And a Little Further:

Had a lovely lunch with a good friend today, an artist friend, actually, and we talked a lot of art and exchanged a few marketing ideas. The weather folk had been insisting on afternoon thunder showers, so I picked up some macarons (spelling?) on the way home for my sweetie and me and decided to forgo planting the dahlia and other summer bulbs that need to go into the ground IMMEDIATELY and just paint.

I am very excited about combining the long, narrative format that I used on A Long Way To Go and Night Life with an idea that I came up with a couple of years ago for a series. Very excited. I need to decide whether to pin down a size that I'll stick with for the series or if it's better to customize the size to each painting.

But! Here's today's work.

Chef, © 2015

Back to Work

After a couple of weeks hiatus, I got back to painting again. Here's today's work:

Chef, © 2015


Had an unexpected visitor in the afternoon, so I didn't get as much done as I'd planned. But I'm feeling more confident about the direction this one is going in.

Getting the Work Out There

This is a phrase I've heard many an artist friend use, and lately I've been trying to be more active about getting more visibility for my own paintings. It seems to be paying off in little ways, slowly, but I'll write more about the new opportunities soon.

Meanwhile, the break in the weather forced a huge amount of yard work into my schedule, and painting has had to take a bit of a back seat. I'm back on track now, however, because with a show to hang next week and another in the works for July, panic had set in. I spent all of yesterday organizing and prepping work and did some repainting today. It's falling into place.

Three Women and a Paintbrush

The background wall did dry down to a less yellowy color, and I worked on it for a long time today. Of course, it still needs another session or two just to finish the wall and the spot lighting on it; then the hair, the outlines of the clothing, and the bags. Sigh. Sometimes it seems like the finish line is very far away.

Three Women at the MFA, © 2015

And here's Chef with some of the blank background filled in:

Chef, © 2015

Shaping Up

I really enjoyed winter. It seemed like everybody was complaining about the cold, but I realize now that it allowed me to concentrate on my work. Now that Spring is here, there's the lure of the outdoors, plus a boatload of yard work to do: planting, transplanting, dividing, raking, weeding, mulching...

So I'm a little worried about keeping up with output. But here's today's addition to Chef, and I really like the way the left side is coming together. It's beginning to get a sense of that mysterious soft light that I wanted.

Chef, © 2015

Three Women

More of today's work. That background wall is beastly. I'm using the same 2-color mix, but the paint I applied today looks more yellow or gold than what I've been doing. And yes, I used the same manufacturer's Raw Umber.

Three Women at the MFA, © 2015

Maybe when it dries down it'll look all right.

Additional Darkness

Painted in some deeper shadows on the right side and lower part of the painting. I want to keep this one soft and hazy but am already creating hard edges on the figures in the foreground. Will have to remember: wet on wet.

Chef, © 2015