Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Italian Sunflowers North Light Gray Day



8"x6" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers."
- Doug Larson


It was gray and overcast today, which makes for a nice cool silvery light in my studio. I'm still thinking about Hensche's teachings from Camille Przewodek's workshop. Cool light, warm shadows...there's a lot of wonderful color in shadows on gray days.

In the meantime, I have a commission painting started (hints....wedding, Ireland, hmm, what could be more romantic??) I head out tomorrow to go 'fetch my mom' and bring her up here to visit....so it looks like my posting will be a bit dicey for the next several days...unless I find a Panera....and a good bit of free time. I think I might have some 'chores' with mom before we head back up here. Hubby will hold down the fort up here & keep the flowers growing.

Buy this painting on PayPal
Price: $150 USD plus $10 USD s/h
Or, send me an email

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Beautiful, Bountiful; Italian Sunflowers & Brandywine Tomatoes



16"x20" oil on canvas mounted on museum quality board (Raymar)

"Without faith in what you and others can achieve, you cannot even begin to make your life speak."
- Robert Lawrence Smith, "A Quaker Book of Wisdom"


I finished this on Friday, but haven't had a chance to write or blog about it until now. Today's painting is, "Beautiful, Bountiful; Italian Sunflowers & Brandywine Tomatoes" and is a 16"x20" oil on canvas mounted on museum quality board (Raymar). We're at my favorite part of summer, where the yard & garden is bursting forth with flowers and finally veggies! This variety of tomato is so delicious. We tried these out last summer & decided this year we'd have a few extra plants. Looks like I'm going to be making some kind of sauce...there's quite a few tomatoes......And one can never have too many flowers! It's really nice to bring in fresh ones every day or so, and still have plenty in the yard.

We also grew these little pumpkins, I think the variety is called "Jack-be-Nimble". Well the vine is HUGE and taking over the planet! or at least the driveway! (gives new meaning to 'Smashing Pumpkins"). We've had to cut the little monster back as it was climbing up the butterfly bushes and other shrubs and was headed for the neighbors! Now what to do with all these cute little orangey things! It's a long way 'til October. Who would've thought they'd be popped up & ready in August? When I hauled in the basket of tomatoes, pumpkins, and flowers, that thing was so heavy! What a haul!

Looks like it's going to be a very busy week. I am beginning another commission :-) and later this week going to bring my mom up from Florida to visit CT for a little while. So my postings may be erratic over the next two weeks as I tend to these things!

***I've had several readers ask about impasto techniques lately. During one of my upcoming posts this week I'll be talking about that for my artist readers!

Bountiful, Beautiful - Italian Sunflowers & Brandywine Tomatoes

About This Painting:
The best parts of summer, a bountiful garden with good food, and flowers for your house.

Media: oil on canvas mounted on archival board (Raymar)
Size: 20 in X 16 in (50.8 cm X 40.6 cm)

How to Purchase:
send me an email

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A New Season (commissioned work) - sold



8"x6" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden!"
- Claudia Ghandi


One of my collectors posts the most wonderful quotes on Facebook... this is one she listed that I had not heard before & thought was profoundly beautiful. Thanks Jamie, for sharing these wonderful thoughts! It goes so well with the story I'm about to share!

I had promised at some point I would share the 'big reveal' of a recent commission. This was a very special occasion and meant a lot to me to be able to fulfill this. A dear friend of ours was retiring from the Navy after many years in the Navy's submarine force. He wanted to commission a painting as a gift to his wife (as I well know, when the service member serves, the whole family serves). She is a master gardener and for the longest time the running joke was, "I want to live some where long enough to grow asparagus." (as apparently it takes at least 3 years to get a decent crop of it). As submarine service members, we are usually transferred at the 2 or 3 year point to the next duty station. So....in this painting, he requested a still-life with these 3 elements - red roses for love, an anchor symbolizing the Navy, and of course asparagus- symbolizing the stability from moving they hope to now have! Ohhhh- this would be a challenge to put these three together, but once I had sketched out several ideas, I could easily see what composition would work best. I am so excited to share this picture and story with you...and am honored to be a part of such a wonderful gift for a couple that is very special to our family! "Fair winds and following seas!", and all our best wishes in this 'new season' in their lives!

Today's painting "A New Season", and is an 8"x6" oil on oil-primed linen mounted on museum quality board. It is a commissioned work for dear family friends we are proud to have served with in the US Navy!


Hope you get a chance to get outside and smell the flowers today! ****Tomorrow I hope to show you what I pulled in from my garden! ....woohoo, what a bounteous harvest!! Yeah, gotta love summer!

Welcome to my latest new subscribers! I do hope you enjoy the paintings, photos & stories! I always love hearing comments from my readers!!

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Hot & Hazy Summer Morning, Tiffany Farm, Old Lyme, CT- sold



8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"Every morning I wake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day."
- E.B. White, writer




Monday morning I planned to meet up with the CT Plein Air Painters at Tiffany Farm, in Old Lyme, CT. It started out steamy, grey and hazy....and heated up to just hot, sunny & hazy! By the time I finished I had nearly melted into a puddle....turned out to be quite a hot day. I knew I was going to be glad to keep this fairly small. I stood at one edge of a corn field, separated from the cows in the next pasture below. The whole field stretches downhill to the barns & silos, the distant tree-covered hills were quite hazy in the early morning, though it burned off as the morning progressed.

So, I had just set up, when another van pulled up & one woman asked, "By any chance are you Roxanne Steed?" gosh, now that's a surprise! (she recognized me by my visor!)...It turned out to be Jackie White, one of my artist friends on Twitter - who I had not met face-to-face yet! What a delight - we have a lot in common- besides painting, a love of Ireland...and daughters who are VERY into Irish dance! She had come to paint that morning, too!

It has been very fun over the last several years to actually meet face to face with artist friends and collectors who I've come to know on-line. By the time we get the chance to actually meet, we all feel like we've known each other quite a long time! Ah, the power of the internet - bringing the world closer together!


Hope you get a chance to get outside and smell the flowers today!

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, August 9, 2010

Shoreline New England Summer Afternoon - sold



8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"Your purpose in life isn't to arrive at a destination where you find inspiration, just as the purpose of dancing isn't to end up at a particular spot on the dance floor. The purpose of dancing - and of life - is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where you are when the music ends."
- Dr. Wayne Dyer


Today's painting "Harkness Summer Afternoon", and is a 8"x10" oil on oil-primed linen mounted on museum quality board. Sunday afternoon was one of those perfect summer days that make you wish it would last forever!
They were setting up for a wedding behind me, a kite club festival was being held on the grounds along with all the picnickers, walkers, etc, touring through the garden on this weekend afternoon. What a happy buzz in the air, a true celebration of life!

This painting is already sold - it was commissioned as a wedding gift for her dear friends. I am always moved and so grateful to be a part of special commemorations in people's lives.

Tomorrow's post- I'll be telling you about meeting up with another CT Twitter artist buddy for a paint-out over in Old Lyme!

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Weighty Matters, Hydrangeas, Apples & Scale




16"x20" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"I think a painter is happy because he is in harmony with nature as soon as he can express a little of what he sees....."
- Vincent Van Gogh


I am so happy we planted hydrangeas! This is their second summer in our yard, and they are doing really well! We've got two varieties, a peegee hydrangea, with the white puffy heads that are so heavy with blossoms, they are draping magnificently over our picket fence! The other variety is a beautiful purply blue...with some of them going a rather hot-fuschia color depending upon the soil! I was experimenting with changing up my knife technique on this one...and of course studying the way the light falls in my studio window that faces north (seems to be a constant source of delight for me!).

Hope you get a chance to get outside and smell the flowers today!

Weighty Matters, Hydrangeas, Apples & Scale

About This Painting:
As always, intrigued by the north light through my studio window....and so glad we planted lots of hydrangeas!

Media: oil on Belgian linen mounted on professional artboard
Size: 20 in X 16 in (50.8 cm X 40.6 cm)

How to Purchase:
send me an email

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 6, 2010

Workshop Studies with Camille Przewodek, 'Color Boot Camp'








So, now that I have all these studies listed here, please note that they are NOT finished paintings, but simply studies/ starts to gain an understanding of Hensche's teachings. Done in an abbreviated time frame, they are simply studies to understand the juxtaposition of cool light vs. warm light on sunny days, or grey days. Generally speaking - shadows are cool on sunny days, and shadows are warm on grey days.

The block studies were both done in full sunlight. The house with the blue door, painted on a grey/overcast day. The house with the vehicle out front, was painted in full sunlight. The landscape with the tree in the pasture, was painted in grey/overcast weather (just before a huge storm, tornado warnings, etc!). The figures (mudheads as Charles Hawthorne called them) were painted in full sun. Re-reading Hawthorne's book gave me cause to grin when I came across the statement that figures in the sun are almost easier to paint than a full landscape. I agree! Squint your eyes and look at what's in front of you - what's darker, the sand/grass or the person.

It is always a treat to paint with someone who has a lot more "paint mileage" under them. And as Camille pointed out, when she studied with Hensche, it was 'life-changing'...and with learning something new, you can't go back to what you 'used to do' in the past. You must find how to integrate it into your own work and move forward with it. So, I hope you'll keep following my blog posts as I continue the journey I started last summer with Leif Nilsson, and continue on from studies with Camille this year.

Labels: , ,

Sunset Marsh, Eastern Shore Pleinaire




8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"Art is a personal commentary on nature..."
- Charles W. Hawthorne



Several of us in Camille's workshop decided to meet up for dinner on Tuesday evening (of last week), and head out to paint the sunset over in St. Michael's. The light changes soooo very fast, so it's a challenge to keep the composition simple, indicate your big shapes, and get them down fast!

While it's wet & unframed:
Buy this painting on PayPal
Price: $200 USD plus $12 USD s/h
Or, send me an email


I promised to share information about the workshop I attended with Camille Przewodek....and I'll try to summarize everything here. First of all- learning to see color is indeed hard! It's more intuitive than intellectual... sort of like developing muscle (for a marathon)! If it were as easy as "opening a hole in your head & pouring in knowledge" wow, wouldn't that just be the easy thing to do. So I'm glad I had some good back-ground from studying with Leif Nilsson last summer. Those lessons were ground-breaking for me. But learning is a continuing necessity - and I've been wanting to see Camille paint for a long time now. Both her & Leif were students of Henry Hensche. Over the past many years I found myself drawn to the work of Hensche's students. So it's been my aim to study with some of them, and learn everything I can about color. Hearing Camille talk about Hensche was so similar to the things Leif had said....I honestly felt like they were both 'channeling' Hensche in their words and paint. When I arrived back home & got the books off the shelf to re-read, it really confirmed it. "Hawthorne on Painting" and "Hensche on Painting" are the two I've been re-reading...and worth your time if you're an artist seeking to learn more about this way of seeing.

So, to go back a few generations, Przewodek & Nilsson, both studied with Hensche in Provincetown, MA. Hensche was student of Charles W. Hawthorne who had founded the Cape School of Art in Cape Cod, MA in 1899. Hawthorne was a contemporary of Monet. As can be seen in the works of American Impressionists of that time, Monet & the European Impressionists had really been a huge influence- opening the perception that nature is infinitely varied. Light effect is different every day!

Now the aim of this workshop is to get the student to understand the value of a strong start. Once this is established, it doesn't take much to bring it to a finish. The 5 day workshop week is broken down into the following tasks:
On Monday and Tuesday we painted colored blocks in bright sunlight, and again in overcast (gray-day) light. Practicing on these simple blocks break the problems down in an easier to solve task...but translate readily to what you will see in landscape or still life. Wednesday of that week we painted in town (Easton, MD where the workshop was held). And of course the building structures are like 'bigger blocks'. Thursday we went out to a local farm to paint landscape (and something more open than what we'd see in town). Friday we painted 'mud-heads' - figures in the sunlight - which I found very helpful! (I'll post these photos in a separate entry today).

Some great reference material, besides Hensche & Hawthorne's books listed above, are:
"Painting the Impressionist Landscape- Lessons in Interpreting Light and Color" by Lois Griffel

also, "Capturing Radiant Color in Oils" by Susan Sarback. Now, I must say, that as much as I've poured through these books over the last many years, there is nothing like having someone else show you what you need to see. For that I thank Leif & Camille for offering lessons/workshops and sharing what they know. But the books are a good starting point (that will probably leave you with many questions, but, hey- it IS a starting point).

Labels: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Monday Sun & Shadows, Plein Air in the Artist's Garden



10"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on museum quality board

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt


It's so good to be back home. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've been away at a workshop with Camille Przewodek over the last week, down in Easton, MD. I plan on writing a summary of the week for fellow artists that are interested in her work...and explain our link to Monet! Look for that in the next day or so. I'm still playing catch up here at home, trying to make time for both the painting AND the blogging!

When I set up Monday to paint here in my front garden, I thought back to the previous paintings I did there last year. My peegee hydrangea has gotten thicker, but a bad wind storm the other week really was destructive to this poor thing. It broke a couple branches, and the remainder of them seem to sag a bit under the weight of the flowers. The basil I planted is hiding some of the phlox, and is the size of a small shrub! The big blue pot with the purply,reddish grasses is doing well, but I preferred the plantings I had in it last summer. Sooooo- in gearing up for next years flowers (and paintings), I can see I need to start moving some plants, open up some space for other plants (more lavender, too, I've found a great location where it thrives!).

Monday Sun & Shadows, Plein Air in the Artist's Garden

About This Painting:
Catching the front garden in partial sun & shadow, glad to be back home!

Media: oil on Belgian linen mounted on professional artboard
Size: 8 in X 10 in (20.3 cm X 25.4 cm)

How to Purchase:
send me an email

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,