Feathered Friend

Just a quick post today...another "Feathered Friend"

to start off your weekend...

Amaryllis Bouquet

I keep posting work from several years back..

this gives you the full spectrum of my work..a road map

so to speak of where I've been and where I'm going (maybe).

I do think there's a common thread throughout my

watercolors...I guess it's true for everyone, your personality

can't help but shine through...it's inevitable.

Sketch-time

Back to my time at the Charles Reid workshop and a

quick sketch I did of him while he was working his magic.

I had this view quite a few times during the week and made

some other sketches as well. It all adds up to practice and

a model who is in the same pose (even though he's working).

DSFDF week

"Boater Floater" 6"x8"

Another week, another Different Strokes challenge.

I've placed the boater in a Lake Champlain setting.

She was originally billed as a Lake Michigan rower.

That's the artistic license we all have in our wallets!

Lake Champlain is celebrating it's Quadricentennial

this year..thanks to the discovery by Samuel de Champlain.

Show opening

"Walking the Plank" 15" x 15"

This weekend was the opening reception of the first

awards show for the Vermont Watercolor Society.

The show is in Grafton at the Hunter Gallery of Fine Art

and the Phelps Barn, which is attached to the Old Tavern.

The epitome of a quaint Vermont town. My painting won

an honorable mention merchandise award! The show looks great

and there is a wide variety of work, subjects and techniques.

(Through August 2nd)

Inspiration

From tulips to irises...I sure do jump around a bit..but

That's the way I paint as well...sometimes I'm raring to

jump into poppies because I want to use red..other times

I spot a bouquet at the store of beautiful purple irises and

start a whole series of those blooms..keeps life interesting!

This piece is from at least 8 or 9 years ago...time flies.

Will post again after the weekend...enjoy your Fourth!

Crowded together

Just a quick post as I dash out the door to a meeting.

A flash of spring bulbs to brighten your day!

Sienna Strutter

It seems like a while since my feathered friends came

out to say hi! Thanks for all the lovely comments...

I'm in the studio getting ready for various shows and

matting prints, making cards and cleaning up...the last

part is my least favorite! I'm finding that the studio is

getting a bit full and the walls are closing in on me..so time

to sort, sort, sort and dump, dump, dump! We asked Charles

Reid during the workshop if he ever has any "dogs" and what he

does with them...he said, yes he does and takes them to the dump.

Someone wanted to know which one he goes to!

The Yellow house

Since this week is ending with a holiday...I found the one and

only painting I've ever done with the U.S. flag in it! I did some

sketches last year in my journal of a flapping flag and maybe

I'll photograph and post those some other time. You can also

see from the photo that I clip my paper to a board and I'll

stretch it and re-clip as the paper gets wet with pigment. I tried

my hand at soaking the paper and stapling/taping it to a board, but

that's fairly labor intensive...plus with the rain and humidity it takes

forever and a day for it to dry!

Pansies and tomatoes

Today is my 300th post! How is that possible? Where

did the time go? I must say the blogging world has put me

into this whole art community that is so supportive and

encouraging and filled with so many talented people...

It's alot of fun...okay a few words about the painting...

this is again an older piece and I photographed it through

the glass, because it was already framed..so you see this

weird reflected texture on the upper left side. Makes me

want to go out and look for new fabrics to use in my work.

Still life

This is another still life done during the workshop..one

of the first ones..see I've omitted the decoy in this piece..okay

I admit it, I was a little scared of the duckies...just afraid to

paint them at first... Charles actually said if something is too

difficult, just leave it out..very sage advice that I'll remember!

Duck a la Reid

Another workshop piece..this time a still life

a la Charles Reid. He loves his duck decoys and

ofcourse I had to give it a shot...managed to get

some flowers in there, though. He called this a

"masterful" duck..I really enjoyed it, but I don't

think I'll rush out and pick up a variety of decoys

to start using in my set-ups..I'll stick to fruit and

flowers.

Follow the Sun

"Follow the Sun" 22" x 30"

For those of you on my (snail)mailing list..you should have

gotten a postcard with this image on it announcing all

my upcoming events. I haven't done a full-sized painting

in a while, so this was really fun to do. Break out the big

brushes...actually I did this painting with a size 12 round.

By the window

This will be my figure painting of the week.

I did this during my workshop with Charles

Reid last week. It was a great time in a very

nice setting at the Southern Vermont Arts

Center in Manchester. I've been a member there

for over 15 years and have my solo show coming

up this August/September! Workshops are such a

great experience...you always come away re-energized

and with a new outlook on your creativity!

Plus you get to meet fellow bloggers...click the link to see

who else was there...

knife and orange, take two

Another teeny still life..the size of this one is approximately

3"x5". They are great practice. Divide your full or half sheet

of watercolor paper with masking tape and just paint a bunch

of these using different color combos and slightly different

views or angles. Use different sized brushes, new to you pigments

and a "loose" attitude. Just for fun.

orange segments with knife

Small, close-focus still life...I did a whole series

of oranges with blue-ish backgrounds..working with

the complements. I'll post a few of the others later.

Another exercise I did was with oranges and then a green

background...oh the small challenges to keep our brains

entertained and s t r e t c h e d. . . .

veggies 4 dinner

The latest dsfdf challenge...I didn't take a really long time

to commit to this week's assignment..treated it more like

a quick sketch, but that happens sometime. Overall I'm happy

with the vivid tomatoes and the texture of the corn...the grey

background shadows leave something to be desired, maybe

it's the paper in my new sketchbook that is reacting differently...

yeah blame the tools!

P.S. If you want to see what I'm up to this week click this LINK..

so much for staying anonymous! Blogger unmasked!

Quebec City sunset

This is a sketch from my travel journal of

the view from our hotel room of Quebec City's

skyline at sunset. It always amazes me at how

relatively fast you can capture an impression

of your environment. Unfortunately taking the

time to just do it is what takes up the most time

and keeps you from spending the time! Do you

know what I mean?