limited palette

I’ve wanted improve my skills with “character” paintings, since that’s a subject which challenges me greatly. I had signed up for a 3-day watercolor portrait workshop last year, taught by an artist whose work I love and admire. I bought the supplies and was all excited about the learning opportunity, but sadly the workshop was cancelled at the last minute. The artist had described her method of painting with a limited palette of the 3 primary colors, which I often … Read More

  I have many passions; my newest painting combines two: watercolor and wildflowers. It’s of one of my favorite springtime woodland flowers, Bloodroot. The  3″ flowers are among the earliest bloomers in March in my Tennessee woods, unfurling their pure white petals in striking contrast with the dark, wintry forest floor. Bloodroot was traditionally used as a medicinal plant by Native Americans, as well as a natural dye. The red roots and the stems release a blood-color sap when cut, … Read More

  Searching through my big file of reference photos, I came upon shots I took a few years ago when we brought our Florida visitors Dee and Len to experience some of our friends’ farms. These cows were some I photographed at Susan and Dave’s, where they raise males, born on a dairy farm so of little use for the milking operation. Susan bottle feeds the newest arrivals, then raises them in a lovely open pasture, with her chickens ranging … Read More

I passed this bizarre decaying building on a little-travelled rural backroad and was happy to have my camera. It was a sunny morning and the front of the building was bathed in light. If only this place could tell me its story, sitting close to the road in the middle of nowhere, with bars over the windows. Had it served as a small community jail? I loved its quirks – the weathered siding, the red stains at the top of … Read More

  All my paintings in the past year were done in acrylics, and now I’m trying to ease back into watercolors. Over the years I’ve done many watercolor paintings using a limited palette – basically just red, yellow and blue – such as Jerry Van Music Man and Grandpa’s Fiddle Break. In those cases, I mixed the pigments on the palette to create new colors, then brushed the mixed colors on the paper. Now I’m trying another method: letting the … Read More

I’ve done many paintings in watercolor using a “limited palette” – basically mixing all the colors from the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow. One of the first times I tried this was for “Americana”. More recent examples include “Grandpa’s Fiddle Break,”  “Jerry Van, Music Man,” and “Jesus Saves.” For some reason, I never thought about doing the same thing with my acrylic paints until recently. I was exhibiting at an outdoor show and I wanted to set up … Read More

I’ve been asked many times if any of the 12 images of my paintings in my 2017 Calendar can be purchased. Four of the original paintings are still for sale, and most of those shown on the calendar are available as prints. I’ve made an inventory and list it here, along with links to each painting in my online gallery so you can find out more about any image which interests you. You’ll notice information about the prints with each … Read More

I’m a bit of a nostalgia buff, with antiques around the house, framed old family photos, and a collection of handmade laces. So this newest painting began with my desire to create and preserve a moment in time, from days past. The central character of my story is missing – the imaginary “grandfather.” I wanted the scene to suggest that he just got up from his favorite chair, nestled by the cozy old quilt, and is taking a break from … Read More

My new watercolor painting, of local musician and friend Jerry, is one I painted in my brain long before it landed on paper! I took reference photos nearly 2 years ago, when Rick and I happened upon Jerry and his friend Mike, playing music on a sunny afternoon in front of his wife Dona’s pottery studio and shop, The Castle. Once I viewed my photos, I was inspired to capture what I saw in a painting – visually, capturing Jerry’s … Read More

  My newest painting “Jesus Saves” is in watercolor, depicting a barn I have often photographed on a nearby rural backroad. It has so many fabulous textures – the old barnyards, rusted metal panels as siding, rusty hinges, an overturned water tub, a field of wildflowers. I could hardly wait to get started. The first step was designing my painting. Even though my art largely duplicates the scene, I keep basic design principles in focus right from the start – … Read More