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| FRANCE IN COLORFUL BLOOM 12x12 unframed oil on gessobord Click here to purchase For ten colorful painting days I stayed in this magical place. In this courtyard alone at Le Vieux Couvent in the Lot Region of France there were painting opportunities to last for weeks. I love the color of the flowers, medieval stone building, and the shade umbrella. |
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| Ripening Lavender, Lherm, France 9x12, unframed oil on gessobord Click here to purchase The lavender fields in the Lot Region of France are small but exquisite. The owners are expats and started these fields after visiting similar fields in New Zealand. Their story and website is interesting. DreamaTollePerry took her "June Painting France" participants to visit these fields. Though there wasn't time enough for me to paint oil en plein air, I painted a watercolor postcard while there. Since I am not a watercolorist, I am not showing my attempt. No, honest, you don't want to see it. |
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| "Village Charm" 12x12 oil on gessobord Click here to purchase Frayssinet is such a charming village I thought I would tell you just a bit more about this little town in which I stayed for ten days. Just across the street plus a bit is the old medieval catholic church, which you can see it center in the photo just below and the last photo as well. Church bells ring every hour and half hour 24/7. It is a delightful sound, something one quickly comes to love. The foreground of the photo below is the artists lodging, Le Vieux convent, a 17th century convent. (Le Vieux means old) See third photo as well. The town is situated on a hill with the lower part of the village being the town center. The hike to the top is strenuous but every step is scenic. One stone building is adjacent to the next. Around the edges of the tiny community is farming, with fields in colorful patchwork. |
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| VENTURA HARBOR IV 12x12 oil on gessobord Click here to purchase Besides painting en plein air in Ventura I also took many photographs so that once I returned home to New Mexico I could continue to paint the boats, water, harbor, and buildings. I got a very good sense of the setting, could smell the salt water and feel the humidity so missing here at home. I love the color the paddle and surf boards, flags and canvas sail covers add to the scene. Adjacent to the building, there are many umbrellas under which to enjoy a fish sandwich or a spicy Mexican meal. If you haven't been to Ventura you would be missing something. There are quaint shops, hotels, restaurants and even a weekly flea market. Ventura is fairly quiet with not a lot of traffic, my kind of place. |
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| IN THE HARBOR 8x8 oil, unframed, palette knife Click here to purchase I am thinking boats, harbors, lobstermen, fishermen, fish markets, waves and my summer trip to Maine This painting is textural with thick paint layered on with a palette knife. It is suitable for framing and looks best in a floater frame but you can also display this on a beautiful tabletop easel |
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| On My Way 12x12 oil on gessobord Click here to purchase There are definitely many sides of me in many areas palette knife and brush desert, Europe, flowers, street scenes, buildings, architecture still life, landscape, seascape, interiors impresionistic, alla prima studio artist and plein air artist I cannot be put in a box in terms of subject matter The world is too full of magnificent beauty So paint I must and travel I must Two more trip in 2014 two weeks each Maine and France |
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| 12x12 oil on gessobord Click here to purchase I love coastal living but here I am in the beautiful desert of New Mexico Within one month I have attended two workshops: one with Leslie Saeta and the other with Dreama Tolle Perry. Their style of painting couldn't be much different, yet I love them both, style and subject matter. I painted "VENTURA HARBOR I" with Leslie, en plein air, palette knife only. We were set up so that the sun was not a bother. Leslie uses a limited palette of five colors plus white: Cad Yellow Med, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Green and Sap Green. On the day we painted the ocean color didn't demand use of Phthalo Green though I have seen it used in many paintings, especially in the ocean paintings of Sorolla I recently saw in Dallas. The colors I used to get the above ocean color were Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue (for a bit of purple), Sap Green and Cad Yellow Medium. Yes, I am in love with harbor scenes and boats. My Pinterest website has a board of gorgeous ship, harbor and ocean paintings. You really should see it here. My plan is to continue this thread of painting and I have already scheduled two weeks of painting in Maine, in Andrew Wyeth country near Rockland. |
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| A photo of what I was seeing in Ventura Harbor You can see I zoomed in and greatly simplified my painting. |
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| GARDEN ARBOR oil on gessobord 12x9 click here to purchase |
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| SUNFLOWER IN WINDOW oil on gessobord 12x12 click here to purchase |
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| LAVENDER HARVEST oil on gessobord 12x12 These paintings were done in a wonderful workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry |
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| MS, LA, AND TX moved to NM Trip miles: 9999 Number of Lost Times: 444 Hit by rubber from 18 wheeler blow-out: 1 Number of new friends: 27 Favorite towns visited: Vicksburg and Natchez Number of New Hoppers accidentally met: 1 |
