Revisiting a Favorite Subject

Another experiement layering with acrylics.

Focussing on an old favorite subject;

New England architecture,

I'm exploring color harmony,

edges and texture.  

Hadley Heaven

10 x 10 

acrylic

Thanks to my friend Page,

who shared the image with me, 

and here's the Procreate sketch I used as reference. 

"Finding my voice" 

one baby step at a time.

What an adventure! 

Acrylics vs. Oils

I now have two set ups for painting in my studio. 

One for oils and one for acrylics. 

I'm discovering that acrylics are more suitable for 

the layering approach I'm experiementing with.  

Pink Chairs

8 x 8 acrylic 

You don't have to wait in between layers 

and you can keep on working 

without causing "mud."

It's very forgiving. 

That said, 

I still love the thick juicy strokes 

you can get with oils.  

NOTE: 

I'm painting over old paintings, 

and have to be sure I only use oil

 over an old oil painting. 

Using acrylics over oils is never a good idea! 

Stretching is Good

I'm currently working on interpreting 

a favorite subject 

(beach houses)  

in new and different ways. 

Twilight 

12 x 9 oil 

For this one,
I focussed on texture;
applying the paint in thin layers,
letting them dry in between.

This is new territory for me.
I've been teaching the
"big strokes, lots of paint"
approach for years.

Stretching is good.

Finding My Voice

The final session of the on-line class I'm taking

is "Finding Your Voice".

We've been gathering, compiling, and analyzing 

our personal visual influences; 

including paintings, as well as other art forms.
It's been a revealing and eye-opening exercise.

I recently submitted these pieces 

to the Copley Society Holiday Small Works show, 

where I noticed a common thread in my work.

  

Corner View 

14 x 14 oil

From Above 

14 x 14 oil

Sky Lit 

14 x 14 oil

Cross Roads 

10 x 8 oil

I clearly have a tendency toward a structural composition,

with "geometric clarity."

Stay tuned! 

Still Life Collages

Yesterday for our "painting with paper" class at Linden Ponds

 I set up simple still lives, 

and let them "be designers". 

Here are just a few of the results! 

  

Some of the gals brought in their own  

inspirations to work from. 

The top is a photo her daughter took, 

the bottom is her collage! 

This gal brought I a favorite wooden bird. 

NOTE: 

Our daughter just had our fourth Grandchild;

June Everett Colwell 

arrived on Saturday (after many false alarms) 

at a strapping 10 lbs. 

Our oldest, Nico Colella, had his 3rd birthday on the same day! 

4 Grandchildren in 3 years....

life is GOOD!