Apples, Peaches, Plums

15x15 original watercolor

Here is the painting that I have been working on. As I said before, it was inspired by a photo that I saw on PaperPumpkin. I saw the photo right after I had posted "Locally Grown".

I tried something new to me in this painting. I used a clear oil pastel to save some of the whites. I did not use it everywhere that you see the white because sometimes I like to go over the whites with a very light wash. Also, I wanted to be able to control soft and hard edges. The clear oil pastel is so clear that it was a little hard for me to control at first. It is an absolute great permanent resist. Some of you have noticed that my work is changing a little. I would love to hear your comments if you like or you don't like this new direction.

I have some great news, I was accepted to the Artists of Texas blog. Please visit me and other fine artists of Texas over there!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy.

CityARTCal Artists Party

The above photos are from the 2011 CityARTCal Artists Party. CityARTCal is a calendar that features local artists and also sponsors several exhibits, a silent auction and other social events for the artists. The photos above are from the most recent social events for the artist selected to be in the calendar. We met at Painting with a Twist and had a little painting contest in acrylic. The winner, determined by votes of the artists involved, would get an extra page in the book to feature a second piece of work!!!!! It was such fun to meet other artists and paint together. Painting with a Twist is on Lovers Lane and teaches classes to ANYONE who wants to learn how to paint. They have great music playing and you bring your own bottle of vino.

This is a painting I am working on right now. It is inspired by a photo from the blog PaperPumpkin. I liked the photo so much that I asked PaperPumpkin if I could paint it.

Revisions, Memories and Friendship

Thank you to everyone who immediately replied when I was in trouble with the above painting. I took your advice and I am happy with the mountain scene painting above. When I posted this painting last, I thought I had ruined something that I was very happy with. I am so thankful that my friends I have met through the blogging world came to my rescue.

Now I can tell you the inspiration for this painting. My friend who was pregnant with her third child insisted that she and I go on this 4+ hour hike up a mountain in Red River, New Mexico. It is not surprising that I would rather sit for 4 hours and paint vs. hiking up a mountain. It is embarrassing to say that I could barely keep up with her even though she was 3 months pregnant. She told me that at the top there was this glorious pond with the clearest water and giant rainbow trout. Well here it is. Although I was resistant to the hiking, my friend didn't believe me when I told her that I would indeed go swimming in the pond because I have an obsession with natural clear bodies of water. I told her to be ready with the camera and take a photo once I was in the water for evidence to all those that would not believe. The water was absolutely freezing, but, very exhilerating. I am giving this painting to her husband for his 50th birthday since he loves the mountains so much and he is taking up painting, too!

I truly appreciate your comments! Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

I saw these sailboats from far away. It turns out it was the local summer camp sailing. The shapes of the white triangles moving about each other against the blue water and sky was so calming. I wanted to capture this dance and I wanted to be in one of the sailboats, too!

I had one piece of hot press paper left. I cut it in half to get these two very horizontal pieces of paper. Once I had these long pieces of paper, I was getting more comfortable with the idea in my head and how I would put it on paper. It made sense to have these very long pieces of paper emphasizing the experience of what I would see if I was in one of the boats right there.

I am starting to really like hot press paper. Because of my lack of experience using it, I feel that I have more freedom to experiment. These boats may look like it was very easy to do. But, for me, achieving a look that looks free and quick is so hard. The image at the top was the second painting. In this painting, I am pleased with myself for having the confidence to use my artistic license more. I kind of just imagined this one.

I posted these paintings because they make me happy. So Happy Friday. It is our official last Friday of summer. School starts Monday.

Thank you for all of your comments, they make my day!

WAS pretty... now?

I was doing this mountain scene for a friend's 50th birthday. There was a point when I thought it looked so pretty. I don't think in person the sky looks as ugly as it does here. It is not so spotty in person. I know I need to darken and add detail to the trees on the left side. Should I lift out the darks in the water. I can also lift out the blue in the sky. I was trying to create atmosphere and distance in the mountains, that is that obvious line of nothingness in the middle of the mountain. Does anyone have suggestions? I did enjoy painting it up to this point so I guess I can start over, too.

Thanks. This is where I put down my brushes and walk away.

Boys want to Paint, too!

How powerful an image on the computer screen can be. When my sons and nephews saw Rachel's painting (previous post) on my blog, they were thoroughly impressed and inspired! They asked, "who can see her painting? can everyone see her painting?" I told them that people from all over will see it, including my blogger friends from the other side of the world in South Africa and India and DR Congo.

They all responded with, "Can I paint, too! I want to paint, too! And can we put our paintings on the internet, too?" So we had an immediate impromptu watercolor workshop. I only had one sheet of watercolor paper left so we used paper plates to paint as our canvases. I just let them have fun with it. I did ask them to notice what happens when you have a lot of water on your brush vs. when you have very little water on you brush.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who commented on Rachel's post. She was so thrilled to receive comments and couldn't believe how fast they came. She asked her mom for some paints for herself!!!! And if you want to paint, try painting on a paper plate, it's just a paper plate, so it doesn't matter how it comes out. Make sure to stay tuned for my next post. It will be about a blind man painting!

More Cape Cod Scenes

Seagulls at Sunset

Cape Cottage

Beach House

These are paintings that I have done over the last few days.

Seagulls at Sunset was inspired by a photo my niece, Rachel took, actually. I didn't get a chance to make a copy of the photo so I had to do this from memory. I thought that it was to my advantage to do it from memory because then I wouldn't be able to get caught up in the detail. I was imagining it to be more on the abstract side.

Cape Cottage is very typical of the cottages and gardens you see on Cape Cod. Some are really tiny and then others are made to look small. I saw this cottage in the morning. The picture here got a little washed out. I was most excited about the brilliant colors on the barn. I used 2 reds, an orange and a blue. In real life it looks just fantastic with these colors mingling together. By the way, I am not exaggerating the flowers. There are just multitudes of perennials in bright colors, giant blue hydrangea bushes and rows of sunflowers!

Beach House is inspired from the beach we are staying on. That is part of the cove I have shown in previous photos. I showed more of the house than one can really see through the foliage and added a few architectural details. This was done at low tide in the morning. The clouds were rolling and reflecting the golden morning sun.

Sunday at the Beach

7 1/2 x 11

In contrast to the last post of the pristine beach on Martha's Vineyard, here is a scene from a Cape Cod Beach done plein air. I always love seeing all of the beach umbrellas on the beach whether in real life or in photos, posters or cards. I have painted many beach umbrella scenes over the years. On this one, I used my artistic license more to connect the umbrellas and figures for composition sake vs. having a bunch of individual "things" spread out on the paper. This painting does capture the feel of a perfect Sunday beach day on the Cape. Crowded, lots of umbrellas, kayaks, sailboats - everyone enjoying the weather. This beach has a lot of tall foliage between the beach and the houses compared to other beaches on the Cape.

Thanks for visiting. Your comments are always appreciated!

Introducing a Young Artist, Rachel, 12 yrs. old

• Looking Out the Window at the Beach

I wanted to paint in watercolor when I saw my Aunt Liana painting on the beach as I was playing on the beach with my siblings and cousins at the Cape, which we all go to every year in the summer. At first I thought she was tracing something, or just copying a picture, but then I saw her from scratch make something outstanding. I asked her if I could try, thinking I would be horrible, but whatever, I thought, I'd give it a try. Earlier in that week I had seen some flowers that looked like the ones in my painting when my family went out to lunch. I really liked them, so I decided I wanted to paint them. The rest, I sort of just made up in my mind. I really enjoy painting flowers and beach scenes. Also, I'd really recommend my Aunt's blog to everyone because it's pretty awesome!!!

Days at the Beach

Vineyard Beach

The painting above was inspired by a beach on Martha's Vineyard on the Atlantic Ocean side. It was one of the most pristine beaches I have seen. On this day the water was very calm with small, friendly waves. It was such a contrast compared to the day before when the roar of the ocean waves was such a loud continuous thundering with giant crashing waves. In the distance was this curve of land jetting straight out of the water. I kept imagining how I could paint this sloping land with geometric shapes and layers of transparent color.

The photo is the sun setting on the beach we are staying at in Brewster, Ma.