Red Flowers Ornage Cloth.

18 x 22 " 300 lb. cold press. I thought I totally lost this one, and I may have. So, I painted the orange thing right over what was already there. Maybe that is a good thing...

Iris Flowers.

I like the way this one turned out. It held the looseness I have been after.

15 x 22 " half sheet on 300 lb. cold press.

Picnic Still Life.

My daughter named this one basedon what she thought it looked like, I guess the clothe give it a feeling of a picnic.

15 x 22 " 300 lb hot press paper. Half sheet.

Peaches and Fruit.

11 x 14 " . This is on hot press paper. I keep going back and forth about the texture thing. ...more painting.

Apples in a Still Life.

I am certainly not as loose as I'd like to be with the paint, but I getting there. Things are starting to feel less confining. I am beginning to have more fun with designing the paintings. They are bigger which is a little easier. I have more space to play with. Using more water helps.

the paper is roughly 11x14. And it is the 300lb cold press.

Apples on the windowsill.

I had leftover paper. Filled it. Fun. Probably too fussy for what I have been doing, but it was a fun little painting. I did crop off both ends because it would not fit in my scanner window. I read about a larger scanner, may have to look into that.

A painting I shall go...

Blue Stuff Still.

Just some stuff sitting around the studio. Quick and lots of water. I am really having fun, and learning so much. Mostly, I am seeing how waiting for the water/paint to dry helps the painting come together.

This is in my Moleskin sketchbook.

Still life and checkers.

My professor suggested, since I was not completely happy with this originally, that I paint over it. Sloosh paint on it. Still having a hard time just painting over things, but I did it in a gentle way. I think I like the painting more now.

Cutwork curtains and still life.

Another sketch in my new moleskin book. This is a study for painting the lacey edge curtains which ends up appearing in a larger painting. I will post that one too, when it is finished. It is taking longer to do the larger work, so, while I am painting everyday, I am not posting everyday.

I am trying to capture elements from objects without being to fussy about how they appear.

Still Life 1.

This is perhaps THE turning point. Very little was drawn in before painting. There was some, the plate, the mason jar and part of the table. I did these things well into the painting. I kept the painting transparent which is something I have been looking to try.

10 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches. One 300 lb Arches watercolor paper. I thing the paper makes a BIG difference. The paint behaves differently on nice paper. So much more to do...

Guitar in Still Life.

The first sketch in my new Moleskin book. I have decided to just go with the mini still life paintings for now. It is what is comfortable. It will enable me to keep my hand going.

the moleskin book is 5 x 8 inches.

Studio Still Life 1...

I am not as sure of myself when I have not drawn the lines out first to block in my image. Here I just went right to the painting. I used sticks to draw lines into the wet paint which created darker lines in select areas. This is quite small, and not as loose as I think it should be, but it is a start.

7x10 inches watercolor on 300 lb paper. For sale. Email for a price.

Stove and Towel...

What is a turning point? When one makes the decision to try something new? When you actually reach newness? Here I am painting a new subject and the method of painting is slightly different, but it still looks like my painting. I am not putting the ink linework in. I am not drawing every detail prior to painting, but the application of my paint feels the same. More to do...

A Street In Rome

Feeling a little better. This might be the turning point painting. I think what is changing is the need to do away with the gesture pencil drawing prior to painting. I find I am trying to follow those lines too closely instead of being free with the paint and allowing the painting to speak for itself.

For sale. 11x14 watercolor on 140 lb paper. Email if your are interested.

A Woman Begging at the Roman Forum Ruins.

I feel I am getting there in terms of looseness, yet still have so much more to learn. Here goes more painting.

For sale - 11x14 140 lb watercolor. Email requests.

A Woman on the Spanish Steps in Rome.

A very poor woman. My daughter said of this painting, that woman must have a story. I asked my daughter what she thought the story would be. In my painting class during critique, my classmates and professor agreed that there was no story, no mystery - the story is all told with the destitute nature of the woman in the painting. My daughter did not agree. Molly decided one could make up a story about what happen to get the woman to the point where she felt she had to beg, as the woman is doing. Then Molly told me she thought the painting told a story about where the woman would go if someone gave her money.

I guess this could be an illustration and not a painting that stands on its own. For me, it is a record of what I saw and felt and experienced on that day at that time in Rome Italy. Nothing more. Except now, I have the vision expressed in watercolor paint.

This painting is for sale. 11x14 on 140 lb. watercolor cold press. Will come matted in a neutral mat. Email me if you are interested.

Rome Pizza Maker #2.

Only this painting is much larger - 11x14inches. I bought a block of 140 lb paper to see how it would feel to paint on. Not the texture I am use to with the 300 lb paper, but since I have twenty or so sheets of it, I will make use of it for he next paintings.

Having completed the sketchbook of Italy paintings, I thought I would do some larger works based on my trip this past summer. I have several more done which I will post in the next several days. As I indicated several days ago, however, I feel a change coming on. I have been looking at still life. Loosening up is definitely something I need to do. So, I may be putting the figure to the side for now and directing my attention to still life and freer work.

This painting is for sale. Email if you are interested!

baskets dry sink and an old kitchen.

Still not loose enough, so I will keep going along. Playing with color, enironment and design. Not too worried about perspective issues, in fact I like that there are different agles to look at.

Towel and Stove.

There comes a time in one's development that we have to look for new things to paint, draw and create. Here is such a time for me. I am in need of a break from the figure work and the work on the Italy paintings.

So how does one find something new to paint? I began by looking at the things that were significant in my life. I made a list. It all boiled down to those items that make life feel comfortable and at home. So, I looked at old things. Places the old things have been as a means of touching the lives of the living. My mother in law always surrounded the family with antiques and things from the past. I believe, in effort to help us all feel a part of the importance those items played in helping to mold us into what we all have become.

Here lies the importance of who I am. So, at least for now, I will look toward old things in order to make sense of the new ideas.

I am not trying to be specific. I hope to find a new loose quality and perhaps a loose style. I want very much for the work to take me, not for me to take it.

here goes...