French tower

15" x 22"

This painting was done from a photograph I took of a house

in the french countryside..it was also done after I had taken

my first workshop with Mel Stabin. Workshops are so valuable.

You get to paint for full days...be it 3, 5 or if you are lucky

14 days in a row and you are surrounded by other creative

types, plus watching the teacher demonstrate is priceless!

The tower on this house actually served as another inspiration...

it later became the inspiration for an addition on our house

and now we have our very own "french" tower.

Early scallions

7" x 10"

This was an exercise from a watercolor class I took at the

local community college way back when...It was a valuable

exercise to work with objects on fabric. I still enjoy painting

fabrics and went on to do many more paintings with veggies,

fruit and colorful napkins, table cloths etc... That collection

of cloths has grown quite a bit as well over the years.

Early sunflowers

11" x 15"

Looking at this piece brings back so many memories

of working(actually struggling) with watercolors! I thought,

like many people, that watercolors would be easy! HA! I find

out something new about them every time I paint. Maybe it's

because as kids we are given these colorful disks in nice metal

tins with a worthless plastic brush and we scrub away to pick

up some chalky color to then deposit it on some typing paper

and attempt to paint a refrigerator worthy masterpiece!

Almost impossible...it would be an interesting exercise to put

my hands on one of those children's sets and see, just see if

I could produce anything worth looking at. It's a poor craftsman

who blames his tools! Ah, but sometimes we just have to blame something!

Early poppies

20" x 30"

This is RETRO week...the paintings I'll post this week are

from 10 years ago or more! Doesn't seem like that long ago,

but when I look at them I realize that practice, practice, practice

does have it's rewards...I've learned to handle the paint differently

and become braver with color choices. Most of these paintings

are in happy homes all over the place...I'm glad I have pictures of

them though.

Seasons change

"Chick me out" 10"x7"
On the cusp of the seasons, I'll fast forward and
momentarily skip fall by posting this wintery scene.
Living in Vermont it wouldn't be unusual to have this
image happening sometime in October, though!
Leaves are gone, a few stubborn berries are refusing
to let go and an early snow descends on the landscape.
So enjoy this last weekend of summer everyone!

Sunflower multi

I found the sunflower multi-study, but I'm looking for

the other ones..between old slides converted to jpegs

and stacks of old cd's it's quite the chore...might not be

soon, but I'll put my hands on them! I had a comment

about sizes and I'll try to be more diligent about listing

the sizes of paintings. These studies were done on half

sheets of watercolor paper...so 15"x22". Thanks for all

the nice comments, it's great hearing from all of you!

Pears everywhere

Another multi study..this time of pears.

I did this format with plums, oranges with green backgrounds

as opposed to yesterday's post where it was oranges and blues,

pansies, sunflowers, lemons etc...I'll dig around and see if

I have pictures of all those.

Orange multi study

As promised the multi study series of oranges. I had done

a whole bunch of these about ten years ago when I was at

a week long artist residency. I had set up a still life and then

divided a half sheet of watercolor paper in random squares

and rectangles with artist tape, trying to vary the shapes

and sizes. Then I painted across the paper focusing in on

different sections of the still life, while trying to think of all

the smaller images as still part of a whole and make the

composition(s) work. Color, design, shapes etc..

It's a workout for your brain and brush!

I've tried this exercise with some of my workshop participants.

It's fun to try..somehow it makes you less concerned with

trying to end up with one "finished" painting.

Different Strokes

"Sweet Treats"

My contribution to the latest Different Strokes Challenge.

Karin Jurick suggested we check out a video of Wayne Thiebaud

and try to channel him...well I was lucky enough several years

ago to see a retrospective of his work at the Phillips Collection

in Washington D.C. I was overwhelmed and super excited, since

we had practically stumbled upon the show not knowing it was

there and I had been a huge fan for years! A great day.

Orange you glad?

Orange you glad it's still summer? Just a little more

time to enjoy the surf and sand...I had this orange

painting from a series I did about ten years ago and

couldn't resist the opening sentence. :)

I'll post the whole series next week...you've seen the

individual paintings over the last several months, but

it'll be nice to see them all together.

Nestled together

A cozy little portrait of two birds that stay in

Vermont for the winter! It's very exciting to see

that splash of red against the white of the snow and

the green of the pines! Talk about perfect complements in nature!

Oranges with Sunflowers

This is a somewhat older piece. My attempt at

a colander...at least I got the holes. This should have

had more lighting..something stronger to cast some

shadows. I'm going to venture out today to knock on

some farms' doors to see if they have outstanding chickens

and roosters that I might photograph...I'll start at the farm

that offers eggs for sale...always a good indication of fowl! :)

proper proportions

I can't wait for the open figure sessions to start

again next week at our local arts center. I don't

want to get too rusty. I call this piece "why the long

face", because she is somewhat out of proportion.

Both in the face and the shoulders compared to the rest

of her...So I need to get back into the swing of things.

Outside looking in

Happy Labor Day to you all!

I did this painting at a workshop last month and really

enjoyed the time spent at the farm. There was a litter

of kittens and I had to keep telling them that their little

teeny meows wouldn't talk me into taking one of them

home! By the end of the workshop we spent the last

afternoon back at the farm and almost all had found

homes! Now the chickens on the other hand...

I just paint them, I don't have any :)

plein air painter

I've missed my Thursday postings a couple

times now...I don't really know why, but so sorry.

So when you've exhausted the scenery and are not

super inspired by another building or tree...paint

someone else painting! This was done in the workshop

I took last month and I loved the colorful umbrella!

Set up

This was a picture I took after I painted the bouquet of

purple tulips...I have a pencil box full of creative implements

and a teeny watercolor travel set. It's about all you need.

Off to a board meeting for the VT WC Society today..

getting ready for the fall meeting next month.

New Work

"Voluptuous" 22"x10"

This piece is in my solo show at the

Southern Vermont Arts Center. I also

changed my profile picture to one that

was taken at the opening of the show of me

standing next to this painting. It's interesting

how it gives the perspective and how large

the piece is compared to my head! ha ha...

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!