Sunset Palm ©2016 DSR #beachpaintings #contemporaryart

©2016 Debbi Smith Rourke

Sunset Palm 24"x24"

Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

Available via ArtfulGalleries.com

Have so enjoyed painting my beach series. I took some inspiring pics this summer on South Padre Island, and I have a bunch from my trip to the Mayan Riviera. I try to capture the evocative spirit of these exotic regions so we can remember the magic right here at home. 

Umbrella Time ©2016 DSR #beachpaintings #DebbiSmithRourke

©2016 Debbi Smith Rourke

Umbrella Time  30"x 40"

Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

$3000 + sh/h
Available on ArtfulGalleries.com

So excited our annual exhibit at Old Bakery and Emporium is right around the corner. I'll be exhibiting my beach series which is a joy to paint as it takes me to my favorite places. 

Art Reception | Westlake | Saturday Morning #atxart #atxartists

Art Reception this Saturday, 10am-noon

Painter Debbi Smith Rourke | Photographer Jack Marshall 

Join us in Westlake Saturday morning for our "Nature Interpreted" Art Reception featuring  my painterly abstractions and impressions of Jack's stunning photography. Plus, we'll have treats for all — assortment of bagels and cream cheese, apple cider, sparkling cider and some yummy brandy milk punch for you adults! Hope to see you.  

"Fall in Austin" ©2015 Debbi Smith Rourke 24"x24" Oil on canvas SOLD

"Fall in Austin" ©Jack Marshall / photograph

"Moraine Lake" ©2015 DSR  24"x24"oil on  canvas SOLD

"Moraine Lake" ©Jack Marshall / photograph

"Adock's Garden II" ©DSR #sidexside2015 #DebbiSmithRourke

©2015 Debbi Smith Rourke

Adock's Garden II

24"x24" oil on gallery-wrapped canvas
$1050 + sh/h 
Available via ArtfulGalleries.com

I painted this for my September exhibit at the Old Bakery and Emporium. 

Now it's one of my favorite paintings.

"California Dreaming" Article / Life as a Human #ArtArticle #LifeAsAHuman #CaliforniaPaintings

"Wine Country" 24"x 24" oil on canvas - SOLD

Check out my second article entitled "California Dreaming" published in the art section of "Life as a Human" online magazine. I love the California landscape and capturing the drama and excitement through color and shape-inspired paintings that truly evoke the emotions of being there. 

If you love remembering your travels and adventures, consider an art experience commissioned painting. And bring the joy home everyday.  :-) Hope you enjoy the article and the online magazine.

SOLD! Thank you!

"Thistles" ©Debbi Smith Rourke  20"x20"

"Inspired Dream" ©Debbi Smith Rourke 30"x24"

"Winter Holiday" ©Debbi Smith Rourke 8"x10"

"Spring Snowfall" ©Debbi Smith Rourke 11"x14"

"Illinois Gold" ©Debbi Smith Rourke  8"x10"

"Sweetie Pie" ©Debbi Smith Rourke 8"x10"

"Two Peppers"  ©Debbi Smith Rourke  6"x 8"

"Jamaica Mon"  ©Debbi Smith Rourke  8"x10"

These are some of my favorite oil paintings that were sold in 2013. Yay! So appreciate each and every one of my art patrons, from this year and through the years. Your support and encouragement mean a great deal. I'm also now leasing artwork and teaching art classes to adults and children 9 to 12 years of age, here in my home studio. Contact me if interested. More inspired work to come so stay tuned. All the best to your and yours in 2014.

Rising Bubbles ©

©2013 Debbi Smith Rourke

Rising Bubbles 30"x24"

Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas / unframed (no frame needed)
 $1300 + $70 sh/h in US
Contact me for purchase

My husband "commissioned" me to paint two large works for our entry wall. This is the study for the left diptych panel. Right panel is here. Overall, Jim wants something colorful and dramatic that pops out at you when you walk in the door. So nice he wants my artwork front and center. :-) Soon I will enlarge each panel to 4'x3.' BIG!

I am loving this world of abstracts and exploring new avenues and techniques. Here, I was trying to convey a flurry of activity. Can you feel the movement of the bubbles floating up in sea of color, like schools of exotic fish?

Morning Light 24x30"

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Morning Light 24x30"

Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

ORIGINAL SOLD
Canvas prints available from 8x10" to 24x30"
Contact me for prices based on preferred size.

I delivered this painting last weekend to my friend Julie Pastor. She is on the committee for Kealing Middle's Schools fundraiser: Kealing Center Stage. They will be raising money tonight to help save vital programs, including art programs, threatened by budget cuts.

This is the second painting I have created from one of my favorite moody photographs taken of Lake Austin near the Pennybacker (360) bridge. The morning sunlight makes the lake and the land across the lake glisten while the foreground has yet to be graced by the day's direct light. I love watching the colors change throughout the day and the seasons along Lake Austin.

Lake Austin Bend 24x30"

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Lake Austin Bend  24" x 30" 

Oil on canvas / framed in 3 inch-wide gold
$1,500 + $100 sh/h in Contiguous US

This is my most popular painting in my flickr gallery!!!  Yea. So thought I'd repost with a buy now button :-). Enjoy!

Mt. Bonnell - Canvas Print

©Debbi Smith Rourke

Mt. Bonnell
Original SOLD

24x24x.75" gallery-wrapped canvas prints available

$325 + $25 sh/h in Contiguous US

Recently, this painting I sold to some dear friends (who live half the year in Austin and half the year in Indiana) has gained additional interest. So I am offering it as a 24 x 24 x .75" gallery-wrapped canvas print. It's one of my favorite spots in Austin and I painted it on a lovely day with several fellow plein air painters. All good things!!!!

HeartGift Austin Auction / Fruit Basket

©Debbi Smith Rourke

Fruit Basket  16x16"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

NFS - Donated to HeartGift Austin

I am pleased to donate this painting to HeartGift Austin and their Fine Wine and Luxe Living Auction to be held this Sunday, Nov. 13th at the Driskill Hotel in DT Austin. This is an amazing charity that saves the lives of young children around the world who have life-threatening heart defects and no hope for care in their native countries. One of the cardiac surgeons who co-founded the organization here in Austin is the same surgeon who performed the quadruple by-pass on my dad in 1988. So grateful to Dr. Oswalt!! My dad is doing well today. 

Hoping my food themed painting ties in well with the Fine Wine theme of the event. Hope it brings them lots of $. What a great organization. Love these synergies in life!!

Fall Countryside 20x20"

©Debbi Smith Rourke

Fall Countryside 

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas 20x20x1.5"

$850 + $60 sh/h in Contiguous US

Original Oct 2011 post:
I am pleased to be part of the AVAA Fall Show @ Austin Art Space, 7739 Northcross Drive. My painting "Fall Countryside" is being exhibited. Show begins this Thursday, Oct. 27 and extends through Nov. 26th. Pleased my painting is part of the invite (next to last image on the right). :-)

Forces of Nature

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Forces of Nature  36x36"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas 

NFS 

I haven't posted since May, but that doesn't mean I haven't been exploring new artistic ventures. Over the last year and half, my landscapes have become more and more abstracted. I was a bit apprehensive about just going ahead and doing a large abstract though felt inside that was where I was headed. Then my dear sweet Lexi (shared adult son Jimmy's other half) asked me to paint an abstract painting as a focal point for the living room of their home. Thank you!

So she brought me the large canvas and I painted it for her birthday. I just painted the edges of the gallery wrapped canvas the other night. It's just about dry and I will put the wire and hooks on the back today so they will be picking it up very soon. Can't wait to see it in their home. Guess what - not easy to get a good photo of a large 36x36" painting. But I love this direction and size. So I plan to do more. What do you think?? 

Pool Time

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Pool Time  7x5"

Oil on canvas board

Donated to the Arthouse at Jones Center

This is the third in my series of 5x7" beach paintings from my time at South Padre last summer. This is actually a scene from the hot tub area next to the pool at the condo we've been going to for decades - but you get the idea. You can catch these paintings at Arthouse at the Jones Center at 7th and Congress, and soon they will travel to Dallas and Houston this summer if not sold here. So happy to be a part of this great event!! The exhibit is up in Austin through June 12. Highly recommend it.

UT Club Exhibit And More

So excited to have our Side by Side exhibit at the University of Texas Club April 4-7th.  

Mid-December Morning / 360° of Lake Austin Series

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Mid-December Morning  8x10" 

Oil on canvas board framed in black plein air frame. 
SOLD

I painted this last Friday, New Year's Eve, but am finally getting it posted today on Jan. 3rd. This painting was inspired from a photo I took in early/mid December. The bright, red leaves on the tree popping out from the oaks have now dropped and blown away. Can't wait to paint this larger. 

Jamaica Mon

@ Debbi Smith Rourke

Jamaica Mon  8x10" 

Oil on canvas panel 

SOLD

After my two art receptions the first week in December, I went on a 7-day Caribbean cruise with my husband and some dear friends. Visited Cozumel, Caymen Islands and Jamaica! Ya mon! So enjoyed getting away and seeing the sights and drinking in the ambiance and margaritas!! Upon returning, I painted this little gem. Nice way to remember my island adventure.

Foggy Morn III & IV / Happy Thanksgiving

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Foggy Morn III and IV 

Oil on canvas. 28"x22" each / 28"x44" together

$2,100 for the pair + $95 sh/h
Contact me for local /no-ship purchase

Happy Thanksgiving!!! These are enlargements of some small studies I did a few weeks ago. These larger works were displayed at the Prickly Pear Galleries at Fast Frame South as part of the Wild at Heart show I was in with Kim Brill, Amy Hillenbrand, Nancy Michalewicz and Paula Simpson.  Our reception  was great fun and the work looked wonderful together - thanks cousin Kristin for the opportunity.

Oma's Back Porch

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Oma's Back Porch  8x6" 

Oil on Raymar panel. $85 + tax (TX only) + $12 sh/h.

Oma loved to sit out on her back porch in the afternoon and look out onto her deck and gardens. She was an avid gardener and this would give her time to enjoy and think about the next projects. Planting bulbs, fertilizing azaleas, trimming overgrowth the mowers didn't get to, planting new annuals and potted plants. Her bromeliad sits here and this is how her porch looked last spring when everything was in full bloom. She was known to sit out here with her dear caregiver Ellie or a guest, have a beer and let time float by. Cheers, Oma.

Oma's Old Coffee Pot

© Debbi Smith Rourke

Oma's Old Coffee Pot    8x6"

Oil on panel. SOLD.

Many of you know I lost my dear, sweet Oma (grandmother) last month. She was 98. And a half. At that age you start counting half years again. In honor of her and to remember her home  of 60 years she loved so much, I am starting a series of paintings devoted to her. You will see a combination of still life paintings from objects I received from her, or settings in her home and gardens. So stay tuned. I finished the first new one tonight, but alas, too dark to photograph. So I am starting with her coffee pot I painted last year. She thought it would make a good painting subject - and it did. Then she kept asking for her coffee pot back! Ha! My uncle Don has it now. Think he plans to brew some coffee the old fashioned way.