Almost There and Signs

"Laundry Day" - work in progress
11" x 14"
(watercolor on cradled aquabord)

I'm still here and working. Progress usually gets slow as I near completion on my paintings.  It takes time to work finer details and I spend a lot of time just looking and thinking, carefully planning my next move. So while "Laundry Day" may look finished, I have some more tweaking to do to get it just how I want it.

In the meantime, I began painting "Signs" (below). It's a nod to my friend, Debbie Shirley, she paints wonderfully colorful scenes of signs and other nostalgic items. As soon as I saw these signs and their perspective, I thought of Debbie!  Be sure to take a look at her work, it's fun and engaging. You won't be disappointed.

work in progress
14" x 11"
(watercolor on cradled aquabord)

Ciao for now! Thank you for coming by.

Getting Close

"Laundry Day"
11" x 14"
(watercolor on cradled aquabord)

Tweaking and taking care of the final details.  Hope you all had a lovely long weekend.

Let Us Not Forget . . .

That freedom isn't free.  Many thanks to all who have served our country, past and present.

"Laundry Day" - work in progress
11" x 14
(watercolor on cradled aquabord)

I'm making progress on my next painting from The Netherlands.  Have a great weekend . . . hope it's a long one!  

Parked

"Parked"
14" x 11"
(watercolor on cradled aquabord - framed)

I've been painting, painting, painting, but didn't want to post anything until I had finished my second painting from my visit to Amsterdam. So here it is. Stay tuned for some more paintings from my trip. I have a few more planned and have even ordered more aquabord!  :)

Over the weekend I had a lovely time at our town's "Asparagus Festival." I helped man our Backroads Studio Tour booth with a few other fellow member artists.  The event is really well organized and run to perfection with lots of wonderful vendors, food and visitors. We all had a great time and met up with current and new collectors. Many thanks to all who came out to show their support of the Backroads Studio Tour.

Beautiful weather at our tent on the West Brookfield common.
(left to right:  Bill Kleinedler, Tracy Crane, me, Gail Bruce)

More Progress on Hanging Laundry

work-in-progress
11" x 14"
watercolor on aquabord

Still plugging away.  There are many layers to these paintings, so progress looks kind of slow, but I've been painting long hours each day.  It's been great!  :)

Have a lovely day!

Hanging Laundry

work-in-progress
11" x 14"
watercolor on aquabord

This is another painting I began last week. I'm bouncing around between a few paintings, so while one dries I can move onto another. This one is from a little fishing village in outside of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It must have been laundry day.  :)

Bicycle Progress

work-in-progress
14" x 11"
(watercolor on aquabord)

This isn't a very good photo but as you can see I've been working pretty steadily and have made a lot of progress on this one.  Still more to fix . . . but it's getting there.

Canal House Copper

"Canal House Copper"
14" x 11"
(watercolor on aquabord)

Yippee!!  I'm done with my first painting from my time in Amsterdam. I'm already working on two others and will share their progress with you this week. One is close very close to done already and this week I'll be planning more paintings from my trip.

Hope you had a lovely weekend and a belated Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

Painting Copper

detail

work-in-progress
14" x 11"
watercolor on aquabord

I'm plugging along.

Painting, Painting, Painting Away

Dutch Interior - work in progress
14" x 11"
watercolor on cradled aquabord

I'm continuing to paint . . . I have even begun a new painting from Amsterdam, and the art for a Christmas card so stay tuned!

In other news, "A Missing Whitman" will be on display this month at the Granby Free Public Library in Granby, Massachusetts as part of the Quabbin Art Association's exhibit. An art reception is being held on Thursday night at 6:30pm -- if you are in the area, please stop in. Lots of lovely, diverse work is on display.

"A Missing Whitman"
12" x 12"
watercolor on cradled aquabord
$450 

red, finished edge

Amsterdam

Dutch Interior - work in progress
14" x 11"
watercolor on cradled aquabord

I recently had the opportunity to travel to The Netherlands, with a dear friend to visit her lovely daughter who has been living and working in Amsterdam for the past three years. We timed it perfectly in order to see the tulips in bloom. I had never traveled overseas before so this was my first taste of Europe.  What a treat!

 A Keukenhof garden scene -- just spectacular!
Even on a cloudy, drizzly day the gardens were magnificent and enjoyable!

It was a very exciting and fun experience. My friend and her daughter were gracious and hospitable. We took in amazing museums and tours, visited plenty of cafes and even did some shopping.  And of course I took lots of pictures for future paintings!

A couple of the museums we toured were of historical canal homes. The first work-in-progress painting (top) is of a shot I took in the kitchen of one of the homes. I loved the light and as you know I'm a sucker for windows. Ha!

Goofing around with some giant glasses!

It's taken me a while to get back into the social media thing. I really do enjoy "unplugging" sometimes. But then it's tough for me to get back into it.  

Anyway, I hope you've all been well. I'll be posting my progress in the days to come, so stay tuned! Thanks for popping by.