watercolor

A walk through my friend Lil’s gorgeous gardens inspired my newest scratchboard “Summer Hummer.” I had been pondering a suitable painting subject to use some new metallic watercolors. A male ruby-throated hummingbird seemed perfect, with his sparkling emerald crown and red throat. I could paint our summer visitor as if he were hovering in front of a flower to sip nectar; Lil’s brilliant red tubular flowers of “Crocosmia Lucifer” (native to South Africa) gave me the ideal floral reference. A … Read More

As you can see, it’s not a self-portrait or even a human portrait. It’s my dog Maggie, who is now 11 years old. My reference was one of many photos I took of her the first day we adopted her as a 7-lb shelter puppy. Her innocence fooled us then – she turned out to be the most challenging pup we ever raised. Today she is calm and loving, but she occasionally shows her stubborn and independent streak! Her eyes … Read More

I’ve been using all my art time recently to paint, finally taking a breather to show you what I’ve been up to. My concentration for the past couple of years has been on scratchboarding, which I love. But it was time to change gears and get back to watercolors. As a longtime member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, I wanted to have at least two new show-worthy watercolor paintings to enter the 2024 biannual exhition, to be held in Knoxville … Read More

Knoxville Tennessee hosts a First Friday ArtWalk every month. In October two of my paintings will be featured in a gallery opening! The Emporium Center presents “As We Interpret Our World,” a special juried exhibition of artists from the 200+ members of the Art Guild of Tellico Village. My scratchboard “I Love A Challenge” and my watercolor “Blackberry Blossom” were selected to appear among 48 works of mixed media chosen for this show. But wait, there’s more… “I Love A … Read More

Since I was a child I have loved all sorts of arts and crafts projects. When I was in art school I was actually much more drawn to 3-dimensional arts, like weaving, pottery, jewelry, and sculpture. My big switch to painting came when I was teaching public school art in grades 7-12. I knew that, if I wanted to do a good job teaching drawing and painting, I needed to brush up on my own skills! I started painting in … Read More

I’ve just learned that my watercolor painting on Aquabord™ “Baby Boomer” has been awarded the 2nd Place “Award of Excellence” in the Tennessee Watercolor Society’s 2023 Online Exhibition. In chosing the show and award winners, Juror Mary Ann Beckwith said “It is a wonderful collection of paintings executed with creativity and skill exemplifying the many competent watercolorists of the TnWS. I selected paintings with strong content, design, and beauty, drawing my attention and keeping it. It was difficult to pare … Read More

I’m pleased to announce that my painting “Baby Boomer” is now showing in the 17th annual National Juried Exhibition in Knoxville TN. Presented by the Arts & Culture Alliance, the exhibition features works from 46 artists throughout the region, selected by juror Julie Jack of Tennessee Wesleyan University from 432 entries. The exhibition encompasses all styles and genres from emerging and established artists working in a variety of media such as wood, photography, oil, glass, fiber, paper and more. “Baby … Read More

I’m delighted to announce that my artwork has just been juried into 2 upcoming annual exhibitions! I am amazed to have two of my  scratchboards chosen for the highly competitive 11th Annual Exhibition of the International Scratchboard Society, to be held in December 2022 in Florida. Also, for the fifth consecutive year, my art will be included in the 54th Annual Open Show of the Oak Ridge (Tennessee) Art Center, held during October and November 2022. Here are the details … Read More

It’s a rare opportunity to get a critique by an internationally renowned artist, so I jumped at the chance when it arose. Watercolorist Stan Miller was the juror for the 2022 Tennessee Watercolor Society’s Biennial Exhibition, currently in Chattanooga. I have admired his exquisite paintings for years (see one example from his website shown here) and I was honored that he chose my painting as one of 60 selected for the Exhibition. Mr. Miller extended an invitation to every exhibitor … Read More

I had a delightful visit from the inspiration for my new watercolor painting “The Bearded Fiddler,” Mr. Michael Dodge. He is one of the most accomplished fiddlers in the Southeast, hailing from Nova Scotia. Michael played a traditional dance tune “Petronella” on my precious Horner fiddle and showed me how wonderful it can sound! You can hear him live at the Scottish Session every other Thursday eve at our favorite pub, Boyd’s Jig & Reel in Knoxville TN. Check out … Read More