Crazy Surprises!

So the craziest thing happened to me last night.  I was with my husband and we were sitting at the kitchen table.  I saw that my "The Art of Watercolour" magazine had come in the mail so I started to flip through it and mentioned how I would love to try to get into this magazine.  No sooner had I said that, I turned a couple more pages and saw this:

Imagine my surprise! I was dumbfounded! I had forgotten that a few months ago on a whim, I entered this painting into a contest hosted by the magazine.  I don't enter many contests and I've had so much going on lately that I never thought about it again after I hit "send."  

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

I am grateful and humbled to have had this painting chosen. "The Art of Watercolour" is a beautiful and inspiring magazine full of incredibly talented artists and full color reproductions of their stunning work. My little story is an example that anything is possible as long as you throw your hat in the ring.  :)

Have a great day!

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.

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.

Gardens

"Parlor Afternoon"
19" x 11"
watercolor on paper

Okay, so here's the deal:  I've been busy working on my gardens. It's lots of work, but very fun and gratifying. I've done some painting, but not as much as I'd hoped.  On the art front though, I'm pleased to say that "Parlor Afternoon" was juried into a show at a small gallery in Amherst, MA.  The information for that show can be found here at the Gallery A3 website -- the opening is tonight, July 3rd during the ArtWalk. If you are in the area take a look. Amherst is a great town (I should know, I lived there for four years during college . . . aaah . . . good times, good times), and the Amherst College grounds are looking beautiful!  

I hope to have some new work posted soon.  Have a great day!

Sturbridge Broom

"Sturbridge Broom"
10.25" x 7.75"
watercolor on paper

Click here to bid - starting bid $85

This painting is of an interior of the Freeman Farm at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. I wanted to depict the stillness and light of this scene: a completed morning chore.  Below is an example of what this painting could look like framed - my "virtual frame" courtesy of Photoshop.  :) However, this painting does not come framed.

Hope you have a lovely weekend!  Thank you for viewing my work.

(what this painting could look like framed)

Changing Things Up

"Sturbridge Broom"
work in progress
10" x 8"

I changed things up today and worked on this little painting.  I took the reference photo when I was at Old Sturbridge Village back in the Fall.  I'm not sure if it's done.  Some of the lines look a little crooked, but I think that's mostly due to the camera.  If not, I'll have to do a little adjusting.  I'll let you know when it's done.  

Thanks for visiting -- happy painting!

Crossing The Line

I'm thinking that this painting has officially crossed the line into "experimental study."  :)  I'm realizing now some of the things that I think I needed to do early on in the painting that just weren't done.  Things that would have helped create more luminosity and more skillfully depict the dramatic shadows.  I'm not sure how the colors are presenting on your monitors, but the blue looks more vibrant here on my computer than in real life.  And in fact, I don't think the contrast is very accurate online. But anyway, I just wanted to touch base and show you where I'm at.  Not sure if this one will be successful in the sense that I would sell it, but I think the fact that I'm failing in some regards is also a type of success . . . it means I'm growing as an artist, right?  :)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peek of a new painting I'm working on. I'm experimenting with value and looser washes. It has a ways to go, but it's fun. Have a good day!

Happy Presidents' Day

Untitled
19" x 13"

Hope you all are having a good day.  I finished this one this morning and am making progress on others.  Stay tuned!  :)

Grrrrrr

I need a time machine.  So . . . I took this progress shot today while it was still light out and was very pleased with how things were coming together. Then I continued to paint. That's where the "Grrrrrrr" comes in.  I have gone a step too far I think and as I sit here comparing this photo to the painting propped up in my studio, I'm feeling a little sick. The painting is on Fabriano cold-press, so hopefully I can do some serious scrubbing and get this thing back on track tomorrow. I should never paint when it's dark out!!  :)  Have a good night.

Wednesday Work

work in progress
watercolor on paper
11" x 19"

I began this painting a while ago and it's been sitting in my studio.  I got all jazzed to start working on it again after I finished "Parlor Afternoon."  (and yes, I just used "jazzed" in a sentence!)  :)  So below is my progress . . . 

Last night I had a wonderful second class at Workshop13.  My students are doing great work.  Unfortunately I forgot to load the battery into my camera, so no pictures.  Boooo!  I will try to remember next week so I can share their progress. 

While my students were busy rendering their glass bottles, I took to doing a little Valentine inspired still life.  This is what I completed last night.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good day.  

Parlor Afternoon

 "Parlor Afternoon"
19" x 11"
watercolor on paper

I've been staring at this painting for months now, wondering what my next move should be. Normally, I'd labor over the design on the red fabric on the quilt but decided that this painting is more about a sense of place and mood.  I like the quilt just the way it is and don't think this needs any more persnickety details. I did a little tweaking to the floor and some of the woodwork -- warming it up slightly and called it a day. I hope you like it. I may enter it in an upcoming show, so for now, I haven't put a price on it . . . I'm just going to stare at it a little longer.  :)  Thank you for stopping in.

Works In Progress

"Sunlit Chair" - wip
19" x 11.5"

As you can see this post is dedicated to works in progress.  The first painting is my "Sunlit Chair" - I'm very close to finishing this one up.  I've also included the other two wips of this. 

Far below are some works in progress from my students at Workshop13.  I think they're doing great - don't you!?  A couple are already done (the first two, with the signatures).  These two ladies are headed to a concert next week so will miss our last class.  They did some work at home so that they could finish up last night.  I'm very proud of them as well as all my students!  :)

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.

Building A Painting (part 3)

Big changes for this painting. It was looking far too plain in that there was too much space between the jug and the window so I needed to do something to add more interest, hence the pussywillows. Although now I'm a little afraid the ones coming out of the jug lead your eye out of the painting . . . sigh. The empty space wasn't as prominent in the computer images, but in person, because of the scale of this painting it really wasn't working and I had to do something. 

I've actually made even some more changes since this version, but need to work some of those out. In person, the cupboard is too cool -- kind of purple and just isn't working, so I lightened it up which shows great texture on the antique, but now need to adjust its value again and I'm hoping to get a warmer tone more in keeping with the rest of the painting. Right now it's too jarring. I also will need to adjust some values between the cloth and the cupboard -- I ended up getting too dark with the cloth. I'm pleased with the window at this point and think that's probably done. Today will be a big day for this . . . I'm excited to get started . . . it's in that uncomfortable stage where there are lots of mistakes that need adjusting. Hopefully I can get it to a completed state that works! Have a good day and thank you for stopping by.

A Moment's Rest

"A Moment's Rest"
13" x 10.5"
(watercolor on Fabriano hot pressed paper- 300 lb.)

Click here for a closer look, or to purchase.

A while back I posted an "almost done" image of this painting, here and on Facebook, and asked for your help regarding names.  I got a few responses -- all were really good and very helpful.  I decided on "A Moment's Rest" -- a suggestion from my friend June.  I thought it captured the serenity of the image while offering a story for the viewer to fill in.  I've decided to put all the suggestions/names in a hat and pull out one winner who will receive a small gift.  If you didn't get a chance to offer a name for this painting, don't worry . . . I spent some time yesterday preparing new paintings and will be asking for your help again.

Another little tidbit . . . I had a wonderful time a couple weeks ago presenting a workshop on blogging at the Concord Art Association.  I think the day was a success . . . I know I had a good time and enjoyed meeting some very nice and talented people.  I had very eager students who added to a great discussion on art, blogging and online marketing.  So if you attended the class and are reading this -- THANK YOU for a great day!  :)

Finally . . . I'm working on two little paintings that I'll be posting in the next couple days.  Below is one in progress.  Can you tell I'm looking forward to Spring?  Also, on Monday we had the first class of a 5-week watercolor workshop I'm teaching here at my studio and it was a blast!!  I'm already looking forward to next Monday and seeing what everyone produces.  So far we have four beautiful preliminary washes!  It really is very exciting. 

"Springtime" - wip
6" x 6"
(watercolor on aquabord)

Thank you for stopping by . . . and happy painting!

Randy Higbee Gallery

I didn't get much done on my Circus Train painting today as I had students and some other things to attend to, so this post is a little redundant (forgive me) . . . however these two paintings are up for sale at  The Randy Higbee Gallery's "6 Inch Squared Show."  You can view these paintings and others by clicking on the link.

Thank you for stopping by -- hope you have a good day.

Randy Higbee - 6" Squared Show

I hope all my U.S. friends had a wonderful day yesterday.  I'm still feeling a little stuffed but it's all good . . . we had a great visit with my dad, brother and sister-in-law, her folks and brother.  Everything was wonderful - food, company and a lovely, welcoming home.  My brother and sister-in-law always "do it up" just beautifully.  And when we returned home, the doggies were all snuggly and seemed to have enjoyed their afternoon/evening without incident.  :)

And now onto business . . . I'm pleased to announce that these two paintings will be included in the Randy Higbee Gallery's "6 Inch Squared Show" in California.  So if you are in the vicinity, click on the link to find out when you can stop in and see the show.  Unfortunately for me, it is just too inconvenient a commute!  :)  Have a pleasant day and thanks for stopping by.  Oh . . . and let the carols begin, eh?!  So fun hearing the Christmas music on the radio again.  As my friend June would say, "it just puts you in a good mood!"

American Interior - finished!

"American Interior"
6" x 6"
(watercolor on aquabord)

(what this painting could look like framed)

Click here to bid.

I didn't think I'd get this painting done today as I went on a wild goose chase . . . ahem . . . wild DOG chase today.  We have the slipperiest (is that a word!?) canines ever!  They busted out of the fence AND electric fence to roam around the woods and backroads for about 3 hours.  It's such a nightmare.  But I digress . . . the dogs are home and after a long period of decompression (I'm always emotionally drained after they take off and return) I got to painting and was able to finish, photograph, post on DPW and blog.  Whew!  And now I'm going to bed.  Thinking of all those hit hard by Hurricane Sandy . . . check out the fundraiser that Daily Paintworks is running here:  original paintings donated for a good cause.  

Have a great day/night . . . wherever you are and thank you for stopping by.  :)

Being Bold

"American Interior"
6" x 6"

One of the most difficult things for me when painting, is getting the values right.  While I was working on this painting today, I just couldn't seem to get the glow on the window's mullions, nor was I achieving the overall drama that I wanted. So I took a photo of my painting, desaturated it in Photoshop (turning it into a black and white image) then compared it to a black and white image of the real photo. Wow! I was sooo off. It's hard to remember sometimes, that in order to create "popping" whites, you have to have the dark contrasts. Because I have a tendency to overwork my paintings, I'm often gun-shy when it comes to pushing the values and achieving those darkest darks. But as long as I remember to use a full range of values, creating the contrast I need, I'll be able to obtain those glowing whites.  And the black and white image "trick" is VERY helpful as I have a very difficult time seeing the value in color. I still have some work to do before I can call this painting done, but I feel much better that I'm headed in the right direction.

Below you'll see my before and after value images, along with the original photo. Happy painting!

(the "before" value image --  notice that the wall
and the outside values are all wrong)

the actual photo's value image

(the "after" value image -- this is from the color
painting image at the beginning of this post)

More Works In Progress

"American Interior" - wip
6" x 6"

"Number 12"
6" x 6"

I'm about to leave for the Petersham Art Show reception but wanted to put up my progress on these two paintings.  I did more work on "Number 12" since I took this picture . . . just tweaks, probably not even really too noticeable, but enough that I think enhances the painting.  So that's about it.  Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting.