Old Friends

watercolor 18" x 28"

Well, I am stopping now on this painting. I put in alot of time on this one and I need to get away from it for right now. I will look at it tomorrow/later today with a fresh eye. I have to decide if I want to take opaque white and add that to the branches. Right now I will go and clean off my palette and wash my brushes. My eyes need a rest...and so does the rest of me.

Preliminary

watercolor 5" x 7"

This is a little rough color sketch of a commission that I am now working on. The finished piece is almost a full sheet of paper (22" x 30"). It is a winter scene with a lot of ice on the tree branches. There is no sun out so that means no fun shadows to work with. But this is what the client wants. So I will keep it to a limited palette and it will be very soft.
Time for a little nap to rest my eyes so that then I can go and do the big one without stopping or anyone bothering me. I will post the finished piece when I get it done. Also got another commission today. Been lucky with those commissions lately.

Change of topic...

watercolor 7" x 11"

Thought I would forget the snow and forget the farm and do something different. Now I am thinking about taking this painting and adding pastel to it and then doing another to see how loose I can paint it. If it is too loose, it will look like grape juice.
I have a commission that I need to begin and then I have this idea for a big painting. Hopefully I will begin those tomorrow.

Still at Joyce and Keith's Farm

watercolor 7" x 11"

Today I challenged myself to do a painting with green in it. But, I did not want to use a green straight from a tube of watercolor paint. I wanted to mix my own. So, I thought I would do another painting of the farm. I wanted to get some bright colors happening in this one.
It was amazing how quiet and peaceful this farm was the day after such terrible floods. These farmers harvest wheat. Their combine is stationed in this barn. Boy, was that John Deere a BIG one!! That was the first time that I saw one up close.

Joyce and Keith's Fram

watercolor 7" x 11"
Back on June 7 of 2008, We were in Columbus, Indiana and at that time they had a flood. We were right in the middle of it. Fortunately, there were these folks who lived on a farm and they did not evacuate. We ended up in their hay loft with them and was rescued by a boat and spent the night in a shelter. Then on the next day we had breakfast at there daughter's farm. This is the photo I took of her farm. We met some really great folks and have remained friends. I have photos of the other farm that was under water and hopefully I will do some paintings from them.

A Painting Sunday

watercolor 5" x 7"

Been in the studio all day and evening/night. Came up with another idea for the invite for the big fundraiser that I am helping with. You will see it when it is finished. Also, I have been working on the February workshop which will be on various techniques.
I sure am happy that I love what I do, or I would have really hated all that I did today.

Hurry Up Spring!!

watercolor 5" x 7"


Thought I would get away from the snow scenes. I do love how the snow is so peaceful and I love the palette of colors that I use when I paint a snow scene...but it is time to start thinking about Spring. Before you know it, we will all be in our gardens planting those seedlings.

4th Friday in Crown Point

Watercolor 5" x 7"
Yesterday was the 4th Friday Arts in Crown Point, Indiana. While I was there exhibiting my work, I also did this little painting. This way people were able to see how the process is done.

I did get another commission at the showing.

Right now I am working on my next workshop which is a technique workshop that is scheduled for February 21.

Winter in Indiana

watercolor 6" x 9"

Finally got all of the Christmas trees down so I thought I would do a little watercolor. Now to pack up some of my paintings that I plan to take to Crown Point, Indiana for the 4th Friday Arts. This is when local artists are at various establishments in the town exhibiting their art work. The art center is also open and they have an exhibit going on at the same time. It is a fun night out. Look for me at Carriage Court Pizza and I will not only have my paintings on display, but I plan to be doing a demo. So come on by. I will show you how it is done. Come early and have dinner and a drink.

Winter Dunes Workshop

This is a photo of the painting that I did for the Winter Dunes workshop that was held this past Saturday for the Chesterton Art Center. We had a fun class and I think they all did very well with their paintings. I even think they deserved a snowball for their attempts.
The next workshop will be March 21 and it will be a tree workshop where we will learn how to paint various types of trees and then we will apply what we learned into a painting. Hurry and sign up!!!

Urban Landscape...the process.

Thought you would like to see the process, step by step. This took 6 hours to complete. I will look at it tomorrow to see what tweaking it might need...and I need to still add my signature.