Happy Birthday!

I painted this for my friend Kevin. It's low fat and gluten free. I hope he likes it. :)

I had fun painting this cupcake; probably would have been more fun to eat but anyway, I do feel this canvas was too rough for this kind of painting. It's so personal what we paint on. I used to love rough texture for everything but lately I find I only like it for landscapes. 

Mr. Crab, I'm Gonna Getcha!

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I can't believe it's October! I'm still stuck at the beach. How sweet is this little boy searching the shallows for Mr.Crab himself! I hope he finds him. :)

Oil Painting Sketch: Sunflowers in Blue Pitcher with Lemon

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I was ready do another tomato painting today. Then I saw this old reference photo from about 150 years ago. :) I just could not resist. I had to paint it! The original painting from this photo is larger, about 22" x 28" and I still have it. It is  one of my favorites and hangs in my family room. I really enjoyed doing this small version. The set up for this was in a sun room off my kitchen where there is north light. the flowers, vase and lemons were beautifully back lit against white gauze curtains. I am tempted to do another larger one! 

Landscape Painting: Allentown Farm No.3

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As I mentioned in an earlier post I do enjoy using the pallet knife to paint the foregrounds on some of these landscapes. I like how this one came out. I used both the knife and brush. One day, maybe I will do the whole painting with the knives. That might be fun, or totally frustrating! I'll let you know.        

Landscape painting: Windsor Perrineville Farm

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When I pass this farm now I can hardly see any buildings because the corn is so high. Just the tops are peeking out. I will paint it that way soon!

Still Life Painting: A Cherry For Your Thoughts

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The artist Dana Cooper (I need to get the name in a link, ? I'll figure it out tomorrow.) inspired me to do this cherry. I think I'm going to do some more. I like the cherry. It's a lovely fruit. My family did torture me over my title choice, however they couldn't come up with anything better! I thought it was funny. What do they know!    

landscape: White Barn on Windsor Farm No. 2

I like experimenting with the forground of these landscapes. Using the palette knife is my favorite! Sometimes it's like an abstract and realism in the same painting. Which reminds me of a quote by Giorgio Morandi  "There is nothing more abstract than reality." When you are a painter/artist, that's the truth!

Landscape with White House and Laundry No.2

After my post on 6/30 one of my students asked me about painting the same scene over again and how they can be different depending on how you paint it, the weather/atmosphere, time of day and time of year, how you edit and how you feel. I know the longer I spend on a painting the more I see. There are many variables that can affect the result of a painting, some of which I'm sure I did not mention and of course there is that  "Oh my...I forgot how to paint !" issue. :) The painting above took me about 2 hours to complete and I have been painting consistently for months. The painting on the bottom took no more then an hour, if that and I was only painting once a week or so. I used the same reference photo but they are very different. 

Still Life Painting: Red Onion

This painting was the demo for the class I am teaching. I painted this with the three colors the students use. Alizarin Crimson, Lemon Yellow and Ultra Marine Blue. I like starting them with just the three primaries so they can study their colors, mix them and really get to know the characteristics of each paint and how they react with each other before moving on. The plan was to introduce three other primary colors, some warmer ones, Cadmium Red Medium, Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Yellow Medium, however, they are not doing their homework! Which was to mix their paints, value scales/studies. It's a tough group, an unruly bunch, but I love them and they are really doing so well. We have one more class :( 

East Windsor Farm

sky and field