chincoteague and James McNeill Whistler

21 x21 pastel

"To say to the painter that Nature should be taken as she is, is to say to the player that he may sit on the piano. " James McNeill Whistler

Don't you love that quote?
I was happy that this painting sold at the show. I think I will take this concept to the studio next.

memory and luminosity

This is a recent pastel memory painting.
Many people have asked me about painting from memory, feeling it is an impossibility for them. Let me tell you it's not. The most important thing is observe carefully and to record the memory with precise words. Words like orange water or light blue in the sky will not bring the memory back clearly. Instead descriptive passages like- dull orange glow with underlying green or dusty cerulean in a value 2 steps lighter than the water, those words will work. Those are the kind of words that can bring a memory back months later. Making a strong vision in your head, so strong you can see it when you turn your back on the inspiration.
Why go through all this when you can just paint plein air or with a  photograph? When you rely on memory you distill. From the distillation you receive clearly that which is  important.

For me it is the only way I paint the real it- luminosity.

reveal, sky's gauzy veil

6x6 oil on board
Skies have become my newest muse.
This one was posted (pre-post)  before the snowpacolypse..... we have been powerless for more than 36 hours! It's freezing...34 degrees in the house. More later!

May 20, 2008 Summer is Coming

9x18, pastel on masonite boards with ground
Hameau Farm has the best skyscapes. Fair weather clouds like these let you know summer is on the way. I can't wait!

May 17, 2008 Cloud Dance over Hameau

12x16 pastel on board
This afternoon I returned from my glorious experience at the artist retreat at Hameau Farm. What can I say, but, it was amazing! Susan Nicholas Gephart, a talent artist and warm, wonderful person organized the whole thing. It was held in Big Meadow, an Amish farm community. The Hameau Farm is run and owned by a really cool woman named Gay. Check out both of their websites, www.snicholasart.com and www.hameaufarm.com
The sky was so big out here that it called like a siren..,"Paint me, paint me!" So I did.
I will post more paintings as I finish them.

April 23, 2008 Big Sky and Spring Green

5.25x6 pastel and watercolor on wallis board
The field in Potomac is beginning to show its green. Everything is bursting out GREEN! Skies are changing.

March 17, 2008 Quiet Walk

7x11, pastel and watercolor on wallis, finished painting
7x11, pastel and watercolor on wallis- underpainting
Here is the process again. This weekend I was out walking by the river. On my way out there I saw this beautiful field in Potomac. I love the big sky, which is unusual for this area.
The watercolor offers some beautiful accidents.. like the beautiful drippy effect in the dark clouds, the pastel offers more depth of color. Next time I will combine and leave the drips.

January 3, 2008 Crescent Moon

I told myself that I needed to focus ONLY on big paintings since I have 1 1/2 more weeks till everything needs to go to the framer. So this morning on my freezing cold, daybreak walk I saw this. There goes my idea of no small paintings for now.

November 29, 2007 Sunrise at Target

Took my early morning walk at Starbucks today and the sky made it all worth it. This time I had my camera. Snapped the photo and ran back to my studio with my drink in hand. Skies have such mood.

November 20, 2007 Road to Lewes

Should it matter that my framer (with a scrunched up nose) told me yesterday that I am getting more representational and less abstract? Yes, it bothered me. But I guess when I think about it, yes, I long for abstraction within reality. I also want, more importantly, a painting that has emotion. Therefore, I went straight to clouds. Using a photo from this summer, remembering my friend Turner, I got to work. Hmmmm. I'll look at it tomorrow.
On another note today I will go to the Shendandoah to do sketches for later paintings. I do not know if I will have an internet connection. So I may post late. Toodles.