Seaside Lulliby

 This was a redemption effort.  I had an old self portrait from years ago that was just plain awful.  I don't like to waste canvas so I kept it thinking I would reuse it someday.  After years of ignoring it I finally was tired of seeing the old wretched attempt, and decided to paint over it with a new self portrait. 

Moments in the Waves

While spending time on the beach, I find it inspiring to see families and friends enjoy nature.  In this digital age when kids spend so much time with screens, it is refreshing to see children gleefully engaged with nature.

Happy Place 2

Oil version of Happy Place

The first version I did of this scene, a color study in pastel,  was posted earlier.  This is the second version is in oil.  This piece was accepted into the North River Art Society, Focus on Figures show and received an Honorable Mention!  I was thrilled as this is always a great show with submissions from around the world.

It is the second in a series of depictions of many happy moments on Amelia Island with 10 close college friends.  We have been reuniting once a year on this beach for 15 years.  Our moments there are priceless encounters of love and enduring friendship.  I wish to convey this sense of joy in the paintings in this series.

 I recently finished a commission to paint an old snap shot of a cafe in England that was operated by the client's mother and father-in-law, who are both now deceased.   Above is the finished piece.

There was not a lot of clear information on the 2 photos that were available but I guess that is where the artistic license comes in.  It was a challenge but I enjoyed attempting to create a piece that would be evocative.  Pastel can generate an almost etherial feel some times and since this piece was all about an old memory, I gave it a go first in pastel.  

The client was pleased and so am I.  

I am pleased that this little fella was accepted into the North River Arts Focus on Figures show.  

 

Girl with Garland

It has been a rough winter here in the Northeast!  But Spring has finally sprung!  On a recent day in my studio, I didn't have much time and was rummaging around in my reference photograph file to find something to paint.  I found this photograph of a young girl who had posed for a portrait class.  I had received it from my daughter, (who took the class!)  She had many beautiful poses and knew that I was always in need of painting inspiration and may enjoy painting some of them.   She was right!  Maybe it was the May Day like outfit, or soul-filled countenance, but I was so happy to paint this little portrait!  It has was well received recently at the North River Art Society's "Focus on Figures" show earning an honorable mention!  That was happy!

Almost Ready to Open

And here is my painting from today.  I decided that it is not fair for me to only post the paintings that I feel are somewhat successful.  I feel that I should post even the ones that don't work out so well, because there is something to be learned from every painting.

This is an example of a clunker!  I again was working in pastel.  This is a cute little restaurant in Door County Wisconsin.  They were just opening up and this man was busy sweeping up the side walk getting ready for the day.  It was the subject of a painting demo done by the instructor of my Plein Air workshop last summer.  (The instructor Tim Horn is a fabulous painter.  You can check out his website here: http://www.timhornart.com/ )

On this one, I worked just a bit too fast!  I lost some of the quality of the drawing in my haste to have fun with the color!   When I went back in to try and correct some lines, particularly with the Coca Cola sign, I found that I had so much pastel on the paper that it stopped taking new color.  I also tried to capture the sense of the plastic eisenglass curtain that was hanging on the porch.  I think I could do better! Oh well, ya win some and ya lose some!

I am definitely going to try this again because it brings back very happy memories and I love all the bright red!