watercolor

“Fishing the Tellico” is the first watercolor painting I’ve completed in months, having spent my “art” time creating scratchboard art, painting a few pet portraits in acrylics, participating in some Zoom art sessions, and creating this new website. Switching media keeps things interesting, but it always takes me a bit of time to readjust. I put together a palette of many transparent colors for this painting and arranged them like a rainbow. To help me see the colors better I … Read More

  When we moved to our house in Tennessee, red foxes were among the abundance of wildlife we spotted in the surrounding woods. The red fox reference photo I found on Wildlife Reference Photos for Artists intrigued me, crying out to be painted! I love doing animals on scratchboard, and the inquisitive fox pose was a perfect candidate. Initially I planned to use black #Ampersand #Scratchbord™, my recent focus. As my design concept developed I switched gears… watercolor on #Claybord™ … Read More

It’s been more than a year since I first learned of my artwork being chosen among a select group to be featured in two eminent fine arts magazines. With the publisher changing ownership and adjustments due to the pandemic, both magazines were delayed from their original publish dates. Now they are out and my printed copies have arrived in my mailbox. I am proud to have my artwork honored in two mediums, acrylics and watercolor. The Best of Acrylic… honors … Read More

Chief curator of the Association for Visual Arts Gallery (AVA) in Chattanooga TN, Kreneshia Whiteside, ‘ “…says her favorite is “What a Wonderful World” by Judy Lavoie. “There is this one of a little boy blowing bubbles,” she says. “I think it’s so adorable.” ‘ (Read the entire story from yesterday’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.) Thirty paintings, specially selected from the original 72 juried into the 37th Biennial Exhibition of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, are on the move. The Traveling … Read More

I’m relatively new to black scratchboard, having done my first one just 2 years ago. The lesson which follows does not adher to the purist’s guideline for scratchboard, as reflected in this definition by the International Society of Scratchboard Artists: “…Sharp tools are used to remove, or “scratch”, through the black ink, revealing the white clay underneath.” In this border I have not used any abrasive tools to remove the black layer (although I went on to do the artwork … Read More

Japanese Honeysuckle is an introduced, somewhat invasive, climbing vine which grows on my land. The frilly white blossoms are highly fragrant and last from April to July, and I don’t mind their intrusion. The red young stems are strong and used in traditional basket weaving. As it grows, the larger woody vine will grow in a spiral around a tree branch. When the vine is removed, the branch is left with a twisted appearance, which some woodcarvers prize for creating … Read More

My bearded irises have flowered beautifully this spring, inspiring me to paint them. The delicate petals are ruffled and nearly transparent, with one group growing upward and the other down. Their feathery ‘beards’ and tightly folded buds provide additional interesting shapes and values. As usual, I took far too many reference photos, being especially drawn to those with backlighting. I wanted to give a different twist to painting an iris, and I was inspired by the paintings of an artist … Read More

My newest and largest in a series of paintings with blown bubbles has just been accepted into the 2020 Tennessee Watercolor Society Biennial Exhibition. International watercolor artist and juror Soon Warren selected “What A Wonderful World” as one of 72 paintings for the show. My painting “Eat Chicken” was the Best in Show winner at the Society’s 2018 biennial exhibit. Perhaps now I’ll become known as the bubble lady instead of the cow lady…?!?! This painting features my great-nephew Liam, … Read More

Colorful cows, delicate flowers, cute pets, interesting faces, tranquil rural scenes – my online galleries are filled with pretty pictures. “Distress” is a departure for me, intentionally, and I’ve attempted a change in my style on this watercolor as well. What story does this painting tell you? How do you think the man feels and why? I designed and composed the image to be thought-provoking, moving and ambiguous. My goal was to prompt an emotional response. When I finished this … Read More

I was delighted to be accepted into my first national watercolor exhibition with “Sorghum Maker,” then disappointed when the show was not opened to the public as scheduled. The 41st National Exhibition of the Georgia Watercolor Society (GWS) was slated to take place at Oglethorpe University Museum of Art in Atlanta GA from mid March through April 26, 2020, but the museum is closed indefinitely, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show was hung but never opened, and the juror … Read More