The Golden Hour with Juniper Tree

Oil and gold leaf on 20x20x1.5 ---- gold leaf sides

I told you about this place. On the Equinox, at twilight, leaves of gold fall from the sky. They don't stay very long. I have waited for you to remind you to follow the path deeper into the garden while the gold still lies on the ground.

The Juniper Tree Lore

Of course many of us know the rather horrific Grimm's fairytale "The Juniper Tree". But this is not that tree. The one in the fairy tale was guarded by a beautiful bird. This one is guarded by a wise fox. He wants you know your Juniper lore:

Core Symbolism & Meanings

• Resilience and Quiet Strength: Because it roots in rocky soil and endures extreme weather, it represents spiritual toughness, perseverance, and calm dignity during hard times.

• Protection and Purification: Burning juniper branches or keeping its wood nearby has long been believed in various folk traditions to  ward off negative energy, evil spirits, and disease. 

• Healing and Renewal: Its evergreen needles and nutrient-rich berries signify vitality, emotional restoration, and hope during dark or trying periods. 

• Boundaries and Grounding: Junipers naturally claim the land they inhabit and act as firm windbreaks, inspiring themes of personal boundaries and steadfastness.

So, if you want a symbol of solidity, healing, protection and renewal, this painting, or a print of it, may remind that we can always grow where we're planted.

Golden Madonna

Mixed Media on 30x22 heavy paper

Spanish Colonial Madonnas inspire me so much. In fact all art from Latin American cathedrals and churches hold a real fascination for me. I love the colors and monumental power of these paintings and the naive style always appeals to me. I love it so much I made the large painting above, cob=ver in layers of gold leaf, designed to look old and distressed in places as if it has been hanging in a smoke filled cathedral for 400 years. 

In 2026, many changes have been happening. I realized I want a new website and to re-do my YouTube channels. I also couldn't paint. My usual reliable hand-eye coordination was AWOL. I had three oil paintings in the ugly stage at the same time and what I had in my imagination, and in my sketches would not come out on the canvas. I later found out why---so read on.

To at least do something that winter, I painted my chairs.

Passion Flower

Oil on 202x20x1.5 canvas with gold leaf edges

2024-2025 Originals

Passion Flower

On Redbubble ---- Many types of prints are available including greeting cards.

Passion Flower

Scroll down to see the amazing merch with this image.

Cute tee shirt

Dawn Lily

Acrylic on 11x14 canvas panel

Dawn arrives  at the very moment night loosens its hold — a quiet, uncanny beauty  halfway between dream and ritual. This piece opens a window and a doorway at once: one pane reveals a luminous, early spring world where a white dove bears a tiger lily and a small key; the other frames a solitary figure in a flowing black gown, hair swept up like a halo of flame, flanked by wintery, birch-like trunks. Below, a watchful grey wolf lifts its snout toward the bird, while candle flames and falling petals mark a soft, surreal choreography across a chessboard floor. It is a painting of thresholds — of peace and wildness, of inside and outside, of mystery and revelation.

Original Painting:

https://tinyurl.com/zfxek3yk

16x20 Print:

https://tinyurl.com/5b3shdm9

In the Palace of the Beast

Oil on 40x30x1.5 canvas

Stenciled edges

I made this piece two years ago and it was the largest canvas I'd ever painted. I really enjoyed the large size.  It allowed me to indulge my live for detail and opulent style. It was inspired by the French fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast and expresses the beauty's apprehension at finding herself the bride of an invisible lover as she wander his dark castle. A hint of decay is in the unlit chandelier and overgrown roses. Her gown resembles an upside-down rose. The rose was key to the curse that brought her to the castle in the first place. 

I love an Old World decor. Cottagecore and Dark Academia. The large size looks amazing in an archway or niche where it can  be a real presence. She may look a trifle anxious, but that is due to the mysterious domain she wanders in. The sides of the canvas are stenciled with gold floral patterns tying in the rose garden and overgrown garden theme. 

Purchase here: https://tinyurl.com/mrdf5657

The process began with an imprimature of Prussian blue mixed with black and stencils. 

In this video, you will see how deep the underpainting was. I tend to love my underpaintings. If i could just figure out how to stop there and just do less, I might find a more contemporary style. It's a goal.

This video shows the beginning of this piece. After the video, scroll way down to the Continue Reading button and find out more. (The button is waaay down there due to website bug...)

Goldenrod

16x20 Matted Canvas Print
This size with matte is perfect for framing!

https://tinyurl.com/y57jwn4h

Each season I find myself drawn to a color that seems to surface again and again in my work—a hue that quietly shapes the stories I tell on canvas. In 2022, that color was Golden Ochre.

The original painting was sold, but the canvas prints are a close second.

Mixed Media on 30x22 heavy paper See Here

Also, this blog promotes the 16x20 print on fine art paper See Here

A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars....

The "Golden Madonna" is meant to evoke the description of Our Lady in Revelation. The style was inspired by Spanish Colonial Madonnas in Latin America. I find them so expressive and, even though the subject is iconic, unique and beautiful. I also think that, being American, I have subconsciously made an homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe who the Church consecrated as the Virgin Mary for the Americas.

.