Today's Work

I'm trying to finish up a painting from the Virginia Vineyards series; this one is from Breaux Vineyards, tucked away up in a northern corner of Loudoun County on one of the most beautiful roads in Virginia.

After today, I think I only have to work on the trees in the background, the posts, and the poppies.

Deep Sunset

Deep Sunset is the name of a painting I haven't worked on in months, but I picked up again on it this afternoon. I took the reference photo at sunset at a place we love out in the country. The color in the sky was truly intense; saturated corals against violets and blues...Telephone poles (that will appear soon in the painting) added some needed design elements. Anyway, here it is as of today.

I'm feeling good about the number of pieces I've worked on in the last two days (6). Feels like I'm getting back into the swing of things after three weeks of vacation.

A Little Further

My honey bought me a space heater in advance of what the weather folk are calling the Blizzard of 2015--- we'll see; there's not much snow on the ground tonight. Anyway, the little heater has made a big difference in the studio, and I was able to paint in comfort down there today.

I continued working on the MFA painting. Looks like it's going to take several more sessions to get the wall to look smooth and unblemished.

Picking Up Where I Left Off

I got back to work again on Three Women At The MFA; the lighting situation in the basement is less than ideal, so I wasn't able to refine the suedeing as well as usual. In fact, I'm a little afraid to go down there and take a close look at it. But overall, I think the painting went well... I'm trying to subtly gradate the background wall and the cast shadows on it so it looks real. The folds in the sweater on the woman on the right still bother me, though; they look stylized.

Still looking for new exhibition opportunities; now that I've started, it's easier to sift through all of the listings on several art show websites.

Activity Since 2011

The 2011 photo of the upstairs studio is very much out of date. A couple of years ago I cleaned out a room in the basement we used to refer to as The Dungeon, painted the walls white, installed some daylight bulbs in the ceiling fixture, and moved all of my art stuff down there. It's a snug little room, with my art books in a bookcase along one wall, and floor space for the easel. The paintings I'm working on are arranged on the walls so I can see what needs to be done to any one of them at a glance; they also put in drying time as they rest in place.

Lately I've been trying to finish up the loose ends regarding getting my reference files in order. This is a big project I started right after New Year's, and I'm hoping that by being better organized I'll be able to find what I need quickly, and waste less time. Another thing that's occupied my time since the start of the New Year has been marketing. I've made a real effort to search for opportunities for the coming year and at least one of them has paid off: a show at Narmada Wineries in May. I entered a couple of contests, and placed three of my best images on the Saatchi Worldwide site.

Plans for 2015 also include a spot in a group show at the Arts Barn in Gaithersburg, and possibly at Artomatic sometime this fall. So the year has started off with a bang, at least as far as exposure is concerned. Now I have to make sure I've got enough work for the three shows!

Picking This Up Again

Time to get back to blogging! It's been too long... Have completed well over a hundred pieces since my last entry. I spent all of last year painting, but have devoted the first two weeks of this year to marketing, and there are new shows afoot! More later.