Portland, Maine

I took photos of lobster boats in Portland, Maine when I drove home from a painting trip this past summer. The colorful reflections, lobster boats, traps and shipping containers tell a story and I plan to do more pieces along the same lines. This is the first, a smaller 11" x 14" where I made the boat the center of interest.

12" x 12" Portland Harbor

Crazy Abstract Art

If you don't know what to paint sometimes it's better to just throw some paint on the canvas and hope something comes to mind. This is how I approach an abstract painting. I see lots of crazy images inside this piece but I chose to focus on one: an angry bird. :)

ARMORY SHOW - December 2015

The Opening Reception is Sunday Dec. 6, 2015 at The Armory, 127 E. Clinton St., Napoleon, Ohio. The show will run through January 3, 2016. This show is sponsored by the Henry County Arts Council. Please stop in and take a look if you're in the area. Hours are 10 AM-5 PM Monday through Friday.

Kate's Family Painting - A Surprise Gift for Her Husband!

Kate, who live in New York, recently commissioned a painting of her house as a Christmas gift for her husband after seeing one I had painted for her friend in May. She wanted her family included too, so this is what I came up with. At 24" x 30", it's one of the larger house paintings I've done but Kate says they have plenty of wall space in their new home.

Kate's House

Teenager in a Volleyball Uniform

I can't remember this model's name but she came to our group through  a modeling agency and she did an excellent job with her pose. We don't have many people pose looking downward and her face was tilted slightly as well, making it especially challenging for both her and the artists who were drawing and painting her.

This was my effort. I will try a side view next time, where the light is not likely to change if she moves slightly.

16' x 16" pastel on Canson gray paper

Fishing Boats

I used a long horizontal format for this painting because I wanted to keep the focus on the boats. The original photo (by Margaret Wiles--and used with permission- THANK YOU MARGARET!!), was a 4" x 3" proportion. I cropped the top and the water in front and tried to give a different viewpoint. Perhaps one we would see if we were sitting on a boat in this harbor.

Fishing Boats

10" x 20"

Peaches

I set these wonderful peaches up slightly off center. I struggled a bit because I didn't have any cadmium orange and the cadmium red I was using seemed weaker than normal. It was Charvin and I might have purchased the student grade by accident. I'm not too familiar with that paint but I did get a really good buy on it from Jerry's Artarama.

Put My Sister in Disneyworld

This was a little different commission than I normally do. She wanted a painting of her sister at Disneyworld. Apparently her sister adores all things Disney so I used a few different photos to create a montage of her sister happily entering Main Street in Disneyworld.

A really unique gift idea!

Sand Engineers 6" x 6"

SOLD

A small 6"x6" painting of four kids playing on the beach. I used a lot of paint and kept the entire painting very wet while I worked on it, blending the edges vertically. I was trying to give it a feeling of action. Not sure if I succeeded but it was fun to experiment.

Garden Path

Garden Path

9" x 12" oil on linen

A small plein air painting with a natural composition that I painted on my trip to the Irish Hills.

Randy's Roadhouse Bar-B-Cue in the Irish Hills Old Pickup

We saw this rustic truck on Route 12 when we were headed back to the lake house on Thursday and decided to return and paint it the next day. Randy allowed us to set up our easels in the shade of a large maple tree. There were three of us painting today and we all focused on the truck and we all came up with very different paintings. My painting was all about the truck. I really worked hard on minimizing the importance of the painted pig on top of the truck but I couldn't remove it. It adds a lot of character to the scene and the sign supports the reason it is there. The grass was actually mowed and weeded right up to the truck tires but I added a few weeds to give it character.

Randy told us that his family used to own the Wild West attraction on Route 12 but they sold it a few years ago. Apparently Route 12 was a major tourist attraction in the 50's and early 60's, with Mystery Hill, a Dinosaur Adventure, a Go-Cart track and more. Now this area has become known for its picturesque lakes and rolling hills. The tourist traps remain but they are in a sad state of disrepair.

Randy's Roadhouse Barbecue

9" x 12"

Irish Hills Vista 10" x 20" oil painting

10" x 20" oil on canvas

Irish Hills Vista

The second day we drove east on Route 12 and ended up stopping at a fruit and vegetable stand. Strawberries were in season so we bought some and I was eyeing the hilly farm to the north, while my friend was enchanted by the produce stand. I painted this bucolic vista of rolling hills and baled straw, while she concentrated on the truck and stand. A glorious day in the low seventies, sunshine after the fog lifted and NO MOSQUITOES! A great day to paint outdoors.

Summer Plein Air Painting

Last week I traveled to the Irish Hills area of Michigan with four artist friends to do some plein air painting. We rented a house on Vineyard Lake and painted the countryside. We visited Hidden Lake Gardens the first day and painted a gazebo.

Hidden Lake Gazebo 11" x 14"

More Plein Air Work

The second day of the Waterville Arts Council Plein Air event was last Friday and my friend and I decided to head out in the country. First we painted a corn crib east of town and in the afternoon we headed west toward Whitehouse. There is a barn on Finzel Road that I have always loved and the restaurant across the road was empty so we set our easels up under the overhang for shade.

Waterville Corn Crib

11" x 14" oil on canvas

Barn on Finzel Road, June

Plein Air Paintings

Tis the season! Warm weather and sunny spring days mean it's time to break out the easel and get outdoors to paint. I attended the first paintout of the season in Waterville June 5-7. The first day I arrived late and painted down by the river.

My first painting is a view looking westward down the Maumee River. I stood on a rocky riverbank and enjoyed myself.

11" X 14" oil on canvas

The second painting I completed that day is the Route 64 Bridge. It was built in the 1940's. The light was nice on this metal monster but I wonder if I painted it because it was a comfy place to paint; I was lazy and I didn't feel like moving my easel. I've heard the old adage that a good painter can find a painting anywhere but in my case I struggle. I like to be inspired and not have to make too much up.

11"x14" oil on canvas, Route 64 Bridge

Sunflowers in a Blue Vase

This is a painting I started in my painting class last week as a demo. We all paint the same thing step by step. I never get the entire thing complete because I am usually helping the students. So I took it home to my studio and finished it. One note about this project: the vase was clear and I allowed everyone to choose the color they wanted to make their vase. We had red, green, yellow and I chose blue because I thought it would accentuate the orange tones in the sunflowers.

11" x 14"

Oil on canvas

Portrait from a photo

It's always more difficult painting a person from a photo if you haven't painted that individual from life. When the subject is right there in front of you the guesswork is eliminated. I had this photo from our portrait group that really captured the young man's attitude so I wanted to try to paint it.

It's even more difficult when you go to a smaller canvas. This piece is 9" x 12" so the margin of error when painting features that size is smaller than usual. I enjoyed abstracting the background.

9" x 12" oil on canvas

 Attitude

Green Pots with Orange

I am trying to put a bit more thought into my still life paintings by adding different textures and surfaces, varying the light, the colors, the materials and the fabric etc. The contrast between complements is the focus here. The orange seems even more orange than it actually is because the post are blueish green. The dark battle is there for balance and to stabilize. The grapes just nag out because I like the way they look against the white fabric. I am focusing on improving my edges and my compositions this year to create more unified pieces. So my New Year's resolution in the studio is 'think before you brush', very similar to the one I have made for my personal life: think before you speak. This doesn't always equate to the fastest paintings but it's not really about speed when you're in the studio.

So far, I like the way things are going. Now if I can only maintain. That's the difficult part.

9" x 12" Green Post with Orange

Still Life Painting with Pears and Grapes

I love painting still life: the way the light falls over the forms is always interesting and when you throw a reflective object into the mix, like this silver sugar bowl, it really takes the painting up to another level.

Silver with Pears

11" x 14"

This is the Vase I bought in Patagonia

I buy lots of art pottery, always with the idea in the back of my mind that I will put them in a painting. I look for earthy organic colored vases and pots. Handmade is better. The irregularities of hand-thrown pots and vases are charming. Plus I like the idea that I am supporting another artist.

I purchased this lovely vase in Patagonia, AZ. I love the unique design and the muted glaze. There are hints of rusty orange in the glaze so I paired it with an orange and a Bosc pear, setting up a split complementary color scheme.

The lighting is simple. No drama necessary when the color is my focus.

Orange with Green Vase and Pear

10" x 8"