Sugar Plum Fairy, 12x16

Sugar Plum Fairy, 12x16, oil on Raymar panel

I've been working on this for the past 3 nights. I'm glad it's finished because it wasn't easy!

Foggy day plein air, alla prima

SOLD

Foggy day at Turtle Beach, 9x12, oil on canvas

Thursday my plein air group meets and this morning I awoke to drizzle, fog and very chilly temperatures. (By Florida standards at least!) In addition, an irrigation pipe in my lawn had broken during the night so I had to call a plumber at 7 in the morning to come out and fix it.

By the time he left I was an hour late and the drizzling and fog made me feel like jumping back into bed and pulling the covers up to my chin. Instead, I forced myself to pack up my junk and go out and I'm glad I did.

I am not a painter who likes to paint when the sun isn't shining. First of all , it's hard. Everything appears flat without shadows and highlights and the values all seem to blend together. However, Richard Schmid has said that a cloudy overcast day is his favorite kind of day to paint plein air, because you don't have to worry about constantly changing light. He is right, and for once I felt relaxed, because I knew I could paint the scene without a drastic light change.

Today, I just found myself relaxing under the palm trees and listening to an animated conversation going on all around me among cranes, an owl, doves and many other loud-mouthed birds. It was just what I needed. It was also nice to do a landscape after struggling with paintings of dancers all week. I needed the break. I like the way this one came out. I don't usually use many earth colors in my landscapes, but pitting a cool burnt sienna against a warm transparent oxide red created a subtle soft effect and helped create the feeling of a foggy atmosphere in this painting. Here is the scene that I painted. The seagrass just kept stretching out to the beach and the horizon line was non-existent today. I'll definitely want to try this again.

Grande Pas de Chat

Grand pas de Chat, 12x16, oil on gallery-wrapped canvas (Not for sale)

On Friday, I went to Jon Greeley's art studio in Towle's Court for a lesson. Jon has been mentoring me for a few months now, and I can really see the difference he has made in my still life and figurative work. Jon told me that we were going to do a painting together. I wanted to do a dancer and so I emailed Jon some pictures of dancers earlier in the week and he chose one. The objective of this week's lesson was to help me with my palette (which is too bright) and to help me with edgework, and to achieve a more impressionistic style.

With so many challenges I was nervous.

Jon is such a sweetie- he's very patient even when I can't do what he is trying to get me to do. Here is how the painting above evolved:

Jon toned the canvas, and I noted the colors he used. He wiped out the areas where the body would go and then told me to rough in the dancer's body. I did my best but she looked pretty miserable. Next we took turns applying paint. Jon would make suggestions and let me try them. If I went too far off track he'd sit down and take over. Eventually, the painting began to emerge.

I loved the beautiful diffused colors he was using on his palette, but it will be awhile I think before I get a good handle on mixing them accurately. Jon always emphasizes putting down a brush stroke and then leaving it alone- something I'm really bad at! He also emphasizes sticking with just 4 values (to begin) and this too, I have trouble with. Eventually it was time to go home and Jon told me to take the painting with me and work on it, which I knew would be a challenge since the legs I had put in earlier were way, way off.

I worked on the painting for the past three days adjusting and adjusting and adjusting. She has lost her initial freshness but I am finally ready to leave her alone because she now has a terrific dancer's body similar to one of my favorite ballerinas- Patricia Barker of Pacific Northwest Ballet!

When I used to take class (for many years!) at The Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet in Narberth,Pa., this was one of my favorite steps- the Grande Pas de Chat, or open pas de chat as it is sometimes called in the Vaganova Syllabus.

I miss dancing but I am certainly glad to have replaced one passion with another!

A big hug to Jon for an awesome lesson, too!

Napa Valley Garden

Napa Valley Garden, 12x16, oil on Raymar panel

I have been reading a book by artist Dan McCaw that my friend and teacher Jon Greeley was kind enough to lend me. In the book Mc Caw states that it is important not to place value on certain paintings that you think are coming out really well. The danger is that if you find while painting that you've done something right, and that the painting is really looking appealing, whether it's because of color or composition of whatever, the danger is that you will be afraid to mess with it too much for fear of ruining it. We as artists learn best through mistakes and experimentation, and this painting is a good example of what Mc Caw was talking about in his book.

I started this painting almost a year ago, in a garden in one of the wineries in Napa Valley on a trip to California. The day was overcast and I was getting really sick so it didn't have a prayer of getting finished that day. I took it home and over the past year I have reluctantly taken it out every now and then and tried to figure out how to make it better without ruining it, since I loved the soft North light that I felt I was able to capture that day in the garden.

Tonight I took it out once again, and decided that I didn't care whether or not I ruined it or not- I just wanted to make it better. I'm not sure that I did. The light affect looks more defined and it didn't that day, since it was overcast, and the background does not seem to receded the way it did before. I tried to gray and soften my colors with compliments, since I've been told that I need to do that. In the end I wonder if I ruined it. If I did, then I certainly learned some lessons. (DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE, just follow your heart!)

Compare the two paintings below and see what you think and please let me know, Please! Because if I am getting worse instead of better after a year of hard work, I'm definitely taking up knitting!

I'll probably end up submitting this painting to the upcoming plein air exhibit that I'm in next month, and I imagine someone will like it. Go here for more details...

Final Intrigue- Rose in French bottle

SOLD" Intrigue"-9x12, oil on canvas



When I looked at last night's painting in the morning light, I wasn't happy with it. I made some changes and like it much, much better now. Women love red roses, and this would make a lovely Valentine's gift that could be appreciated all year long!


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Intrigue-Rose in French bottle

" Intrigue", 9x12, oil on canvas panel

I painted in my friend Sally's garden yesterday until it was too dark to see any longer. We both painted this pretty rose in a glass bottle that they'd brought back from France this past summer. Sally6's husband said the name of the rose is Intrigue, which is why I named it that. He grows many different gorgeous roses in his garden. The dilemma was which one to paint!

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A Year in Provence- June, 24x12

"A Year in Provence-June", 24x12, oil on masonite-$600.00, (Please click on the photo to see a better view of the texture.)

Aout the Painting:

The first time I read Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" I laughed so hard that my husband came running into the room thinking that I was having a convulsion. I've read it twice since then, and highly recommend it to anyone who loves Provence, and enjoys the dry wit of a Brit coupled with first hand knowledge of the earthy pleasures that govern Provencal life.

Whenever I get down on myself about my art , I revert to painting scenes that I love. Completed last night, this is the newest of my lavender paintings (all the rest have sold) and it's definitely my best. I named it "A Year in Provence-June", because I've decided to paint a series of scenes from Provence for every single month of the year. This one was painted exclusively with a palette knife so there are thick layers of juicy color and texture throughout.

I photographed the painting indoors, where the light is warm (see above), and outdoors as well, (see photo below), where the colors are more bluish due to the cool light. I'd say that the most accurate colors are somewhere in the middle of the two, but I simply cannot find a place to photograph the painting that doesn't have either warm indoor or cool outdoor lighting affecting the true color of the painting.

The painting (original) will be offered for sale for about a week- after that if it doesn't sell, I'll be putting in into a show that I'm doing next month with colorist Julie Hanson and a group of plein air painters from the Sarasota, Florida area. More info on the show to come soon...

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Alone in Paradise

"Alone in Paradise", 12x16, oil on Raymar panel. Note: PLease click on the photo for a close-up view of the detail.

This is a painting that I did about a year ago. Jeez! I can't believe how tight it is! I took it out yesterday and reworked some of the passages and although it's still tight, the values are better. It's actually a painting of me, done from a photo taken during a vacation to Guadeloupe some years back. I was deep in thought at the time and struggling with juggling a large dance school and young family at the same time. The vacation was a hoot however, with lots of margaritas and major faux pas on an island where only French is spoken and plumbing is almost third world. My limited French got me in quite a bit of trouble on that trip. We ended up stranded on the island of Marie Gallante because I didn't quite get the time right for the ferry that was supposed to return us to Guadeloupe. My hubby also almost died on that trip, too, as a result of snorkeling in raw sewage that had been discharged into the area of our resort. It is a gorgeous island however, and I'm sure the plumbing is much better now. Anyhow, there was lots of drama on the trip, and I think the painting captures it all via the look on my face!

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Florida plein air, 8x10

SOLDTidal Flats-early morning, 8x10



It seems as though the last of the bitter cold weather that we've had in Florida is over. This morning it was still a little chilly, but in a good way. I went out early to this spot close to my home and painted this from a wooden fishing pier near the intracoastal. I always like to be safely above any spots where alligators might lurk and this is one of them. I've painted here before, but today the sky had a peachy quality that was just gorgeous. I hope that I've captured it!




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Effortless- ballet/lyrical original oil painting

Effortless, 8x10, oil on gallery-wrapped linen (Masterpiece) canvas.

New! Giclee print available starting as low as $22.00. See below!

The first painting of 2008! Happy New Year to all the wonderful artists, collectors and friends that I've met over the past year!

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