Yellow Umbrellas

When I travel I find myself drawn to certain subjects that might never occur to me to paint at home, so it was with umbrellas.

Early one Sunday morning my friends and I went out on the main square in Avignon and set up to paint. I was fascinated by the cafe umbrellas that stood like statues scattered around the square. The cafes were not open so the chairs and tables were pushed back against the walls and chained to prevent them from disappearing in the night. The umbrellas with their heavy stands had been left to fend for themselves against thieves in the night. I painted a small plein aire oil painting that morning, just to get the idea. When I returned back to my studio I painted this one. Elliott Fouts Gallery found a buyer for it right away, so this is a Giclee print.

Those yellow umbrellas in the square opened my eyes to umbrellas as a subject and led me to create an entire series of umbrella paintings. Look for more umbrellas to turn up on this blog in the future, or find them on the link to Elliott Fouts Gallery website. Giclee on canvas, 20" x 20" available from Elliott Fouts Gallery 916-736-1429. Shipping available.

Mafigeni Safari Lodge, S. Africa

This is the beautiful Mafigeni Lodge in the bush of South Africa where 13 friends and I stayed on an African photo safari last summer. I painted this painting as a gift for Jill and Claude Kleynhans from a photo I shot at sunrise one morning when the early warm light made the lodge glow. It is even more incredible inside!

Jill and Claude our hosts, and their staff made us feel at home here and their expert guides filled our days with experiences we will never forget. The lodge is not far from Kruger National Park where we spent 3 full days taking the most incredible photographs of the animals in the wild. We also visited several animal rescue places including EFAF Elephants for Africa Forever and a Cheetah rescue place. It was fascinating to learn about these animals and be so close to them, even touching and riding the elephants. At Moholoholo we sat a long time by a pool and watched a number of Rhinos interacting while hippos poked their noses out of the water, every now and then and crocks slid into the water. We also visited a tribal village for dinner and an amazing dance performance, and speaking of dinner the food at Mafigeni was top notch! This was truly an adventure of a life time for all of us.

I have begun painting from my photos now and will begin posting my work as I go.

If you would like more information about Mafigeni Safaris, their website is http://www.mafigeni.com. Jill and Claude are traveling around the United States until March doing outdoor sports shows so you may even be able to arrange to meet them. I had a great time visiting with them here in Sacramento last Sunday.

Continental

I have never had one of these but it looked pretty enough to paint! This is a 5' x 5" oil on canvas. As the photo shows, the edge is 1 3/8" deep and the painting goes right on around it. It is currently up for auction on eBay. Click Here to Bid

Hot Pink Boot

My friend Joyce struts her stuff in this hot pink boot, but she let me borrow it long enough to paint its portrait for my Shoe Series. It is an original oil painting 5" x 5" on a gallery wrap canvas (painted edges are 1 3/8" deep). Ladies have been buying these shoes paintings to hang on a wall or sit on a dresser or shelf. It is up for auction on eBay now. Click Here to Bid

Sundowner

An original oil painting from my Cocktail Series this little gem is 5" x 5" with a painted edge 1 3/8" inches deep so it can be hung on the wall or sit on a shelf and does not need framing. It is up for auction on eBay now. Click Here to Bid

Royal Wulf #5

My husband is a fly fishermen and ties his own flys. The flys he creates are so pretty that I decided to paint a portrait of one of them for a Christmas gift for him a couple of years ago. He loved it and suggested I should paint a bunch of these and hang them in the gallery Christmas show. He was right. They sold well as gifts for fly fishermen and fly fishing women that Christmas and have been a popular series year round, not just at gift giving time.

This Royal Wulf fly is one of my favorites, and I guess the fishermen's too as this is the 5th portrait I have painted of it. It is a 5' x 5" original oil painted on a 1 3/8" gallery wrap canvas. (That means the edges are painted so it does not need framing). They are like little cubes so they look great hanging on a wall or sitting on a shelf or a desk. It is up for auction on eBay. Click Here to Bid

Butterfly Shoe

This shoe really does exist, I did not make it up! I photographed it in a shoe store so I could paint it's portrait for my shoe series. It is an original oil 5" x 5" and is currently up for bid on eBay. Click Here to Bid

Elk Hair Caddis # 6

This original 5" x 5" original oil painting is on eBay just waiting for you. It is a portrait of an Elk Hair Caddis fly my husband tied. He tells me the Elk Hair Caddis is one of the most popular flies used by fly fishermen and fly fisherwomen everywhere. Click Here to Bid

Gelato Amore Mio

Today I had the opportunity to view the AWS 140th International Exhibition traveling show at the Sacramento Fine Art Center. If you are a watercolor painter or just love art, you have to see this show. As a painter I came away inspired, and vowing to remember the deadline for entries for a change this year!

While at the Art Center I took an inventory of my prints and card on sale there, and this image "Gelato Amore Mio" was one of the most popular selling cards and prints. You can find it as a mini-print and as cards on my website http://www.sandydelehanty.com.

Parapluie Jaune, Antibes

This painting was created from reference photos taken on a painting trip to the South of France in 2006, and is part of my umbrella series. It is an original oil painting and is available from Elliott Fouts Gallery, 916-736-1429 for $600.00. The gallery accepts Credit Card orders and ships within the United States. To see more of my work go to http://www.sandydelehanty.com or http://www.efgallery.com.

"White Rose" Oil Painting

"White Rose" is an oil painting 36" x 48" done from a photo I took of a rose in my garden at sunrise. It has been accepted into several art competitions and is now offered for sale at Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento California. $1500.00

Telephone the gallery at (916) 736-1429. Credit cards accepted, shipping available. To see more of my work go to my website http//.www.sandydelehanty.com or the gallery's website http//.www.efgallery.com.

Manarola Sunset, Manarola Italy

First let me say that my family and I, our llamas and our home survived the recent big storms just fine, however we have not had our Internet connection for days now. We assume this is due to the massive power outage just north of us. I had to drive miles to find a coffee house with free wy-fy to send this and with workshops and classes to teach and paintings due I don't have loads of free time to be driving to coffee houses to connect to the Internet. So I will be "off the air" so to speak until I can get our home server connection again.

This little painting is from my Traveling Watercolor Journal, it was painted in Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy in the summer of 2006. Right now I would love to spend some time in a sunny little Italian Village! To see more of my watercolor journals, or to learn about my next painting trip to Italy this September go to my website http://www.sandydelehanty.com.

Take care, happy painting, Sandy