Love and a Blizzard Story

"Love"

4x4 oil on panel

Feeling fortunate to be in Florida as winter storm Juno wreaked havoc and destruction on coastal Massachusetts. 

I have first hand memories of the Blizzard of '78 which caused the same kind of devastation. 

My sister and I were living in Humarock, a peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the South River and I say with no exaggeration, we escaped with our lives.

Blizzard of 1978 ~ Humarock, Massachusetts

This photo, which ran in the Boston Globe shows my sister's Ford truck, which we abandoned when it began to float, resting on about 10 feet of sand. There was no road to drive out on but we tried anyway. The whole thing was surreal.

On a lighter note. The quintessential flower of love is the rose. Check out Girls Just Wanna Paint for other interpretations of "love".

Tiny Paintings

Red Barn 4"x4"

oil on planel

It seems like winter is just going to hang on here in New England so this painting of a red barn in the not so long ago snow seems appropriate. I'm used to being a snowbird and yesterday as I walked the beach in wind whipping 45 (feels like 30) degrees, I thought about Naples but, it was 91 degrees there. Is there no happy medium?
This is a tiny painting and it's leading you to more tiny paintings by Sharon McGauley, an artist from Maine and the Cape. I love how her tiny paintings look so BIG!

Maine Fish House

Stonington Maine Fish House

4x4 oil on panel
Click to Buy

I began this painting in Maine a month ago and attempted to finished it yesterday. I wanted to call it " The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", because it contains a bit of each but the good news is that tomorrow is another day. For which I am thankful ;)

Drive By #3 Late December Light

"Late December" 4x4 oil on panel
SOLD

I painted this view, looking up my street, in watercolor once before and from that study, I did this, for day 3 of the 30 in 30 challenge. Problem is, I couldn't paint yesterday because I was working, so this is going up on day 4.  Leslie has it worked out so that we can add our paintings to the previous days posts within an allotted timeline. BUT, it has to already be posted to the blog, or it can't be uploaded. So I'm posting it and uploading it and getting right onto days 4 & 5 :D

Are you confused yet?  

Oh, what I love about the late winter is the fiery afternoon light.

Postcard From SSI

4x4 oil on Gesso Board

I've been on the lam on St Simon's Island, Georgia with a 'gaggle' of notorious painters who shall remain nameless unless they choose to reveal their identity and let y'all know who they are ;) 
Yes, you heard me say 'Y'all' and I 'might could' be using some other Southern slang after hanging around in Georgia 'on my mind'.
This tiny study which includes the causeway onto the Island is 4x4 inches and was done on Monday afternoon when the weather was rainy and overcast giving a misty violet grey light to the marsh.

Strawberries and my 'kids'

Strawberries 4x4 

oil on board

Artists who teach always say that they learn so much from their students and it really is a two way street. These are my 'kids' (Carol Marine's expression and I'm proud to be one of hers) Beth and Linda who have both exceeded their expectations this winter. They've been coming to my home studio each Monday for 10 weeks now and although they are fairly new to oil painting they 'got it' right off the bat. They are diligent and paint outdoors and between classes. It came up today in a discussion about workshops that some artists are reluctant to share their"secrets" with their students so I generously shared my secret which is, that there is no secret. It's all hard work, learning to 'see' and painting miles of canvas.

Linda 

Beth

Peeping Out

"Peeping Out"
4x4 oil on Gesso Board

Happy Easter and Passover. May you all have peace and joy in your lives and when it just isn't there, may you have hope for the future. Special thoughts go out to some dear friends who are dealing with great loss, in one case and with a battle for restored health in the other. My two Lindas. Love you both.

Gardenia in Red

"Gardenia in Red"

4x4 oil on gesso board

This time I dressed this gardenia in red. I must cruise around the neighborhood and see if anyone has gardenia bushes I can clip a bloom off of. 

I will ASK first. Promise.

Gardenia in a Jar

"Gardenia"
6x6 oil on gesso board
$150 
Buy Now 

Moving right along, I turned my studio air conditioner to 66* and painted away. Despite the cool breezes, a bit of humidity has moved into Southwest Florida. 
JoAnn Sanborn gave me a Gardenia from her garden and I refrigerated  it so it would keep until I could paint it. This is a tiny 4x4 inch painting but I'm hoping it looks HUGE :D
Also, it has a beautiful scent and because it's a bit 'gone by', I put it atop the medicine cabinet where it's invisible but, not ;)

Drive By Toll Booth

Drive By Toll Booth
4x4 oil on gesso board 

I don't know how we managed to arrive at an EMPTY toll booth on Rte. 95 but it seems we did! For the past 12 years Don and I and the furry ones have been driving to Naples and back on this Interstate. 
Although I have many, many photos of scenes from the road, I still ride shotgun clicking away as though I've never seen any of it before. But there's the light and the weather and the time of day which all factor into each trip so sometimes I see a better version of something than I have before. Or at least I think I do. I love the abstract quality to toll booths and bridges and water tanks and gas tanks. I love being on the road.
Check out Karin Jurick's from Georgia to NYC and Back, paintings which are also scenes of Interstate 95. Her recent post, "ribbons in the sky" inspired me to look through my photos for that very scene which I think is Washington, DC.
Don't be surprised to see my version of it soon. I KNOW I have a photo ;)