"Farm Pines February"

"Farm Pines February"

10"x8" oil on Raymar panel

The last couple of weeks I've been able to get out a few times to paint en plein air. This is my first of the season, from February 19th. Amazing to be painting relatively comfortably outside this time of year! And so welcome. I tried to remember everything we learned in our fall class with Tina Ingraham, and couldn't resist a little calligraphy in the treetops.

"Apples and Calvados"

"Apples and Calvados"

11"x14" oil on canvas

This painting is one of my favorites for the upcoming French Show at the Yarmouth Frameshop and Gallery. Like this one from Tina Ingraham's class, the calligraphy is the last step, which is really fun. I love drawing, and it's drawing on your painting. In fact, I was kind of frustrated with the painting, especially the mustard jar which I had taken 4 runs at, wondering if the whole thing was going to resolve. So I thought, OK, calligraphy time, let's see what happens. And basically everything happened. You've heard people say "the painting will tell you what it needs". I would say it told me what it liked, as I tried various marks, wiped them off and tried again.

Please join us at the show opening, 4-7PM on Saturday, at the Yarmouth Frameshop and Gallery, 720 US Route One, Yarmouth, ME.

"Normandy Trees"

"Normandy Trees"

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Here's another for our upcoming show featuring paintings of Normandy. I'm pleased with what I learned about painting skys on our recent trip to Normandy with instructor Carolyn Walton. The trip was organized and run by Joelle Feldman. Take a look at Joelle's pastels for the show on her blog. They are beautiful.

"Moonlight in Paris"

"Moonlight in Paris"

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

The temptation to name this one "Midnight in Paris" was strong, but it wasn't midnight when Mary and I were walking along the Seine near the pont des Arts and saw the beautiful lighted dome of the Institut de France. Once again, for our upcoming show. Wouldn't it have been fun to actually paint this as a nocturne, en plein air?

It's really had to photograph something this dark, this is a little red despite my Photoshop magic.

"We're All Ears"

"We're All Ears"

6"x8" oil on Raymar panel

These guys are from a different farm than the previous pair, no brown spots, just black. Like our vanilla cows at the gite, they were marvelously curious, watching everything we did. And listenineg. They will go to the February show in Yarmouth as well.

"Curious Cows"

"Curious Cows"

6"x8" oil on Raymar panel

I was totally taken by the cows in Normandy. We had them right in our yard, though ours were solid cream color. These guys were really cute, I love the eye makeup. It's another for our upcoming show at the Yarmouth Frameshop and Gallery.

"Normandy Storm"

"Normandy Storm"
6"x8" oil on Raymar panel

I'm working on paintings for our February show inspired by last fall's visit to Normandy. Two of the plein air paintings I did on the trip will be included (see them here and here). I enthusiastically attempted the scene above the night we arrived at our gite, but wiped it off in frustration. So here's a more thought out version, after a couple of sky painting lessons from Carolyn, done from a photo. More on the show in upcoming posts.

"Still Life With Apples"

"Still Life with Apples"
16"x12" oil on canvas

The final lesson in our class with Tina Ingraham, was a study of the still life paintings of Cezanne. Then we each set up a Cezanne-like still life of our own, and tried to use all of the previous lessons to paint from it. I particularly liked the calligraphy as a finishing touch, it was lots of fun.

Happy Holidays!

"Ornaments" (from 2009)
6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Happy Holidays to all my painting friends. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and painting with you over this last year.

"Lizzy" - NFS

"Lizzy"
7.5"x9" pencil, charcoal, Conte crayon on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

For my friend Suzanne's birthday, I did this drawing of her new kitten, Lizzie.