Festival of The Arts

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my painting was hung on the entry wall at the annual North River Arts Society juried show. Thanks David ;) This is a wonderful event in it's thirty first year due to a dedicated volunteer staff. It encompasses art, music, dance, poetry, crafts and horticulture and takes place on Old Main Street in Marshfield Hills Village each Memorial Day Weekend. GO! Also, I will be at the Beacon Hill Art Walk next Sunday with a many other artists. Come on over and see me.

Paint Out

Yesterday I met Kelley and Ros and we painted in Hull. It was a glorious day. I shot a bunch of photos and did a nice block-in of the old building which houses the repair shop for the carousel horses. Very old fashioned and cool. There was on old Jeep out front and that's what I focused on. I hindered myself some by not having a proper setup (no side table to put stuff on, hand held palette, etc.) and I muddied up the color too much from not switching brushes. The photo is the initial sketch. The main thing is that it was fun. Afterward I went up to the Cemetery by the old Fort, took more pictures and enjoyed the clear view of Boston Light and the Harbor Islands, Graves Light, Minot's Light and the Boston skyline! Awesome!

Pin Cushion # 1 4x4

Who knew you could have so much fun with a pin cushion? Who knew you could have so much fun with a blog? It's an online gallery and virtual world of fantastic artists, all in touch because of the internet. This morning I received two emails that really made my day. Edward B Gordon of Berlin, Germany, makes the point that the blogosphere really levels the playing field in the art world, big gun artists right alongside, 'never had a show' artists, and because of the bargain basement prices all over this and other blogsites, anyone can be the first to bid on a painting and take it away, on a first come first served basis. Another email from Brad Bisbey whose prolific people paintings, in all media, ROCK, contained insightful and heartwarming comments about my work that I would never have if my work sat in my studio instead of residing on this blog. Check out my ever growing list of links over on the right to see the work of these, and many other artists, whose passion shows in their work. It's a beautiful thing . Our paintings are our faces. Doesn't matter who you are or aren't or what you look like. This is not a good photo of this painting, but after 8 tries, fah-ged-aboud-it!

One More Post

SOLD The washing is going in the machine and Don keeps trying to enlist me in his various chores. "Can you get the door?", "Could you hold this while I...", Can you clean out the fridge so I can throw stuff away?" "Let's go say good bye to Dan and Grace.", "is this...? Can you.....? ", "Where's the.....?" :D That's my hubby. Yesterday I went to hang up my laundry and sure enough. He left 4 clothes pins on the line and I had a dozen pieces of laundry over my shoulder. You gotta love it. We are alike but not, is the best way to put it! He'll be going to the card game at one and I'll have 4 hours to get stuff done. Works for me :D This cottage is in Truro, MA. I need to just finish up some rough spots here when I get home. No more posts 'til then. See You Sunday.

Practicing Avoidance

I swore I'd have a bunch of stuff in the trunk by this evening but I just couldn't put the studio away until I painted something. This 12"x12" panel has been waiting for me for to get started, although I've had the rough drawing on there for too long to mention. Not quite finished but I'm kinda liking it. The Winter Studio is officially closed as of tonight.

Paint, Paint ,Paint

We're as 'at home' here in SW Florida as we are 'at home' on Boston's South Shore. Friday morning we begin the long drive North. We don't fly because we need a car here and we have two cats. Also, I have too much stuff ;) I've begun to pack up the studio but, in keeping with my new work ethic, (thank you, Rona, eBlogger, KCM, and all who have visited and commented on my work) I still have a few set ups around and did a short block in just to keep at it. I bought this sweet Chinese tableware at Job Lot and the cool towel at Dollar Tree. I'll try to finish it and post it before I go. As an admirer of Trevor Chamberlain's HUGE Landscapes on 6x8 inch boards, I'm also going for that grand scale in a small painting. Blogging is SO my kind of medium. Paint, upload, read a book, go to the pool, take a million photos, whatever. It's the connection with you all that's the fun part.

15 Minute Block-in 4x4

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I did a quick exercise today and came up with this. I'm attaching saw tooth hangers to the backs of all the paintings under 5x7 and finishing the edges. These sizes are great little nook and cranny paintings.

Pepper Trio Miniature

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Yup, this is a repeat. It's a 2.5 x 3.5 copy of a larger work I did previously. Sometimes it's good to do a repeat and... I do have a large pepper stash to work with. This needs get a tweak on the stems now that I see it up here.

Olive Trio Study 4x4

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Every painting is a learning experience. I tried to paint these olives on the 'infamous' octagonal plate, but had to wipe out the plate and create some draping. I aspire to do draping like Qiang Huang whose link is at the right. Practice makes perfect.

Bromeliad Plants 8x10

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I've slain the dragon of unfinished work here. This has been waiting for a while. I'm ready to let it go now. I love these plants. Visit Not Really A Cleaning Lady to see my photos of various places and things.

Snow on Mt Washington

This painting of Mt Washington was done in Brownfield, Maine. A little snow squall broke out on top of the mountain while I was painting. Way down in the left hand corner you can see a little white farmhouse, which gives this piece some scale. Yesterday I drove myself nuts trying to paint olives on that octagonal white plate. What was I thinking? But, I am not going to stop trying until I get that thing right!