Finishing

"No Cavities"  (almost done!)
11" x 14
watercolor on cradled aquabord

You're probably getting sick of seeing this painting almost as much as I am! I'm having problems finishing.  I've got this one and the "Really Big Shoe" that I just can't seem to motivate myself to finish -- and they're soooo close! Actually, I think the shoe is done . . . I'm just deciding on whether or not I need to smooth out the background wash, or put a slight shadow in it. I probably should just keep it the way it is. And this one . . . I just need to fix that floor (pain in the neck!) and work on a couple other values. Meanwhile -- I've begun drawing out some new paintings. That shouldn't surprise you . . . by now I'm sure you're used to my madness!  

Thank you for dropping by to view my work.  Happy Painting!

Winery Class

This post comes to you a little late as I was battling some serious stomach issues this week stemming from what was supposed to be a lovely date night with my husband. Oy!  Luckily the problems developed long after conducting the watercolor and wine tasting class at the Hardwick Winery. (And I assure you were unrelated -- "stomach issues" is not code for "helluva hangover!")   :)

It was our first event of this nature and we had a beautiful day!  My talented ladies enjoyed their wine, cheese and fruit all while working on their small paintings of one of the Winery's side doors.  Here are a couple pictures from the sunny day spent painting on the deck in our beautiful New England surroundings.  My next class is May 19th and I'm already counting down the days.

No Cavities! -- WIP"

"No Cavities" - wip
11" x 14"

I'm sorry I haven't been posting too much lately. Within the past few weeks I started a couple part-time jobs, so my time has been a bit limited as I try to work out my new schedule. I think though it's finally starting to come together -- although it has cut down on my painting time. But not to worry . . . I'm still painting . . . just not finishing things as quickly. So please bear with me while I work on my new routine.

In addition to the new jobs, I've had some other interesting opportunities arise and as I'm sure all you working artists understand, sometimes we have to stretch ourselves a little thin every once in a while to help get ourselves out there. Although when that happens to me, I just need to take a break.  I think I may have already explained, that after Easter I did just that. Well . . . I was all set to finally get back to my painting/blogging routine, when last week my husband and I had a great opportunity come our way. We were contacted by WCVB Boston's Chronicle -- a local news program that features different topics from all around New England. The show has been on forever and is quite iconic; we watch it all the time, so you can imagine our excitement! They were putting together a show featuring our town in Central Mass. and wanted to come visit us as one of their locations. My husband has a large train layout in his barn and between that and my studio, they decided to come interview us for the show. That was last Monday morning (before the terrible marathon events). I had a few days to do the extra special Spring cleaning (thanks to some help in the yard from my dad and my friend June who planted lovely flowers outside my studio!) needed for these special visitors, in between my other commitments. Anyway . . . it was a wonderful experience and we met two lovely ladies -- the producer and her camera-woman, although admittedly I was more than a little nervous. Hopefully it will come out well. Chronicle also visited a few other places in town - the Salem Cross Inn, Troubadour Mercantile, and a mini-horse farm.  I'll be sure to let you know when it airs, and link it here.  

In the meantime . . . I'm still trying to revisit some unfinished paintings. I really want to finish up these Fisher Price pieces that I began oh so long ago! Here's the second one from my series of three. Although, because I just sold the first one (In Line At The Theatre) . . . I think I may have to start a couple new ones!  :)  

Thank you for coming by and have a great day -- and happy painting!

Froloff's Barns

"Froloff's Barns"
11.5" x 10.25"
(watercolor on paper)

Click here to bid.

I finished this last night. So glad to finally have accomplished this one.  Thanks for viewing my work.  Cheers!

Easter Hiatus

"Froloff's Barns" -- almost done . . .
approximately 12" x 10"

I'm back!  :)  Every so often I need to take a little break and catch up on "home chores" and other stuff. Usually when the household chores and other responsibilities catch up to me, I still pressure myself to paint and post, but find it very difficult to focus . . . on anything.  (Does that ever happen to you?) When this happens to me, I totally lose my painting mojo;  it's like my brain won't connect with my hands and it's very frustrating -- almost depressing. However, instead of fighting it this time and feeling like a failure, I decided to just give and and take a "vacation." I let go of the pressure to paint and blog, and allowed myself the time to just goof around. I picked away at my household chores only when I felt like it and eventually found myself in a much better place to paint. I must say, it was a welcomed rest. So here's the little bit of progress I've made as I ease back into my groove. Thanks for your patience! 

Happy Easter

detail - "American Interior"

Wishing you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter!

Getting There

wip-3

Still working on this one.  I've decided that I love painting stonewalls.  :)  Thanks for visiting!

Ahhhh . . . Progress

11.75" x 10.5"

I start getting a little anxious when I don't have a finished painting by midweek, or at the very least, a lot of good progress.  So I'm relieved that I can finally post some legitimate progress on this painting.  As you know, it's been hanging around the studio for a long time . . . but I pulled it out a week or so ago and was able to get a substantial amount of work done on it today.  It's actually even further along than when I snapped this photo.  So stay tuned!  Thank you for reading my blog.  :)

From February

I decided to put up this portrait I started in February because for the last two days I've painted with pretty much nothing but disastrous results. I never intended to post these pics before the portrait was finished because my friends whose daughter this is, (isn't she adorable?  and she's the sweetest!) have no idea I'm painting her. You see, the photo I took of her was just too precious not to try to paint, but I didn't want to show them (or any of you for that matter) in case I failed miserably. But finding myself without anything to post, I decided to just bite the bullet and share this. So this is my work in progress.  It's slow going (as you know, I jump from painting to painting A LOT.) And I definitely have to get back to this one. I think I'm getting a decent likeness, and am actually a little further along than these photos indicate, however I had stopped to ponder the "twinkle" and soul that I felt I wasn't capturing. I think I may have finally figured it out, so will start back at it shortly. I could still mess up terribly, but I know you'll all be kind if I do.  :)

With regards to my last two days:  I worked on two little daffodil paintings that I was hoping I could post as DPW auctions, but they're hideous. I may email my friend Arena (who paints amazing florals) and ask her advice as to how to proceed . . . although I fear they are too far gone for any kind of saving. In the meantime -- I'm tired and am headed to bed.  But I'll be back at it tomorrow -- hopefully with better results. I'm due, right?   -- Have a good night!

Watercolors and Wine

"Side Door Simplicity"
6" x 6"

Hi All!  I will be holding a watercolor class at the Hardwick Winery on Sunday, April 28th at 1:00 pm.  The class will run for 3 hours. There will be a free wine tasting along with a cheese and fruit platter for snacking.  We'll be painting the above painting, "Side Door Simplicity" -- a scene from the grounds. For more information go to the Hardwick Winery's "Watercolor and Wine" events page on Facebook. Registration information is there, or you can email me at kkoz517@charter.net. I hope you can join us!

Back to the Barns

I haven't painted much in the past two days as I've been working on our taxes. So here's a painting I started a while back -- you may remember it. I put away (like I often do) and then recently (about a few weeks ago) I started messing with it again. I'm hoping to finish up the big shoe, the big bowl and then these barns in the next week or so.  And looking forward to getting back to my paintings!  Have a good day and thank you for stopping by.

Side Door

"Side Door Simplicity"
6" x 6"
(watercolor on Fabriano cold-pressed)

(what this painting could look like framed)

Click here to bid

I bought a block of Fabriano cold-pressed paper and thought I'd give it a whirl and I liked it! Yay! I found the pigment very easy to lift out however the paper held the color in place for adding washes which is not so much the case with hot press. And I enjoyed working on the texture. Perhaps you'll see more little studies from me on this paper . . . or not . . . who knows? . . . I'm always all over the map! It was a nice departure though.

Thank you for dropping by and I hope everyone had a lovely weekend / St. Patrick's Day. I'm excited to start the week off with a new painting!