For this 16x20 painting I started today with some of the prep work already completed - the initial layer of paint and the rough sketching of the rocks. 

I frequently start by painting the entire canvas with cadmium red light hue. This encourages warm undertones in the painting.

I then sketch in the outline in a deep purple a mixture of phthalocyanine blue and cadmium red deep hue. It looks like black, but I almost never use actual black paint.

From there I block in the other colors, building up highlights and shadows. ​

Finished product at 9:49 am. When things are going well I can complete a painting very quickly with acrylic paint. When things don't go well there is a lot more pacing and muttering involved. 

There is nothing better than splendid isolation in glorious nature to inspire an artist. This past September I took advantage of the last weeks of summer weather to unplug from the world and focus solely on creating. It's a vacation I intend to repeat at the earliest opportunity. 

The paintings I completed during that week fell within the themes of joy and innocence.
I was inspired by the lakeside setting where I had spent the summers of my youth. I even found one of my earliest mermaid drawing.

What better way to break in my new travel easel than at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Every year artists are invited to set up their easels at the Gardens and paint en plein air, with no admission charge. 

In progress

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I had quite the busy holiday season after my November sale brought in pet portrait commissions from across the country. You never know how pictures will spread through social media so I promised I would wait to post them until after they all had been gifted. 

I am now pleased to share the portraits of many faithful friends, some of whom have passed on this year - but who will be remembered forever. 

Time went on and I moved into an apartment in Portland's West End, which of course involved a great deal of disruption to all my art and art supplies. At some point my aunt asked for a status update on her painting. Once it had been called back to my mind I decided to immediately cut the mat and get it back to her - especially since she would soon be moving to Maryland. I pulled out all of my paper art...and couldn't find it. I looked through my unused matting materials...and couldn't find it. I tore my studio completely apart and the painting was nowhere to be found. 

Losing a piece of art is not like losing your keys. There is no way of exactly recreating the brushstrokes or the emotions the creating process evoked. A hole formed in my gut when I realized I had absolutely no idea where I had tucked away the painting. I called my parents to look through their house, my aunts house. Everywhere I could possibly imagine it would be. I had to finally admit to my aunt that her painting was missing. 

Over two years went by and every time the subject of the painting came up I wanted to cry. In this period of time I moved apartments again without the painting ever surfacing. The only scenario I could imagine was maybe I had placed it on the roof of my car when packing up and then driven away like people do with coffee sometimes (this scenario obviously did not make me feel any better). I truly thought it was gone forever. 

Thankfully my parents recently drove south to visit family in Maryland, including my sister and her husband at their new house. Somehow the subject of Aunt Barbara's painting came up while they were down there and the next thing you know I am getting a call from my mother - my sister had the painting in her closet! How did that happen, you may ask? My sister says, and I'm sure she's right, that I gave it to her to take down to Maryland. I have absolutely no memory of this. But I call my aunt right away and we rejoice that the lost is found. And I'm doubly thrilled that it was also discovered in the right state - only minutes away from my aunt's house. But then the other shoe drops. I hadn't cut down the mat before giving it to my sister to take south. So what does my aunt do? She proves that she is a very brave woman and sends it back north so that the artist can finish framing the painting (it is a very well-traveled watercolor at this point). The painting is safe, framed, and waiting to get picked up by my aunt when she comes for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I have placed it prominently in the living room and told several people of its location - just to be on the safe side. And may I never be responsible for it again. 

Now have I learned my lesson about procrastinating? Let's hope so. But possibly a more important lesson for everyone else - once you have your painting in your hot little hand...absolutely do not give it back to me!!*

*This is the only time anything of this nature has happened to one of my works of art. And all professional orders are timely and safely mailed. 

Although living in a foreign country and with a foreign family certainly had its challenges (it should be noted that I was living with twin thirteen-year-old French girls...but that's another story...) I often become nostalgic for that time and the beauty of France. Thankfully I can always dredge up the memories and feelings to continue inspiring new art from that time in my life. 

This is of course Notre Dame de Paris as viewed from the south east and across the river.

I enjoy this perspective of the famous cathedral for the view of flying buttresses and the opportunity to enjoy the contemplation of its architecture in somewhat more solitary state. I've always found the teeming tourists at the entrance overwhelming. 

From this point you can take a moment to stand and appreciate without feeling like you're in somebody's way. 

Some day I will return to France, but until then I have an extensive collection of moments to recreate and enjoy. 

As I did not have this blog at the time, I had no opportunity to share any of my festive Christmas projects from this past December. Actually I gave relatively few paintings as presents last year. Many a Christmas past found me scrambling to finish multiple paintings at once and I inevitably ended up in tears. Last month I wanted to avoid the emotional melt-down and also needed to factor in shipping time so I kept my projects manageable and avoided procrastination on them (mostly). 

The lady slipper painting was inspired by a trip to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (during a different month obviously) and was my aunt's gift. The portrait of my sister's new puppy Flynn no longer looks a thing like him as their little baby is now a whopping 40 pounds at 4 months old. His aunt Laura will have to do a different painting when he's fully grown and the estimated 80 pounds. But they will always be able to remember that he was once quite a bit smaller. 

So far 2015 has brought many changes for me. First of all I am very excited to have a personal website for the very first time. In the past I have used a profile on Fine Art America to promote my art, but I wanted the freedom to design my own site and customize the viewer experience. This is an experiment and I welcome feedback as I further develop the site. 

For another big change: New Years weekend saw me and a 17 foot Uhaul truck driving down the highway to Topsham, Maine, where I moved into a one bedroom apartment complete with a sun porch, which I am using as my new art studio. It's an old building and I love the quirky spaces and crooked lines. It's also just over the river from Brunswick, which is an active and arty college town. I'm looking forward to being part of the community.