mini portrait

I thought it might be fun to try some mini portraits- this one is only 5 x7. Technically, I guess it isn't a portrait, it is just a painting. I wasn't too worried about anything like a real resemblence, I just wanted to paint faces. This one, now that I see it on the computer, is going to require a couple more strokes before I'm satisfied with it. Fun to do, will try some more of these.

Spring is lurking out there-

These little guys are starting to sneak into my flowerbed, managing to bloom despite the pounding rain we got yesterday (or was it Saturday?). Anyhow, I am thinking about doing a small series of these little 5 x7 s of single flowers- I enjoy them a lot, and they are so much less stressful than a whole flower arrangement can be. Not too happy with this photo- the darks on the flower did not come out quite right.

A Plein Air painting, and a missed meeting

I did this one down by the river a couple of weeks ago- I love to paint

"nekkid" trees- their wonderfully twisty shapes are so interesting, and so hard to paint! This 11 x 14 took me a couple of hours.

I'm reaching that point in the year where I'm thinking, OK, enough with the browns, greys, and yellows- it's time for some color. Talk to me again in August- I'll be sick and tired of greens! Never satisfied!
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I missed a good paintout with Alabama Plein Air Artists up in Decatur, Alabama, due to my car being in the body shop. Robin Roberts and Donna Chieves sent me some pictures of what I missed. If anyone knows who the people are, email me. I think the redhead is Robin, but I'm not sure. Love the red barn!

A Quick trip to Florida...

So I took a break a few weeks ago, and went to Florida to meet my Alabama Plein air friend, Glenda, and finally get to meet a friend from http://www.wetcanvas.com/, Linda Blondheim. We had a wonderful breakfast, and I was so happy to be with painting friends and looking forward to painting with them. So the first thing I did when I left the parking lot was ...run smack into Linda's sister's car, giving her a big scrape mark on the side . With a State Trooper sitting right by the side of the road watching me. It was a genuine "oh, S**T !!!" moment. Fortunately, Linda was wonderful about it, and the State Trooper, I have to say, was a very funny guy. It was (almost) a pleasure to get a ticket from such a nice person. I hugged his neck for NOT giving me a reckless driving ticket. Ever had one of those?? It's the gift that keeps on taking- runs your insurance right on up there.
Anyway, these two were done indoors the next day- we had a terrific thunderstorm while we were holed up in Linda's cozy studio painting. Linda was a wonderful hostess, and I learned a lot about making a living as an artist from listening to her. She is one smart cookie, and has a great sense of humor.