Main Street U.S.A

"Main Street U.S.A."

This painting was a result of a workshop with Mel Stabin.

He has written several books and is a great person to take

a workshop from. I would like to jump on board again sometime

soon and paint with him, but I don't know when that will

happen. I've linked his website to this blog...take a look.

Take Five

"Take Five" 10" x 22" at GMFA in Stowe

This painting was created using sketches from my journal.

I've been trying to sketch on a daily basis and as a result

have revisited some older sketchbooks and travel journals.

Like I mentioned in a previous blog, it's so much fun to peek

inside other artists' sketchbooks. There are so many blogs

online where people post their pages. One such site is Moleskinerie.

The moleskine book has been around for a while, but I'll let you

check out the link, where I believe there is history and lots and

lots of journal pages to look at. Happy weekend!

Striped sheet figure study

This is one of the latest figure studies I did several weeks

ago. Every Monday night there is an open figure drop-in

class at our local Art Center. The attendance slows in summer

so they never continued through these months, but now they

are actually having 4 sessions in both June and August. My

attendance this summer will be decided on what the weather is

doing...because we only get about 2 days of summer here in

Vermont...No, I'm kidding it's actually about 6! (Can you tell

the rainy weather is making me sarcastic?)

Conflicting opinions

"Teacup with tulips" 7.5" x 7.5" at the "In Full Flower" show at

the West River Gallery in Weston, Vermont. June 27 - August 3

I had come across some quotes I had written down in

my sketchbook several years ago and thought I would

share the conflicting opinions of two famous artists.

One quote is a favorite of mine and I'll let you guess which

one it is!

"I hate flowers. I only paint them because they're cheaper

than models and they don't move." -Georgia O'Keefe

"...I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers"

-Claude Monet

color palette

A while ago a comment was left by Laura asking to share

my palette of colors...Mind you these are the colors currently

on my palette and tend to change or get swapped out when

(and if!) I clean out dried up, cracked and moldy(yes moldy) colors.

So here is the line-up right now and sometimes even some extra

dollops get squeezed in the corners...as if 32 just wasn't enough!

Here is the link to Laura's blog so check it out.

Orchid musings

"Orchid Gathering"

Several years ago I bought an orchid at

Costco...thinking that I would treat it just

like a bouquet of flowers...wilted and gone in

a week! Well was I ever wrong..this beautiful

plant has surprised me over and over again and

consistently blooms several times a year. Right

now there is a whole new flower stalk coming in.

The painting here was done from a friend's orchid and

the plant was later given to me to see if my orchid

green thumb could bring this one back to life...so far

no luck, but a painting to honor it was created.

Repetition

7" x 5" practice pears

Lather, rinse, repeat...well not the first part, but repeat,

repeat, repeat. It's great to work in a series or paint the

same subject over and over again. What you learned from

one painting can be valuable in the next. Maybe the next time

I'll apply the paint just so, or I will make the background darker

or lighter, change colors, exaggerate the shapes. All valuable

lessons that can be applied to a series of practice paintings

to warm up your brush!

Summertime

"Yellow Barn"

This was the second painting I did several weeks ago when

I did some plein aire, on the spot painting. I really enjoyed

being outside and look forward to some more summer days

spent outside in the field. Happy summer!

Seasons

"Shining through"

Almost summer here in the Northeast...we've had

a good spring, but with alot of rain these last few weeks.

The plants are in the garden and now it's time for some

nice warm weather for everything to grow, grow, grow!

The peonies are almost done, the poppies got blown away

by some high winds, but we have sunflowers to look forward

to...so head to the farmers markets and see what's fresh

and colorful and ready to be painted!

Petite or Big?

"Petite" private collection

This painting is really tiny...2 inches square...it's nice

to experiment with different sized paper. Always a challenge

to try to develop a good composition on a really long horizontal

piece or to try squares, which are such a satisfying shape. It's

good to break out of your regular pattern. So having said that

I'll go to the studio and try just that!

keeping a sketchbook

Hello...back from vacation, but since that's on my mind,

I thought I would share a page from my sketchbook from a

previous trip. Always fun to record your memories by drawing

or painting in addition to taking pictures. I can't get enough of

looking at journals and sketchbooks by other artists. Some of

the art magazines will often reproduce pages of artist's sketchbooks.

YUMMY!

short break

"Tulip tableau" 11" x 15"

This is one of the new paintings I just dropped off at the

Green Mountain Fine Art Gallery in Stowe. If you have

never been to either the gallery or Stowe, you must visit

sometime. A beautiful, quaint, typical Vermont village with

lots to see and do. I sound like an advertisement. Anyway,

I will be taking a short break from blogging next week...so no

new entries for a while. By the way, my workshop in Woodstock

is full...if you want to be on a waiting list let me know...

Royalty among birds

"Fenced Fowl" 7.5" x 7.5"

Another one of those feathered critters...This guy looks

like he just visited the salon and had a style and a blow-dry!

He is showing off and proud of it! Well, why not? They are

such regal acting birds...I guess that's because of the crown!

or maybe the flock of admiring hens...

Hip to be pear

"3 for the show"

I've been experimenting with this black and white fabric

for a little while now...it's been cropping up in some of my

still life set-ups...it is a napkin from a kitchen store.

Pears are always a favorite subject, with their round bottoms,

hips and tapered tops with that stem that seems to have a

personality all it's own.

Workshops, workshops...

"Statuesque" 15" x 22"

This Saturday is my first Peony painting workshop in

Burlington. I have been checking on the buds and they should

be blooming nicely right in time for class. I'll announce with

this post that I am teaching a two day workshop in Woodstock,

Vermont on Friday and Saturday August 8 & 9...please email

or call me to register. The class is already 1/2 full!

Red Red Popper

"Poppin'" 7.5" x 7.5"

On my way to the grocery store, I drive

by this beautiful garden full of poppies.

I am hoping to catch someone outside

sometime soon so I can take a bunch of

pictures for future reference. This person

has a green thumb with a red touch for poppies!