Who Has More Fun than Artists?

I have a group of young artist friends who come to the studio 

on Tuesday mornings to paint together. 

 I showed them "the big one" I've been working on 

and they encouraged me to keep going.

Open Seating 

16 x 40! 

This afternoon I went back at it, 

focussing on "fixing things" without loosing 

the immediacy and presence of the original brushstrokes.      

Walking that line between keeping things loose

and staying "accurate". 

A real challenge because larger paintings show every 

wart, wrinkle, and incongruity!   

Open Seating 

(detail) 

Still not sure if this is working,

 but thank you girls for keeping me on my toes! 

NOTE:   

While we were in Boston painting for Fresh Paint 

on Sunday, my son and his fiancé ran by us! 

My friend Joan Brancale took this 

of me taking their picture. 

It was so fun and unexpected! 

Who has more fun than artists? 

  

"Fresh" Paint Day!

The Copley Society hosted 

the annual "Fresh Paint" day today. 

It was 41 degrees, overcast, and drizzling.

By the time my pals and I settled down 

(and stopped whining) 

we had less than an hour to paint 

before our lunch reservation!  

Side Street

10 x 8 

Chatting with friends and visitors

enjoying the sights and sounds of the city.

The joys of plein air painting!   

NOTE! 

The good news is that this year, each member was given a 

14 x 14 stretched canvas ahead of time 

with the option to paint in our studios or today en plein air. 

We were all glad that we did both.

Here is the painting I'd prepared ahead of time

and submitted to the auction. 

Boston at It's Best 

14 x 14 

Stop by and see the show! 

The Gala Opening and final auction is 

Saturday May 10.

Lost in translation?

I've been curious to see if my  

One Hour Approach 

would translate to a larger format.  

I had a 16 x 40 inch gallery wrapped canvas 

 primed and ready to go, so I went for it. 

Central Park 

16 x 40

(BIG!)

I limited myself to #12 brushes or larger, 

put out a lot of paint and spent three hours on it.  

Not sure if it translates.

It's a bit awkward up close. 

All I know, 

I was exhausted and exhilarated by "the doing" of it.  

  

NOTE: 

When asked about "writers block" in a recent Globe interview

Anna Quindlen, one of my favorite authors replied; 

"Some days I fear writing dreadfully, but I do it anyway. 

I've discovered that sometimes writing badly 

can eventually lead to something better. 

Not writing at all leads to nothing." 

There you go! 

David Hockney

 A friend of mine recently lent me this wonderful book 

of work done by David Hockney 

after he left California to return to his native Yorkshire, England. 

It is filled with colorful and whimsical 

landscape paintings, including some of his newer I Pad paintings. 

You can read more about this work

here.

It inspired me to play around with color 

(without considering value).   

I'd done this rather odd painting last fall 

of the view out of my studio 

So I thought I'd fool around a bit and 

Hockney-ize it!

His use of color and pattern is magical!

Fun stuff. 

New Class!

I'm excited about a new class I will be offering at the 

North River Arts Society

 this summer.

"Figures in the Sunlight"

Red Sox Fan 

8 x 8 

Six Thursdays

June 12 - July 26 

(no class 7/3)

Working from a model outdoors, we will learn to simplify the figure by

 breaking everything down to simple shapes of the correct value and color. 

We will cover the correct proportions of the figure and how to capture 

“body language” through exercises designed to get you to loosen up and simplify!  

We’ll begin each class with quick contour drawings and sketches.  

We will be working small (8 x 10) on toned boards using a 

limited palette, large brushes, and alot of paint. 

I work in oils but the method translates to acrylics.  

If it rains, we’ll work indoors with spotlights on the model or from photos.

Here is a great example of figure work done

 from a photo in class last week! 

By Marsha Gleason. 

This will be great fun! 

And will fill quickly!  

Painting from Photos

"Painting From Photos"

is one of my favorite topics to cover  

because the possibilities are endless.  

Today we covered the importance of "designing" 

in order to  

NOT JUST COPY

the image!  

"On the Wall"

My quick demo using the image below,

(taken in NYC during  a 

Karin Jurick workshop!)   

My idea was to focus on the "rim light"

as everything else is in shadow. 

I did the figures first, then simplified the back ground to 

enhance that element. 

A whole different story can be told

 with the slightest changes. 

So fun. 

Painting Therapy, a Year Later

 On this sad and reflective day for Boston  

I wanted to paint something positive

 that represents our amazing city. 

The Boston Public Garden is a much loved treasure 

offering respite and peace right in the center of the city.

Ironically, it's only yards away from the finish line. 

Boston at It's Best 

14 x 14 

I am excited to be a part 

of this coming Marathon Weekend.

Great job Boston! 

NOTE: A year ago, I posted this 

"Painting Therapy" on my blog.

Rockport Art Association

Just back from teaching a two day 

One Hour Painting 

workshop at the Rockport Art Association

on the North Shore of Boston.

The space we used is huge and filled with 

light and lots of high energy!  

We really got to spread our wings 

and get down to business! 

I loved meeting and working with all the talented and fun artists up there! 

Thank you everyone for making me feel so welcomed! 

Especially my wonderful hosts, the Susan and Bob McPhail! 

I was pampered with a delicious salmon dinner 

and got to sleep in the loft above her gorgeous studio!

Take a peek at her incredibly fun and wonderful work here! 

Re-working my Handouts / Exercises

In preparation for a two day "One Hour Painting" workshop

at the Rockport Art Association this week,

I spent the weekend re-working my 

handouts and exercises. 

Four Value Study Demo 

I used to have the students do value studies using only three values. 

Recently, I've found that by adding one more value (white!) 

it's less confusing. 

The students can make better design decisions

and they are able "separate" the values, 

keeping them distinct from each other. 

Teaching, like painting, requires a lot of exploring,   

all part of the incredible journey!  

Breakthrough on Hold

If you've been following this blog for awhile,

you've noticed my conscious effort to make it 

simply about my painting journey; 

rarely sharing anything about my personal life.  

However, lately I'm finding myself happily distracted with 

some new and fun endeavors and exciting family events, 

putting "serious" painting on the back burner. 

(Two weddings! a Giant Puppet project, A "Yarden" Sale, 

milestone birthdays, a May Day celebration.... 

Hey! Event planning is an art form. No?) 

Thank goodness I have students keeping me in the game! 

Sue's "start" 

I have some dynamite young painters come to my studio 

on Tuesday mornings to just "play".

This week we set up a colorful still life 

and made a conscious effort to interpret it 

"less literally"! 

Sue's finish.

I can't even post mine! 

Enough said. 

I have a feeling the "Breakthrough" I was headed for 

may be on hold for awhile!