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!

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.

Bucket-Fulls

9x12 pastel

I haven't worked in pastels since taking Margaret Dyer's workshop in March. I got a few ampersand boards (which I really like) and I got some more colors as I needed some more interesting dark colors. And since I've been working away diligently on my June show, I thought I'd take a break and play with pastels for a bit. This is a work in progress, but its coming along. My favorite part? His ears! :-)

This weekend I am heading for our Texas coast with Plein Air Austin folks for a painting retreat. It will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to some interesting new subjects to play with as well as all the camaraderie of hanging out with a bunch of accomplished artists.

Peony Tea Room

14x11 oil on panel

Available at Castle Gallery for the Living Color show, opening May 11.

This little tea house has been the source of much inspiration for me. I need to get back to Fort Wayne for another visit! The restaurant is in a beautiful historic home not far from Castle Gallery and they serve a lovely traditional English tea.

Promenade - WIP

Wow - was it only two weeks ago I painted? Seems like months. We had a trip, we brought home some exciting viruses, and I've been nursing everyone and exhausted otherwise. I managed to stay well, thank goodness. I finally got everyone well and out of the house and managed to paint this week. But what a struggle! Its like I forgot how. Its amazing how a little time off can make the brain and the body forget. I thought by trying a simple subject and using my timer that I'd be able to step right in. But it didn't work. I made mud and couldn't figure out how to mass things in and then work them into nicer shapes. So I went back to the drawing board, literally. I had to lightly draw the whole scene on my panel and color in the lines practically. Its more like putting a puzzle together. And it was rather meditative.

30 Minute Start

10 minutes

30 minutes


Final
10x12 oil on panel

I frequently post work in progress on my Facebook page, but haven't done so here in awhile. I am working on paintings for my "First Impressions" show which will be at Tidewater Gallery opening June 15th.

I still work with my kitchen timer as a way to get that initial impression sketched down as quickly as possible. Once I have the big shapes massed in, I can work as long as I like modifying those shapes and working them into smaller divisions. I like the looseness and variety of brushwork that I get during the quick block in phase, its all about the energy and excitement of inspiration. I get my idea down before any external distractions can pull me away and before I analyze and question the idea to death.

I don't spend a lot of time after the timer goes off. For small works, I often stop there and love the results. But with larger works, I will go into the focal area and make more sense of things and get some nice hard or soft edges and modify colors and shapes. You can see the difference in the figure above... when the timer went off, I had the big shapes there, but spent some time bringing that figure out of the dark. In the background, I only added a few suggestions of the door, the door frame and the lamp - the rest was left alone after the first mad rush.
I'm not sure I explain this well... but it works so well for me. I find if I don't stop and paint what first inspires me, and if I spend too long composing, drawing, analyzing, etc. then I lose the "vision." The only preparation I make is to draw an X across the board and use a viewfinder with 2 strings likewise, or draw those lines across my photo reference to give me a way to measure quickly. I recently got the MVP viewfinder (scroll down on her page) from the fabulous Peggi Kroll Roberts and its pretty neat - but a whole gird is more time consuming. Maybe a few dots could mark those lines... will give that a try perhaps tomorrow.

Treasur Seeker

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
PURCHASE

Giddy

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
PURCHASE

Gorgeous day in Austin today! Had a leisurely lunch at an outdoor dining area in the Domain, strolled an outdoor art festival, listened to some live music and enjoyed family time. Not a day at the beach, but a close second. :-)

Leading Edge

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
sold

Back from Loretta Goodwin Gallery's Tiny Treasures show which was held over from the holidays. I will have several more of these small beach scenes to share in the coming days.

Anything But Pedestrian

Anything But Pedestrian
12x18 oil on panel
PURCHASE

I've been doing some reading about Pinterest. I know some of my friends love it and I know a lot of artists are very annoyed with the lack of accreditation for shared images and copyright infringement. I don't use it. I figure its just one more thing to keep up with and keep me from painting.

I haven't had copyright issues. I am sure it would suck if I find out that someone has stolen my creative efforts to make a profit for themselves. Frankly, I guess I don't believe my work is good marketing material and I don't think I am "there" yet to copy. But I looked up my blog on Pinterest today and saw a few paintings had been shared. And then they were shared again. And to be honest, I was rather flattered to see that my work was counted as favorites among some of my most favorites artists - Dan McCaw, Sargent, Johannah Harmon, Matisse...Whistler! They did have some beautiful art grouped! But me in there? Really? That is amazing to me. No, I wasn't credited in all the pins. But clicking the image takes you to my blog it seems so that is cool.

I did however drop in a "no pin" meta code on this blog... the only one I can control. But the daily painting galleries my work appears in allows the pins and I will leave that for now. When you are putting your artwork up in a public showcase, there is every chance for it to meander off and be shared, posted, blogged, tweeted, pinned, fav'd, and lose its way. We can't control who prints it at home and makes a poster of it for their wall. I am not one to believe everyone has malicious intent and am flattered that people like my work enough to share it. And who knows when one of those shares might lead to a buyer finding me and my work.

There are ways to safeguard your images and prevent them from being copied and sold, of course. Posting small or low resolution images, including a copyright name on the image, watermarks, etc. But again, that takes more time than I want to spend. There are just too many ways in which artists could spend their days working electronically rather than painting. Between the online galleries, forums, auction sites, email and social network/marketing, it makes my head spin!

Speaking of sales sites, I posted this painting and another larger one in my ETSY shop. If you aren't a member or don't want to sign up to purchase there, email me and I can invoice you directly.

A Well Balanced Diet

12x12 oil on panel
Weekend Special - $350 + s/h
sold

This is in my studio and can soon be in your home! Its available unframed for a special price this weekend only. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

The Beignet Beat

12x8 oil on panel

Ask Castle Gallery about this painting.

What I wouldn't give right now for a beignet from Cafe du Monde. I need to take another trip there. Its been too long!

In The Night Kitchen

14x18 oil on linen

Ask Tidewater Gallery about this painting.

Back to promoting some of my available work at my representing galleries. This is a scene from a NYC cupcake shop. It was a rainy evening walking past this yummy storefront where the bakers were probably getting a head start on the morning confections.
You can see all the available inventory on the pages linked at the top of the blog. My website is woefully out of date but Blogger has made their blogs so useful that I can create pages for all my galleries and collectors can easily see what is available where.

I guess I will share here that I've been having difficulties communicating with one of my galleries. They are no longer shown on my links. I asked for my work to be returned to me 4 months ago. They just sent back 2 this week. I am not sure if they sold the others and if I will ever see my portion of the sales. I had to file a complaint with the BBB and threaten legal action for them to just send the work to me. This was after letters, weekly emails and countless phones messages. In all these months, I've only had one email response and once I actually caught one of the owners on the phone. They never answer during business hours. I do not actually know if they are in business or not any longer. Its a very frustrating deal.

Sometimes, no matter how enthusiastic someone is to represent your art, it just doesn't work out well. And sometimes, it goes very badly. Its hard times for galleries as well as artists. And while I might want to just be creative all the time, I know its very important to follow through with people and be a good business person. We need to work together to weather this economy. If they had just communicated with me, we could have worked things out amicably.

My advice for those looking for representation is to always talk to other artists represented in the gallery. Get their feedback about the business owner, the staff, and payment schedule. Always have a written/signed agreement or contract laying out terms of the commissions. Visit the gallery if you can. And keep in touch. Pick up the phone or email regularly to check in. Find out what is selling and what clients are interested in. And if you have any concerns, voice them and act.

Even with these things going for you though, sometimes things just go awry, as in my case. I still don't want to believe they are bad people, maybe just bad at business. I can't reach them to talk about it though...

Branching Out

Last week, I got to study with the fabulously talented Margaret Dyer at Wenmoh's Ranch not far from Austin. It was my first time using pastels and I learned so much. I haven't really tried other mediums before, I've been so focused on painting in oils for the last 10+ years. So this year I'm trying to allow myself some creative play and challenges. This was a great first step! I really enjoyed this workshop and working with pastels. Its gotten my creative juices flowing and helped me mentally get past the difficulties I'm having with the gallery.

We had models the first two days and the last day we worked from photos which Margaret shared. Here are my last two efforts. From her photos. I've shared more on Facebook if you want to look at "mobile uploads" on there.


Lucky for me, the workshop was only about an hour from Austin and I was able to drive back and forth each day. Margaret is a wonderful teacher and creates the most beautiful paintings. My thanks to Dena Wenmohs for a great workshop. I think everyone had a very nice time and learned a lot. I can't wait to continue to create with pastels here at home.

Discussing Tonight's Menu

20x16 oil on linen

Ask Studio 47 about this painting.