an arting life
Like much of my artwork, this Huntsville painting has a story. It started with a wedding invitation. I hadn’t expected it, but I was flattered. I hadn’t seen the groom since he was a toddler, and I’d never met the bride. Though I’d never been to the area where the wedding would take place, I…
This year, we chose some real, alternative Christmas tree options. We had two trees in our living room. (I’ve always preferred to have more than one tree for the holiday season.) One “tree” was actually a bunch of small branches, arranged in a large glass jar, so they looked like a small Christmas tree. I’d…
Today, the light is dismal. It’s grey, flat, and rainy. Even sitting next to the floor-to-ceiling window on the “sunny” side of our living room, everything looks pretty blah. To test a painting technique recommended by Peter Wileman (see review, below), I chose a photo I’d taken, earlier this summer. It’s lovely, and I may…
Last night’s sunset was one of those where I look at the sky and say, “Ooh, I must capture those colors!” And then, five minutes later, the colors were even better, and then better, and so on… for the next 20 minutes. The hues were constantly changing, and I was right there, with a paintbrush…
As I’ve been painting this week, I can see my sketches moving in two directions. The first is capturing the colors as a background for a later work. My current thoughts are to combine the New England landscape colors with a tropical element. I have a few ideas for this, but experimenting is ahead. This…
It’s been awhile since I posted my recent art. Oh, I’ve been creating art; I just haven’t had time to post it here. It’s been a busy six weeks+. I may talk about some of these works in more detail, later. For now, this is a catch-up post. A long one. I completely revised the…
Yaayyy! I’ve completed White Mountains painting. (If your monitor is like mine, the actual painting is about 30% darker than this photo appears. It’s not quite so “New England quaint” as this picture may look.) I started this painting of the New Hampshire landscape – focusing on a Whitefield, NH, hotel – in February 2010….
Last summer, I suddenly had a clear vision of a painting that I knew I was supposed to create for an online friend in Colorado. The vision was partly realistic and partly a fantasy mix. (Now and then, I get an idea for art that seems — from the start — to be intended for…
Last evening’s sunset was another rich tapestry of colors. Mostly, I wanted to capture the delicious lavender colors in the sky, accented by pinks and yellows. More and more, I’m introducing intense colors and odd juxtapositions as I see them. Sketches – including this one – look absolutely amazing at 30 feet. Up close… the…
This is one of my few recent oil sketches. That’s partly because the skies have been either overcast or cloud-free, and not very interesting for my approach to landscapes. Also, the past few weeks have been a little somber for me. Last Friday (March 11th) was my late mother’s birthday. I’m still getting used to…
A recent, surprise snowstorm presented another opportunity to paint the frosted scene outside my window. The painting — not yet finished — is an oil painting on 9″ x 12″ canvas board. Before I say that this painting is completed, I’d like to try indicating the falling snow. However, I’m not sure that’s a good…
The wooded landscape across the street from our home is intriguing. It offers such depth, I haven’t been quite sure how to capture the trees as well as the colorful skies behind them, especially in the afternoon. In early January, I tried a quick sketch in oils. That’s it on the lower right. It was…