New Frames!

A few weeks ago I ordered some frames from Kingofframe.com, trying to find something that would be more suitable for some of my darker, moodier pieces. I'm really pleased with how this frame has pumped up the volume on this one. This painting will be going off to auction to benefit the Cultural Arts Alliance, which is right here in Hopkinton, MA.

First try at auction...

Simple Cloud

4 x 4 inch, oil on stretched canvas
Sold

I thought I'd sample selling my art on ebay, so I'm offering "Simple Cloud" as the guinea pig.

Italian Ice

Italian Ice

6"x6", oil on streched canvas

$75, click here to purchase.

On our last trip to the beach I let the kids choose the spot where we would sit. Where did they choose? Not too far from the italian ice cart of course.

Keeping it Simple

6" x 6", oil on stretched canvas

$75, click here to purchase

Today I'm off to bring my daughter and a few of her friends to an amusement park, as part of her birthday present, so I'm posting a prior painting since there's not much time to paint today.

Single Gerbera

Single Gerbera

6x6inch, oil on canvas

Sold

I've been working so much with landscapes I thought I'd dabble with some still life.

Apples on satin

Opposites Attract

6 x 12 inches, oil on stretched canvas

$175, click here to purchase

Small landscape

The Basin, Vinalhaven, ME

5" x 7", oil on panel

$75, click here to purchase

Marsh View

Marsh View
6 x 6 inch
oil on panel

$75 click here to purchase

When coming home from our vacation in Maine we hit the usual traffic on Rte 1. Fortunately, I had my camera right next to me and I was able to snap this view of the marshes.

Nearly There...

Nearly There...
10"x8"
oil on canvas

Here's a quick painting of the last bend in the drive leading to our destination in Vinalhaven, Maine.

Floral still life

Hydrangeas with Lime Chaser

6"x12", oil on canvas
$175
click here to purchase

Quick Bloom

4"x4"

oil on canvas

$50

Thought I'd try a quick floral portrait this morning before heading out to the beach for the day with the kids. Sunscreen, cooler, umbrella, boogie boards, ipod, cell phone, towels, blanket....what else am I forgetting?

My Brush

4" x 4"

Sold

I'm off to the mall today to do some back to school shopping with the kids, so I thought I'd post an earlier painting symbolizing what I'd rather be doing. Honestly, I'd rather be doing anything else than shopping with tweens today...

Perfect Summer Day

Perfect Summer Day
6" x 6"
oil on panel
$75
framed in clear maple finish floater frame


Click here to purchase

Sometimes a few clouds in the sky really add to the mood!

Art for Land's Sake

The 3 day event, Art for Land's Sake, at the New Era Gallery, kicks off today. There are around 40 participating artists, myself included, who have donated works to be auctioned to benefit the Vinalhaven Land Trust. This group's mission is to preserve the beautiful natural resources of this island community for the generations to come. Wishing them many generous bids for such a great cause!

...some more of the show

I thought I'd post a few more photos of the show before I head out to do some hiking with the kids this morning. I'm loving summer.

My coffee view and my show!

I had to post my view of the layers of spruce and fog I experienced this morning while having my morning coffee....definitely destined for a painting.

Well, hung my show up yesterday and I'm really pleased with how it all looks together. It's now time to relax and start thinking about what sort of paintings to move onto next.

Big one!

Independence Day

48"x36"

oil on canvas

Although it's over a week past the holiday, this piece has an obvious, and honestly unintended, theme that had to be addressed in the title.

2 more to add....

Ok, I admit it, I'm a bit of a one trick pony right now, using basically the same composition over and over. It's just something I want to see in a wide range of colors. I think it will make for a really colorful grouping, right?

....and another

Here's a 6"x6" companion piece to yesterday's painting. I had some leftover paint already mixed up so I thought I'd whip up a similair one. Now I'll toss that paint, grab some different tubes, give them a squeeze and see what I end up with!

Evening Stretch

10" x 30"

oil on canvas

Still trying to figure out how these bright colors came to be, definitely not my usual palette.

First pass on adding color...

48" x 36"

Ok, here's my first pass on adding color. I'll be deepening the water further, giving the sky more drama, giving the rocks more depth, bringing more of the trees to life. Jeesh, maybe I shouldn't have posted this yet.

Large Underpainting

Work in progress

48" x 36" Yikes, that's big!

This is by far the largest painting I've attempted to date. This large empty canvas had been sitting in my "studio" for what seems like years, on an antique easel that had once belonged to my grandfather. Well, no more taunting me Mr. Giant Canvas. You might be eating up all of my paint but I'm putting you to use....finally!

Nearly done...

10" x 30"
sold

Once complete, this painting will be heading off to a charity auction to benefit the Vinalhaven Land Trust. A group of about 40 artists are donating works to be auctioned off August 1 to assist in preserving the island's natural resources.

Booked a show!

Vinalhaven State Park Beach

18"x18"

Yes, I have painted this exact view before, but this one is much larger. I recently booked a show for this summer so I need to crank out some larger pieces to fill the wall space. I find it takes just about as long to do a larger work as it does a smaller so I might as well produce some larger paintings.

Lobster boat

6" x 6" panel

On my last trip to Maine I took a bunch of photos of the lobster boats in the harbor, thinking it would make a great series.

"Thank you, thank you very much", Elvis

Well, due to being busy all weekend with running to kids' lacrosse, kids' soccer, visiting with family, going to a Kentucky Derby party, picking out new plants for the local deer to eat out of our yard, etc.... I couldn't attend an opening on Friday for a local juried art exhibit, that was run in conjunction with the Gardening Club. It was pretty interesting, pieces that received an award were paired with a floral design that was inspired by the work. I was able to stop in today and was pleased to see that my painting, Morning Glow, a painting that I had completed in a Deborah Paris workshop, was given the First Place ribbon for all entered oils or acrylics.

Eagle Sighting

4" x 4", oil on canvas

In Vinalhaven, Maine there's a stone eagle statue right downtown that was originally believed to be carved on the island at the turn of the century during the island's quarrying heyday, only problem is the stone isn't native to the island. Well, it's still pretty amazing....

Nearly done....

6" x 6", oil on canvas

Although my original intention was to head into the vivid pinks & purples with this landscape, I'm liking the olive greens with the soft glow of the yellows, I don't think I've tried this color combination before. Sometimes a painting leads you in a different direction than you had originally planned.

Morning Glimmer

6"x6"

On Exhibit

CAA, Hopkinton, MA

I'm finishing up this small landscape to go along with two other similair pieces that I plan on submitting for a local show.

Underpainting

8"x8"

I haven't posted in a while because I've been working on some underpaintings, trying to push further into the world of Tonalism. I'll attempt to bring this one to a vivid pink/purple sunset scene.....

Final Glaze?

8"x24"




Finishing up this sunrise landscape this morning, I thought it would be interesting to see where it started as an underpainting and where it ended up. I can't even tell you how many layers of glaze this went through, at some point you just need to put the brush down and walk away.

Sick of winter...

"Take Me Away"
6"x6" oil on canvas
$125
Click here to purchase

It's cold and grey here in Massachusetts and has been for months, so I thought I'd escape the gloom by going tropical.

Outside the box....

Yellow Sky
12" x 9" , $175 unframed

click here to purchase

This is not the usual for me today. I started with a failed underpainting from weeks ago and tried something different, pumping up the colors and focusing on values and temperature.

Turn up the volume...

Thought I'd revisit these three from the other day and turn up the volume a bit by giving them a little more drama.

Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk

6x12", oil on canvas

It's been a while since I've attempted a fruit still life, I've been focusing so much on landscapes. With this small painting I tried to show these two apples in a cozy composition, obviously having a conversation while lounging on rumpled satin....

Cropped Crabapple

7x5" , charcoal sketch


Still working with getting more familiar with trees. I've got an itch to do some fruit still life, so if that ends up happening I'll post it tomorrow.

practice

Tree Trunk Sketch, 7 x 5 inch

In my quest to become a better landscape painter I've started a new virtual workshop, Drawing & Painting Trees, with landscape painter Deborah Paris. She's a wonderful teacher and firmly believes that in order to paint the landscape one needs to understand the characteristics of the natural world around you, and the best way to do that is to get out your sketch book and get to work. Apparently, this practice was quite common for some landscape painters in the early years to create loads of sketches during the summer months, thus providing source material for painting during the winter months.

Early Morning Mist

I pulled this one from the ashes in an attempt to see if there's any hope left for this piece. I've added some morning mist in the background, intensified the morning light, and deepened the overall feel...

One composition, Three moods

Trying some different moods with the same Maine landscape composition; Sunrise, Fog & Moonrise. This is my first pass on glazing.

Still tweaking with glazes...

I'm still experimenting with some tonalism glazing and I have a long journey ahead of me before I can call them finished...assuming I can get them there.

Meanwhile, I've found a new home in Wisconsin for my apple portrait, "Close-up". Thank you to Melissa, a new collector.

Cool Shadow

6"x6", oil on panel


While I'm waiting for my glazing to dry on my other paintings I thought I'd try doing a little Maine landscape. I tried to emphasize the cool shadows of the middle ground versus the warmer background and foreground.

Back from exhibit...

Destined for Pie
18x18inch, oil on canvas
framed in a clear maple floater frame with black interior
click here to purchase

This painting of mine was on exhibit for a few months at a local fortune 500 company and I just picked it back up yesterday, glad to have it back. I know the values are off, but there's just something I really like about it, maybe the red/green combination? The cropped composition? Well, back into my online shop it goes...