My parents added 5 new palette knives and 12 new brushes to the set. I was totally blown away! My excitement was over powered by the loving gesture and the meaning behind the gift. I immediately called them to express my gratitude.

Mom was so happy I loved the set. She told me how sad she was not to be able to use it herself but was so happy that I could. She had my Dad put insurance on the package to cover $400. She thought that would be enough to cover the cost of this set if it were lost or damaged. I quickly added inflation of 30 years in my head and came up with a higher number, more like $900 I told her. After a nice long chat with her and my dad I went looking on the art supply stores websites to see if I could find this same set. This huge set is no longer available the closest set to it was listed for nearly $1,500. I was shocked! I called mom back to let her know, she was shocked too. My dad teased me by saying "you better send it back to us".....hehehe.

After a day and night of thought, I decided I was not going to let another 30 years go by with out opening one tube of paint. The very next day I took the shrink wrapped plastic off both palettes. The day after that I used one of the palette knives to mix some acrylic paint. It was three more days before I had time to open the first tube of paint. Since then, four weeks later, I have done four 8x10 paintings and have started a 24x36 Maui landscape. I'm having fun trying colors I've never used before. Oh, I should mention, all the paint is still fresh even after 30 years.

"Swaying Palm" is this week's featured painting. It's also my favorite out of my series "image within an image" paintings. The original sold through Lakeside Gallery in Lake Tahoe quite a few years back. One of the things I like best about this painting is the soft colors I used. Because they remind me of the beach.

So what is your thoughts on this image? Should I do more of this kind of painting?

With Christmas only 11 weeks away, I'm continuing to feature my Christmas paintings. This week's feature is "Father Christmas". He is part of my Santa series. But this Santa has an old fashion look. Gone with the red velvet Santa suit and hat. In with the hooded cloak. Father Christmas has the look of a wizard. Maybe he'll bring a bit of magic to your Christmas this year.

Is it to early to start thinking about Christmas cards? I don't think so. I may not like seeing Christmas decorations in stores until after Thanksgiving. Nor do I like listening to Christmas music until about two weeks before Christmas. But I am a big fan of Christmas cards. Usually ( when I'm not slammed ) I get my Christmas cards out the week after Thanksgiving. I have been painting Santa for years. I love this jolly old man. Maybe because he wares my favorite color combo, red and white. Or maybe because he represents happy memories of my childhood. Every year I add one or two new Santa Paintings to my Christmas card series. A couple of years ago I added this cute little snowman as a special Christmas card for a special person. Since then I've decided to add this image to my Christmas card series. This little guy makes me smile. He is so happy it's snowing and he wants to share his happiness with you. "Let it Snow" is available in a variety of sizes, on paper, canvas and metal. This image is also available on throw pillows, tote bags and shower curtains and, of course Christmas cards! Thank you for taking the time to view my work.

Click on the link to get you to this images fast.

I consider Lake Tahoe my home town, more specifically, Kings Beach. I spent part of my teen years and most of my adult years living on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. Three of my four children were born in Truckee. As mentioned in my BIO, my parents owned Lakeside Gallery in Kings Beach. This is where my art career began. At age 16 my mother became my first oil painting teacher and I took advantage of the many talented teachers who taught at Lakeside Gallery every year. The gallery was the hub of family and friend gatherings, art workshops, garden parties, art receptions and much more. The Painting featured here is an oil painting of Lake Tahoe from the East Shore. If you look closely enough you will see the Hyatt peaking above the tree line on the distant shore. The original paint has sold but this week I'm offering a special limited time promotion on 10 24x20 prints for only $100. The promotion ends on Oct 3rd so hurry and get yours before they are all sold out. As you can see from the photo,there are many ways to purchase this image. The prints are available in a variety of sizes, on paper, canvas and metal. And this image is also available on throw pillows, tote bags and shower curtains.

As President of Lahaina Arts Association there are challenges and perks I'm faced with now and again. Some of the challenges include squashing roomers by people who choose to not get factual information, which is a fun challenge for me. Another challenge is writing and giving public speeches. Neither of which comes easy. The last speech I gave I had to change just minutes before giving it. Adding info about my personal history to give the listeners a brief idea of who I am. Since I wasn't prepared for this "in prompt to" add on, I felt off balance. The next time I agree to give a public speech I'm going to make sure I know who the other speakers are and who I follow in the line up. Following Roz Baker, Senator of Hawaii, was just a bit intimidating to say the least.

As far as the perks go, it was pretty cool to realize I was dinning and speaking with Senator Baker one week and having lunch with the Mayor the next. Yesterday, July 2nd, was the "46th Annual, Maui United Way, Meeting and Recognition" Luncheon. Erin Brothers, LAA's Executive Director and I arrived early for the luncheon. We were given the chance to pick which ever table we'd like to sit at. I chose one that was close to the food and centered to the stage. As the room began to fill, our table attracted other non profit leaders such as Lisa with "Planned Parenthood" and Robert with "Best Buddies Hawaii". I started to think our table was the best table in the room. For it was attracting all the people who focus on helping children, all children including the unborn, handicapped and the disadvantage. As our groups got to know each other, we formed connections for future collaborations. Which brought on a air of excitement. As the room filled up, two more gentlemen joined our table, leaving one chair left, and who should decide to take that chair? The Mayor of Maui, Alan Arakawa. Since he was seated across the table from me I was unable to talk with him and thought it would be bad manors to yell "Hey Mayor nice to see you again. Are you still in Mansanto's back pocket?". So I kept my mouth shut. When the announcement came for the buffet style lunch, we were told that an attendant would come to each table to let us know when it would be our turn to get in line. I figured our table had a good chance of being at least in the center of the line since it was center of the room. And by that time I was more then ready to feed my stomach since it was doing an awful lot of rumbling. I was soon surprised and very happy to learn when the Mayor sits at your table, your table is the first in line. Now that is one cool perk! "Hey Mayor, you can sit at our table anytime."

There are plenty more challenges and perks I'm faced with every month as I plan the agenda for the Board meetings and coordinating the fundraising events. One of my favorite perks is getting to meet the children who benefit from LAA's programs. Their smiles and excitement for accomplishment is the greatest reward.

P.S. Photo credit: David Schoonover.