Saturday, October 31, 2009



Corner of the studio with todays model...another chair. Last image didn't show colors right, want to redo before I post. Happy Halloween!.

Friday, October 30, 2009

White Chair

2nd chair in this series. Pinned my green shawl up on the grey wall behind the white chair. Always a challenge to paint something white. I like the simple structure of this plastic molded chair and the hole in its back- another spot of color!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009



I'm doing a series of 4 paintings for a small picture invitational show. They are on linen, 6x6. I'm doing chairs to sharpen observation skills, plus it gives me ample opportunity for color and shape, my true loves. This is Donna's office chair, I painted it yesterday and sat on it to paint today!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Under The Trees


The week before this was painted we were out on Ocean Drive in the hot July sun. Not everyone loved it, so there was some pressure on this day to "find a shady spot". We went by the library at Salve, literally under the trees. Wanted to show the start of my painting, the time where I freak out a little because it is so ugly. Pushing through that stage brought me to the point where I'm done. Out of time, watching the clock, and deciding not to work on this back in the studio. Just let it stand as a plein air figure.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sachuest Point


Wanted to share some of the plein air painting I did earlier in the summer. I took a class called Figure in the Landscape, taught by David Barnes from the Newport Art Museum. Each week we met at a wonderful location, the model took the pose, and we painted for about 3 hours. This was a delicious morning!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Audacious


This painting titled AUDACIOUS won an Honorable Mention. I wanted to show the process which started with dividing the canvas into 4 parts. The entire canvas is 36"x48". Then I set up these 4 still lifes which I painted in pretty fast order, taking 2 hours to cover the whole canvas. Then came the fun part, deconstructing and abstracting all of it. That took longer, but I was actually surprised how the painting happened, like a bolt of lightning. So much fun!!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Mandala Lily

Another image of the lily, this time done in pastel. The form is mandala, the process for this piece was more intuitive, taking me out of my comfort zone. Perhaps I'll explore it further.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Three In A Vase

This post is the final one of six matted gouache studies that are now at the shop in the Newport Art Museum. Worked on painting in the studio today, big bunch of sunflowers,white hydrangeas.
Hope to post before I go to San Diego on Wednesday. Struggling with contrast between surface of table and background, which is water view out the window. Want to figure out how to resolve this conflict.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Tabled Roses

Another gouache study of roses. All were accepted into the Newport Art Museum's shop, where they will get good exposure. Started a big painting of flowers today, but couldn't find my camera to post an image of it. Looked and looked, it finally turned up in a coat pocket. Hadn't been in the studio for awhile and it felt great, totally into the process of painting. Windy rainy day.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Water Garden II

Referencing again The Artists Handbook, Ralph Mayer cautions the artist using gouache to apply the paint without a heavy impasto or unusual thickness, as this will cause the paint to crack. Applied correctly, the finished work will have a surface that appears thick and juicy.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Water Garden I

Reading from The Artist's Handbook by Ralph Mayer, I find that gouache is most often used in a high chromatic key, or when the artist wants to create a high value contrast. Gouache is opaque watercolor,but it is usually done on less roughly textured paper than normal watercolor paper. Some painters use a tinted paper, or start with a watercolor layout first, then apply gouache as the next layer.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Lotus

This image is done with gouache on gessoed paper and is part of a series I've submitted to the Newport Art Museum to be juried for sale in the museum shop. The image is matted and the total size is 11x14".

smallworks