Combustion

Combustion
Watercolor, 5 x 7"
Matted and backed to 11 x 14"
$100
to purchase this painting, email me

Nine days ago, my house was hit by lightning which took out my HVAC. At some point, my old refrigerator failed. This may or may not have been related to the lightning. I now have new, energy efficient central heat and air system, a new energy star refrigerator, and, just to be thorough, made an appointment to have my attic properly insulated next week. This afternoon, I learned that I was correct in assessing that I need a new roof. I have to get in line for my fabulous and very fair roofer, so by the end of another six weeks, I'll have a new roof with a nice venting system. As a result of this visit by Thor (Did you know that lightning is five times hotter than the surface of the sun?), I'm suddenly on a major home improvement tear! What the hell. Considering my electric bills over the last year, this is truly a blessing.

As far as watercolor goes, I think I mention somewhere that I've been fussing over my palette. I'm happy to write that I have finally settled on a slightly revised set of colors that I'm really pleased with. Have been playing with larger sizes. Frankly, I'm a bit tired of making tiny paintings (at least for the moment). I'll show and tell with some new examples soon. I've been in transition for a while now. These things don't happen overnight.

Life is such an adventure!

Visit My Great Day.

Splash of Sky

Splash of Sky
Watercolor, 5 x 7"
Matted and backed to 11 x 14"
$100
to purchase this painting, email me

Life is full! One day, soon, I'll be satisfied with my garden plantings and I'll have more time to devote to painting and blogging. But in the meanwhile, my hands (and feet and clothes) are covered in dirt, not paint. When my California series has run its course, I'll post some drawings and pix of my garden on My Great Day.

Have a great weekend!

Phase

Phase
Watercolor, 5 x 7"
Matted and backed to 11 x 14"
$100
to purchase this painting, email me

Another painting started the first week of May and finished last week. The phase like placement of the clouds reminds me of some early Steve Reich pieces, like Piano Phase

Still am posting California sketches over at My Great Day.

Flight

Flight
Watercolor, 5 x 7"
Matted and backed to 11 x 14"
$100
to purchase this painting, email me

Home to cat hair everywhere, a shin-length weedy lawn, promotion of summer classes, a new part-time job, neighborhood drama catch-up, the garden (the garden!) and so on...

Because I have just started to settle into painting again, am fussing with colors and just about everything else in my studio, I'll post a few that I worked on just before leaving a month ago.  But, I warn you, these new small paintings may be few and far between for these next couple of weeks.  Yesterday, I started in on some large watercolors that I am taking my sweet time developing.

My daily drawing — always in a good gear while I'm traveling — has fallen apart now that I'm home. I'll have to see what I can do about that. But meanwhile, I'm posting sketches I made while I was away over at My Great Day.  There, you'll find a regular daily fare.

I'm glad to be home, I'm glad to be back in the blogosphere and I just spotted my first firefly!

While I was away...

...I made many quick demos for students in my Basic Drawing and Watercolor Workshops. My teaching demos — usually executed in under fifteen minutes — are always rough and ready, just to make certain points in passing. In these introductory workshops, my aim is not to show people how to paint as I do but rather to demonstrate certain behaviors of watercolor to help them learn how to develop a relationship with the medium. This approach is designed to encourage each student to discover (and appreciate) their own marks and expressive style.

The above sketch was made at my Palm Springs workshop, looking out the front door.

I made the sketch below outside the San Luis Obispo Art Center looking up from one of the rocks in the middle of San Luis Creek.



I jump into these demos and feel as if I'm holding my nose and plunging into the abyss from a high cliff. Crude and unpolished, still, they serve a purpose!

For more travel scribbles, you can visit My Great Day where I'm posting pen sketches and photos from California and beyond.