To complete a set of beach pictures for the Heidrich Family.

I adore my sister-in-law, Elena Mark, not just for her cooking, but for her heart, head, and higher self. I’ve had many good times in her kitchen watching her multi-task the making of magic (like a perfect gravy) while consoling me, and directing family traffic.

This piece is finally done–2 years later than when I started! Or has it been 3? Almost in time for Elena’s 50-yr birthday!

Thank you for the surf lesson, Randy. Now you can hang this painting in the TV room next to the other two. We really enjoyed our family surfing lesson and hope to join you again next summer. Some of my family are getting new wet suits for Christmas!

Is Cape Kiwanda the best place for a lesson or should we try Beverly Beach?

© Pam Van Londen 2010 "The Kite Flyers" acrylic on 18x14-inch gallery-edged canvas.

Josephine County’s CASA program asked me to paint something with a heart to donate to their fundraiser auction. I put two kids in a field with a heart-shaped kite and used as few brush strokes as possible (to keep from over working it) to render an abstracted scene in acrylic.

This piece will be part of the “Hearts and Heroes” art exhibit and auction to benefit the Children’s Advocacy Center and CASA program in Josephine County, OR, which starts April 1, 2010. April is National Child Abuse and Awareness month. Each piece to be exhibited includes a heart.

All work will be auctioned May 7, 2010 at a benefit dinner. One-hundred percent of the money raised goes towards Child Abuse Advocacy in Josephine County, Oregon.

Meet Kenneth, a new baby of my cousin Naomi and her hubby Kenny Sr. It is a great joy to paint a new being.

When the face and its personality finally emerge with the last brushstroke, something special is revealed to the painter. I call it magic because I don’t have a better word for it yet.

2009′s annual portrait challenge for the Different Strokes from Different Folks project is done and being highlighted on Karin Jurick’s YouTube channel. The portrait I painted is of Violetta Smith from Canada.

Whoo hoo! It’s basketball season. This one of #45 is third in a series. I hope to do each player on the Future Spartans team before the end of the season. See last season’s paintings: She Flies (With A Ball In Her Hand) and Junior Stars.

I sketched this painting months ago after a trip to Taft, Oregon. I have several in this series and will paint many more over the years.

People watching provides endless entertainment at the beach. In general, everyone and their dogs are happily running/walking/catching.

For years I’ve wanted to paint birds, so I’m holding off on other series until I get a few painted.

Here is a red-wing blackbird, which we saw at the Minto-Brown Island Park in Salem.

Sometimes I take photos of paintings as I’m painting them. See how three paintings looked at each major step.

If you are like me, you like to watch others paint. I will eventually have a video of me painting from beginning to end with time-lapse or perhaps narration. That seems like a big job but might be fun one day.