With many aspects of life on hold, there is more time than ever before to experiment with art. My goal is to try something new with each painting so I may grow as an artist . Here are a few of the works I have made during the shutdown. Hoping that it won’t be too much longer before galleries reopen but for now creating goes ahead.
These two very different images– one 9×12 and the other 17×22 were based on photos I took of a nearby cove in my hometown of Stonington, Connecticut, from vantage points mere yards away from each other. One was taken in thick fog and the other on a clear day just after sunset. I’m lucky to live in such a beautiful place with vistas that evolve daily and even hourly providing an endless supply of inspiration.
While I took my usual quota of scenic photos on my recent trip to Martinique, I also switched gears a bit and closed in on some of my favorite interiors. This one is a blend of both. The subject is our favorite spot for sipping a ti-punch and watching the sunset in Sainte Anne, Martinique. The bar is called “Otantik” and the view at sunset is the beautiful bay of Marin.
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Here on the Connecticut shore we have views of gorgeous salt marshes on every turn. I most love them in the early morning when the mists have not quite lifted
Whenever I return from a vacation, I feel eager to start a fresh panel. ( I don’t use canvas) We just returned from our fourth trip to Martinique and I was so psyched I finished this little 8 x 10 in a single day. Well, that’s a little bit of a fudge. I don’t count blocking out basic shapes and toning the panel but the truth is that is usually just a half hour task, as important as it is. Painting directly into white makes the job too hard. This will be my 4th painting of Martinique but my first in 2018.
I have the tools, but not the patience (or, dare I say it?) time left to cultivate true bonsai. Maybe none of us has. However I must concede that Jade Plant gives us the option of faking it because of the gnarled and easily manipulated trunks on even the youngest plants. Still, painting a bonsai takes less time and discipline. What’s more, any damage resulting from my less-than-green thumb is already done.
Early on, I learned that painting anything “white” should never mean squeezing out a dollop of paint from a tube of flake white, or titanium white and going to town. Some day I’ll have the courage to challenge that rule in a landscape or figurative painting (I’m sure I could pull it off in an abstract work) but not today. For now it is too much fun creating the illusion of snow using reds, blues, greens and even black. This little 9 x 12 winter scene involved the whole color wheel and was a joy to do. The hardest part was choosing the mixtures that contrasted snow with water.This is the season when galleries everywhere feature small, affordable art for the Christmas season. Not only is art a unique gift but it’s value cannot be googled and it is really easy to wrap! Win, win, win…. Two of these are just 5×5 with a painted 1.5″ cradle and the floral field is still accessible at 10 x 10
This month I have strayed a bit from my usual small format panels and completed an 18 x 24 landscape which I then highlighted with some careful scribbling in graphite. Normally, I continue my images on the top and sides of my panels and coat the images in resin. This time, my plan is to frame. Because I am concerned that a resin coating might fight the effect of the frame, I am deciding to leave this one au naturale
Next, I went back into small format for a little landscape which I think prefer to show unframed. Still I don’t think I can resist a shiny coating on this one. It will pop.
My Stonington Garden 
