watercolor

I’m celebrating a new milestone with my fine art today. I’ve just learned that one of my paintings has been accepted into Splash 21! What is that, you wonder? Outside the world of watercolor, the “Splash Best of Watercolor” book series is probably not well known. But as a watercolor artist, being included in this publication is a major recognition. The Splash series are coffee-table books with stunning reproductions of watercolor paintings. In the words of publisher North Light, which … Read More

My reference photo I finished this newest scratchboard painting a few weeks ago but I’ve been too busy to blog about it until now. This wild Lady’s Slipper blossom, which I photographed in my forest late last April, was my chosen subject as a deadline neared; I had to deliver 8 original paintings for a solo show of my work as 2019 Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Artist of the Year. Generally, I don’t cram at the last minute, but I thought … Read More

An art idea hit me like a bullet one day – how about an alpaca painting? I love painting animals, alpacas are adorable, people love alpacas… I should have thought of this long ago! A friend had told me about her pet alpacas a while back, so I contacted her and asked if I could visit for photos. Right away, Beth invited me to come by, and we chose a lovely sunny afternoon. Three alpacas were in the fenced area: … Read More

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

After recently creating a few paintings of fury and feathered creatures on Scratchbord®, I decided to feature some other favorite subjects in my newest scratchboard painting: wildflowers and weathered barnwood. The black background and the process of scratching down to a white surface favor subjects with light values and strong textures; with this in mind, I’ve learned that I need to select my subjects and plan my compositions differently than I do when painting on white paper or canvas. Wild … Read More

I started doing art as a kid and never stopped! As a fine art painter, my learning curve has often been accelerated by tips and hints I’ve learned from other artists. Sometimes ideas come from workshops or demos, not only from the instructor but from other attendees. Other times they come from creative friends in art groups or other gallery exhibitors. Blogs, newsletters, social media groups and old-fashioned magazines are loaded with good art info. Often a fellow artist simply … Read More

Cows have been very very good to me – the ones I’ve painted anyway. When I initially got notice of my painting Eat Chicken being considered to hang in a children’s hospital, it was the first time I ever thought about kids as an audience for my art. I had been toying with the idea of doing another cow painting, and the old nursery rhyme “Little Boy Blue” inspired the idea for my newest work, “Cow’s In The Corn.” So … Read More

  When I opened a new package of three little Aquabord™ panels, I thought I was trying a new painting surface… a thin layer of fine white kaolin clay on a hardboard with a pebbly texture, heralded as ideal for use with watercolors. The surface absorbs watercolor pigment similarly to cold-pressed (textured) watercolor paper, but the paint can be easily removed. It’s sometimes known as scratchboard, and when I was a kid we created our own by covering heavy paper … 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