Art by Mary Rochelle Burnham

Number 1 Cow , oil, 6x6", SOLD I have always been fascinated by cows. I used to love to pick tall grass and feed them through the fence as a child and even as an adult. This is my first closeup 'portrait' of a cow and I didn't notice until I was painting her that her tag read '1'. How apropos! She is also so beautiful, that she is number one in my book!

Red Tea Pot, Mug & Apple , oil, 6x8"  Available Thank you,  Jill Rae Martin-Golden for your comment on my cupcake #3 expressing interest in my three color palette for that painting. I replied that I can't really take credit for my palette as it was sort of based on Zorn's, comprised of Ivory Black, Cadmium Red Deep, and Yellow Ochre. Well, that got me to thinking. I have never really tried Anders Zorn's palette for a painting until today. It's pretty easy to focus on the values and play of cools vs warms. Forget about making intense colors, other than red. However, I found it to be a great exercise and I am glad to have done it and learned from it. Click on the link here to see an earlier version of the same subject that was painted with a full palette.

Lyssandra , oil, 14x11", available Today, was an 'All-Day Portrait Studio' at the Granite Reef Community Center sponsored by Portrait Artists of Arizona. Lyssandra was our beautiful young model and she is as sweet as she looks. It was hilarious how the men in the group went ga-ga over her and most were old enough to be her grandfather if not her great grandpa! Nothing inappropriate, as we all appreciate beauty, and had a great time getting together and painting.

Cupcake #3 , oil, 7x5",  $109 I used a limited palette of only three colors plus black and white. They are: titanium white, ivory black, azo yellow, utrecht red and alizarin crimson. The black mixed with white reads blue, and when the alizarin is added, it reads purple. This cupcake almost painted itself, it went so fast!

Water Lily , oil, 5x7", Sold This is from a photo I came across on Paint my Photo . It reminds me of going out in the rowboat to find and pick water lilies to bring home to my mom.

Cupcake #2 , oil, 7x5",  Available I don't know if painting cupcakes is a good idea for me. I almost convinced my husband to buy me some actual cupcakes for reference. I am not to be trusted! All kidding aside, cupcakes are not as easy as I thought they would be to paint. I think they are a great painting exercise for me, because I just focus on the shapes without any emotional attachment as I would have with a portrait or an animal.

Milk Break , oil, 5x7",  $109 I took the reference photos for this painting a few years ago when I lived in the farming community of Manchester, Michigan. It was spring and this little one was adorable!