L'Arlesienne Lady

12x16 oil on panel

Ask Edward Montgomery Fine Art about this painting.

Just shipped this piece off to Carmel. I haven't been doing much but preparing for my upcoming show. This week I am framing the last, boxing and going to ship. Then I can breathe a sigh of relief that my part is done and I can slow down for summer. Its heating up in Texas. A little weekend on the coast of NC will be a lovely break - opening June 15th. If you're in the area of Swansboro, I'd love to meet you in person!

The people above are reading about the Van Gogh painting of Marie Ginoux which is at the Met in NYC. I didn't make it into the museum on my recent trip. Our days were so full of painting that we were exhausted by the late afternoon and not good for much more than a delicious dinner and a glass of wine. One of these days, I need to make a trip with my family and be a real tourist in the city. Really, there is so much to do and see, its difficult to do it even in a long weekend.

Park People Sketches

I can't stress enough how great it is to get out of the studio -- not just for a morning of plein air -- but for a longer trip to really immerse yourself in creating art fully. It was so amazing to have no other plan for a day than to paint! Once back home, I am juggling my many roles and dealing with end of school activities. I'm also working hard to finish up my work for my show opening at Tidewater Gallery June 15th.

When I wasn't painting in NYC, I was relaxing on a bench people watching and sketching. There was something inspiring in every direction. 

I've been so excited to get to work on new paintings too. And I can't wait to start showing my blog friends the new work. Soon!!

New York sketches

I'm in the big apple painting in a workshop with Kim English. We're in day 3 and one more to go. It's a huge challenge. I need to try something other than this purple/yellow combo as you can see from some of my sketches!

Windy Beach on She Magazine Cover

I've had the honor of having one of my paintings printed on the cover of She Magazine - a faith-based publication located in South Carolina. Its a nice bit of publicity but even more of an honor because the May issue is all about motherhood. Its lovely to have my painting  reflect all those hard-working, infinitely loving, guiding, and nurturing moms out there. Happy Mother's Day early!

The painting Windy Day is available at Edward Montgomery Fine Art gallery in Carmel. Its 12x9 oil on panel.

Beacon Baitshop

11x14 pastel sketch on Ampersand Pastelbord
$250
PURCHASE

This is my final more "fully realized" plein air work from the past weekend at the Texas coast. It was the first time I'd used pastels on location. It was very different. I lack colors and can't "mix" them and I really had to stop and think about things that might have been more automatic with oil paint.
We found a place right up against the Lighthouse Inn to paint so we'd be in shade and out of the wind which was really whipping that morning. Overall though I think this little sketch came together nicely.

Estuary

9x12 oil on panel - nfs

Saturday morning we got to go out to Crane House which is a private wildlife sanctuary and bed & breakfast. It was beautiful and our host, Al, was very gracious and clearly loved this special place. We saw an alligator smiling on the bank, we saw pretty pink-footed whistling ducks and lots of deer. No whooping cranes though at this time of year. During winter, they are found in the estuaries I painted above. The mosquitoes could have carried us away if not for the wind. 

This is not my cup of tea - painting vistas. I learned a long time ago when I was painting the landscape regularly that I just could not do long vistas. My friend Terri asked if I was near-sighted or far. I'm near-sighted - and without contacts/glasses - I can barely see my hand in front of my face. She, on the other hand, is far-sighted and can't see well close up. So when we painted up close subjects in the dockyards, I was happiest. It made me wonder if vision is really a factor even with corrective lenses? I obviously like to paint things close up, intimate and personal. I like to have things cropped in the foreground, or door frames, or something framing a scene even. Its an interesting idea. Terri enjoyed this long distance view and much of her work is of western desert scenes from a high perspective. I liked my sky above. That is about it. Oh, and because of the wind and insects, we timed ourselves and painted just 30 mins. or so. I hope to go back when the cranes are there. What a sight that must be!