Popham Light, Rhode Island

I did this piece for one of my fellow artists at Spring Bull Gallery. He commissioned each artist in the gallery to draw or paint a Rhode Island lighthouse in which he will mat and frame together as a collection. I was given Popham Light in East Providence. I've included my reference photo which is a pretty basic photo; regarding color and structure of the buildings. I took the photo at the time of day when the sun was hitting and creating strong shadows. What attracted me the most were the red roofs so I decided to accentuate the red by working the drawing on red paper. This will also make the whole piece glow and give it a warm, unified look. I chose to work on red Canson paper and decided to give the piece a painterly effect while still showing structural detail in the lighthouse. Here is the final outcome, I left the drawing uncropped so you can see the color of the paper.

Orchids

Here is my grouping of 9 orchid drawings which will hang just like this (although I have to straighten them out!) I am still working on the two white orchid drawings, which I started on white backgrounds. All of the other pieces were worked on colored backgrounds and I find it easier than working on the white. I'm still putting finishing touches on the pieces and making color adjustments so they will be more uniform as a group.

These are two of my oil paintings from my trip to Maine. I'm just having fun with oil paint .... they are no where near as detailed as my colored pencil work and I like it that way. I realize more and more how much easier it is to see color and value when painting from life as opposed to working from photos which flatten the image and dull the colors. 

Stonington & Deer Isle, Maine

I am spending a wonderful week in Deer Isle, Maine with three artist friends and its so inspiring. Before I left, more than one person (who is familiar with this area) said to me, "umm ... you know there is nothing to do up there ...!" But that is so untrue, there is just so much for this Worn Out Woman to see and do that I could easily spend another week. We've been painting, sketching, reading novels, eating fresh lobster, drinking wine and just plain relaxing and regrouping from our hectic lives. We rented a house overlooking a lobstering cove and early every morning (through my sleep), I can hear the lobster boats leaving the cove. The weather has been perfect. I have put the colored pencils aside to work on oils this week. Next entry I will post my work.

Series of Orchids

I'm working on a series of orchids on 6x6" Ampersand Gessoboard Squares. There will be 9 total and they will hang together as one piece in rows of 3. I have completed 6 of the pieces so I decided to post them on my blog. I've worked these almost to completion but when all 9 pieces are finished, I will set them out together and make adjustments in colors and values to create uniformity. The remaining 3 pieces are predominately green, yellow and white and will be interspersed with the warmer toned orchids.