Upcoming Events: Summer '09

I'm trying so hard to stay off the computer right now because I have a full week of grinding day job ahead of me and today is a painting day! But my focus is all over the place and I left my palette sitting there 2 weeks ago when this work came along (I couldn't afford not to take the project) and now I'm a bit lost trying to get back on track. I promise to post the images as soon as I can get them finished. For a sneak preview of works in progress see below.

So I stepped out into the backyard to soak up some of this gorgeous last day of May and found these, almost ready to pick:


And, in the vegetable garden, from the looks of it, there will be lots of jars of pickles this summer.

OK, so I just had to share. Time to get back in the studio and see if any of it makes sense.

Click on the pix to see the strawberry and the baby cuke up close.

Le Temps des Lilas

Spring has sprung, but it's still cold outside

I am tempted to compose a theme and variations on the Mr. Softee song that has been circulating around the neighborhood for the past few weeks. I played by the rules and waited to put in my tomato plants, but the weather has not been cooperating. Unseasonably cool, so I brought several branches of Miss Kim into the bedroom. The fragrance is almost too much.

Studio Sneak Preview: Works in Progress

Some of the watercolors I've been working on this Spring

Normally, I post new work to my website once a year, when I'm in between painting sessions. But now that I have this blog, I can't resist putting up some snapshots of work that's underway. As I have gotten older, I find, because of the fumes, that I can't paint in oils during the winter months when the heating system is on and the doors and windows are shut. So I began to explore watercolor as an alternative. (I can't just "not paint".) This is my second year and I feel increasingly comfortable with the medium. You have to have nerves of steel to do watercolor and it wears me out much faster than oil painting, but I'm starting to get used to its demands.

All these are 22 x 30". Some are near completion, others not so. I always work in clusters and each piece informs the rest, so I won't consider any one of them done until they all are.

Click on the images to enlarge