WIP

One more magnificent sky painting I'm working on for the 'From Where I Sit' series. Sold one and now have to replace it. I'm determined to get the 8 I need for the series, as well as paintings for my Tishman Speyer show in 2 weeks. Will be a painting machine till then! :)

Tranquility, 30x40

I've been using Blogger for ... what, almost 3 years now? And I still forget that the order in which you upload your photos is the OPPOSITE of the way they show up! OK, the Big Picture is at the bottom, with the details coming first - sorry about that!

This is another tranquil (hence the name) sunset from my front porch. A west facing view. If I ever show these together (and that's kind of why I'm keeping to the 30x30 and 30x40 gallery wrapped canvases...) I mentioned that I'd call them "From Where I Sit..." because each of these big skies is one seen from my front porch. And, yes, I'm grateful. So very grateful.

The sun and its' reflections

Texture in the water

a bit of cloud

The whole enchilada.

Another WIP and A Good Lunch Location!

Almost done with this sunset - I don't know.. sometimes it takes a turn at the end.... it is 30x40.

And I met Kelly Milukas, a terrific friend as well as a terrific artist, for lunch at 121 in Providence. It's a very cool - fresh, local type food - restaurant in a ... well what kind of neighborhood sells LAVENDER shoes? THAT kind of neighborhood. Gorgeous renovations to the restaurant building, though, and food to die for.

By Jove, I Think I've Finished (most of them, anyway!)

SOLD


Thinking of titling the group "From Where I Sit" because all of these views are from my front porch. #3 and #5 are southerly views, #1 is south east, and #2 and #4 are western views. The other one in the group (and I don't know if I'll really include it, as it's from Canada) is the Parrsboro sunset, which is eluding me, but I'm not giving up.

Two Things

First, this one from Parrsboro is finally done. Man, I lifted and lowered those big dark clouds, I lightened and darkened them, I made the water more blue, more yellow, more pink, more gray, I made the cliffs taller, shorter, wider, greener, bluer, I made the orange sky brighter, duller, yellower and pinker - BUT I think I finally got it. For better or for worse.

This, more abstract, seascape is one I'd wanted to do for a long time - sometimes in the fog, the land masses are just hinted at. The water and the sky are so close in color and value - it seems the whole world just melts together. This on is 9x12, painted over an old non-working painting.

WIP Update

These three are almost done! I'm very excited - they're huge (for me), I think they're 30x36 - although I can't measure right now because I'm home. The middle one needs the most work - the pink sky has got to be a much warmer pink. I also think I'll adjust the size of the island to be shorter, and bring the second (larger) island down a little too.

Birthday Weekend

Above and below are the work of Thomas Sgouros, a Providence painter who had a show in the Bristol Art Museum opening this past weekend. I went on my birthday with Tim, just because we happened to be walking by - and I was blown away - these are huge canvases, maybe 6'x6', and the colors are to die for - the camera distorted the shape and color, and not having the image in front of me, I couldn't adjust it! I dragged my son Conor over to see it while the lasagna was baking (yes, I ended up overcooking it) and we walked into the aftermath of a talk by the artist - COOL - on his way out the door I couldn't resist telling him how much I enjoyed his work - and got a photo of the 2 of us in front of one of his pieces! I saved the lasagna with a little extra sauce, and ended up eating way too much of it (I forgot Tim had made his famous German Chocolate cake, too)!

And below, I've shown a little detail, and the whole of the mother-and-child painting done from a photo at the beach last summer. The little red haired boy was so fun to do with his big diaper laden swimsuit! Once again, they were silhouetted. I'm not finished with this, but all I'm really going to do is put in their reflections, which will help them 'stand up' in the water.

Sunset #2, 24x30

This is one of the beautiful sunsets that I see from my front porch. I am always inspired by them, and wanted to do some skies just to see how they look together.

Next Pass at the Sky

Getting close to the end of this painting. I want to layer in more colors in the water, and soften the land formation. I will probably add a little more color in the lowest strata of the sky, although it is a very dark section. I am working off a photograph, but after you get the basic values, and the general colors, you have to, in the words of Karin Jurick, whom you all may know from her art, "paint the scene, not the photograph".

More/Better Photos and a WIP

The sky is almost done - still left is the land and the water. This is 30x30.

Got more paintings up ( then had a minor collapse when a bunch came flying off the wall - the top painting slammed into two others on the way down - fortunately they were UNframed! I LOVE my studio!

Everybody UP!

I'm trying to get my studio less cluttered.  I mean, it's 1,200 square feet, and you can hardly MOVE in it!  So.  All the framed pieces that I don't HATE are going up.  The framed pieces that I do hate are coming out of frames, frames stacked in my big built-n drawers, and they're getting painted over.  That's it.  And the hundreds of paintings that I actually don't like are going to get painted over or tossed.  THEN the ones that need or may benefit more work will go in a special bin.... and those I'm reserving for history (heh heh! - in other words, pieces that have a sentimental value to me, even though they may not make the grade right now) will go in other bins, against the wall.  Here's some bad shots of what the back end of the studio looks like.  There's so much light (yes, there is a thing as TOO much light) that everything is back lit and hard to photograph!

Re-Do of the Callas

I tried a different vantage for these Valentine's flowers, but it didn't work out. They probably look more like Callas, but the point of view is weird. I consider this one a failure. Nice flowers, bad painting... This is just to show one of my failures to you.

February 2009

Above I'm working on a Paris view - a lot looser then I usually work, just full of energy and feeling.
I started this piece below of Mexican pottery last week with Paula Villanova (she may just post her take on it on her blog)


Two daily paintings and work on 2 bigger pieces on my first day back at the studio. I took a walk and saw someone you might know (below...).

January Happenings

The 'wall' of Daily Paintings in my studio...


A larger work up of a small painting from a farm in Bristol...



Walking The Dog On The Beach, needs just a leeeettle bit more....


Almost done with Brasserie Lipp .....


Almost done with the Bay of Fundy Sunset...

And THAT's what I've been working on aside from my Daily Paintings!

Artist In Residence - Marshfield

This was the demo (mine)...

Every child got to put brush to the painting...

We talked about values and color...

Last Friday I spent the morning at the Furnace Brook Middle School as an Artist In Residence, along with Mary Sheehan Winn and Sally Dean - how cool was that?  Extremely.  The kids were so interested, with good questions on technique, and the teachers were very supportive - they have an exhausting job - the art teachers have no time to do anything but set up and take down between classes - and Middle School kids are..... energetic.  Here are some shots - I set up a panel for me and one for them, and displayed some Daily Paintings, and explained basically what that is and why I do it (did I ever say it on my blog?).  Mary and Sally were wonderful to be with.  Afterwards we went to lunch and chilled - joined by our friend Jeanne MacFarland, another wonderful artist (who has yet to launch her website!).  On Mary's Daily Painting blog she posted a picture of me with one of the kids.

Parrsboro Painting Trip

A couple of photos from the trip, what a sunset!

Gone to Nova Scotia to paint with Mary Sheehan Winn and Joan Brancale.  Mary's DH gave her this week as a treat, and Joan & I were the lucky ones who did not have a studio sale, teaching schedule or other work to keep us here.  We've been exploring the pink sands of the Bay of Fundy and painting and gobbling up the culture. The tides here rise & fall 50 FEET every day.  Amazing.  It looks like a tsunami when the tides out! What a treat.  

We do look a little 'paint-logged', though, I think!  All week eating, drinking and sleeping painting!  We've discussed every aspect of painting there is, when we were not actually doing it (or climbing down and up massive cliffs to inspect the view).  Here's some photos...

Carol Marine Workshop Girls, Song #1

Here's Robin and Lois from the workshop, singing about painting.... shadows & light, stepping back, etc......  They were fun and great painters... as a whole it was a fabulous workshop that I would recommend - it's about Daily Painting, but there were no shortcuts to a good painting.  Carol made us toe the line, it was hard, and it was tremendously rewarding.  And the GROUP -  well, let's just say we BONDED!  Everyone was so nice, supportive, and encouraging.  And these gals can PAINT!  We are thinking of doing a group blogging project.... I'll keep you updated!

Plymouth Art Guild Festival 2008

SOLD

I got 2 pieces in this show which runs through Sept 21st in the center of Plymouth, MA at the annual Festival. The Path To The Beach, 12x48 in oil, won Honorable Mention. I'm thrilled.

You're Not Getting Older, You're Getting Better, 11x14 Oil

Yesterday I happened to be on the Cape and I dropped in on my friend Joan Brancale.   Of course I had to see what she was painting these days and she is in a very industrious phase right now... my favorite piece being hydrangeas, which are past the 'blue' stage.  I never thought to paint them at this point... never really saw the beauty in them, till I saw Joan's rendition, very Thomas Buechner-esque, hers was subtle drama, and it took my breath away.  So this morning I gathered a couple of stems and attempted to paint them, too.  Always I though I wouldn't paint hydrangeas because of all the petals, but I tried Joan's method of wiping off the blocked in color and just suggesting the petals.  I may try them again.  This weather is unbelievable.   I hope everyone's enjoying it....

A Pause That Refreshes, Little Compton, 18x18, oil

Today 2 friends came to visit & paint, Paula Villanova and Jody Regan (both have links on my Daily Painting Blog).  We drove down the Main Road and spotted these cows & calves taking a dip in their little pond.  What fun it was to try and nail a composition while they were leaving and coming back, getting back into the water, leaving, etc.!  I remembered Peggi Kroll Roberts saying "Be a Designer!"  And Ken Auster saying "Be Inspired by Nature, but Not Held Hostage By It!".    We had a picnic lunch, but it was HOT HOT HOT in the sun.... and on the way home we had Dell's frozen Lemonade - perfect end to a perfect day!