PJ's hands

PJ.s hands

These hands create and build things,

They care for and love

two beautiful boys.

These hands belong to my Grandson PJ

Sarah's hands

Sarah's hands.

 These are the hands of my Granddaughter as she awaits the arrival of her first born.
These are the hands that will welcome him to the world and care for him for many years to come.

These hands are the hands of love.

Rio Grande Gorge is a 8"x10" original oil painting. I painted this from memory of my last trip to this wonderful place. It is just outside of Taos New Mexico I spent the whole day there taking photos as the light changed. It was a magical day.

The price of this painting is 85.00 plus shipping of 12.00.
All questions and comments are welcome at phyljan@aol.com



Nasturtiums dancing in the wind

 

 

Nasturtiums from my garden.

Original oil painting 12"x24"

 

Nasturtiums seem to dance in the wind.

They are such happy little flowers.

I am finally painting again!

If you would like to purchase this painting

email me at phyljan@aol.com  

 

185.00



Painted stones

This is Jack another painted stone with both sides painted.

The two faces of of Jack.  Two and one half inches by two inches, he is a little guy. He could hang out in your pocket or on your desk to remind you everything and everyone has more than one face or side. He is painted in oil and varnished. He is 15.00 if you would like to have him. All questions and comments are welcome at phyljan@aol.com 

Painted Stones

I am painting stones, (rocks). The face is already there I am just easing it out with oil paint. This is 3" x2" he is varnished but will probably fade if he is outside in the sun. More of a house rock. He has a good feel in your hand and good energy just being him. If you would like to have him in your home he is 15.00 with a 5.00 shipping charge. Email me at phyljan@aol.com with questions or if you want to own him. sold



Kite flying

This is a 4"x6" oil painting. I have added bits of copper and gold leaf that seem to feel like kite flying.

This painting is 25.00 to purchase email phyljan@aol.com
sold

Arizona winter desert 4"x5" canvas

Winter in the desert is softer and seems emptier than the summer. Still wonder filled tho. A little peice of memory to share.

The price for this painting is 25.00. It is painted on a 4"x5" wraparound canvas and does not need to be framed.
To purchase this painting email phyljan@aol.com  sold

This is an original oil painting.

private collectionEtta is a 4"x6" original oil painting, it is painted on wrap around canvas and does not need to be framed.

To purchase this painting email phyljan@aol.com

35.00

Private collection May is a 4"x6" original oil painting, it is painted on wrap around canvas and does not need a frame.
To purchase this painting email phyljan@aol.com
The price is 35.00

private collectionGeorge is a 4"x6 original oil painting. It is painted on wrap around canvas and does not need to be framed.

To purchase this painting email phyljan@aol.com

45.00

Acoma 12"x12" sold

Acoma or Sky City in New Mexico. Painted on canvas and ready to frame.
This painting has a lot of texture like the sides of the mesa.
If you would like to purchase this painting it is 125.00 plus shipping.
email me at phyljan@aol.com

Martha

The size of this original is 4"x6" unframed. It is painted on wrap around canvas and does not need to be framed. I am doing a series of face studies of no one and everyone. I start with the eyes or the nose and in the process they tell me their name. Sometimes they have something to say and sometimes not. At times they are just there. This is Martha. If you would like to purchase this painting is is 35.00 plus shipping .All questions and comments are welcome at phyljan@aol.com
private collection

Butterfly

private collection

This 4"x6" painting is on wraparound canvas and does not need to be framed. I used bits of handmade paper copper and silver leaf to form the butterfly. If you would like to purchase this painting it is 45.00 plus shipping. All questions and comments are welcome at phyljan@aol.com

Kachina Eagle Dance

This painting is painted on a 4"x6" wrap around canvas and is ready to hang. I have used bits of copper and silver leaf and handmade paper

to form the Kachinas.

If you would like to purchase this painting it is 45.00 plus shipping.

All questions and comments are welcome at phyljan@aol.com

Sun

The sun lays on the land warming all that was cold.


This painting is painted on a 4"x6" wraparound canvas and does not need to be framed. All comments and questions are welcome at phyljan@aol.com sold

Brooklyn and Renner at the beach

Rob and Brooklyn

Painting my grandchildren

Brennen on the field

Chris and Brennen at the beach

Canyon Floor/ sold

Canyon Floor 20"x20" oil painting on gallery wrap canvas.
My reference for this painting is the floor of Canyon de Chelly. It is painted from my memory of the last time I was there. If you would like to purchase this painting the price is 225.00 which includes shipping in the USA. All questions and comments are welcome at phyljan@aol.com

The vase 14"x18

I bought this vase in Carmel many years ago. I love the shape, color, and smoothness of it. It is a peaceful and soothing vase to me. I have stuff in my house like most people that I know, but my "stuff" is only "stuff" that I truly love and that feeds my soul. I am just now beginning to paint some of this stuff. The pieces of turquoise are scraps from a Navajo man who makes jewelry each piece is what the jewelry was not.

I am painting still life lately because I am trying to learn something more about this process of painting that I love and with still life the subject seems to already be there. When I have an obvious subject with color and shape etc. all of it already there I think that is what I am painting so that is what I concentrate on. My goal is to go beyond the object to the essence of it, of course I have not done this yet, and may never do it but I am delighted with the journey.

If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com for the details. The size is 14"x18" unframed, it is oil on canvas,

Kary's Orange 8"x10"

This orange is from my daughters tree. They are wonderfully sweet and juicy. With all of the turmoil happening right now painting a still life is a soothing meditative process. To focus on this beautiful creation of nature, the color, the form, the weight, the taste and texture. What a miracle it is that this orange filled with nourishment for us came from a dried seed that appeared to be be dead, to a tree, a flower and then fruit that we eat full of vitamins. It could be that this time of turmoil and change will turn out to be just as nourishing for us as well. If all we could have seen of the orange was the seed that appeared to be shriveled and dead how could we have known what the future held. We do not know how the seed produced the orange only that it did.

If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com for details. This painting is painted on linen gallery wrap canvas and does not need to be framed.

Wine Country Northern California 9"x12"

sold
This is a place that is close to Yountville in Northern California wine country. This is one of just the hills. The landscape was soft and fragrant with warm light and a light wind. I wanted to capture the feeling of that day. Painting is more about feeling than seeing for me. The visual must trigger the feeling, sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. This one does it for me.

The size of this is 9"x12" unframed, it is painted on gallery wrap canvas and does not need tto be framed. If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com for details.

On The Way To Acoma 8"x10"

"On the way to Acoma" On our last trip to the Acoma Pueblo which is just outside of Albuquerque New Mexico this is how it looked. It was just after a brief rain and there were still enough clouds to direct the light and the rocks were still wet so the color was very intense. This is a very special place and very much worth a visit.

If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com. The size is 8"x10" and is painted on gallery wrap canvas so it does no need to be framed.

This is not a Crow 11"x14"/sold

The size of this original oil painting is 11"x14" unframed, it is painted on canvas and is ready to frame.

Orange and Crock 16"x20"

The size of this painting is 16"x20" unframed it is painted on canvas in oil. If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com

Orange 6"x6" gallery wrap

With this one I did more with the background. Still not happy with it but at least there is some difference. I am still not sure what I am looking for, but when I find it I will know. (I hope) It may be something that is a combination of color, and brush stroke. Alfredo always said It is the breath Jan and he is right. There is a connection between the breath and the brush stroke that I am still looking for. Where is it? Is it before, during or after? I have to remember to breath first. There has been a time or two that it has appeared but not consciously. In any case this painting is a 6"x6" gallery wrapped canvas. If you would like to purchase it email me at phyljan@aol.com for the details.

An orange is just that an orange 4"x5"

Fruit, another still life. Painting a still life is somehow soothing. Every day I know what I am painting and how it should look at the end of the process. There it is right in front of me. If it does not work I know why - maybe I can fix it or maybe not but still I know where I am. As opposed to the abstracts which I do not know, as I am searching for something that I cannot see but only feel. Expressing feelings in line, shape and color in an authentic way is a wonderful challenge and exciting (when it works) but not reassuring or soothing. It's a good thing that I learn from both. Landscape and faces are somewhere in between.

If you would like to puchase this painting it is 25.00 plus shipping of 8.00 paypal if avaiable for those who chose that way of payment. Email me at phyljan@aol.com for details.

So I moved away 16"x20" mixed media

The size of this one is 16"x20" oil and mixed media on canvas. (ready to frame)

Again, I painted what was already there. It feels to me as though she just decided to leave the old and move on to a new idea of herself. Transformation as a result of challenges. We all do this, I believe, even tho we don,t always recognize it. If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol. You can visit my web site at jsmileystudio.com

The essence of prey 9"x12"

The size of this mixed media painting is 9"x12" it is painted on canvas.

My process in the making of an abstract or mixed media painting is to find what is already there and remove all that it is not. I do this by adding layers of paint until it speaks to me - or not. My hope is to find the essence of whatever is there and to learn something new in the doing. At first the only thing in this piece was the skull, which is a familiar symbol to me and means many things so I thought I knew why it was there and that it was finished so I hung it up in the studio to dry so it could be varnished. Then after a few weeks I saw out of the corner of my eye the bird, and the bird was even larger than the skull! Now how could I have missed that? Why is it there? The bird is a bird of prey which one I don't know maybe none just an idea of one. "Someone said" the artist always paints themselves and I believe this to be true, especially with the abstracts, so - what am I doing with a bird of prey and a skull? What part of me is a person of prey? Setting aside the the idea's of food, shelter, transportation, war, and politics which have all kinds of polarities. What could be "good" about this idea of prey? To hunt, catch, or eat, a creature hunted of caught for food. I am a why person so I am then the hunter according to Webster. Scavenger another word that comes to mind! "to gather by searching" well this is what I do, so now it fits. The polarity is balanced. There is always good and not so good in all ideas. I am a why person and now I know the why of this one.

This is a long windy boring explanation of a painting and the process of painting it, which is why I usually only give the size and medium.

If you would like to purchase this painting e mail me at phyljan@aol.com

Two Crows and the bone 24"x36"

This is an older painting, it seems that I have been painting crows for a long time. I painted bones for a very long time too. I have a very large elk head over my fireplace, and many bones around my home and yard. People have been bringing me bones forever. I find them very beautiful. Georgia O' Keef said that every painter had a favorite shape that they painted and painted over and over. This is certainly true of me. The shape of the skull of a cow,deer,elk etc.

appears over and over in my work and when I see it in other work it always attracts me. It is one of Jung's universal symbols as well.

The Crow at sunset wonders 9"x12" mixed media

The Crow ---- Crows are important to me, they remind me that I am in the right place at the right time but not why I am there. Maybe that is for me to find out on my own. Anyway I am happy with this piece. The crow was already there in the texture I just had to paint the place around him/her.

There is a place on the way back from Arizona that Kary and I always stop for a break and a cold drink. It is a Dairy Queen kind of place, and is always full. It is at the end of a long stretch of empty desert and a needed place to stop. It is always full of crows. I think they gather for the thrown away food that people leave there. They all are always busy moving from one place to another and seem to be talking to one another about what they find.

California Landscape Point Lobos 14"x18"

I am not happy with this one, but I will keep trying. The size is 14"x18" unframed, it is painted on canvas and is ready to frame. If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com for details.

White pumpkin 8"x8" gallery wrap

I bought a white pumpkin at the produce market for Thanksgiving and just had to paint it. When it was not in the light all of the shadows were green and the pumpkin had a blue green tint to it. Under the light it became this color, I am going to try again without the light, but a cool pumpkin? The size of this is 8"x8" gallery wrap so it does not need to be framed. If you would like to purchase this painting email me at phyljan@aol.com for the details. It is 50.00 with shipping added.

Landscape Oak trees 9"x12" pastel

I am trying to learn something new. Not sure what yet. I am using pastels, to see if they will be easier to take with me when I go someplace to paint. at first I thought they would but now I am not so sure. Anyway I am working with them and I am for sure learning more about color and value. Learning to see more and better. Still life is the easiest way for me right now. In landscape the light is always changing and so then so is the color and value. On a still life it stays the same, and only I change from day to day.

Apple 5"x7"

I am still painting still life. It is another apple from my tree. There is so much to be learned from still life. Learning to paint what you see, learning to see more and better. I always hope that I end up with something that looks enough like the object to know what it is. I always start out to paint realistic but somewhere along the way the painting takes over and I end up with an impression rather than "the real thing". At least I am always surprised. And sometimes I am pleased. Maybe this is my way of always learning. I am studying color right now and of course it is not local color but which color does this color call for. Is the color of the apple wanting something else. Must be so since so far I have not painted it as it is and if I do I don't like it. Of course there is always another chance. I think that is one of the reasons that I do art. I am never quite there close but not there, so I have to try again.

This little painting is 5"x7" painted on gallery wrap canvas. If you would like to purchase this one email me at pyljan@aol.com

Apple

This is an apple from my apple tree. It is not quite ripe yet but they made good apple sauce and still life material. I am happy with this one it goes well with the pears. I am still at home but getting ready to go to Carmel. I am going to try to go the second week of Nov. for a couple weeks. I wonder if it will change my painting. Every time I go somewhere different it changes. I do not do this on purpose. I seem to be very affected by where I am physically and mentally. I don 't know why I am surprised at this but I am.

Photo from Carmel California

We were watching the sun go down on the beach. I was able to take a few photos.