Shades of Summer

8x8 oil on panel
$375 + s/h
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Ah summer - I had to get to the beach at least in my mind! We will try to hit the Texas coast sometime this summer. But I will miss the Florida gulf beaches a lot. The water there is so beautiful.

Sunset Stroll

8x8 oil on panel
$225 + s/h

Last year I did some painted sketches for a possible commission. The idea was to capture a family, with young boys specifically, on the beach. I have several of these available still so thought I'd share them here.

Texas Rose

11x14 oil on panel - nfs

This past weekend I went to the Texas Coast - Rockport/Fulton area - with Plein Air Austin. We had 10 artists attend the retreat and enjoyed the challenge of painting some really tough subject matter in some equally tough conditions. The wind was up, to say the least. The oystermen on these boats didn't like it any better than we did. This boat was begging to be painted with the afternoon light hitting the one side. My friend Terri painted along with me - here she is at work on her beautiful watercolor.

It was really cool to be alongside the working docks and watching the boats come in with shrimp and oysters. They would offload them directly to a waiting refrigerated semi for overnight delivery I bet. "Texas Rose" was the name of the red boat, but with the wind, there was no way I could paint a straight enough line to try to get that on the bow.

Beach Girl

8x10 oil on paper
$125 incl. shipping
PURCHASE

Even with 30 minutes on the timer, I think I put too much info in the water and waves. I think had it been more graphic or solid in color it would have made the figure stand out more and been less busy.

Also - she appears very, very red (rock lobster) on my computer, but she isn't so in the painting. Can't make the red less intense.

Sister's Care

8x8 oil on panel

Available at Loretta Goodwin Gallery

I've spent my morning preparing and packing six small paintings to go to Alabama to the gallery for their "Tiny Treasures" show opening December 1. I hope people are thinking of decorating their beach homes, because everything I have painted were beach scenes! Obviously a favorite subject of mine!

Day Glo

6x6 oil on panel
sold

This was also sent to Castle Gallery a couple of weeks ago and it sold during their opening reception. I just now realized that its very much about complements. I know I am drawn to things that are 1. very strongly lit; 2. colorful; and 3. interesting perspectives... but I didn't notice this was very much about complements; something that we played with in our monthly challenge last month. I know some of the others continued to play with a limited palette using complements since that exercise. I am thinking of using a limited palette maybe for this summer. As I travel, it will be good perhaps to have less to carry and less to fuss over when I want to get a quick sketch at the beach.

The work of Kevin Weckbach comes to mind when I think of someone using a limited palette and complements really well. His work is wonderfully fresh, loose and unique. Check him out.

California Coast

Somewhere on the California Coast

3.5 x 2.5 oil on playing card

The cards I've worked on these last couple of days were "reclaimed"... I found them on the street actually a long time ago. So they have a few divets or pock marks from being run over. They are adequate for my initial experiments. Though I have several decks of cards in the house which we never use. I will gesso them this weekend and get them ready to work on.

What to do with the miniature paintings? Well, they are the size of the ACEO - or art cards - so they can be framed, matted or floating, or compiled in an album collection.

Central Florida

These are just some tiny oil sketches I've done trying to record my memories of scenes we've passed while driving around. We went tubing on the Ichetucknee river a couple of days ago and drove out to a neat little hamlet along the gulf marshes. Today we're packing for our beach week. We go to Amelia Island Saturday morning.

Pier Surfing at Galveston

10x10 oil on panel

Hopefully this looks a little like California because that is where its going. It doesn't resemble Galveston anymore since the piers were wiped away by hurricane Ike. From what I have heard, the damage was great and the recovery slow. Keep your good thoughts going that way.

Tomorrow is the day we post our Monthly Challenge Group painting. I just finished mine but can't show you yet! It was a fun challenge which pushed me in several ways.

California Dreamin'

12x12 oil on panel
Available at Gallery laPlace

I did this on Wednesday actually - before my difficulties yesterday. And I am really, really pleased with it. I am not sure if I have a favorite subject (location, rather, because people are my favorite subjects) but the beach would rank right up at the top. Then probably cafes. At any rate, these two young men were walking back to their cars late afternoon. It being a scene from Rockport beach (Texas gulf coast,) I thought that the title might be what they are thinking. Rockport can offer little excitement for boogie boards or body surfing.

This painting will be available at Gallery laPlace in Georgia in a couple of weeks. Its framed in an antiqued black with a gold lip. Stay tuned for the opening information.