back to Italy!

I have been aiming to return to Italy and was finally able to do that this fall, with my friend and co-painter- and traveler Maeve. We signed up for a week workshop in the countryside near Florence, which we determined is really just the right amount of time to get warmed up! The very first morning we got up early to paint, and what met our gaze was almost a complete white out! It turned out to be a very nice environment for painting, and, yes, we used more than just white!

See a short video of our stay https://youtu.be/CTG8DHxEO0g

These paintings are all “alla prima”, meaning they were painted all at once on location and have not been touched since. I am planning to work on them more, but here they are in their raw state. The very long one was an experiment of painting on a rolled-up linen ground, I may not be able to get the kinks out of it, and it’s very rough. You may see the occasional bug on the surface.

sky abstract

Lately, I’ve been wanting more air, water, more fluid merges between colors and shapes. I sometimes just want the edges to disappear. Though this is not there, and it’s just a starting painting, it is going in the right direction at least, and I am hoping to be able to complete it with soft edges.

Showing with the Plein Air Painters of Mendocino!

I am telling you a bit late about my current showing in Mendocino with the Plein Air Painters of Mendocino at the Annual Whale Festival Art Show & Sale which opened last Friday — the show will be open all weekends in March.

Join us this Saturday evening for our Opening Reception!

Come see beautiful landscapes and seascapes inspired by the natural beauty of the North Coast — two floors filled with paintings, whimsical ceramics and woodwork.

A recent painting from the uplands of Maui, oil on canvas.

Holiday Owl

White on white is pretty fun, there are an amazing number of variations. In fact, however, some of these whites got so wild they are no longer white, but blue, orange, etc. Since I had so much fun creating the mountain goat I decided to try an owl, keeping it super-simple, because of the time constraint. This was a gift to @sathier.

painting location 2/19

This was an unexpectedly good place to paint, in Rodeo. It’s unfortunate that people trash their environment, but there was just too much to trash here, so somehow, it was still beautiful! Painting in progress.

January 30 — iPad sketch

I am trying out a <oh never!> stylus with a drawing program from AutoDesk for the iPad. It’s pretty cool, the software, except I can’t find an eyedropper tool so far, which would be oh-so-handy for picking up a previous color. It makes you try harder to match colors, of course, which is probably a good thing. Steve Jobs would have hated that I’m using a stylus, but it really helps because my finger gets tired!! Maybe after a while you get stronger (finger exercises – yeah!) but for now, this is great.

January 27

It is so interesting drawing my step-mother’s pots, they each have such a strong, individual character. This one was a "pinch pot", meaning she didn’t throw it on the wheel, but just coiled or mushed some clay together, and formed it into this shape. She often carved the clay after a day or so, when it had had enough time to harden enough to hold the shape of the carving, then she painted it. You couldn’t tell what color it would be after firing, most of the paints looked grey or pink while being applied.