Self Portrait

This is a pencil sketch that I did of myself to send to my parents for Christmas along with the pencil sketch that I did of my sister Lynn. My parents were very pleased with the gift. Both were matted in black .

Hindu painting

This hindu godess is my own interpretation after reading the book "eat, pray, love" on top of a recent trip to Santa fe and is a combination of the art and color.

acrylics on canvas 16 x 20

His name was Steven

This is a sketch I did of a friend from high school's son Steven. Unfortunately his son took his own life a real tragedy. Bullying at school really needs to be taken more seriously and stopped. A really nice looking boy full of promise. I could not imagine the pain of loosing one of my sons in this way. My heart goes out to Mike and his wife.

I am hoping to get this converted to a painting and present it to the family. It is still a work in progress.

9 x 12 Pencil Sketch

My sister Lynn

This is my sister Lynn. She was ten years older than me and mentally challenged. She pasted away now 20 years ago now. She died suddenly and is missed to this day.

I was recently given an awesome picture of her from my sister-in-law. I never had a good picture of her. Since receiving it I have been working of first this pencil drawing of her, and then this first attempt at a watercolor of her. I really would love to have a really good painting of her to add to my collection of family portraits. I am not as pleased with the watercolor as I am the pencil sketch. I will make another try at it and will up load the another soon.

Some people can be very hard to capture their personality in a portrait especially when you have a lot of emotions attached to them. I know for me it has been both a happy and sad thing working on a painting of Lynn but really want to keep at it until I get it perfect, or at least right.

Notecards for sale in time for the holiday season

Put art in the mail

These Notecards I created from my original pen & ink of "Canadian Geese" are for sale in notecard form with or without a message. You can personalize the message at the bottom of the card. I am selling them wrapped with a ribbon 10 for $25 dollars.

They can be either sent as a christmas card or the package of 10 as a gift. You can request any of my painting on cards for the holidays for the same price.

Send an email for additional info to dbphelps@msn.com

Canada Geese

Every Canadian artist I guess at some point wants to paint or draw some Canadian Geese. So here are mine. This is a pen and ink drawing of two geese at a park near where I live in Denver, Colorado. Surprisingly we have lots of Canadian Geese here. I think they are a beautiful bird although I hear many call them a dirty bird. I am also going to be reproducing this piece on notecards to sell for the holidays wrapped in red ribbon.

"Canadian Geese"
Pen & Ink 11" 14" matted with a black matte very striking.

"It's not easy to be me"

I called this "it's not easy to be me" homeless in Toronto. I was doing a search on the net of "Toronto Streets" and stumbled on a photo of a young man with this sign. I added him sitting on the Toronto Star newspaper to show where he was and added a couple coins outside his cup. Of course I love coke so I had to make the cup look like a coca cola logo. I was also listening to the song "Superman" which a line he says "it's not easy to be me" and that seem to fit for this and so it was named. I had a friend once, he was killed May 2001. He lived on the streets of Denver growing up, he told me stories of living under a bridge in the cold of winters. It hurt my heart to hear them. When I saw this photo it made me think of him again and how I missed his friendship. Eric Scott may you rest in peace.

Watercolor 9" x 11"

Seashells & Seaweed

This is my latest watercolor. A collage of sorts. A wimpsy of items from the sea. Matisse once wrote of wanting to perserve his innocence and spoke of "looking at life with the eyes of a child." That is what I tried to capture with this piece.

"Seashells & Seaweed"
original watercolor currently unframed and unmatted 11" x 15"

Tickled Pink

I did this pink flamingo painting a couple years ago now. I love it a lot. I have never been much of a pink person for a girl but I do enjoy this painting. I found the perfect frame for this, it has a crackled finish to it. Almost like it was aged on the beach. I think it's fun. It looked great in Texas. I always wanted some of the cheap plastic flamingo for your yard, and when living down in Texas I finally got a pair. I just think they are a scream.

"Tickled Pink"
framed 16" x 20"

On the dock

Here is another one of the watercolors I have completed of children at the waters edge. I have decided that I am going to call this series "at the waters edge".

"On the dock"
watercolor
unframed unmatted 9" x 12"

Toes in the sand

This is another watercolor that I have just recently finished. I am thinking of calling this series "waterbabies". I have a few more watercolors that I have just finished of children at the waters edge. Ooo I might call it that. I have really been enjoying doing watercolors of children lately, and am quite proud of how some have turned out. I have yet to have the chance to scan them into my computer but will hopefully get to that soon. Currently I have been working on an intense watercolor of a mermaid and has been taking up all of my freetime. I will be anxious to complete that and get the mermaid scanned. I have received a lot of praise about that already and it is not even done. So keep tuned to see that.

"Toes in the sand"
watercolor
unframed, unmatted 9" x 12"

Water baby

This is a watercolor I have recently completed, I have not had the opportunity to matte it yet or frame it. But I think it is really cute. I loved the was it turned out. Again I use a large number of colors to create this piece.

"Water baby"
watercolor
unframed, unmatted 9" x 12"

At the Lake

This is the second acrylic in the series the first being "Gazing at the water". I loved the shadows the sun was casting that afternoon.

"At the Lake"
acrylic outside framed 11" x 14"

Gazing at the water

This acrylic on canvas artboard, painted from a photograph of my son Chris on the Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. I loved the shadows the mid afternoon sun has cast upon his back. I also liked that you are looking out past him at what he is gazing at, the calmness of the water.

"Gazing at the water"
acrylic outside framed 11" x 14"

Mr Gorgeous

My most favorite painting of mine of all time. I called this "Mr Gorgeous" because that is what my late sister called him. My sister for those of you that do not know, was mentally retarded, and 10 years older than me. She moved to a facility in Orillia, Ontario when I was six or so. She came to visit a weekend a month or so while I was growing up. We always shared a room and I was always very protective of her. My son Christopher painted here, was born in March of 1989. I had just turned 22 eight days earlier. He was the greatest gift I have ever been blessed to receive. He was the out come of a high school love affair--a boy, I will leave unnamed, as I am sure he would appreciate. We dated for about 5 years on and off. We were young, he did not want the child. He wanted me to have an abortion or give him up for adoption. I could do neither. Chris was a beautiful child, the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. He meant and means everything to me. I wanted to paint a picture that would capture that. I think I did. The teddy bear in the picture my father gave to Chris when he was born and he still has it to this day, he is now 20 years old. I could not love and adore anyone more. I painted this from a photo that was taken when Chris was only a couple weeks old or less. After Chris was born my parents retired to British Columbia and I went with them along with Chris and my sister. My sister died of an aneurysm before Chris was a year old. She had moved in with Chris and I to help me out. That is when she named him Mr Gorgeous, and he was. I was over joyed with how well this turned out. My mother and father don't call me an artist, never have, which was always good for the ego. But about the time I painted this I started to call myself an artist, it gave me the courage to do so. The painting is acrylic on canvas framed in an incredible gold guilted frame and is 16" x 20".
I will treasure it as my greatest accomplishment. I will some day paint a portrait of my sister, I am still looking for the right photo. I know of one that I love is a slide that my parents have, but since we are estranged I am sure I will never been given it. So I wait to paint that another time.

"Mr Gorgeous"
Acrylic on canvas framed 16"x 20"
This painting not for sale.

Nelson's Secret Garden pt 3

Nelson's Secret Garden
3rd in the series
inside matte 7" x 9"
outside frame 13.5" x 16.5"

Nelson's Secret Garden pt 2

"Nelson's Secret Garden"
2nd in the series
inside matte "7 x 9"

Nelson's Secret Garden

A three part watercolor study. My father-in-law is an avid gardener. He has a large variety of roses in his garden; long stem roses, climbing roses and tree roses. In a wide array of colors. They are an artists dream. This is the first in the series, it was very peaceful painting these.

"Nelson's Secret Garden"
1st watercolor of the series
inside matte 7" x 9"
outside frame 13.5" x 16.5"

Nelson's Secret Garden

These three watercolors were painted from roses in my father-in-laws garden. He is an avid gardener. He are many prize long stem roses, climing roses and tree roses, in a wide aray