Ahead of Schedule for the SCVWS Annual Show!

Since I'll be traveling in September, I've been scrambling to get ready for 2 upcoming shows. The SCVWS Annual Members show begins on September 30th at the Rose Shenson Gallery at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara. Please come to our opening reception that day from 1:00-3:00 p.m. if you're in the area.

This is the painting I'm submitting for the show-there was no theme this year so anything goes! I've painted this beautiful red amaryllis 3 times and I think this one is the best of them. . Even though it's pretty loose, when I reduced it to make some note cards, it looked almost photo-real.

Amaryllis #3

Framed size 21"x29"

$325

In addition, I'm framing a number of pieces for a 4 artist show at the Institute for the Study of Western Civilization in Cupertino, CA. My paintings are a group I've titled "Italy and More." Most of them are of...you guessed it-Italy! But there are a few other subjects represented from other travel and a couple of still lifes that fit into the theme (figs and lemons, which are both pretty commonplace in Italy.)  I'll give more info about this show at a later date.

Plein Air at Pete's Harbor

I can't believe I haven't posted since May! A couple of weeks ago I went up to Pete's Harbor in Redwood City with the Paintsites group. While there were loads of boats to paint, I elected to move away from them and focus on the nearby marsh land. As usual with working en plein air, the condidtions kept changing. First it was cool and a bit overcast with lots of clouds on the horizon...so no shadows. Then the sun came out and the wind kicked up and blew away all the clouds. At least I didn't get caught short the way several of my companions did when the sailboat they had selected to paint hauled anchor and motored away!

 This is the first piece I did. It's on a 6"x12" Arches cold-pressed block. The colossal bloom in the sky is in a perfect location to indicate the low-hanging clouds over the distant hills.

 The second painting was more experimental; I washed on wet-in-wet color, sort of considering the striations in the landscape. Then I went in with a black Micron Pigma pen for some line work. The effect is a little too subtle to be picked up well by my scanner, but it looks very effective in person. I used a 10"x14" Arches cold-pressed block.

The last one is again on the 6"x12" block (which is intended for sea and landscapes and is perfect for them!) I used a block Tombo pen. It's watersoluble and I went in and hit the drawing with clear water. The pigment separates as it dries and looks as though other colors have been added, but they weren't. It was fun to try a new technique and I had a great day with the group.