Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Support Surfaces

 I bought a few odd supports 
(surfaces to paint on) 
to play around with last fall 
and am finally getting around to it. 

" TBH"
8 x 10 oil sketch 

I'm continually trying out new ones and this 
was done on a cradled gesso board.  

No tooth, no drag;
but so fun to push juicy paint around. 
I used one big bristle brush and thick paint 
for the whole painting. 
No blending. 



Sunday, February 26, 2017

Winterized


This scene caught my eye recently 


while having lunch at a local marina.
I couldn't resist that spot of color
 surrounded by all that New England winter grey. 




"Winterized"
20 x 20 oil 
on cradled wood panel 




Friday, February 24, 2017

Upcoming Two Day Workshop



I'm excited about an upcoming two day 
workshop I'm giving at the 
Tuesday and Wednesday 
March 21, 22 
9:30 - 3:30 
ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT

"In this two day workshop, learn how to create more expressive paintings by balancing close observation with invention.  By breaking the subject down into big simple shapes and letting go of the details, we will explore ways to become more intuitive and spontaneous, while emphasizing color harmony, and strong composition. Through a series of quick exercises, demos, and critiques, we will discover how to create more expressive paintings, as opposed to merely copying what is in front of you. Students will work from simple still life set-ups and photographs, using a limited palette, large brushes and palette knives."


Sample exercises: 




Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Copley Society Juried Members Show

I'm honored that the image of my painting 
is featured on the invitation to
opening: 
Thursday Feb 23rd 
5:30 - 7 pm.
Come by if you're in the area!   

Ship Shapes
12 x 9 
oil 

FYI!
This was the first painting I did when I got to Gloucester
last September for my residency, 
generously offered by the Copley Society and 


Monday, February 20, 2017

Last Gouache Class


Last week we looked at images of some amazing paintings by 
Scottish artist Elizabeth Blackladder,
where she considers the space between objects 
as important as the objects themselves. 

Samples of her work: 



 We brought in random items that we thought would be fun to paint 
and put them on a low table in the center of the room. 

The idea was to play with shapes and spaces, 
with no regard to their perspective. 


It was certainly a fun challenge,
and one that I will try again!

I really enjoyed this class with Nancy Gruskin.
She is a talented and delightful instructor and I am inspired to
continue my experimentation with this fascinating medium! 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Marimekko Inspired Collage



More fun with color aid paper! 


"Sunrise
Cut Paper landscape 
10 x 9 

I was inspired by these Vintage 
Marimekko Fabric Samples
I purchased on Etsy. 





My mother-in-law introduced me to 
Marimekko fabrics
at Design Research in Cambridge in the 70's.
I have been a huge fan of the 
simple patterns of bold color  
ever since!  










Monday, February 13, 2017

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

 My daughter and her sweet husband brought me the most gorgeous 
bunch of red tulips, yellow mums, and white freesia yesterday
for my birthday. 

I couldn't wait to bring them over to the studio 
to paint them!  

"The Gift That Keeps on Giving" 
14 x 14 gouache

(I did the sketch for this looking down on the items.) 

Since I missed class last week,
 and they did more work with paper collage from paintings,
I did this from the painting. 


I can thank two of my favorite artists, 
for the inspiration to try out these new mediums!  


I think I need a bigger table for these projects! 


Thursday, February 9, 2017

Color Aid paper

I recently treated myself to a full box set of color aid paper 
and I'm finally getting around to playing with it. 
314 delicious colors! 


"Beachfront"
 12 x 12 Paper Collage 

I did this using just an exacto knife and ruler.
No scissors. 

It's refreshing to work in a new medium
and the possibilities are endless. 

I tried to limit myself to using darks and lights
 of just the three primaries. 
(Red, Blue, Yellow)   

I had left over shapes in the box, 
so I did this and tested a spray varnish on it.

(I did use scissors on the circles) 

It works! 





Sunday, February 5, 2017

Painting from a Paper Collage

I couldn't wait to 
try the next step of the assignment 
from class last week. 
(See previous post here) 

These are paintings done from the paper collages
I did from the paintings done in class.  



This is a terrific exercise
and great fun. 
Doing a painting of still life,
 then making a collage using the painting as a reference, 
then a painting using the collage as a reference!  
Talk about tricking yourself into breaking things down 
into big shapes of color. 






Friday, February 3, 2017

Polka Dot Pitcher


We did paper collages from our paintings 
in Nancy Gruskin's gouache class 
today and it was so fun. 

  8 x 7 paper collage 
(mine) 


First, we did a painting using this set up
for inspiration.  
  


I zoomed in to simply. 
(Loved that polka dot pitcher)  

She took the still life away,
and we made paper collages from our paintings. 
She had some great papers 
so it was great fun.  


I was having so much fun with the paper, 
I decided to do another 
one using random colors.


Now I'll do a painting from one of these 
for homework. 
How fun is that?