workshops

I'm going to announce a few workshops here for 2014...I will be teaching a 3 day floral workshop at the wonderful Landgrove Inn in June in their beautiful post and beam studio!  Plus I was invited to teach again at this year's Vermont Art Event in Colchester sponsored by H.K. Holbein in July.  Click the links for more information...hope you can paint with me at one or both events!

portraits

I looked back over my posts and double checked to see if I had not posted this feathered friend before...and I didn't find him...so here he is!  I had fun with a stack of 7"x7" paper and trying to capture different rooster portraits...

Enjoy

Happy New Year everyone!  It's been a while since posting last...but the holidays got in the way.  A new year, a clean slate...lots of resolutions to draw more, paint more, clean the studio, be organized etc..etc.. but I'll take it as it comes...do what I can and enjoy it all.

Winter Whites

Winter whites are in....a duo of lilies on a dark background.  When I paint white I actually use quite a few colors in the shadows.  This really makes the flowers pop.

Bulb magic

It's that time of year when we force bulbs in our houses to add color and texture.  One of my favorites is the statuesque Amaryllis!  They take a while to get to their unfurling stage, but the wait it well worth it.  Another bulb that takes less time to bloom is the paperwhite...also a good one to try. (and sketch!)

cold studio

Wow...my posts have become very irregular....are you all still out there and checking up on me? I've been out of the studio for a bit due to a heating issue...hopefully that will be resolved soon!  But for now it is below  freezing in there and I've rescued all my paints and brought them in the house for fear of damaging them... so soon I should be producing some new work!  Here is "Double Dutch" a small 7"x7" painting from the spring.

Holiday wishes

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Winter demo

It's that time of year...I restocked my local gallery with cards and card sets...and they included winter/holiday scenes...like the above Birches card set.  I will also be doing a watercolor demonstration at Frog Hollow on Saturday December 7th from 1-3 p.m.  Hope to see you there!

much color

Thought I'd post a colorful, bright and happy painting today.  This one is titled "Confetti Combo".  A wild jumble of multicolored gladiola.  The gardens are being put to bed and we are well into several nights of frosty temps!

Niagara?

Here's a little sketch I did this summer of a local town's falls.  At night they lit up with different colors and you'd have thought you were at Niagara falls instead of Vergennes Vermont!  (well....almost)

Workshop of a friend

"let me explain it this way" my portrait painting 22"x15"

Sometimes a subject needs more exploration...and this gentleman gave me many lovely poses with different expressions.  I also wish to announce a portrait painting workshop here in Burlington that is being taught by a very talented fellow watercolorist who I know from my years being a member of the Vermont WC Society.  Here is the link for more information...This is a great opportunity to learn from the award winning artist Robert O'Brien!  Below is an example of his work, a portrait titled "Ted".  Workshop is Saturday November 23rd 10 - 4 p.m. and is $60.00.

Word play

Thank you everyone for sending emails or comments regarding titles for the last rooster painting I posted... Always fun to get someone else's input and ideas!  This one is titled "Cautiously watching"...or maybe I can name it "the hairy eyeball"...where does that saying come from?  Pigment play and word play...fun times...

Negative

This is a little exercise I teach in my workshops on how to do the negative painting that I love to do in my floral work.  This is probably about 3 to 4 layers of color going progressively darker.

Staring at you

This guy is giving you quite the stare down!  This was a fun and different angle to paint.  I especially like the way the comb came out.  Any fun title ideas out there for this one?  Remember I'm a fan of alliteration...okay now hit me with your suggestions....

Orange

Happy October everyone!  Pumpkins are here with their orange color which is the same as this lily...we've lost our Tiger Lilies to a little red bug that eats them all up...I'm missing them.  I like Cadmium Orange, but is opaque and needs to be handled carefully and with minimal cross mixing or it can get muddy...

Orchid Face

A pink orchid to send you into the weekend...we are looking at several beautiful days to lead us into October!  Can't believe Halloween is coming up...Just found out one of my paintings was accepted into the New England Watercolor Society's Regional show at the Plymouth Center for the Arts...click the link for more information.

"Frills"

I had some great name suggestions for my last post painting.  Here are a few: "Show off", "perfection in bloom", "A hint of blue", "A touch of purple", "Kaleidoscope Iris", "A cloud of iris", "Sunshine Iris", "Reaching out", "Smiling Iris", "end of summer", "Pastel beauty" and "The glow of summer".  Thanks to all who sent in possible titles!  This post's iris is already titled "Frills".

Name?

Summer is almost over! Unbelievable...but fall is nice too...this is a little painting from this summer and captures those short-lived irises...I didn't have too many this year in the garden.  Anyone have a name suggestion for this watercolor?