Welcome spring and summer!!

Hello all,

I can't believe that November was the last time I posted anything here. Wow, how time flies. I've been very busy at the art center, developing several new programs for adults and learning the ropes of running a non-profit art center. In addition, I've been painting fairly regularly, developing business skills & partnerships, and preparing to participate in two upcoming watercolor workshops.

I recently joined up with a plein air painting group. I think I'm the only one working in watercolors. I consider it an opportunity to make the leap from field sketching to painting en plein air. Since I'm still learning how to master the medium of watercolor, I don't expect very much of my work on these days to be of framing quality. It's really just an opportunity to have a block of time every week devoted to practicing the art of painting on location. However, this first week I ended up with something I love.

I wanted to paint cows – so I did – and I love how my cow came out!

I drew just a very loose and light shape of a cow. Yes, I had a bunch of them in front of me and you know how challenging it can be to draw live animals. I was quite pleased to have produced something that resembled a cow in a loose yet still representational way. Just the way I want my drawings and paintings to look.

It's not finished, however. I posted two version of it here. I still need to work on the values in the painting. What I'm not sure about is how to crop it. Do I want the entire image showing the dead tree in the background and a larger middle ground of meadow? Or do I want to feature the cow more prominently by cropping the image closer in to him (or her). What do you think? I would love to see comments about the shapes, the values and the composition!

Three more new works are posted below!

These are framed in a gold metal frame that has some detail on the edges and are covered with an archival mat and uv, non-glare glass. I call them the smalls. I'm working on a series of smalls to re-purpose some wonderful frames and mats that once held pen & ink drawings from "The Nature of Cape Cod" project. As much as I loved seeing the pen & ink works framed, it was time to move on and try to use the frames in a different way. The mats are of a dark olive-brown color. I love the challenge of trying to match the color of the mat with new paintings. It's kind of backwards but what the heck? Maybe something awesome will come of it. I do like what I've produced so far. What do you think?