Lovebird's Concerto---oil painting

Lovebird's Concerto
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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Click here to see gifts and personal items with reproductions of this painting that are available for purchase. More products with this image will be coming, so please check back soon!

Many thanks to Rodney and Tamara Money for the photo reference of their adorable bird. BeBe won top bench placement in the African Lovebird Society Pet Writing Contest just a few weeks ago. He is a Dutch Blue Pied Peach-faced Lovebird. Rodney and Tamara are lovebird breeders in North Carolina. You can check out the cute arrivals at their website. Rodney is also a composer, so it's not surprising that BeBe is playing a piano concerto.

I probably don't need to tell you how much fun it was to work on this painting, but I do think my lovebird, Mango, got a little jealous.

Soda Cans in the Studio

Soda Cans in the Studio
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed masonite
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

I've had this setup in my studio for over a week, but just had a chance to finish up the painting today. Below is a picture of the setup in my studio. (You can see that the angle the photo was taken from is different from the angle at which the painting was done.) I know it's fun to have a peek inside the artist's studio sometimes. I did some recent rearranging. It's a lot more convenient to work in here now. I have greater flexibility, with additional setup space, so I can have a few still lifes cooking at once. I'll take photos to do a full studio tour soon. Stay tuned!

Red Barn on Butlerville Road

Red Barn on Butlerville Road
10 x 8", Oils on Canvas covered hardboard
$245 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

This was painted from a photo I took in New Paltz, New York. I love the vistas there by the Shwangunk cliffs, with rolling farmland and old barns everywhere.

During winter break vacation, my daughter and I flipped over two Jenday Conures, and now have two more members of the family! They've taken up residence with Coconut and Mango in the upstairs studio. In addition to their endearing personalities and comic antics, I anticipate they will make ideal painting subjects! Please welcome the two girls, Lulu and Lucy. (Click to enlarge image.)

Initially we were going to get only Lulu, but they have been caged together for a few months now and we couldn't bear to separate them. Lulu is almost a year old, and Lucy is 7 months. Conures aren't known for talking ability, but learn tricks easily and are quite affectionate.

Yelllow Mums in February 12x12" oil painting

Click to enlarge:



Yellow Crysanthemums in February
12 x 12", Oils on Canvas covered hardboard
$295 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

Today I had a great time painting with palette knives for the first time in a long time. I must have been color starved after being away from painting much of this week! This was so much fun that I think I'd like to get back to doing some more knife paintings----perhaps one a week as a change of pace. This is larger than many of my "daily paintings" at 12x12". The paint is extremely thick and the work is very textural, which is hard to see in a digital rendition. I used a fairly large palette of colors, compared to my usual limited palette choice:
Cadmium yellow lemon
Cadmium yellow pale
Napthol Red
Burnt Sienna
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Cerulean Blue
Titanium White

Tomorrow I'll finish up a painting I started while my neice was here. I'm looking forward to getting back into the daily painting swing of things again.

Winter Break

I'm off for several days of family activities. Schools are closed all week, and I've been having some fun doing things with my daughter and hubby. I'll be back with more artwork on Monday, February 26, if not before.

A Day of Thumbnail Sketches in Ink and Watercolor

Click to enlarge images:
Today was a busy day and I knew I wouldn't have time for a full-fledged painting, so I began the day by making a two-page grid of boxes in my sketchbook. That way, I could do small thumbnail sketches as I went about my day.

I used a Uniball Vision Micro pen to do all the drawing. For some of them, I used the little Koi watercolor box that's in the sketch, with a water barrel brush; for others, I used the palette below with an Escoda #6 travel brush (the gold cylinder in the photo). I loved doing this "grid" approach to quick sketches. It made them feel managable on a day when I otherwise would not have done any artwork at all. It looks pretty cool in the sketchbook too!

Red Berries and a Silver Guitar

Click to enlarge either image:

Red Berries and Silver Guitar
7 x 5", double matted to 10x8", Gouache on Fabriano Artistico 100% rag paper
$100 double matted, unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

This painting is sold in a beautiful double mat (shown below), ready to hang in any standard 8x10 picture frame.

This is a painting filled with things that are so special to me. The little silver guitar was given to me by a wonderful student of mine. The red berries are from a bouquet that my husband gave me for Valentine's Day. The beautiful red pot was made by a local potter Marilyn Price. I got it at the RiverWinds Gallery while out gallery-hopping with my friends last weekend. As soon as I saw it there on display, I knew I had to paint it!

Cherry Blossoms Along the Hudson

Cherry Blossoms Along the Hudson
16 x 20", Oils on Canvas covered hardboard
Email me if interested. This painting is currently in a show.

This recent big winter storm has made me look forward to springtime! This is a painting I did on location in springtime at Boscobel Restoration, enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms along the path above the Hudson River. The painting is varnished, framed, and ready to hang on your wall!

Three on a Swing

Three on a Swing
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

Many thanks to bird breeder Linda Brandt for the reference image of three of her baby birds on a swing! We lovebird owners know how they adore their swings, so I was tickled to see this image of three climbing on board together. I haven't painted any birds for awhile, so I'm due. This one was great fun.

My palette for this painting:
Cadmium yellow lemon
Quinacridone Rose (Permanent Rose)
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Burnt Sienna
Titanium White

Gallery Sitting---All proceeds donated to rebuild Putnam Arts Council following Sundays fire

Gallery Sitting
7 x 5", Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

All proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to Putnam Arts Council for the rebuilding of their Art Center and Galleries following the horrible fire on Sunday night.

I painted this interior scene from life while gallery sitting at the Belle Levine Gallery at Putnam Arts Council. Following the fire on Sunday night/Monday morning, this gallery space is no more. Having recently shown about 40 paintings here during the holiday season, it's hard for me to believe it's gone. It is such a terrible loss for Putnam County. The sculpture in the painting, "Hawk of the Hudson", is by the wonderful sculptor Paul Yarden. It was made from driftwood found along the riverbank.

You can read more about the fire and public reaction (including my own) in

this newspaper article

.

Afternoon in Acadia National Park---oil painting

Afternoon in Acadia
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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Every summer, my husband and I go up to Acadia National Park in Maine. We spend at least one day strolling along the beautiful ocean path , enjoying the scenery and ocean breeze while chatting and taking pictures. This painting was done this morning from one of the photographs I took there. I used a couple of paintings that I've done on location there as color references, since pictures never tell the whole story.

My palette for this painting was:
Cadmium Lemon
Permanent Rose
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Viridian
Burnt Sienna
Titanium White
Comparing this painting with the one I did on Saturday, you can see how moving away from the warm red and yellow I used there gave me the crisp, cool colors I needed for the very different light in this painting.

On a sad note, I just spoke with a local reporter who told me that the Putnam Arts Council had a serious fire overnight. With so many art centers folding around the country, I hate to think of the one closest to me not being able to continue. Hopefully they will rebuild. I can't imagine this community without an art center! I had about 40 paintings there through the holidays, and accidentally left one behind when I picked them up. I don't know yet if it survived the fire or not, but at least no people were hurt in the blaze. The March Member Show is on my website as one of the shows I was planning to participate in. This is a terrible loss to Putnam County's artists and the general public.

Winter Moonrise

Click to enlarge:

Winter Moonrise
5 x 7" matted to 8x10", Gouache on Fabriano Artistico 100% rag paper
$100 matted, unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

Many thanks to Connie van Winssen for use of a photo reference for this painting from her villiage of Westbroek in The Netherlands. I don't generally paint from photos other than my own, but I was so captivated by the colors and mood of this scene that I just had to paint it!

I selected a warm, limited palette of colors: Yellow deep, Venetian red, Ultramarine blue, and white to bring out the rich warmth and glow of the scene.


Below, you can see what my palette ended up looking like when I was finished! I did wipe it off once during the painting process, after laying in the initial colors. When a palette gets too muddy, that mud starts making its way into the painting.


Below is just the painting by itself, before it was signed and matted. This was such a joy to paint! Thanks, Connie!

Tracks in the Snow at Sunrise oil painting 6x6

Tracks in the Snow at Sunrise
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

I looked out the window this morning and there was a beautiful sunrise of subdued violets and yellows over the lake. I wasn't yet set up to paint, and knew that what I was seeing would vanish long before I had a chance to lay out palette and get my brushes. Rather than skip painting a sunrise, I went through photos I'd taken of the view in previous winters. I came across one I'd been meaning to paint for a long time, and spent the morning having a wonderful time doing this painting.

Tomorrow morning, I'll have to make sure I'm set up earlier to catch it in the moment!

Here's an update of my show calendar so far for 2007:
March 10-about April 8---Hudson River Show at Freshman Fine Arts, 4 South Chestnut St, Beacon
May 12-June 4---Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters show at Bannerman Island Gallery, Main St, Beacon
June 15-July 1---White Silo Winery (four-artist show)
September---Two-person show with Suhua Wood at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation
October---Artists on Location, Garrison
November---Two-person show with Walter Mosley at Bannerman Island Gallery
December---Solo show at North Salem Library

Of course you can always see a rotating selection of my work in all styles and subjects at The Paint Box in Bedford Hills.

There's a link on the right to my blog for my shows, openings and other events. Stay tuned there for more news. I'll add specifics as the dates get closer.

Brass Pitcher and an Apple in Sue's Studio

Brass Pitcher and Apple
7 x 5" matted to 10x8, Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 100% rag paper
$50 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

I had a couple of hours of free time while my daughter was at gymnastics, so I went over to my plein air buddy's studio, which is near the gym, and did a couple of watercolor sketches. Sue and I paint outside all the time together, but not in the winter when it's about five degrees out! It's really fun to play with someone else's still life stuff. She has this sweet brass pitcher that I loved painting. I've put it in a double mat, so it's all ready to pop into any standard 8x10 frame.


It was my birthday a few days ago and my husband got me these gorgeous red sable, Escoda travel brushes, sizes 10 and 6. The brushes come apart and slip inside the tubes that double as handles. This watercolor sketch was my first test drive of the new brushes. I love them to bits! They fit right inside the pocket of my sketchbook cover too.

The Wall Shelf 30x24 oils on stretched canvas

Wall Shelf
30 x 24", Oils on stretched canvas
$1800 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

It's finally just about finished! This painting is on gallery wrapped canvas, with the sides painted to look like part of the shelf, so it does not require a frame. When the canvas hangs on a wall, it will look like a wall shelf mounted on the wall. I'll post a picture of it like that once it's dry enough to hang.

This was a really wonderful project to paint, but I must confess I am glad that it wil finally be off my easel! You can expect some smaller paintings from me in the next week. *big grin*

This painting will be for sale off my blog for a limited time only---until it goes off to a gallery.

His Favorite Chair

His Favorite Chair
10 x 8", Oils on Canvas board
$195 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

Carnations and a Shell, oil painting 6x8

Carnations and a Shell
8 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$125 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)

Sketches of Old Sturbridge Village

All images can be clicked for larger versions.

I drove up to Massachusetts today to have brunch with my son, and decided to sketch at Old Sturbridge Village while I was in the vicinity. What a fabulous place to draw and paint! It's an old colonial village, with everything from farms and sawmills to pottery demonstrations and hot mulled cider over an open fire. They do not allow photography nor artwork for commercial purposes, but they had no problem with me bringing my sketchbook around.

These are ink and watercolor in a 5.5x8.25" Hand Book Journal. They're done across the two-page spreads, so each image is about 8x10". The images are a little distorted because the paper doesn't lie perfectly flat.

I started out in the Towne House (above), on the recommendation of the sweet woman working the Admissions counter. I could have spent the whole day drawing there, but there were so many other things to see!

The Fenno House was my next sketching stop, where this big fireplace with oven and built in cabinets above captured my interest (below). I didn't realize there was a person spinning wool in the next room! We chatted for awhile about all the interesting things there, and I sketched a couple of them. She gave me a piece of unspun wool to bring home. The little house in the drawing below is the Fenno House.

The District School (below) had a sloping floor so that the students in the back would be able to see the teacher! The benches were built so that the backs served as desks for the students behind.

On the upper right, that brick structure is a huge pottery kiln. When I say, "huge," I mean about 20 feet tall! The kiln takes 3-5 cords of wood to stoke the fire, and can handle about 800 pots at a time. They fire up the kiln a few times a year.

The image below that one was sketched in the kitchen at the Freeman House and Farm, where I was served hot mulled cider by a woman dressed as a farmer's wife in colonial times. She was cooking bread pudding over the open hearth in the kitchen. On top of the cabinet is a sugarloaf. The farmer's wife would break off pieces and grind them with the mortar and pestle.

When I left the farm and continued walking down the road, I saw this picturesque covered bridge over a frozen pond (below). I walked past the blacksmith, sawmill, and some other buildings and crossed over the bridge, heading back to the Village Green.

The bank in the Village Green is really pink! It was getting late, so I headed back to the main building to quickly check out the Clock Museum before it was time to go. On my way there, I came across an artist painting a wall mural based on a colonial woodcut. He'd project a transparency of the woodcut onto the wall, and then do an interpretation in black acrylic on the white wall. It looked fabulous.

I only had enough time left to get to the gift shop. I wanted some kind of a small souveneir, made there at Old Sturbridge Village, to bring home with me. I found the perfect item; it's a little ceramic inkwell!