Onstott Arts

First Painting II with Laura Rosenfeld. NM cactus flowers using pallet knife. 16 x 16

Painting II, the first time I took it. The year of the Egyptian uprising. Woman wearing a burka; the father painting on his child the Egyptian flag colors. For good measure I wrote my name in Arabic to personalize it. 

This is another school project; purpose was to imitate Salvador Dali. It needs three more children to finish out the family. Always something like this is a snapshot in time.

Final project for the first time I took Portrait Painting I. Midterm was "Girl with a Pearl Earring" copy. This is my granddaughter, Lilia, in the same style.

Oddly enough, this is my third portrait painting ever. An extra in Bryony Bensly's Portrait Painting I. I love it. Kathrine Newton copy "In the Garden" 16 x 20 I seem to be a copiest.

Another favorite using props and imagination. Lee's pot and Andrew's tea pot. Mark Spencer, teacher 16 x 20

Ranee, age 6, American Samoa wearing her toulanga costume made by our house girl. Painted under the tutelage of Mark Spencer. A favorite. 16 x 20.

My son, Ryan's "Little Things" copy. "Apache Plume at Night" 16 x 16

Diedra prone on a lounge chair. Final for 2nd time I took Bryony Bensly's Portrait Painting class. Then the challenge was to fill the space around her. Special place in Deer Creek where I had my granddaughter lay in a crevice for perspective. I laid out the Indian blanket for Lilia to lay on. Another favorite. 20 x 24

Nicolas, Elyse & Lilia on Gargoyle in SLC 20 x 24 Not finished. Two major overhauls.

Cactus Flower, Mark Spenser, teacher. 12 x 12

Lee's mom. 1936, Mark Spencer, teacher. 16 x 20

Mary Ann's mother with Rick as a baby. Just happy baby turned out to look like a baby. Mark Spencer, teacher. 16 x 20

Images from trip to Greece of Joe's children. Underpainting done one visit and color the next. Rather difficult with products I am not used to for clean-up and medium use. Happy with result.

Lilia in White Hat. Many do overs with background. 12 x 12

Elyse at 4 years. One of the 1st in Studio Practices with Mark Pack. 12 x 12. Not a favorite. Didn't know what to do with the background. Bugs me.

"Nicolas in Old Car" Glorietta, NM. Good Painting because of coloration. On display at SFCC summer 2012.

Nathaniel Onstott, Greece. Mark Pack said it was complete as an underpainting. 12 x 12

Morgan and Kyra. 2 and 3 months respectively. 12 x 12

Kyra w/ Bubbles. A favorite. 12 x 12

"Children Dancing on the Plaza" added dog and reversed; from The New Mexican. It is a favorite. 12 x 12

Another Lilia age 4. Loved the hat. 12 x 12

This photo of my daughter, Ranee, was taken in American Samoa by Velyn Tassainer. It is my favorite photo of all time. Again, Mark Pack said "Quit". Ok. Original 16 x 20 but I had 3 giclees made smaller 11 x 14.

Mock up of a later painting. Nicolas and Elyse as toddlers NM. 12 x 12

Laura Rosenfeld talked me into trying new methods of application. Lilia and Elyse in dress-up, blue showing through few variation of color. I like it but I got flack from the Studio Practices bunch. 12 x 12

School assignment: A still from the move "Hugo" Laura Rosenfeld. Fall, 2013. 16 x 20

An added film still from the move "Hugo". Painted on panel. Not my favorite surface because it was so slick. But, I like it. Gave it to Lilia, my granddaughter, because she is a musician. 

"Compartmentalized Lee" This was a Studio Practices painting. My teacher thought it was profound. I didn't. 25 X 30

I like Ryan's photography. Ryan went to France to visit his brother, Joe, and Julie, Joe's wife, and this picture really stood out to me. I have one of it as a framed single, one of it in a triplex and one as this oil on canvas 16 X 20.

Egyptian Revolution; father and son. He had such a worried face that I wanted to do a second project for LR Painting II. Focus on the boy and dad not so much. Reminds me that we are all the same in one way or another.

Painting II. Let's see what this becomes project. What it became in my mind was ITER, where my son, Joe works in France. Clean energy development.

Easton, son-in-law, asked me to put him in a painting. I love this collage. Before youngest, Shelby. New technique for me to blend pictures. Maybe 12 x 24

"Ode to the Lorax", factory smudge and polluted air. Thought I would try the process again (lets see what happens). Doesn't wow me. Like the colors. 30 X 40

Another one of Ryan's "Little Things" that I love so much. He finds strong colors in tiny flowers, 16 x 20; I love oil paints.

This is a favorite of Nicolas and Elyse. 16 x 20

This started out as a direct painting of Lilia at 13 sitting at the computer. Now I painted over it and she is 15, 12 x 12

This painting of Lilia, age 4, is a special triumph. I started it in April of 2015. It was underpainted and then 4 different and very unsatisfactory backgrounds. Lilia wasn't wearing a tutu so I had to use imagination never thinking I could make it believable. Happy with the result over time. I wanted child very detailed and the background abstract. My mentor, Les Namingha showed me very abstract. I did what I could. The first round was fun and easy but not done. Over time and a lot of paint and going over Lilia again; this is the result and at the moment, my favorite. Turned out to be a warm painting. 20 X 16

This is a trestle about a mile from my home. I wanted reflections on the snow and a lot of paint to make it shimmer. 30 X 40 I like it.

I love this of Morgan and Kyra. I saw 2 photos of the same thing but the shadow held me captive. I combined the two so that Kyra is looking up. I wanted the children detailed and the background abstract. 16 x 20 

This is another favorite photo, of my son Ryan and Nicolas (18 mos.) grandson. It is a family legend. Joe and Julie were living with us and very protective. Ryan a tease. He drew a mustache with magic marker and we thought J & J would come unglued but they didn't. "But...uh...my little boy..."

I tried to do a Caravagio dark background so that the movement of the shapes ran over the two figures. It was a small photo and very hard to see so I feel successful. I got Ryan's expression especially. 16 x 20

Shelby Delane Sego; my beautiful youngest grandchild. I love this painting; and the child too. 20 X 16

Copy of Ryan's Newkirk, NM abandoned pink house photo. In all of the photos that he has taken around the state; this one intrigued me the most. 30 X 40

Started this painting in the spring of 2013. With the help of my mentor, Les Namingha, I was able to see what it was lacking and finished it in January of 2017. My mother and I in our back yard. Over the years it has taken on the luminosity of many layers of paint. I love it. This was my mother, very loving. She was special to me. 20 x 16. I love how an underpainting can show through to the top if you want it to. I did.

Painting of my dad and four brothers. I always do an underpainting. The underpainting looked like the sepia color of the '40s. I only wanted to give the painting a mood. The sun was blinding in the picture. Craig on the left was almost a wash with light. I wanted to duplicate that. I was only sure of the color of the coveralls. My mother made them. Further, I wanted the background to fade so the images would come forward. I love oils.

I gave Kyra this outfit Christmas 2016. She wanted to show it off. As soon as I saw this picture, I knew I had to paint it. She has so much attitude and drama. Gotta love her drama. She was four years old at the time. January 2017. 20 x 16

Look at the quilt I made in the fabric arts section. These same pictures were used on the quilt. I wanted to paint the same pictures after all of the work I had spent drawing them (a solid month). I am very happy with this outcome. It is so fun to see what oil paints can do. Even though the faces are in grey; I don’t think they read grey. Hard edges, cloud like swirling from one figure to the next, expressions of the grandchildren and using just primary and secondary colors enhanced with tonal greys make the images pop. I also had prints made of this painting and gave them to family members for our 50th Anniversary celebrated in Island Park, ID June 2018.

Elyse Onstott at the Mediterranean Sea, about 11 years old. My first rendition no one was overjoyed with so in 2019 she got a facelift as well as better background. Each forth has different texture. Elyse pops away from the background being more detailed and more like her. Still don’t know if it has made a hit. 30 x 40.

Wonderful memories with my son and daughter in law, June 1919 in Scotland. At the sanctuary we held these adorable white faced owls as they flew from a tree. It had been raining. My son, Joe, took the pictures. 12 x 12

Lee, my other half, and I went to Scotland in June of 2019 with my son and daughter-in-law who, at the time lived in France. They took us to a bird sanctuary where we were privileged to have these adorable 6 week old owls fly to our gloves. They were weightless. 12 x 12

This is my Sego granddaughter, age 6. She and her siblings had been out in the snow. I love painting children. 12” x 12” Feb/20

Lee, my husband, took a picture of a bluebird. My new found multimedia inspired me to cut out fabric cactus.

I don’t remember where I found this beautiful girl. She brings joy to my family. She will be one of very few of my paintings that will reside on my wall. No copywrite laws broken here. My mentor introduced me to multimedia; fabric shirt, straw in the foreground, flecked black and white in her hair by using a toothbrush. I love her. 20” x 16”

Birthday painting for our son, Joe. Aspen trees, 30” x 20”

Catherine Molland (mentor) guided me to an acrylic painting ideas book after I had loved some imprinting on her painting. I don’t have stencils so I used stamps that I have (fish, cats). Then I painted this beautiful black baby over the stamps. Catherine said I was being disrespectful (maybe I am but not intended). Gave the painting to Maielle from France who stayed with my son’s family for the summer. What else can I do with a painting I cannot sell?

I say gremlins because when I drew in the children the proportion made the painting about the children. I wanted the striped rock to stand out. The children are my grandchildren when they were small. Nicolas is now 23 and Lilia is 22. Time goes by quickly. 2022 24” x 30”

Pasatiempo cover, underpinned and then monochromatic blues. Fun to do. August 2022 15 x 24

Granddaughter building a snowman. 30” x 24”. Had High Desert Arts geclee 14” x 11” and then made the image in to my Christmas cards for 2023.

Such a beautiful black woman. Took a picture of her on the TV several times. Each picture had this expression. That made way for the “Wow”, which was the inspiration for her attracting ravens. Mixed media: fabric vest, necklace, earrings. My favorite. Oil on canvas. 40” x 30” Jun 23 In July of 24 I invited two families from the opera to come have dinner on Sunday. Chaz looked at that painting and said, “I want that!” So, I had High Desert Arts geclee 3 copies on canvas 14” x 11”. I kept one and gave the other two to the opera kids. They were wonderful guests.

My favorite landscape my son, Ryan, took while touring NM taking pictures of iconic pictures of old interesting places. Precision Frames beautifully framed it. Oil on canvas. Mixed media using molding paste to highlight raised snow 20” x 16” Sep 2023

Son and his family lived in France for 12 years. Hoopo’s nested outside their dining room window. This is an ode to beautiful times for the family. 30” x 20”, Nov 2023

Testing my animal skills. This one for my husband. 16” x 20” Early morning scene. Jan 2024

I doubt that this building exists because of the devastating fires in 2023 that wiped out many communities in the area. I loved the picture Ryan took because of the reflection in the window. It is mixed media with most in acrylic, molding paste for the ‘metal’ roof and oil paint for the window for it to shine. 16” x 20” May 2024

Teacher Mark Spencer front cover of his book published in 2024 is the style I chose for this painting. Mixed media. Oil & grass in the foreground, sticks for needles. 15” x 30” Jul 2024

She had just come out of the water at the Pago Pago beach. Mixed media. Used spray paint for the background which moved into her swimming suite. Very difficult to paint over spray acrylic spray. Cute with tongue partially sticking out. 12” x 12” March 2024

I love to capture emotions. Kids too adorable. Five colors used. 20” x 16” March 2024

This was Lee’s first favorite. Acrylic. The goal was to have the background look like craft paper. Totally fun. A touch of Gold for the bell stands out. 30” x 40” Apr 2024 Framed in brass color

Trying out acrylic mixed media. Spray paint over stencil for the fence and foreground. Flowers enhanced with oils. May 2024, 20” x 16”

Went on a Canyon Road tour with friends and saw a similar type I used for inspiration. Very happy with the result. Mixed media. Acrylic. Aug 2024 Used Paula’s canvas (she passed this year)

Collage inspired. Acrylic. Very pleased with the outcome. It pops. Sep 2024. 18” x 24” Used Paula’s canvas (she passed).

Son, Joe, took the picture when we went to Iceland with Joe and Julie in May 2024. Rocks look like the real thing: bat flying, wolf, man’s face, fish face and other faces are hidden in the rocks. Lee’s favorite over the churches. Framed perfectly by Precision Frames. 40” x 30” July 2024