Cactus Flowers

This is about 6 x 8 and done in ink & watercolor. It was done for the April project in the Southwestern Art forum on WetCanvas. The reference was provided by my friend, Jo Castillo, who is a wonderful pastel & oil painter who lives in Texas. I love flowering cacti but they are rarely seen here in NY, so I couldn't resist painting this. Thanks Jo!

22nd World Wide SketchCrawl

Saturday, April 11 was the World Wide SketchCrawl. The weather in NY was rainy so my sister, Michelle, and I needed an indoor spot to sketch. We decided to drive into Manhattan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We sketched in the Greek and Roman art collections. My sketches include left to right - part of the columns and upper floors as seen from the bench we were able to find and a marble statue of a seated muse. Because we were in the museum we couldn't sketch with anything other than pencil. The second page of sketches include a marble statue of Herakles seated on a rock and an urn that is a piece of Roman funeary art. I added color with my watercolor pencils and wet them with water when I got home. The third page is a marble statue of a Greek youth with another room in the background. I also found a spot that had a wonderful view of the city out one of the museum's arched windows. We were there for about 4/5 hours and then drove down to see the American Watercolor Society Show at the Salamagundi Club on 5th Ave and 12th St. We were lucky enough to find parking on the street right outside the building, so when we were finished viewing the paintings, we came out, sat in the car, and sketched the building. All in all, it was a fun adventure sketching in Manhattan.

Happy Easter ("Odd Man Out")

Happy Easter to all! (or Happy Passover or just Happy Day if you're not celebrating.) This was the painting I used for my Easter cards this year. I had seen someone do a painting of Peeps once, and that thought just stuck in my head. This is about 6 x 8 and was done from my own setup. As soon as I finished the painting I gave all the Peeps away so I wouldn't eat them.

A Touch of Blue

This is another ATC (2.5 x 3.5 in) done for the WetCanvas exchange I'm doing. I was intrigued by this blue flower...a clematis maybe?

Scenic Cove

This is a half-sheet painting done from a photo reference I took in Maine last summer. It has been sitting in my living room for quite a while while I keep playing with it. I think I need to stop now.

Winter Ride

This was done right after I came home from my workshop with Eric Wiegardt. I was still thinking about painting snow the way he did. The people were from some photos I took during the snowstorms here this winter. The painting is 11 x 15.

Waterlily Pour

This was done with the same process like the camellia below. I had fun with the negative painting around the lily pads. If I had the room, I'd like to try one in a larger size. This is only about 7 x 10. It's so difficult to not drip paint on everything in the area while you tilt and tip and pour paint.

Camellia Pour

This past week I decided to join in with a group of artists doing pours on WetCanvas. I had tried pours last year, but wasn't too happy with the results. I think I learned a lot from those. This took lots of layers of paint and LOTS of masking. I'm really happy with the way this came out. It's always a surprise to pull off the masking and see what is there. Negative painting came in handy too.

Opening Sunflower

This is another ATC (2.5 x 3.5) done for my exchange on WetCanvas. I liked the image of the sunflower when I took the photo, not quite opened. It was so different from any sunflower painting I had seen.

Hibiscus I & Hibiscus II

I decided to post these as a pair. Both were sent out in my ATC exchange. It was fun to do those curly leaves on a small card. I think I would have a hard time doing this larger, but may give it a shot.

Magnolia I

I love when the magnolia trees are in bloom, so I had to do at least one magnolia blossom for my ATC exchange. This is 2.5 x 3.5 and was done from one of my reference photos taken last spring.

Windmill

This was painted from a reference photo from AlainJ for the Weekend Drawing Event on WetCanvas. It is 7 x 10 and done in watercolors and ink. Those blades on the windmill were a real challenge for me.

Carolina Pier

This was a postcard sized (4 x6) ink and watercolor that I painted from my hotel room at the SpringMaid Resort where the watercolor workshop was held. Why did I paint this beautiful scene from the room? It was raining outside and I decided I needed to get my fingers moving before the workshops started.

Art Award

This blog award was given to me by Holly Lombardo http://www.paintedpaperbyholly.blogspot.com/ , one of the super artists listed on my "Links." I've admired her watercolors and acrylics for quite a while, and last summer I had luck to finally meet her while she was vacationing with her family in Maine. Many thanks, Holly for your support and encouragement. In return I am to nominate 7 other artists whose work I admire and then tell you 7 things I like.



It is difficult to select only seven friends whose work I enjoy and who I admire. I would like to nominate these artists (in no particular order). Please do not feel obligated to participate, but you have my admiration anyway! I know that some of you have received similar awards in the past and that participating in this takes a bit of time which seems to be in short supply for most of us.

1 . Michelle Himes (my sister) who's wonderful watercolors inspired me to begin watercolor painting, She is a good art partner, plein air partner, and workshop partner whenever I want one, and a great sister too. http://www.mhwatercolornotes.blogspot.com/


2 . Jeanne Grant who participates in so many projects where she shares her wonderful art. I met her through WetCanvas and we have shared many scavenger hunts, exchanges, and projects together. She inspires me to get involved in projects and exchanges. http://www.jeannegrant.blogspot.com/

3. Robyn Sinclair who lives in Tuscany (Sigh!) and does gorgeous work in watercolor, oils, pen & ink, and recently prints. She has the courage to try new mediums even if the language difference between her and her instructor is difficult at times. http://www.havedogswilltravel.blogspot.com/

4 . Ai Nukoolkit who lives in Thailand. Her love of color shows through in her lovely watercolors, acrylics, and inks. Even with a husband and small child she finds a way to participate on many projects. http://www.aiarts.blogspot.com/

5. Lin Frye who does wonderful watercolors and no matter what her day has been like at work, still posts something daily! I so admire her dedication to painting and blogging as well as enjoying her lovely work. http://www.viewfromtheoak.blogspot.com/

6. Anita Davies who is from the United Kingdom. Anita amazes me with the number of art projects she has been involved in and the number of wonderful art journals she has created. She has recently taught and spoke about journaling to encourage other artists. http://www.artbyanita.blogspot.com/

7. Jo Castillo is a wonderful pastel painter from Texas. She loves plein air painting and believes in the importance of art friends and support. She often spends time with other artists and participates in artisic charitable fundraisers. http://www.jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/

Now for the 7 things I love. Again in no particular order.

1. FAMILY & FRIENDS- THE BACKBONE OF LIFE!

2. SKETCHING & PAINTING- FOOD FOR THE SOUL!

3. THE BEACH- RELAXING, INVIGORATING, AND INSPIRING!

4. THE FEEL OF THE SUN ON MY BODY- ENERGY AND COMFORT!

5. CHOCOLATE - COULD THERE BE LIFE WITHOUT IT?

6. TRAVELING - SEEING AND SHARING THE WORLD!

7. MUSIC- A BIG PART OF THE HEART OF LIFE!

Eric Wiegard Workshop - Day 5 - "Snowy Walk"

The focus for the final day of Eric Wiegard's workshop was to have an area of dominance in your painting. He wanted us to use less detail and value as we went away from the dominant area. He did a snow scene, and since I didn't have any snow photos with me, I borrowed one of his and one from my sister, Michelle, and combined parts of them. My final painting for the workshop was "Snowy Walk."

I know I learned a lot from Eric. I may not be brave enough to paint on full sheets (22 x 30in) again, but a lot of what he showed us could fit into any paintings. Thanks Eric, for a great workshop! Also, many thanks to the other students (including my sister) at Springmaid Beach where the workshop was held, for all your friendship and inspiration that week!

Eric Wiegard Workshop - Day 4 - "Key West Cottage"

On the fourth day Eric did a street scene with flowers and figures. He encouraged us to make a commitment ot our value shifts and to try to leave some connecting light shapes. I used a photo I had taken in Key West in November for my painting "Key West Cottage." I also planned ahead to do the windows so that each was different. He suggests having them look like different shaped puzzle pieces. I was happy with the strong values I got in this one.

Eric Wiegard Workshop - Day 3 - Venice Street Scene

Here is a continuation of Eric's workshop. He did a street scene with buildings and figures on damp paper the third day. He stressed that it is more important to get the values and shapes in a group of figures than including all the details. I used one of my photos from Italy to paint "Venice Street Scene." His comment to me was to paint the windows more like puzzle pieces than as even rectangles. I tried to vary some of the windows on the right by softening the edges, and tried to vary them more in the building on the left. I was really happy with the color blending on the buildings on the right. His mixing process really lets the different colors show through.

Eric Wiegard Workshop - Day 2 - "Maine Cove"

Here is a continuation of the workshop with Eric Wiegard. The second day's lesson was on not overmixing the paints on the palette, and connecting shapes similar in value. Eric would touch his brush to 3, 4, or 5 colors and them do a figure 8 on the palette to just barely mix the colors. That way there would be a variety of colors in each stroke. He did a value sketch of a marine scene and then did a full sized painting. Having been around boats his whole life, he knows what all the parts are and what they look like. Even with a photo I'm sitting there trying to figure out what certain parts are and what they're connected to. lol I did this painting from one of my own photos of Maine.

Eric Wiegardt Workshop - Day 1 - "Carolina Barn"

Last week my sister and I took a workshop wiht Eric Wiegardt. We worked loosely and boldly (I hope!) with large brushes on full sheet (22 x 30 inches) paper which was a new experience for me. The class was great and I hope I learned some things that I can incorporate into my own work.

The first day Eric started with a pencil value sketch of a landscape using only 3 values. He followed that with a single color painting and then a full color painting. He stressed value shifts and when painting to have the lighter washes run through or into the darker values. He also told us to focus on saving our lights. I painted "Carolina Barn" from photos I had taken recently while driving through North Carolina. (Many thanks to Lin Frey for steering me to some great barn roads!)

Sunrise at Myrtle Beach

I've been down in Myrtle Beach, SC at a watercolor workshop for a while. I haven't taken photos of the paintings I did at the workshop yet, but this is a postcard I painted of the sunrise one morning while we were there. I was rooming with my sister and I didn't want to wake her up while I did this, so I painted it in near darkness. The only light I had was what was coming through the window while I painted. I think I captured the sunrise fairly well.