Mt. Carmel Morning, 243

Yeah, yeah, I know, you have seen this one before. Doing this just to make me happy. The finished piece for a client is going to be 24"x30", but after the last debacle I had going large, I really needed to work out all the kinks and reservations I have. The colors in this one are a bit more green and way brighter in the foreground. Don't know how I feel about that, guess I'll leave that up to the person who will have to live with it!

Mt. Carmel Morning, 242

Working up to a much larger version of this piece. Going to try to go a step larger next and work in a bit of palette knife, try to regain my momentum and experiment a bit more. This was done from a picture I took down the road last year. I may even try to go back to that spot to do avery large version with the knife or a trowel.

Lower Field, Morning 241

Wanted to get back to the palette knife when out doors and doing plein air work. I want to work bigger and faster and more expressively... like I used to! It is amaZing how quickly become lost in doing something else before we come back to who we are.

Tennessee Gate, 240

Larger version of the study I did in Tennessee. I am playing with the palette knife again.

46' Willys, 239

Trying to build some creative momentum. I only get summer vacation once a year and I try to take advantage of it. This year my creative peak and vacation are NOT lining up and not for lack of trying! Hoping this piece will get me back into the groove of things again.

this month in my itunes...

Delta Spirit, History from Below

David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames (my favorite Van Gogh painting BTW)

I love listening to music when I paint. I find new groups or revisit old ones an go nuts with them, I get everything I can get my hands on. Some of it is great to paint to, some... not so much!

My favorites to listen to whilst painting include:

RadioHead, Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, Philip Glass, Miles Davis, David Bowie and Yo-Yo Ma

I am a huge blues fan, but not so much while I am painting. Lately I have gotten into the bad habit (?) of watching or listening to old movies while I paint. I don't so much watch as listen. I really enjoy it because I really get to hear the dialogue, whereas when I am watching it I am almost too engrossed in "watching."

It is the same with music, I never remember lyrics because I am always listening to the music.

I am trying to limit the number of purchases of audiobooks and music, so I try to get one of each every month.

Tennessee Gate, 238

Saw this view while enjoying lunch poolside. I had to make some of it up in order to make it interesting. Still need to work on my color shifts and atmospheric perspective. It is starting to come back a bit but being outside again has helped me to see what I need to learn more about. Hoping to get some reference pictures of the field before we leave, it is much more interesting up close than I could see from my vantage point across the street!

Creekside Trees, 237

We are in Tennessee this weekend and for some of next week. It is nice to have a little change of scenery to keep me interested and inspired. Julie's parents have a great place and the town is in the middle of nowhere.. the way I like it! A great deal of agriculture going on here.

I didn't quite capture the trees the way I wanted, I hate to miss the point like that and the tress fell apart as I overworked them.... but, hey, that's what this is all about. Overall, I like the piece and it was great to get outside for a while...

Buicks and Bouquets, 236 SOLD

Did this beauty for a friend of mine who got our VW van up and running. next he will be working on my '77 Land Cruiser FJ40. Travis is very talented and was so happy that he was willing to swap out with me. I am short on cash and heavy in paint.

Trav wanted me to paint his young daughter. I told him that peeps were not my strong point but that I would look for the perfect picture to work from. he burned a copy of all of his pics and i went through them. I don't think he knew what a car freak I am, but when I saw the images of the Buick, I knew that the car meant a great deal to him. I found a picture his aunt took right after the wedding and it had a picture of his wife's bouquet in the window. I know that this would stand a better chance of hanging on her wall!

Very happy with this one, and glad to get it to Travis after all of his hard work!

Morning Evergreens, 235

Wok up early the morning we left to paint these evergreens in the back yard of the Inn. I had enjoyed the both from the patio during breakfasts as well as from the little window in our bathroom. From the bathroom you could see the purple of the mountains behind the trees, but not from the yard from where I painted them.

I worked off of a red back ground again and used my Vasari paints and limited palette of cobalt blue light, permanent red medium and cad yellow lemon.

4 1/2 Street Inn, 234

Sometimes when painting under duress, you make mistakes. I did this piece late in the day, before a dinner reservation and without too much thought. I wanted to get the light at the end of the day before it changed too much without much consideration for the background. I don't do too well under pressure!

This is the truck at the Inn that i fell in love with. I got great pictures of it, but my painting left me feeling a bit flat... I need to change the background a bit.

This piece was also painted on a red background...

Native AZalea

Went to Highlands, NC to check on some artwork in local restaurants. We stayed at the 4 & 1/2 Street Inn. We fell in love with the place. I could have stayed there and painted all day, everyday. I had to settle for 2 a day! My first subject was the blooming native AZalea in the back yard. It was beautiful, how luck we were to be there when it was blooming!

Day Lilies

Took the sketch box out in the yard for a quick adventure to get some sun. We have a bed of these and irises growing, but the irises are done for the year!

this little bunch causes some swearing and a small tantrum, but i am very pleased with the outcome. I used a very different palette than what I am used to and it proved very frustrating! Cad yellow lemon, permanent green light, kings blue, and cad red light. Great colors, though!