Séduit par Géraniums

12"x12" oil on archival panel

For more information, or to purchase, click here. 

Is it the color? the artful arrangements of floral bliss? the ancient limestone buildings...where window placement seems random but is actually purposeful? the lyrical language? All of these make it so easy to fall in love with a place! 
The southwest region of France, in the Lot valley is just such a place. I'm hoping you'll join me next year, 2015. Lisa's Gryphon Art & Travel will be putting out next year's schedule soon!

Avoir un bon week-end! 

Clear Summer Morning

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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Another thing I love about summer in New England...when we get those clear summer days, the weather is comfortable, everything is growing, marsh grasses are brilliant high-key-limey green out in the brilliant sun here on the coast. Yes, I'm still working on my "Barn Island Project", getting back there to paint in every season of the year. I love to see how the colors change over the course of a year - even standing in this same very spot to paint! This one was the first of the morning. I'll show you the second one tomorrow!  I'm still playing around with the new techniques...using some brushes again, and a bit of palette knife...sometimes more, sometimes less. Only adding what needs to be added, editing is the key!

Tomorrow I'll also have the third and final drawing of my water-color post cards from France. If you are a blog subscriber, your name is already in the hat! If not, find the column on the upper right hand side of this blog to enter your email and subscribe!  I'll draw two names (but I'll only print your name with your permission!).  

I do hope you're having a wonderful summer, where ever you are, and where ever you go!

Creekside Color, Gray Day, (Clucas Field, Lyme, CT)

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, visit this link.

"The subject doesn't matter. One instant, one aspect of nature is all that is needed...Nature is a most discerning guide, if one submits oneself completely to it." -Claude Monet

Saturday morning rose misty and gray.  I was out in Lyme, at Clucas Field painting with others from Lyme Art Association for an upcoming exhibit in conjunction with the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. 

One of the things I love about gray days, is that the light is fairly steady. The values are mostly fairly close in range, but there can be some rich color in the shadows.  I took an interesting photo of my work against the woods, sort of blends in! 

At the edge of the field, a creek ran down one side.  The notch of a fallen tree rested on another tree, still barely supported by its stump. A large hole in the base of that tree reminded me of the 'troll holes' we used to look for when my daughters where much younger. I felt like I was "living dangerously" trying to avoid the poison ivy and ticks.  Ugh- I had left my 'wellies' in the garage at home! I had intended to bring them knowing full well that I'd be out tromping through a field, and they would keep wet grass, and biting bugs off of me maybe up to my knees.  All in all, I came home with no itchies, no bug bites, and fairly pleased with this little painting (and reminded of just one more thing I love about Spring, yes- even on gray days- the color is subtle, but lovely)!

Lavender Fields - Uncommon Escape! - SOLD! & Working In A Series

12"x36"x2"deep cradled wood panel



"The fragrance of sandalwood, the scent of rose and jasmine, travel only as far as the wind. But the fragrance of goodness travels through all the worlds, like the garlands woven from a heap of flowers, fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds." ~ Buddha

As an artist, if you haven't tried working in a series, I highly recommend it. For the most part, this is how I usually work, (with a variation throw in here and there if I'm working on a commission, or perhaps exploring for the 'next series'. Several years ago, I was painting landscapes of Ireland following several plein air trips I had made over there. When I came hoe I had loads of photos, and journal notes about the places I had seen, painted, and spent time with. I painted more of these landscapes in the studio.

Monet spent many years in his own garden, I've found great inspiration in my own garden as well. Other series I've had explored are local parks and gardens, floral still lifes (both indoor and outside- painted from life).

As you complete each painting, you think of things you'd like to try in the 'next' one. Perhaps something similar but push the color a different way, or try a change of perspective, a view from higher up, or from a lower vantage point, or closer in, or farther away. Keeping a series going day after day is helpful,too. The closer these ideas are to each other the better, allowing you to really absorb and use the things you are taking in.

You may find a preference to paint under certain weather conditions, or bloom seasons, or availability to travel. When considering your 'next' series - be open to all possibilities, even if that turns out not to be one that you follow for now. I don't consider myself a 'winter painter' or have any great love of snow scenes, but each winter I do give it a try to see if that 'spark of interest' ignites within me. One of these years - it's bound to light!

Serene Solitude, November Marsh

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board (Raymar Feather Lite)


"The smaller the boat, the more you use it." - Judy Benson

Hope there's more days like this before the cold sets in. Truly delightful to be outside painting in this! The marsh grasses are drying to their golden hued splendor, the cool mud flat shimmering before it...just enough to know that it is wet and damp, yet the tide is still low. The trees have started loosing their leaves....some without evening turning color. It's been an interesting autumn to say the least.

I've been spending some time catching up with varnishing and cataloging a lot of the paintings that I did this summer and into the beginning of fall. I guess I've felt like I'd rather keep up with painting while the weather is cooperating rather than miss out. But sooner or later, the business end of things needs to be tended to.

Another 'house-keeping' task I've started is checking on supplies to see what I need to order more of. I've been a fan of Raymar panels for years & years, but have recently tried their 'Feather Lite panels'- which are great! They are a bit thinner yet they are still the same strong panel, with a wonderful surface (I really love working on their oil primed panels). The big advantage is that it keeps your gear really light weight. So if you need to hike out to a great painting spot, you don't feel like you're "moving house" just to do it! No point in wearing yourself out hauling gear before you even break out the paints!

Now the quote I offer today is from a friend that I went kayaking with a couple times this summer. I was thinking of that today as I dragged my easel gear with me. It's my 2nd lightest set-up, but it does have a nice big paint mixing space. I set out with small painting panels today, as I didn't know how chilly it might be down by the water today. I found a bit of a sheltered spot on a nature trail there at Hammonasset and it was delightful.

This painting is available directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery, or contact me here.

A Promising Morning

6"x6" oil on gessobord

"Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible." ~Hannah Arendt

Another small study for a grouping of 6x6 marsh scenes.

For more information about this painting, contact me here.

Heron Study II

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite hardboard

"Man's heart away from nature becomes hard." ~Standing Bear


Yet another study of the marshy area behind Waterford Beach....and some of those wonderful herons that hunt for dinner there!

This painting is available from my DailyPainters.com gallery or send me a message here.

Morning, Along The Path; Norfolk Botanical Gardens

9"x12" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

Here's the 3rd painting I completed at the paint-out last week, on Friday morning at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. During early morning, this little gazebo structure is brilliantly lit by the sun, and boy do the shadows seem to change quickly this time of year. I've gotten in the habit of marking in the shadow shapes first, and anything else interesting. If you get those BIG shapes put down first, everything else seems to fall into place!

For more information about this painting, contact me here.

Butterfly Garden at Norfolk Botanical Gardens

12"x12" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

This is the second painting I did last Thursday during the 'Out & About Norfolk' plein air event. I had a quick burger lunch and went back to the Norfolk Botanical Garden since I still had several hours of daylight...and admission still paid for the day! I've spent so much time at these gardens over the years. It is quite a treat for me to return and see what's blooming through the seasons, and changes that have been made over the years.

I did find out on Saturday evening at the show reception, that I had been awarded 2nd Place- with a $750 Memorial Award for the "Japanese Garden" painting! I am so thrilled over this - my head is still swimming over it! The show organizer, Karen Kinser has worked so hard to build this show over the last five years! She has done an amazing job! There's some serious award money, a gorgeous venue along the river at Waterside in Norfolk for the reception, I can go on and on....I plan on submitting work for next year's show!!


For more information about this painting, please contact me here.

Japanese Garden

12"x12" oil on gessoed masonite archival board

"All gardening is landscape painting." -William Kent

Today I returned to one of my favorite painting spots. It's actually my favorite botanical garden, here in Norfolk, VA. And to be able to return during different seasons, is such a joy.

This will be shown during our wet-painting sale at the Out and About Norfolk, Plein Air show and reception that takes place this Saturday from 6pm to 9pm at Waterside in Norfolk. For more information about the event, follow the link, here.

Heron Study I - sold!

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite archival artboard

"In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia." ~Charles A. Lindbergh

Today I'm packing my art bags and equipment to head down to Norfolk, VA for the annual "Out & About Norfolk Plein Air Event". I'll be painting on Thursday and Friday, Saturday we will hang our wet paintings for the show & sale on Saturday evening at Waterside in downtown Norfolk. For more information, click the link above! I'd love to see you there!

Today, in between packing, I got out some of my sketches of egrets, I'm putting together in a much larger painting. But today is a color study of what's to come!

This can be purchased directly from my DailyPainters.com Gallery or by contacting me here.

Weir Studio, Autumn Afternoon

10"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." ~John Muir

While at the J.Alden Weir Farm on Monday, I pulled out my sack lunch of PBJ & a banana & a pear & enjoyed the shade at a huge stone table that Weir had installed in his life time. Looking like it was part of the landscape I marveled that I could sit at the same space where he had spent time, and painted his family on that very spot as well! Across the yard from where I ate was his studio. The afternoon sun was catching some of the surfaces and turning that deep red to an almost coral orange glow. A magnificent tree had practically grown up against the building.

Technique-wise I had wanted to try a bit of brush work with my palette knife, as Camille Przwodek had done when I studied with her. Sometimes she would lay in the whole painting with a knife, sometimes with a brush, going intuitively, depending upon how fast she needed to go, how much detail, etc. I knew the afternoon sun would be changing fast. Our days are getting shorter and shorter up here in CT as fall marches on. So, I laid in the building and blocked in most of the basic areas with a brush on this one, then came back in with a knife on much of it. Finally the light had changed drastically enough to call it a day!

I really was taken with Muir's quote- and it seemed to really go along with everything I had encountered on my visit to the J. Alden Weir Farm. Weir certainly had a sense of beauty in nature, and preservation. Muir, a Scottish-born American naturalist, was an early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the US, and living during the same years as Weir.

For more information regarding this painting, please contact me here.

Oh yes, and more good news to share- I had a painting juried into the New Britain Museum of Art - 42nd Annual Juried Exhibition. Juror for the show was Elizabeth Ives Hunter, Executive Director of the Cape Cod Museum, in Dennis, MA. I'm so thrilled to be a part of this museum show! My submission for the show was the recent 12"x12" plein air work, "Chincoteague, Late Afternoon".

Autumn Morning at J. Alden Weir Farm

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday was the most delightful day of painting. The Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society planned to meet up at the J. Alden Weir Farm over in Branchville, CT - which is a part of the National Park Service!

"In June of 1882, painter J. Alden Weir boarded a train from New York bound for his modest farm among the hills of Branchville, CT. Once here, Weir and his family transformed their summer retreat into a creative refuge for friends and fellow artists. After Weir, artists Mahonri Young and Sperry Andrews lived and worked here, continuing the legacy of artistic expression that still inspires today."(from the website)

One of best parts of the day (besides getting to paint there) was the tour that the park ranger offered to us as special guests of the park. The home and studio are closed to the public as they are currently under renovation.....but we were allowed to go in and see!. What a treat. She also shared much of the history of Weir and his family and friends. Definitely worth a visit, and I'm looking forward to going back!

Following the tour, we returned from Weir's studio back to the Burlingham House (which was where his youngest daughter eventually lived), I spotted the light coming through the golden trees and knew this would be my first painting here on this location.

What I'm finding truly wonderful as I study more about Weir, is that we today, can go back and stand in some of these same places where he stood to paint. The rocks are still there, the trees are much larger, and many of the pastures have grown in, but so much is exactly the same. What a wonderful welcoming feeling for a painter!

For more information about this painting, or my visit to the Weir Farm, contact me here.

Far and Away, Large Marshland Painting

30"x30" oil on 2" deep cradled panel


"Nature is my medicine." -Sara Moss-Wolfe


This painting was one I've wanted to do for a long while now. I have spent so much time working plein air, and in a lot of different sizes. But I have wanted to take one of my smaller/medium sized works and turn it into a much larger painting. Finally doing this enabled me to verbalize the feelings behind some of what I love to paint.

I love to walk/hike around coastal marshlands (all up the whole Atlantic coast). I've always found a fascination with the large abstract shapes of land and water. And, it is wonderfully quiet in any season, just the sounds of nature about you.....and everything else "gets out of your head". I always feel calm, yet invigorated after a hike through these spaces. I wanted this large painting to give the viewer a feeling of being able to walk into that space... to clear their head, the way I do when I go to the woods and marshes.


And while I'll continue to paint plein air as long as the weather allows it, I'm looking forward to painting the next BIG one! Once the paint is dry on this, I'll be taking it outside for a better photograph in natural light.


These cradled panels are quite beautiful as the edges are wood. Once the painting is dry, I'll be staining these edges to deepen the wood tones. For more information about this painting, please contact Roxanne here.

Late September Morning

6"x24" oil on linen (2 stretched canvases, 6x12 each)

I've been wanting to paint this bit of garden all summer. Especially for the peegee hydrangea at the corner of the fence. It starts out with limey green blossoms early in the summer, which gradually get huge and a warm white. As summer turns to autumn, they turn a rosey-mauvey-burgundy color. This it the 3rd summer in our garden - and the blooms on this one this year are huge!

This piece can be purchased (unframed) from my DailyPainters.com gallery or contact me here.

Afternoon Light of Autumn

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

Back to the same site at Harkness Park, where I painted "Butterfly Song" just a month ago back in August. Now the purple Joe-Pye weeds have almost gone by, they've turned a bit brownish purple. I chose to catch the view from a slightly different angle on this day - as I really liked the afternoon shadow shapes along the left side walls of the barns. Hurricane Irene really did some weird damage to the foliage on most of the trees. Many have browned out and are dropping leaves rather than turning color. Even the evergreens have browned out on the side facing south, where salt-spray comes off the ocean. I'm really curious as to whether we'll get much more color at all this fall here on the shoreline?!

Contact me here for more information about this painting!

Back of the Dunes

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

I am always pleasantly surprised at the wonderful 'abstract' shapes in a landscape that you see when you squint your eyes down to see just the values.

Even on a gray, misty, overcast day, there is some wonderful color in the dried out grasses along the back of the dune. And yes, it's one of my favorite painting spots, over at Waterford Beach Park, the little path before you walk out to the beach, back in the marshy area. I finished this painting before the mist turned to a light rain. It was a wonderful morning of 'information gathering' with some good ideas tucked away in my memory to use for a larger studio painting, that I'll be sharing in an upcoming blog post!

Contact me here, for more information about this painting!

Assateague Light

8"x8" oil on Ampersand's gessobord

Wow, I am behind in my blogging. Seems I go away on a painting trip and it takes me awhile to catch up! This little scene was from my last morning there on the island. Over on the beach at Assateague, Hurricane Irene had made a cut through into Swan Cove! Sure brings it right to you when you see the huge force of nature. Last Saturday (almost a week ago as I'm writing this!) it was a beautiful morning to be out at the beach. Turning back toward the cove I could see Assateague Light house gleaming brighter than the wisps of clouds in the sky!

Please contact me for more information about this painting!

Painting Under Pearly Gray Skies & Light Misty Rain

Country Church, 9"x12" oil on linen mounted on board

Secret Garden, 8"x8" oil on Ampersand's archival gessobord

Last Friday was a solid gray day, thick cloud cover, and actually a fine mist in the air, that eventually went into a soft rain. I started in the morning painting the little church on North Main Street in Chincoteague. Even though the light is not strong enough for distinctive shadows, there are soft shadows. And the color in the vegetation seems to deepen. For the afternoon, I went over to Channel Bass Inn, on Church Street there on the island. They are a bed & breakfast with a lovely garden behind them. It's like a series of small rooms that lead one into the other. From a city parking lot behind the inn, there is an entrance into the garden that is a wisteria vine covered arbor. This is where I stood to be protected from the mist, which had turned into a very light rain at that point. From under the vines you look into a curved path that leads you past a bench, loads of flowers and around into another opening, until you finally get to the back entrance. It's an enchanting place, and I was glad to return to see it again this year. And glad I had some cover from the rain!

Contact me here for more information about these 2 paintings.

Chincoteague, Late Afternoon - sold!

12"x12" oil on Ampersand's archival gessobord

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." - Russel Baker

Well, Day 1 of painting yesterday, and 2 of my 3 were keepers. One was a scraper. I decided today that the one I did in the middle of the day, didn't deserve to see another day. But the other two, I'm so happy with. This one is a spot I have painted before, but I decided to paint in a square format this time. I wanted more sky in there, and as luck would have it, we had some very interesting skies yesterday! Really happy with the value contrasts on this one!

This one will also be in the Plein Air event here on Chincoteague Saturday evening!!

For more information regarding this painting, please contact me here!