New Crop

A corner of my studio.

It looks like a new crop of cabbage paintings ( and seedlings ) are bursting forth. I hope to be done with a few paintings soon so as to share them with you.

For now here are the beginnings of a large cabbage in oil ( my first in oil). I like the texture that oil produces in the leaves, though I miss the stain glass effect that watercolor has.

*For all my fellow gardening junkies here is a link to my favorite radio show, I love listening to it while I paint.

Studio Days

Me walking through the garden.

I sometimes feel odd when I write about my studio, and I believe this stems from the fact that the studio is hardly the only place I work. The couch, dinner table, floor, and lawn are not out of bounds for me. The studio is usually reserved for unwieldy large pieces which cannot be moved or are in oil.

Seeing other artist's studios which are depicted as a large room or a single desk hold both great interest and confusion for me because it is simply not the only place where they work. Strangely enough the first place I think to photograph when asked to depict my studio is the garden or a small corner that holds particular interest for me at the moment. At most the work in progress is the way I depict my work space and then it seems almost alien to my eyes. Perhaps because it is the last step in the process and gives the illusion that I simply plopped down and looked at a list of what there was to paint that day. Rather than being surrounded by beauty and being inspired by it.

A few tulips in a corner of our living room.

I wish we could see the usual walks that artists took during a lull or the garden they sat in. It is lovely to see a room in which the artist works but it also plays to a mechanical notion of art and a factory like efficiency that I think are just not there ( at least not in me).

Botanical Illustration

When I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show I was really impressed by the Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators . They had such lovely work on display, lots of intricate and unusual drawings. So when I came home I decided to try my hand at it. Here is a little chestnut hull that I found on a recent walk through a park.

I think I may do more of these drawings and perhaps take one of the classes offered through the PSBI. The work really combines my love of painting and nature in a nice way because I get to observe and create.

I used watercolors and color pencils in this little painting.

A Small Cabbage

This piece started as a study, for a large commission and then became a small painting. As I get ready to plant my spring cabbages I'm all the more excited with my cabbage series and have even begun another, this time in oil.

Title: A Small Cabbage

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Size: 8"x10.5" (with mat and frame)

Isle of Sheep

Title: Isle of Sheep

Size: 11"x15"

Medium: Watercolor on paper

There is something so serene about a flock of sheep. I always enjoy painting them at different times of the day, seeing what sort of color their wool has turned with the changing light.

I painted this piece using multiple layers of washes and finished it with adding touches of color pencil.

Ring of Poppies

I decided to play a bit with the shape of the paper on this one. I have to say it was a lot of fun to put together. The poppies look so vibrant and the odd shaping catches your eye in a new way.

Size: 10" diameter

Medium: Watercolor on paper