Farm view

Finally a painting done in the good ol' out of doors!

The weather around here is getting to be quite perfect

for some time spent painting outside...the bugs and the heat will

both be less! This piece was from the workshop earlier

this month, standing next to a barn with chickens scratching

the earth around my feet and looking toward the distant

Green Mountains!

Blue Ribbon Pose

"Blue Ribbon Pose"

I always paint the comb first and then the wattle,

leaving the eye to almost two thirds of the way through

the painting. Once the eye gets painted their personality

starts to comes through! That's when they really give you

their stare-down, or curious quirky look as if to say:

"Why you lookin' at me?"

Daffs

A decidedly spring-time image as the seasons seem

to be changing here in the Northeast..we are going

from nice warm summer weather to the cooler temps

of fall. Makes for nice times out in the field painting...

I just got a butcher tray...an enamel tray for painting and

find that I like the color squeezed fresh out of the tube. It's

a different feel to have new paint instead of reconstituted

palette pigments...a little spritz of water refreshes those anyway,

but it's nice to try a new approach, plus it allows me to try some

different pigments and expand my color horizons!

color choices

"Floribunda" 22"x30"

This painting looks like I used every single color on my

palette to create it! I have a palette that can hold 32

pigments, but I've seen some lovely work done with just

a limited number of colors. Sometimes less is more and

other times more is more!

What's for dinner?

An image out of my sketchbook...I should almost do this

every night at dinner time...it doesn't take very long and

is really fun. Even if you don't have alot of time you can just

get the sketch done and then color it later. I like the way the

lines of the salmon came out...it's just a slightly darker wash

of peachy pink then painting around or saving the lighter lines.

Ready for my close-up

"Ready for my close-up" 7.5"x7.5" image size $375.00

Another piece from my show at the Southern Vermont

Arts Center...Tomorrow is the reception..it's supposed

to rain so maybe that means more people will come by,

because they won't be out in their gardens or on their boats

or in their pools enjoying the weather! Not that I deny anyone

those pleasures of summer...since it's oh so short around these

here parts! Then it's on to the next show...Thanks for all your

nice comments on my earlier posts!

Opening Reception

"Vermillion Vision" 22"x30"

Another full sheet watercolor...well that's debatable, since

there are rolls of wc paper and 40x60 sheets...so let's just

say full sheet in my world. Have yet to attempt something

on that size paper! This piece is going down to Southern

Vermont to the Arts Center for my solo show...Opening

reception is this Saturday from 4-6 p.m. Tell your friends

and come on down!

Sheer poppy

A very, very close-up of a Poppy...the bee's view.

White flowers are always a challenge, but the main

thing to remember is that there is actual "color" within

the white. Also a background is vital in anchoring a

lighter bloom.

Inspiration

"Sneak a peek"

Starting the week with some farm friends.

Spent some time on a farm last week and took

tons of pictures of their magnificent rooster.

He was being terrorized by another rooster and

was hiding out with the pigs in their pens. I have

some new material now for future paintings!

Painting event

This was an exercise from a b&w photograph in Charles'

class...She's a bit stern, but she's got that fish and that reminds

me of this weekend's event. I will be painting at the Burlington

Waterfront on Saturday the 15th from 10-4 for the Vermont

Watercolor Society's Fundraiser in conjunction with the Lake's

Quadricentennial celebration. If you are in the area come on by

and check us out...we will auction the work off on our new blog:

vwshowsonline.

If you want to come down and paint with us...the more the merrier!

Different Strokes week

"Karl Malden's street" Different Strokes challenge

I'm back...thanks to all who gave feedback

about superimposing your name across your

images on the web...figured as much in regards

being able to edit it out etc...if someone is going

to rip off your work it'll happen anyway. Let's hope

it doesn't happen, much...Raring to jump back in the

studio after 5 days painting the Vermont landscape.

But I have to finish framing my work for my upcoming

Solo show at the Southern Vermont Arts Center..opening

reception Saturday August 22nd from 4-6 p.m. Stop by

if you can.

Lilac abundance

I've been noticing that other bloggers have their name

or copyright symbols across their images...I've tried it here

and it worked, but in some of my other work it looks so

obvious. A few questions that maybe you all can shed some

light on for me...Have some of your images been copied and

is that the reason for the lettering? Or is it in case someone

prints it up you get credit where credit is due? I'm very

interested to see what it's all about, since I haven't been

blogging for a very long time and slowly finding out all these

quirky things.

I won't be posting again until the middle of next week...taking

a little time to get outside to paint! See you soon...

Seize the Day

A peak at the future of vistas in Vermont...Fall is coming

down the pike soon enough with all the Back to School

ads in the papers and flyers! It zooms by and I find myself

not having been outside to paint at all except for a couple

quick sketches at the water's edge this last weekend. No

time like the present...Carpe Diem.

Mixed Garden bouquet

Another oldie from the archives, but this had me thinking

after a week of teaching classes that my work has certainly changed

a bit over the years. Pigment gets applied differently, there's

more confidence in the subject matter and a looseness has

evolved that might not have been there before. At least I hope

that's the way it works, because it's what keeps us moving forward

as artists. Constantly striving for a new level of personal satisfaction

with your own work.

Thank you for all your recent comments, plus a blogging award from

Marsha Robinett came my way this weekend! I'll add the link

to my sidebar along with the others and cheat a little by saying

I'd like to pass the award on to the artists in my blog roll list :)

Thanks, Marsha...beautiful work!