Untitled

I just finished this painting. It is a gift for my daughter Kim. She asked me to paint it for her about 9 months ago when she moved into her new home in La Quinta, CA. I really hope that she loves it.

This was a painting done with love. I really put my heart into the creation of it. It is not my usual style but it was so much fun painting.

It has been a long time since I have painted in oils. It reminds me of the things I like and dislike about oils. I love the creamyness of the medium. Mixing colors, blending colors, adding lights over darks and leaving texture in the paint add to the wonder of the experience. On the negative side is the time it takes to paint and then dry and the clean up. In the very back of my mind are the thoughts of toxicity.

Now I need to spend more time getting ready for the spring art shows. It is an exciting but stressful time. I need to paint a few new paintings, get prints and notecards made up, matt and frame paintings and prints, get my supplies together, and make a few purchases. This is on top of my busy teaching schedule. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Well it will be as long as I don't pull my hair out. In the meantime I'm taking a trip to sunny Californ i a. Which will relax and inspire me.

My Blog

I think we all are stuck with the winter blues, waiting patiently for the arrival of spring. We have had a rough winter this year and I think we are all tired of it. So in anticipation of spring, I've been thinking about my blog and if there are ways of improving it. So I wanted to touch base with my readers on where I should be going next. So write to me about what you have enjoyed seeing and would like more of. Also let me know if there is anything else you would like to see me posting. I'm looking forward to your comments.

Thank you all for being so kind to me reading my posts and communicating how you enjoyed them. I hear from all of you through emails, and on facebook as well as in person. I really enjoy posting on my blog and hope to keep on going. So if you are so inclined make a comment. This will let everyone else know what your thinking.

I sure hope the winter is over soon and I know that spring is right around the corner.

Sirrico

Here's my latest portrait. This is the second time I painted Sirrico and I probably will paint him again. I am pleased with him and can see my improvement from portrait to portrait. But I am not 100% satisfied with him. Sound familiar?

Sirrico is a very nice young man and I met him when he was working with children at the Kempsville Recreation Center. He also is involved with music and writes children's books. He was the first person that I approached to photo for a painting and he was very kind about doing so.

I have been studying with Rieneke Leenders and concentrating on painting portraits. She paints magnificent portraits in watercolor and oils. Check out her website at http://www.rieneke.com/.

She has taught me a great deal about glazing colors. In this portrait I put down yellows, then reds then blues and browns mixed together. The yellows and reds shine thought the skin and gives it great tones. The problem that I had with this portrait is that I put so many layers down that the paint was just sitting on the surface and it was difficult to continue to work on and to touch up. In the future I need to try using 300 lb. paper which will hold more paint and/or using less layers by putting down more color for each layer.

I must apologize for not posting as frequently as in the past. I have been keeping very busy and am feeling a little stressed about not having enough time to do everything I want to do. Hope to visit with you again soon!!!

Koi III

I recently finished my latest Koi painting. Unfortunately the background is a little darker in the painting than in the photo. Whenever I paint the same subject over again, I am prone to compare the two paintings. And as usual there are things I like better about the first two and things I like better about this one.

In my previous Koi paintings the colors were more coordinated and I feel as if the fish and the water were more connected. In the water I had poured yellows and reds and they brought out those colors in the Koi. In this painting I think the fish themselves are more three dimensional . I also have slowly improved with the use of the fluid acrylics. Yes I will paint Koi again and this time I want to vary the shapes of the fish a little bit. They are certainly fun to paint.

Right now I'm busy going back to teaching and that means I'm getting into my teaching mentality. I keep striving for the perfect classes and yet I always end up finding somewhat better ways of presenting the same materials. I want to entice my students to come out of their selves and allow their paintings to soar. It is a very moving, changing and growing process.

"Blizzard" of 2010

This is Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach on Sunday the day after the "big" snow storm. It was amazing to see the city and the beach under a carpet of snow. It snows so rarely here that it really is an event when it does. The snow is so beautiful, the people are so animated and the children are really enjoying themselves playing in the white stuff. Now I need to start painting another scene of the snow! After all I sold Central Park.

Yellow Rose Garden

This is my most recent watercolor painting. I am very pleased with it. (OK only I know where the problem areas are.) It was a wonderful experience painting it on Masa paper. I feel as if I'm really coming along with painting on Masa paper. It can be pushed alot further then I had first thought. I actually felt like I was making breakthroughs while working on this painting. I also enjoyed painting multiple flowers in the same painting. I'm planning on trying another one soon.

Off the Wall Art Show

I wanted to let everyone know that four of my paintings are going to be in the Off the Wall Art Show at Norfolk Collegiate. The Opening is this evening but it is a ticketed event. But if you do not have a ticket you can visit the show January 23rd from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, January 24th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and January 25th through 27th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The location is Norfolk Collegiate lower school campus 5429 Tidewater Dr., Norfolk, VA.

Trees in the Sunset

This is my fourth and last 5 x 7 painting for the No Bigger than a Minute show at the East Beach Gallery. The Opening Reception on Friday was very nice. The art there was terrific and presented so well. John and Betty Hadfield always do a wonderful job at presenting the art in their gallery. If you have the chance stop on by and see it. They are open Tuesdays through Friday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. They are located at 9559 Shore Dr., Norfolk, VA. I think you will enjoy it.

Purple Clouds

Here's another one of my 5 x 7 watercolor and gouache paintings. I really enjoyed painting the sky and clouds. I used a fan brush and white gouache to blend the clouds into their unusual shape. I love experimenting with new techniques. It is amazing how doing something a little (or alot) differently, using a new tool or mixing media help you to get different looks.

The question I have is how using different materials and techniques effects your style. I feel that I'm starting to develop my style but when I try new "ways" of painting I wonder if it is different from my usual style of painting. Or is it just expanding my style? When I look at other artists work sometimes their style is consistent no matter what they do. But others have different styles for different ways of painting. For example an artist that I greatly admire, Birgit O'Conner paints vivid flowers that are crisp and sharp. She has very distinct way of painting. But her landscapes are more "watercolory", vague and almost mystical. They look like they could have been done by a different artist.

Well I guess I will just continue to explore new ways of doing things. I think I would be bored if I didn't. I just love the feeling when trying something new and "voila" it works!!!

Happy New Year

I want to wish everyone a wonderful New Year. I hope it is a great year in the world as far as world peace and economic prosperity. I hope everyone enjoys their family and friends and they experience good health. And I hope that you continue on the path of learning to see and appreciate the beauty in the world.


I have thought long and hard about the past year and the up and coming 2010. I have not made any New Year's resolutions as I hardly ever keep them. Why is that? Last year I made about five or six resolutions all with the greatest intentions on improving my life and the only one I kept was starting this blog!!! (I also had intentions on starting a website.) But if I was to make any resolutions they would be:
1. Loose weight.
2. Get fit.
3. Start my own website.
4. Sketch more often. (Last year I had said I would sketch every day. That lasted about 10 days.)
5. Organize all the stuff in my life.
And of coarse continue to paint and to improve my technique and style. Maybe I could just set these up as goals, not resolutions.


In looking back at 2009 I feel that I have developed as artist in many ways. I had a very busy year and I actually kept up with everything. (Well almost.) I was in approximately 20 art shows. I plan on doing less outdoor art shows this year and more indoor shows. I feel that I have improved my teaching skills and am getting ready to start a busy semester at the end of this month. I have worked primarily in watercolor and have really enjoyed it but I still keep trying new things. I spent alot of time working with Masa paper and feel that my paintings are improving. I posted Magnolias IV because I think it was one of the best paintings that I completed last year. I was sad to see it get sold. Right now I'm working on A Yellow Rose Garden. It has so much more to it and I'm being more daring in what I try to do on the Masa paper. I just hope everything goes well with it. One thing that I've learned from my teacher Rieneke Leenders is that watercolor is so much more forgiving than I thought it was. If I do something that does not work out so well there are ways of changing it so that you do not have to give up on the painting. And that is wonderful!