"Reflection" 6x6 oil on panel

Our kayaks waiting on the beach. Reflections. Reflection. Reverie. Aaahh, summer in VT.

"Toes in the Water" 6x6 oil on panel

There's nothing quite as much fun as a kid going swimming in the summer. Pure joy. Brings back memories of all the summers past. This is my "great" niece. Yikes!

"Almost Caught Him" 6x6 oil on panel

Photo troubles. The reference photo wasn't great as it was a dull gray day, but the joy of the little boy made it hard to resist. The photo of the painting is bad, doesn't capture the subtleties. Oh well, no more excuses. At least I got to paint!

"Happy Cows" 5x7 oil on panel

Another good day in the studio. These guys just wanted to be painted. The photo doesn't capture a lot of the color. I'm never quite sure why. But I'm grateful to be back to my little daily paintings.

"Poppies" 6x6 oil on panel

So happy to be back to painting! I tried another subject (our sail boat), but ended up wiping it out. This one worked a little better. It's all about the light.

Oh, I'm loving my new studio. It is far from organized, but I'm continuing the mantra "No excuses. . .just paint." There will be plenty of time to organize, do laundry, etc. etc. This week is found time. Time between guests. Chunks of time without obligations. So I'm taking the opportunity to paint.

"Chasing Seagulls" 5x7 oil on panel

Yesterday was "No excuses. . .just paint" day.
The laundry wasn't done.
The new studio wasn't organized.
The morning dishes were in the sink.
No excuses. . . just paint.
A few years ago when I was delving into the oh-so-much-more-difficult world of writing, a teacher said to me, "Writers write." And, painters paint. Show up. No excuses. . . just paint.
I re-visited an image I've painted before. It felt great to paint!

Mug Shots 4x4 oil on board

Also from Karin Jurick's workshop, these two are mug shots from Karin. She did a series of 100 mug shots, which are brilliant. It's a really fun exercise to keep it loose and colorful. Some very intense and exciting things seem to happen. The mug shots are available on the internet, and I intend to do more this summer.

Karin Jurick Workshop Paintings 6x6 oil on board

Last week I had the privilege of attending a workshop with Karin Jurick, who in my opinion is one of the best "daily painters" out there. She is also a fantastic teacher, and a delight of a person to spend the best part of a week with. These are the first two paintings I did at the workshop. It's kind of hard to get back into this fast, painterly approach working from photos after about 9 months of working realistically from life/models. But I love the loose, quick method, and working from photos is very helpful for summer in VT.

The real thrill of the workshop was watching Karin's demos. I learned so much. The "Boy in Green Crocs" was from a photo Karin gave us all. The "Man in Disguise" was from one of my bench-sitter photos. I can't wait to get back to "daily painting" this summer. (A couple of weeks of travel is coming up, and then hopefully I will be back to it.)

Painting at the Met, "After Repin" 24x30 Oil on Linen

The Academy offered a class this semester in which we painted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art one afternoon a week. I chose the Repin to copy. It was an amazing experience.

"With Hat in Hand" 24 x 36 oil on canvas

Here's my latest from Sharon Sprung's class. A three week pose, but cut short by a few days of absence, both mine and the model's. All in all I was pleased. Sharon says I am moving to a new level, but need to focus on textures as well as giving more depth to the shadows, more contrast. I am really loving working on this larger size -- 24 x36.